the delphic expanse

OK, so going by what was said before, this is a host issue, but is anyone else having a massive issue with:

General Error
SQL Error
Can't connect to MySQL server on "mysql" (9) [2003]
Error fetching page

Or similar messages?

I get something like this about every other click. Honestly, it's to the point of "why bother?" even though there are people here whose posts I enjoy reading. I'm not having connection difficulties anywhere else. I clean the cache at least once a day, sometimes more. Is there some kind of trick to this or what?

I've seen some of these, too. I'll see if I can paste the next one I see.

Me, too. Usually it's a "general error," and doesn't occur immediately upon clicking on something. Usually it is processing the click for at least 10 seconds, then the error note pops up. I thought maybe it was just my computer.

I was getting a bunch of those errors yesterday.

Me too. But if I reload it usually corrects itself.

Glory1863 wrote:OK, so going by what was said before, this is a host issue, but is anyone else having a massive issue with:

General Error
SQL Error
Can't connect to MySQL server on "mysql" (9) [2003]
Error fetching page

Or similar messages?

I get something like this about every other click. Honestly, it's to the point of "why bother?" even though there are people here whose posts I enjoy reading. I'm not having connection difficulties anywhere else. I clean the cache at least once a day, sometimes more. Is there some kind of trick to this or what?

We're aware of it, and yes, you are quite correct, it's a host issue. I don't believe your cache shouldn't matter in this instance. In my rudimentary non-tech understanding, the problem is with the way our host's servers interact with our database. And generally this begins as a problem with the servers, not us.

We are looking into it but I'm going to be direct: both Honeybee and I are extremely busy at the moment, and we're both fighting off whatever bug's been going around in various places. We just don't have the time/energy resources to go digging around in the guts of the site at the moment. As tarheelladync mentioned, reloading usually helps. We understand your frustration because we experience it when we come to enjoy the site ourselves.

Other than that, there's little I can offer you to make it worth your bother until we get some time on our hands and can shift our priorities a little.

Glory1863 wrote:OK, so going by what was said before, this is a host issue, but is anyone else having a massive issue with:

Unfortunately yes, quite frequently lately.

Aquarius got it right; and there's nothing you can do on your end to fix it, Glory. (Short of reloading and hoping that the connection happens that time.) The problem resides with the provider for the servers we are currently housed on and is out of our hands. We (as-in the admins) can fix it by leaving them and going with another service, but doing that's going to take a coordinated effort of the admins when we've all got some time - at the same time.

Technical explanation: the technobabble "Can't connect to MySQL server" means exactly what it says; your computer wasn't able to connect to the server. It's not your computer's fault, or the forum's fault - the server just wasn't there for the connection (for whatever reason) to serve up the data needed to build the webpage. It's like ringing the doorbell and getting no answer.

The upside? These errors do tend to stop after a while, once the provider's figured out whatever's going wrong on their end. In the meantime, you can simply reload the page you were trying to get and usually after a few tries you'll get the server when it's "feeling decent".