DMusic.com | for indie musicians and fans | Free MP3 music downloads - Forums: Staff Announcements: Site Outage, and Status Reports

Electric guitars, Classical guitars, Guitar amps and more.

zZounds.com offers recording equipment for starting and experienced musicians. Find the best prices on electric guitars, acoustic guitars, classical guitars and more.

Forums > Staff Announcements

Site Outage, and Status Reports

jack	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 11:12 AM Hello everyone, if you're wondering where the other thread went, I accidently deleted it and since 70% of it wasn't really relevant anyway, I'm just going to start again. By all means, post problems here but please keep chatter to a minimum so we can keep it nice and clean. A summary of the problem: We had a huge server crash and the site hasn't been functioning correctly for just over a month. We've corrected the problems, and now you should be able to stream. Uploading works, but please don't upload as your data will be lost during the final phase of migration. Here's a short FAQ/Summary of the contents of the old thread. My files are missing! They're still there, a script has set them to be invisible because the files are missing from our file server. This will only happen in certain areas of the site, in others, your file will appear but you'll be presented with a blank page on trying to download/stream. No blank page, error about streaming being down Your DNS has not updated yet to reflect the new file server. You will also note you cannot access the file manager and get errors about a "user object" -- give it time for your ISP to get the new changes. Can I make my files visible again No. I'm a subscriber, will I be reimbursed for this outage? Probably - I have no doubts that something will be worked out, watch this space! Problems with File Manager - my name doesn't appear at the top, an incorrect number of notes is displayed, my size remaining is wrong It uses a different database and there are some weird errors. When everything is moved over to that server it will sort itself out. If anyone has anything relevant to add please post it below, I will be deleting threads that are off-topic for the sake of keeping this organized.
Rodrica	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 11:20 AM I'm confused. I had 5 songs (plus their details) on my song page this morning. Now there's only 2. Are you saying that the files (mp3+information) that are currently not showing up are in fact lost and not recoverable?
ebarbarella	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 12:57 PM one of our songs ,Validation Dance, is not showing up on our music page today and i tried accessing file manager and is not working anymore, can you please let me know if we just lost a song with 98 comments on it?
rhthesinner	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 1:04 PM "My files are missing! They're still there, a script has set them to be invisible because the files are missing from our file server..." I took that to mean that the files are "missing" because they are moving from one server to another Otherwise Jack wouldn't have said "They're still there..."
Saadya	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 1:10 PM Does it mean we'll have to wait for DNS to update again?
rhthesinner	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 1:14 PM As I understood it, when we were informed that the process had begun, it could take in the region of 48 hours Depending on how long it had been going before we were told, there could still be a couple of hours to go yet.
ebarbarella	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 1:23 PM still not very clear to me RH, but thanks for your answer sweetie are they missing or just being moved?
ShadowMom	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 1:24 PM Rodrica, no -- they're set to invisible because they haven't been transferred yet, and thus won't stream; Barb, no-- it's still there, just not accessible yet; Saadya-- the DNS won't change again, but Jack can smack me if I'm wrong on that; and rhthesinner -- you ROCK!!
Saxsinger	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 6:02 PM Thanks Jack.. At least we know it's being worked on diligently (you too shadowmom!)
jack	Date: January 31, 2008 @ 6:35 PM Hi guys, there has been a feature at Dmusic so you can toggle the visibility of the tracks in your file manager for a long time now. You can set them to not appear on the site anywhere - all the script does is check if the file exists on our servers, and if it doesn't (therefore unstreamable!) it makes the track invisible so no one can stream it. Let me clarify what's going on here. We have moved the file server only to a brand new server - eventually, the whole site will be hosted on this server. The situation right now is that we have the site effectively running from two different servers - what this means for you is that although some functionality is restored (a la streaming) there is much functionality missing or only partially there. The file manager is out of operation - it works, yes, but when the rest of the site is moved any changes you make there will be overwritten. Don't use it, or if you do, make sure you're aware that nothing you do will be permanent. So for now - no uploading, no changing the titles of your tracks. The rest of the site that isn't based around files. or the filemanager will work fine and the changes will be preserved. Your (and mine too!) files are missing in the first place because of the hardware crash and an unreliable backup system. We have the servers' hardrives being sent for data recovery so assuming that goes well the data loss should be minimal. So, to clarify: Yes, your files are missing - but we are working on getting them back. If a file has disappeared from your page it has been set invisible by the system because it is one of the broken ones - newer files are much more likely to be broken than older ones. There will be an easy way to restore them if we can't get them back from the recovery. Emails and notes will be sent with a list of missing files and instructions to reupload, probably with a special page to do so so you can do it en-masse.
Rodrica	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 3:18 AM Thanks shadowmom and Jack
miraclemaker	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 8:04 AM ahh...I think i see now " i say, good show Jack n Mom! "
Mojosnake	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 10:40 AM alright so any idea on why some of us can stream and some of us cant....
rhthesinner	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 10:46 AM ISP's need time to get the changes. It appears random, but some will pick these up before others
Distilled1	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 10:48 AM sbc is on the ball new dns pinged and found
Opossum	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 10:48 AM Mine was randomly not working, then it randomly WAS working for a day, then stopped for a couple days, but is now randomly working again.
Mojosnake	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 10:52 AM ah randomness....... wake me the "ramdomness" is over..
jackschitt	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 11:50 AM shall be the bane of our existence
Woof	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 3:18 PM Just a suggestion... Maybe the file managers ought to be disabled until they do work properly. Reason being, there are plenty of people, I'm sure, who won't be reading this post or the news blurbs on the index page. They'll upload stuff and start having fun... and then when the site moves to the new server, I'm willing to bet that the admins will be flooded with angry PM's that all amount to something like: "Where'd my uploads go? Can you get them back for me?" Nobody needs to be dealing with something like that. Also, any news on when we can expect full functionality? Finally, I, for one, would prefer to have everything moved over right away so that we can get back to business as usual. If that means re-uploading, that's just the price. If, after the site migration, the DM staff is able to recover lost files, great. If not, the membership would already be in the process of dealing with the problem themselves. It doesn't have to be all in the hands of the maintenence crew and admins. I think that the community wants to see DM running at 100% again ASAP, and is willing to get involved in making that happen, even if it means being inconvenienced to a certain extent. Data recovery is always a "Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't" proposition, and I'd prefer a less substantial site that works, instead of more waiting and hoping.
CubedDrummer	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 7:21 PM i found a use for the old sever computers http://strangepictures.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/best-use-of-old-pc.jpg
jack	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 7:49 PM Yes, Woof, an excellent suggestion. I had thought about disabling the upload, but since it now no longer works until the new flash uploader works (not the one that is there now!) people won't be able to upload anyway. This feature can be considered broken for now, although I hope to have it fixed shortly. As for full functionality, it's out of my hands as I've done my part of the process--we have people moving services to our new servers as we speak and we're trying to make this as easy as possible for everyone, including ourselves. I'll post if I have a definite date, else all I can say is "Soon &trade"
silentpair	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 8:05 PM maybe a small status bar/table cell/etc on the front page and other easily accessible areas to make it super-super-duper obvious for those of us that fail at teh internets? i just happened to upload my first stuff right after the problems started and i thought it was me or my browser doing stupid software tricks. shadowmom set me straight but newbs like me need stuff in giant flashing neon. good luck in any case.
z4twenny	Date: February 1, 2008 @ 9:09 PM thanks for the update, i checked my page and almost had a heart attack when i realized they were all gone, i thought i was going to have to upload them all again. good to know its being worked on.
HenriRoger	Date: February 2, 2008 @ 6:38 AM Why don't dmusic just stops and say something like "the site is under maintenance ,we are sorry for the inconvenience , there'll be a gift for subscribers and nonsubscribers ,you'll get a message when the site is back " and stop telling us things that change all the time giving an amateur improvisation impression ?
Distilled1	Date: February 2, 2008 @ 6:11 PM Henri because stuff is still working you'll see over at myspace what happens when the stuff gets borked and dosn't work. they just give you that page something happened sorry a report was went. you don't even get an update or a mail stating what happened when your account gets hacked there, and it happens daily
ShadowMom	Date: February 2, 2008 @ 7:57 PM The forums work, user pages work, and we are streaming music 24/7 on the internet... Everything else is coming back slowly, but it is coming back. Why shut down and leave you with nothing? Distilled1 and I both are capable, willing, and eager to preview your newest tracks on our shoutcasts. Just email them to us, and tune in!
leedsquietman	Date: February 2, 2008 @ 8:01 PM I know this is a DNS thing, but streaming doesn't work. The DNS is still the old one, even with constant flushing and pinging. The radio is appreciated guys, seriously. Distilled and Shadowmom, I have regularly listened to your radio streams (not so much LeFlaw as his collection is less to my taste, but thanks boss anyway) The community shoutbox and stuff works, but the community is very quiet as many people are staying away until the music streaming and downloading and uploading is back on line. At the moment we're like a car - a car with a beautiful design, with a functioning radio and cup holders, but no engine and wheels ...
zedsalt	Date: February 3, 2008 @ 10:54 AM I understand what Henri is saying. Only that tiny portion of DMusic users who dig DEEP into the site know that the good folks who administer the site are aware of all the problems and are addressing them. Shutting down completely would be infinitely preferable to what we're doing now, but an even better solution, I think, would be a page that comes up whenever anyone dials a DMusic address which explains everything clearly.
ChillinBuzz	Date: February 4, 2008 @ 9:08 AM There's an engine and wheels alright, lqm... Just that someone's having trouble getting the tools to fit things in properly, if the story about new servers is anything to go by. Also hope that when things get back to "normal" someone will find the time to sort the Featured Artists part out (since it features two identical pages yet again and, even better, both have no music uploaded and haven't done for months)... Hang on, much of the site isn't functioning right, which surely means less to do (again, referring to "new server" story)... Shutting down completely would probably kill off any remaining interest in the site, which is already at an all-time low... But an explanation when going to the main page might deter people from believing the site is working (when it's clearly not) and wasting their time trying to upload, or throwing negative feedback about the place... Not every visitor reads the forums and news.
GeneHilbert	Date: February 4, 2008 @ 10:57 PM I'm having a hard time believing that is takes 6 weeks to change servers, format the servers, transfer the files and redirect the links.
jack	Date: February 4, 2008 @ 11:29 PM You know, I was going to post a long winded explaination but I didn't. It seems kind of pointless, don't you think?
GeneHilbert	Date: February 4, 2008 @ 11:35 PM No.. I don't think it's pointless...... I pay to have my site hosted here, my email hasn't worked for six months, and this site has been shit for a over a month. And I don't need some smart ass retort.... What say you.....?
jack	Date: February 4, 2008 @ 11:41 PM Hey, if you want something doing good, do it yourself right? You're welcome to my job anytime you like, but I guarantee you'll be singing a different tune after a week.
GeneHilbert	Date: February 4, 2008 @ 11:59 PM et me tell you something boy. You are the one assuming the responsibility of performing at a professional level and I pay your boss for a service. I expect a professional operation, and expediency. Not some bullshit lip service…… because you feel fucking cocky. I’m not some feeby user, I pay for a service and I expect you to deliver......
clickplay	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 3:19 AM Excuse me Mr.Hibert.If you have a problem with the help..talk to the boss. Most all i can see that what you are doing is bullying someone. So ,talk to Leflaw ...after all he's only an attorney at law.
ShadowMom	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 7:58 AM Jack is only updating us here. He's not responsible for the transfer, as you know if you read leflaw's last couple of posts in the news. Everybody is frustrated right now, so let's keep this thread on topic, please.
Saadya	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 8:19 AM He merely speaks his thoughts, a quality that is frowned upon on this site. I do hope however, that after this Dmusic will start becoming a community of musicians and fans, rather than just a small community of friends. Pardon my derail, do go on.
rhthesinner	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 8:21 AM Speaking thoughts is not frowned upon Sometimes, the manner in which they are, is
billrhynes	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 8:43 AM It's been frustrating for me, especially since I have a whole butt-load of tunes I'd like to post, but I have faith that the site will be ready when it's ready and I'm sure Leflaw will make it good. This will all be in the past soon enough. We need to simply hold on and try to be supportive of the site.
billrhynes	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 8:44 AM oh, I forgot this-
evansorchid	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 9:39 AM Well, I've been down so Goddamn long That it looks like up to me Well, I've been down so very damn long That it looks like up to me Yeah, why don't one you people C'mon and set me free
Woof	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 4:35 PM I've just checked, and the domain buttloadoftunes.com is available for registration. Maybe we should consider rebranding the site while we're at it?
billrhynes	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 6:05 PM
Tattoomom	Date: February 5, 2008 @ 6:21 PM and for people who really enjoy the winners of american idol you can also register buttloadofcrap.com....
zedsalt	Date: February 6, 2008 @ 10:36 AM Hilbert lost his temper a little, but when it comes right down to it, he didn't say anything unreasonable. And does paying a small fee give him more of a right to do so than a nonsubscriber like myself? I kind of think it does. I mean, I still think that the "pay and you won't be subjected to advertising" policy costs more than subscriber fees could ever hope to recover, and it does contradict the kind sweet character of the place, but he paid for something he's not getting...that tends to make people a little testy.
Distilled1	Date: February 6, 2008 @ 10:39 AM and he HOST here as well. not just a subscriber
zedsalt	Date: February 6, 2008 @ 10:42 AM THE BIG PROBLEM remains that no one less than intimate with the site knows that what they're seeing/hearing right now is NOT all DMusic has to offer. I can't say that I have corresponded personally with someone like that every day of the outage, but it's been way more than one per week.
RichLum	Date: February 6, 2008 @ 6:08 PM Agreed Zed. I (like most people here I suspect) have my dmusic pages in my signature for a lot of different music forums I participate in. I've had a few people tell me that when they go to my page the streaming is not working. I've told some that it should be ok in a few days (when I thought it was going to be back up by 26th Jan) but now I've just been redirecting them to another site.
RichLum	Date: February 6, 2008 @ 6:09 PM But I'd rather use dMusic, cause I like the layout and use-ability better
rolar3	Date: February 6, 2008 @ 8:17 PM I think Leflaw should buy me a 1961 Les Paul Jr. for all this trouble...
leflaw	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 7:36 AM ...and id f I did, what would you do with it?
Tattoomom	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 10:20 AM On 7th Feb 2008, leflaw said: ...and id f I did, what would you do with it? So, Larry...are you saying that you're considering this? Because I KNOW Bill knows what to do with one!
zedsalt	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 11:05 AM O.k., things seem to have gotten much worse. I went looking for any sort of update on the outage, and there isn't ANYTHING displayed with any sort of prominence. Having several years experience with the site, I knew enough to dig into the "News" section...nothing on the main News page. Being blindly idealistic (apparently), I gleefully skipped to the main page (which I never saw my first few years as a DMer) expecting to see a full-screen, brightly colored, large-type notice...something to let people know that this pathetically small and outdated version of the site is a temporary situation. A notice along these lines should be the first thing anyone sees after typing in an addy or clicking on a link that ends in dmusic.com or dmusic.net!!!
rolar3	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 2:37 PM Play it better than you ever will!
rolar3	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 2:40 PM I was trying to make a joke in light of a service I pay for that I am not gettiing. You seem to be a selfish asshole Leflaw. Why don't you sell this company to someone that gives a shit about the customers! Consider me out pal!
Saadya	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 3:35 PM On 5th Feb 2008, rhthesinner said: Speaking thoughts is not frowned upon Sometimes, the manner in which they are, is Then how do you explain deleting shouts that do nothing but complain to deleting shouts? Hurry up before this post gets deleted too. I didn't join this site to be a slave to some totalitarian big brother.
Israfel	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 3:57 PM Whoa, Saadya, that problem has been happening to me off and on and I'm very sure its not someone deleting the shouts. It happens randomly to me and then after a few seconds I can post a shout again. It happens in the community shout box and in other people's shout boxes which is why I'm sure my shouts are not randomly being deleted.
leflaw	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 9:07 PM Jeesh! what'I say?
leflaw	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 9:18 PM ... and to think I was considering giving him a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Special single cutaway. Oh well...
kingo	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 9:28 PM I'll take it. I'm just sittin' here.
leedsquietman	Date: February 7, 2008 @ 9:29 PM just some post dmusic stress disorder going on, people really miss having full access to streaming the whole catalog of Dmusic and not being able to upload songs. Rocky, I understand how you feel, I'm sure Larry does too. Just a little more patience and faith and I'm sure we'll all soon have the Dmusic we want, subs like you and me, non subs, noobs, casual observers and the top brass. I'm sure this migration to new servers is not going to come cheap and I'm glad Leflaw is paying the bill and not me .... PS - I could always use a Les Paul of any kind if they're going for free, even a modern Epiphone would do me , hint, hint
ajpresentsky	Date: February 8, 2008 @ 4:16 AM I migrate servers for a living not to mention creating and implementing disaster recovery plans. Need any help? I'll do the whole job for a Les Paul Custom (Alpine White).
keiross	Date: February 8, 2008 @ 8:53 AM I'm a n00b compared to most of the guys in this thread, and I doubt I could even comprehend the complexities of migrating servers with a site as complicated as this... but informing people isn't rocket science and a little basic customer service in the form of keeping people updated would go a long way and actually act as great PR for this site. Just a thought. Still nothing like a bit of community drama to make people even more attached to the site without them knowing it
zedsalt	Date: February 8, 2008 @ 11:15 AM Tm'an's particular skill suit seems to be a good fit for the job at hand. So, why are we keeping the partial outage a secret? Things like this happen to the best of sites, and I'd be happy if we could just cuddle. Wait. Strike that last part; I was thinking of a different sort of equipment problem. But I'm still certain that not letting people know is infinitely more harmful than letting them think the current state of things IS DMusic. As for that other thing, just relax, maybe see your doctor.
TarheadMugwump	Date: February 8, 2008 @ 11:37 AM hadn't been by in a million years. decided to revamp my stuff... dumped all of my stuff except one song intent on reloading... had no idea that planet dmusic had fallen out of orbit... bummer... found out when i tried to upload and rebuild - now, i'm a one song guy... that kinda sucks
leflaw	Date: February 8, 2008 @ 9:23 PM Well, we didn't plan it this way. It sort of happened. One thing after the other. Now I am waiting for a Raid recovery that costs $5,000.00 I'm in no mood etc. etc....
GTOriginal	Date: February 8, 2008 @ 10:46 PM Shouldn't be a problem, amount of custom guitars you been handing out
ShadowMom	Date: February 8, 2008 @ 11:57 PM Can I have a raise anyway?
Woof	Date: February 9, 2008 @ 1:20 AM Britney checks in to the psych ward. Britney gets released from the psych ward. Kirsten Dunst checks into rehab, Feist is up for a grammy, and Audrey Hepburn has been dead since 1993. Everything's going to hell...
pog	Date: February 9, 2008 @ 3:39 AM The outage has pretty much effected every last one of us one way or another, and yes I can see how if you are hosted with DMusic you can and do have a right to be disappointed with these issues. But lets face it... if you computer died, you would accept it, and go out and buy another computer. In a more or less way of looking at it, thats exactly what DMusic is doing for itself... replacing a broken system. Now consider reinstalling every bit of software that has been lost in the upgrade. It can take weeks and with some of us months to reinstall half of the software that we used to use on older systems that have failed. Imagine doing that if you wrote the code yourself !! IMHO people need to be patient, because I know that I am confident that DMusic will return to its former glory, and eventually we will all be able to look back upon this as a pert of DMusics history.
Saadya	Date: February 9, 2008 @ 4:30 AM Hardware is not the only problem. I'd like to see the owners try and make more people join and stay. This way, it's just ShadowMom's and rhthesinner's chat site (and she gets paid for it, apparently), plus a handful of others. From what I see, people join and never come back, or treat this site as just another place to publish their music and rely more on other similar sites. A tiny community of friends is nice, but this place has a much greater potential.
ajpresentsky	Date: February 9, 2008 @ 4:32 AM Have you guys never heard of backups and disaster recovery FFS? As I mentioned before I do this sort of stuff for a living, average time to have a system back up and running after a major crash - 2 hours. You have paying customers on here and you owe them something better. If I handled my business the way you guys do I wouldn't have one.
Saadya	Date: February 9, 2008 @ 4:33 AM To be honest, the site was buggy even before it crashed.
zedsalt	Date: February 9, 2008 @ 10:49 AM I'd feel a lot better if there was some sort of status report, a place where we could follow the progress of the recovery. And of course, the kind of every-page-big-bold-bright notice I've been pushing for. A dear friend of mine stopped by last night, a friend who happens to be a non-member DMusic fan and a former employee of what was one of the largest website development companies on the planet. He said the only times he'd seen website difficulties like this without any sort of notice were those when the troubles were so bad that the site admins were unable to even post such a thing. Nothing to lose, everything to gain, just one of the basic responsibilities of maintaining a website.
leedsquietman	Date: February 10, 2008 @ 12:12 AM The site was no more buggy than Myspace or Soundclick, after the rebuild it was buggier and some fixes are still being waited on but nothing crucial. Tony - I see your point. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes and why it's taking so long but there must be some serious complications because I don't think any sane business person would purposefully take a website offline for so long, losing customers and advertising revenue, risking some people never coming back. Leflaw is a smart guy, so I don't know if it is a financial or logistical issue (or both). Besides, some of you guys who are complaining incessantly live for this stuff, you know. Some of you will never go away, the chance to whinge and moan is just too strong to fulfil those threats to quit...
Zorrillin	Date: February 10, 2008 @ 12:50 AM i subscribe today before knowing this problem, i didn't know this was happening.
rhthesinner	Date: February 10, 2008 @ 4:30 AM site? I spend the majority of my time here doing things like this: http://www.dmusic.com/forum/Announcements/24844 Admin do not get paid We might get a DMusic t-shirt from time to time And if/when I do , I'm only exercising a capability that everybody else here has the freedom to do if they so desire it.
Distilled1	Date: February 10, 2008 @ 11:23 AM I'll raise you 2 caps mom! cause both mine I have given away I need more DMusic caps and the boy wants a T-shirt hes not getting mine
ChillinBuzz	Date: February 10, 2008 @ 3:08 PM would you believe i'm wearing my dmusic shirt right now? it says "Free The Music" on the back... i'm wondering if that should read "Free The Server" right now... ah well... i wonder if you could compare this to the dark days the site went through several years ago, just prior to Larry buying it. as i don't really know the full story i couldn't say but these things happen in cycles i guess.
ShadowMom	Date: February 10, 2008 @ 3:10 PM Does this mean I don't get a raise? I'll just stop then Like hell..
silentpair	Date: February 10, 2008 @ 6:31 PM i'll agree that it is taking a while, but as long as there's a mindblowingly obvious an