#1 2017-10-25 9:05 pm

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Whenever trying to register with this extension activated, I get the following error:

"Unfortunately we can not process your request now due to problems with an external party. You can try again later."

Everything appears to be configured correctly in phpBB.  I also have the correct API key installed.

Thoughts?

sklerder

Member

Registered: 2012-10-11

Posts: 336

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Hello !

This message is referenced by the "SFS_ERROR_MESSAGE" constant in the language file.
And it's used in two cases :
- When the forum queries the SFS database an doesn't receive a response from it.
- When your forum tries to submit the registrant to SFS database and can't submit it.

Typically, it could be that you don't have connectivity from your forum server to SFS ...

Or, maybe, the IP of your forum server is listed in SFS database ...

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Sorry for the brevity as I'm posting on my phone, but I'd there a way to check connectivity with the forum server and SDS?

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Well, got home and was able to look at the logs.  Whenever registration fails and the message I mentioned earlier above is displayed, the corresponding log entry is as follows:

"Stop Forum Spam was down during a registration or a forum post"

If I turn the option off to alllow registration to proceed if the SFS forum is down, then it woks as normal.  As far as I can also tell, my forums IP address isn't listed on the ban list.

Any suggestions?

sklerder

Member

Registered: 2012-10-11

Posts: 336

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Hello !

I was to reply to enable "allow_url_fopen" in you php.ini, but RMcGirr83 posted (today) on another discussion on the forum that it's not used by the plugin.
But as he says that cURL is used by the plugin, maybe it's that cURL is not enabled on your system ...

Which OS is used by your forum, and which Web server (Apache, Nginx, ...) ?
Depending on the OS, you could need to install php-curl package, or enable an extension in your configuration.

Perhaps have you detailed informations in your logs (Web server, probably).

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

(full-post quote removed by Mod; in future, please edit to essentials)

I'm using iPower as my host running Debian.

SQL is 5.6.32
Perl is 5.8.8
PHP is 7.0

According to the following link, fopen is disabled globally, however I was able to change it in my php.ini file.  After that, the other weird errors I was getting stopped except for the issue I have now.

https://www.ipower.com/info/systemnotice.bml?id=5806

I'm not really much of a web coder, so most of what I'm doing is trial and error... mostly error.  At present, I have disabled the API in phpBB to allow new users to join, but will turn it on for a day so you can try yourself and perhaps give me a suggestion.

The url is: http://cn-knights.net

Thanks!

sklerder

Member

Registered: 2012-10-11

Posts: 336

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Well, if you have "root" access on your system, could you check this command :

dpkg -l | grep curl

If it doesn't display php5-curl, you should run this command (as "root", too) :

apt-get update && apt-get install php5-curl

Else, we'll need you to search errors in server logs ...

Last edited by sklerder (2017-10-26 11:08 pm)

Papa Parrot

Member

From: Mexico

Registered: 2011-08-19

Posts: 1,826

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Took me a while to figure this out,
Sorry to derail the topic, but the OP reported Sklerders post, I couldn't see anything wrong with the post or reason to report it, I think maybe it was supposed to be a reply: (normally I would not post a reported post, and who reported it, but it is pretty clear it is a reply )

Reported by amstel78 	The Tech Shop » Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error... » 
 Post #47948

================

amstel78>>Nope... called them the other day. They don't want to give me command line access to the server.

I would start looking for a better hosting service. How did you install phpBB with out access to the server ?

---

Everything is for the Birds

And now, Papa Parrot and his kids

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

(full-post quote removed by Mod; do this once more & I remove your entire post, not just the quote)

My mistake on the report... was probably typing from my phone.

As for your question, iPower already has all the scripting in place along with the DB of my choice.  I use FTP to upload my files and then use the hosts control panel to access myphp DB control panel and do my business there.  It works for the most part.  I do miss having CLI, but can live without it.  I get charged about 180 a year for the service; that includes 2 domains and 15TB of space, and 15TB of bandwidth a month.

Overkill for what I need... perhaps I should go to AWS or something; less expensive and more flexible, but less space and bandwidth.

Anyway, will try to get you those logs to see what's going on.

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Well, no CGI error logs generated when the script fails.  phpBB 3.2 does show the following however "Stop Forum Spam was down during a registration or a forum post"

...and just tried using the bbtag code function to copy my php.ini config, but the forum won't let me.  Says I'm being a bad boy.

Last edited by amstel78 (2017-10-27 2:01 am)

pedigree

uıɐbɐ ʎɐqǝ ɯoɹɟ pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ buıʎnq ɹǝʌǝu ɯ,ı

From: New Zealand

Registered: 2008-04-16

Posts: 7,056

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

I've checked the logs and your server's IP address doesnt appear in any of the logs

pedigree

uıɐbɐ ʎɐqǝ ɯoɹɟ pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ buıʎnq ɹǝʌǝu ɯ,ı

From: New Zealand

Registered: 2008-04-16

Posts: 7,056

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

One typo in a post above.  as your PHP is 7.0, this will install curl

apt-get install php7.0-curl

sklerder

Member

Registered: 2012-10-11

Posts: 336

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Hello !

Sorry for the typo, I read PHP 5.8.8 (Confusing Perl end PHP).
Thanks pedigree ...

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Spoke to iPower last night... apparently when I called them, they still didn't have cURL package installed for php7... so I told them just to apt-get it. 

Called again this morning to confirm, and they did as evidenced by the following: http://jamespau.ipower.com/info.php

SFS API still does not work though with phpBB 3.2.1.  Keep getting the same error message as before.

Question... does SFS play well with reCaptcha 2.0?

Last edited by amstel78 (2017-10-27 3:48 pm)

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

There's gotta be something wrong with the API. I disabled SFS extension (rmcgirr83) for phpBB completely but kept Ban Hammer extension. Used the same SFS API key, and when attempting to ban a user, also received an error although Ban Hammer doesn't provide any error log entries.  Removing the API key however, and Ban Hammer works perfectly.

As mentioned, both fopen=on and cURL is active.

Just a thought, but domain pointer settings won't have any affect on this right?  i.e. my domain cn-knights.net has a pointer to http://hostaddress/public_html/knights

In phpBB 3.2, do I have to force server URL settings?  I'm just thinking this through as perhaps a reason why the API isn't talking to SFS???

P.S.  I apologize but I think I started this thread in the wrong section rather than in the support forum.  Could it be moved please?

Last edited by amstel78 (2017-10-27 4:12 pm)

Alex Kemp

Moderator

From: Nottingham, England

Registered: 2009-12-02

Posts: 2,423

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Thread moved as requested.

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Alex Kemp

IP Aggregation (Help) · Easy Firewall Generator (Help)  · Conteg v0.13.14

sklerder

Member

Registered: 2012-10-11

Posts: 336

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Hi.

Could you verify (I don't really know by which mean, you seem very limited with your hosting ...) if "json_decode" works well ?
It's used by this plugin to decode answers from SFS API ...
I may be wrong, but it's something to check

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

(full-post quote removed by Mod - you have been warned to stop doing this)

You're gonna have to talk to me like a noob, but how would I verify that? Is there a script available I can upload to verify?

Alex Kemp

Moderator

From: Nottingham, England

Registered: 2009-12-02

Posts: 2,423

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

how would I verify that?

The system-wide see-every-option+extension method is to use PHPInfo:

• http://php.net/manual/en/function.phpinfo.php

---

Alex Kemp

IP Aggregation (Help) · Easy Firewall Generator (Help)  · Conteg v0.13.14

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

[post removed by Mod due to full-page quote (you do not pay attention, do you?)]

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

[post removed by Mod due to full-page quote (you do not pay attention, do you?)]

Sorry but I don't follow.  I posted a link to my php info filein my last message. What did I do wrong?
.

Alex Kemp

Moderator

From: Nottingham, England

Registered: 2009-12-02

Posts: 2,423

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

What did I do wrong?.

You quoted the entirety of a previous post, in spite of being warned multiple times not to do that. My patience broke and, from now on, every time that you do that the post will be emptied. Do it multiple times & you will be banned.

As I said, you just do not pay attention to what is being said to you, even when it is written down in front of your nose.

---

Alex Kemp

IP Aggregation (Help) · Easy Firewall Generator (Help)  · Conteg v0.13.14

amstel78

Member

Registered: 2017-10-22

Posts: 19

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Sorry Alex, my fault. I've been posting directly on my phone (which for some reason isn't showing this site's format correctly) and did not see your edits to my post post pertaining to quoting entire messages. It was not intentional. I do have excellent reading comprehension if I'm able to see what it is I'm reading in its entirety. Anyway, thanks for letting me know, and sorry for the trouble. Won't happen again.

Best,
James

P.S. regarding post 20 that was deleted, I posted this link which shows my PHP info:

http://jamespau.ipower.com/info.php

Can you have a look and see if anything's amiss?

Last edited by amstel78 (2017-10-29 11:27 am)

Alex Kemp

Moderator

From: Nottingham, England

Registered: 2009-12-02

Posts: 2,423

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

I've been posting directly on my phone … did not see your edits to my post

That suggests that the browser is not responding to the updated Modification Date, which is a bad bug if my analysis is accurate.

I know nothing about the plugin & do not have any time to read the code.

You were directed to consider 'json_decode':

json support	enabled
json version	1.4.0
proto_binary_fetched_json	0

---

Alex Kemp

IP Aggregation (Help) · Easy Firewall Generator (Help)  · Conteg v0.13.14

sklerder

Member

Registered: 2012-10-11

Posts: 336

Website

Re: Stop forum spam extension in phpBB 3.2 results in error...

Hello !

Well, JSON is activated, so I have no more idea.

And as you have no shell access, it's harder to help.

I suggest you check with your hosting service ...