Failed to get ID from 'assign4.stanford.edu:80'

[NicholasLee]

Hello,
I have just installed the latest windows client on a "Windows 7 Professional" machine, but it is stuck trying to download the data to process.

The log is as follows:

Code: Select all

09:13:14:******************************** Build ********************************
09:13:14:      Version: 7.1.52
09:13:14:         Date: Mar 20 2012
09:13:14:         Time: 19:37:42
09:13:14:      SVN Rev: 3515
09:13:14:       Branch: fah/trunk/client
09:13:14:     Compiler: Intel(R) C++ MSVC 1500 mode 1200
09:13:14:      Options: /TP /nologo /EHa /Qdiag-disable:4297,4103,1786,279 /Ox -arch:SSE
09:13:14:               /QaxSSE2,SSE3,SSSE3,SSE4.1,SSE4.2 /Qopenmp /Qrestrict /MT
09:13:14:     Platform: win32 XP
09:13:14:         Bits: 32
09:13:14:         Mode: Release
09:13:14:******************************* System ********************************
09:13:14:          CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
09:13:14:       CPU ID: GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7
09:13:14:         CPUs: 4
09:13:14:       Memory: 7.94GiB
09:13:14:  Free Memory: 5.79GiB
09:13:14:      Threads: WINDOWS_THREADS
09:13:14:   On Battery: false
09:13:14:   UTC offset: 1
09:13:14:          PID: 4200
09:13:14:          CWD: C:/Users/nlee.BLANDFORD/AppData/Roaming/FAHClient
09:13:14:           OS: Windows 7 Professional
09:13:14:      OS Arch: AMD64
09:13:14:         GPUs: 1
09:13:14:        GPU 0: UNSUPPORTED: RV830 FirePro 3D V3800
09:13:14:         CUDA: Not detected
09:13:14:Win32 Service: false
09:13:14:***********************************************************************
...
09:40:41:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign3.stanford.edu:8080
09:40:42:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get ID from 'assign3.stanford.edu:8080': Failed to connect to assign3.stanford.edu:8080: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
09:40:42:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign4.stanford.edu:80
09:40:44:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get ID from 'assign4.stanford.edu:80': 10001: Server responded: HTTP_FORBIDDEN
09:40:44:ERROR:WU00:FS00:Exception: Could not get an assignment ID

Background:
The firewall here is set to only allow port 80 traffic in and out. All other ports in and out are blocked.
I have diasabling IPv6 on my PC, but that made no difference so I have re-enabled it again.
If I put "assign4.stanford.edu" into a browser, I see a website that says "OK".

Mod Edit: Changed Quote Tags To Code Tags - PantherX

[7im]

Hello NicholasLee, welcome to the forum.

What kind of AV or firewall software do you have? Probably need to manually set those to allow fahclient and fahcore to pass through. Might need to disable IP v6 again.

[NicholasLee]

The software on the local PC is just the normal windows 7 firewall. I have local admin rights for this PC and can do what I like with it.
There is also a corporate network firewall (that blocks anything but port 80 in both directions), that can't be modified.
I can't think of any illegitimate reason for FAH to use anything but port 80.

Is there anyone who knows the coding innards of FAH who can comment on the meaning of the cryptic error message and what has actually gone wrong?

[7im]

When the client is first installed, it requests a unique ID from the FAH servers at Stanford.

Obviously, the first request is denied, as it used port 8080.
09:40:41:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign3.stanford.edu:8080

The second attempt uses port 80, but I haven't seen that specific error before. Again, could be related to IP v6.
09:40:42:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign4.stanford.edu:80

I'll ask anyone...

Also you trimmed the log... please confirm which which slot type was installed, UNI, SMP, GPU? Thanks.

[bruce]

I suspect that ticket #505 (near the bottom), which describes the second problem 7im mentions, also refers you to a Microsoft hot fix. That might be helpful.

FAH is supposed to work find over port 80 though it prefers port 8080. I know either will work with IPV4 but almost certainly not with IPV6 yet.

After you've disabled IPV6 and you ping assign4.stanford.edu, do you see something like this?

Pinging assign4.stanford.edu:80 [208.67.216.145] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 208.67.216.145: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=57

[NicholasLee]

I have tried the Microsoft Hotfix to 'prefer IPv4', but the problem persists.

Here is the full log file.

Code: Select all

*********************** Log Started 2012-07-13T09:18:30Z ***********************
09:18:30:************************* Folding@home Client *************************
09:18:30:      Website: http://folding.stanford.edu/
09:18:30:    Copyright: (c) 2009-2012 Stanford University
09:18:30:       Author: Joseph Coffland <joseph@cauldrondevelopment.com>
09:18:30:         Args: --lifeline 5008 --command-port=36330
09:18:30:       Config: C:/Users/nlee.BLANDFORD/AppData/Roaming/FAHClient/config.xml
09:18:30:******************************** Build ********************************
09:18:30:      Version: 7.1.52
09:18:30:         Date: Mar 20 2012
09:18:30:         Time: 19:37:42
09:18:30:      SVN Rev: 3515
09:18:30:       Branch: fah/trunk/client
09:18:30:     Compiler: Intel(R) C++ MSVC 1500 mode 1200
09:18:30:      Options: /TP /nologo /EHa /Qdiag-disable:4297,4103,1786,279 /Ox -arch:SSE
09:18:30:               /QaxSSE2,SSE3,SSSE3,SSE4.1,SSE4.2 /Qopenmp /Qrestrict /MT
09:18:30:     Platform: win32 XP
09:18:30:         Bits: 32
09:18:30:         Mode: Release
09:18:30:******************************* System ********************************
09:18:30:          CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
09:18:30:       CPU ID: GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7
09:18:30:         CPUs: 4
09:18:30:       Memory: 7.94GiB
09:18:30:  Free Memory: 6.10GiB
09:18:30:      Threads: WINDOWS_THREADS
09:18:30:   On Battery: false
09:18:30:   UTC offset: 1
09:18:30:          PID: 4996
09:18:30:          CWD: C:/Users/nlee.BLANDFORD/AppData/Roaming/FAHClient
09:18:30:           OS: Windows 7 Professional
09:18:30:      OS Arch: AMD64
09:18:30:         GPUs: 1
09:18:30:        GPU 0: UNSUPPORTED: RV830 FirePro 3D V3800
09:18:30:         CUDA: Not detected
09:18:30:Win32 Service: false
09:18:30:***********************************************************************
09:18:30:<config>
09:18:30:  <!-- Folding Slot Configuration -->
09:18:30:  <gpu v='true'/>
09:18:30:
09:18:30:  <!-- User Information -->
09:18:30:  <team v='219596'/>
09:18:30:  <user v='Lee-Technology'/>
09:18:30:
09:18:30:  <!-- Folding Slots -->
09:18:30:</config>
09:18:30:Trying to access database...
09:18:30:Successfully acquired database lock
09:18:30:Enabled folding slot 00: READY smp:4
09:18:30:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign3.stanford.edu:8080
09:18:31:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get ID from 'assign3.stanford.edu:8080': Failed to connect to assign3.stanford.edu:8080: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
09:18:31:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign4.stanford.edu:80
09:18:31:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get ID from 'assign4.stanford.edu:80': 10001: Server responded: HTTP_FORBIDDEN
09:18:31:ERROR:WU00:FS00:Exception: Could not get an assignment ID
09:18:32:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign3.stanford.edu:8080
09:18:32:Server connection id=1 on 0.0.0.0:36330 from 127.0.0.1
09:18:33:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get ID from 'assign3.stanford.edu:8080': Failed to connect to assign3.stanford.edu:8080: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
09:18:33:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign4.stanford.edu:80
09:18:33:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get ID from 'assign4.stanford.edu:80': 10001: Server responded: HTTP_FORBIDDEN
09:18:33:ERROR:WU00:FS00:Exception: Could not get an assignment ID
09:19:32:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign3.stanford.edu:8080
09:19:33:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get ID from 'assign3.stanford.edu:8080': Failed to connect to assign3.stanford.edu:8080: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
09:19:33:WU00:FS00:Connecting to assign4.stanford.edu:80
09:19:33:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get ID from 'assign4.stanford.edu:80': 10001: Server responded: HTTP_FORBIDDEN
09:19:33:ERROR:WU00:FS00:Exception: Could not get an assignment ID

Interestingly doing "ping assign4.stanford.edu" works (t=165ms), but "ping assign4.stanford.edu:80" gives "Ping request could not find host assign4.stanford.edu:80. Please check the name and try again."
However, I am fairly sure that the "ping" command does not support sending pings to specific ports, so I wasn't expecting that to work.

I can however use IE to check the connectivity.
Visiting http://www.assign4.stanford.edu:8080/ does not work

Visiting http://www.assign4.stanford.edu:80/ works and gives a webpage that contains the text "OK"
However after a few page refreshes, the above stopped working! (blocked by the server?)

Trying http://171.64.65.121/ (i.e. the IP address of the above URL) always works and gives a webpage that contains the text "OK"

NB: A traceroute of "assign4.stanford.edu" always works all the way through, so it is not A DNS issue.

Regards,
Nicholas Lee

[codysluder]

Interestingly doing "ping assign4.stanford.edu" works (t=165ms), but "ping assign4.stanford.edu:80" gives "Ping request could not find host assign4.stanford.edu:80. Please check the name and try again."
However, I am fairly sure that the "ping" command does not support sending pings to specific ports, so I wasn't expecting that to work.

I can however use IE to check the connectivity.
Visiting http://www.assign4.stanford.edu:8080/ does not work

Visiting http://www.assign4.stanford.edu:80/ works and gives a webpage that contains the text "OK"
However after a few page refreshes, the above stopped working! (blocked by the server?)

Trying http://171.64.65.121/ (i.e. the IP address of the above URL) always works and gives a webpage that contains the text "OK"

NB: A traceroute of "assign4.stanford.edu" always works all the way through, so it is not A DNS issue.

Regards,
Nicholas Lee

Your comments are correct. All of those results are exactly what you should be expecting except for the original problem.

Perhaps assign4 is not configured to provide the required information to your client. It wouldn't surprise me that nobody has noticed it doesn't work because nearly everybody obtains it from assign3 on port 8080.

[NicholasLee]

Ok folks, so how do we actually fix this problem?

FAHControl shows it cycling round the following servers, and failing to get assignment IDs from any of them
assign3.stanford.edu:8080
assign3.stanford.edu:80
assign4.stanford.edu:8080
assign4.stanford.edu:80

What does the "HTTP_FORBIDDEN" error mean, and how do we fix it, or get it fixed?

Is there any way to manually specify what servers or ports it searches in order to direct it to one that will work?

How do we contact the people responsible for assign4.stanford.edu:80 and get them to fix it (if that is indeed the cause of the problem)?

[bruce]

You or your network administrator have to fix that problem -- it's on your end.

If I individually place each one of those addresses in my browser, they open a page that says "OK" but even if a blank page is received (no error) it demonstrates that your machine can contact the appropriate server. Firewall or AntiVirus protection in your computer or network is forbidding the FAH client from contacting the internet. Temporarily disabling that protection can confirm what is blocking the connection but then you will have to devise a specific exception that allows FAH to bypass that protection when you re-enable it.

Often such protection is called anti-spyware because it prevents an unauthorized program from sending personal data to an evil site. FAH doesn't do that but the Firewall/AV doesn't know that, you do (sort of like the OK you have to provide every time you intentionally download and install some software).

Zonealarm added this sort of outbound protection to their firewall many years ago. Norton added it to their AV suite several years ago. I'm sure there are others now.

[PinHead]

09:40:44:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get ID from 'assign4.stanford.edu:80': 10001: Server responded: HTTP_FORBIDDEN

Looks like the corporate firewall is blocking the request.

The fact that you can use a browser to reach the IP address, but not the client; indicates that the firewall might have an approved outbound program list and the client is not on it. Or it has a blocked outbound program list and the program is on it.

Corporations consider the computer and the bandwidth as a corporate resource for business purposes only. They also have approved software list. I hope you have permission to be running the client behind a corporate firewall. Or on a corporate machine behind a corporate firewall.