THEM Domain Issues?

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Nov 2007

Please tell me this is some sort of horrible error on my end:

EDIT: No, not a bug. But it seems to be getting worked out a page at a time. DNS issue?

kmarple1Jul 29, 2008 4:29 PM

Jul 29, 2008 4:39 PM

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Jun 2008

1467

Error??????

She is pretty hot....lol No error there!

I just tried my bookmark and it is just fine. Just in case: http://www.themanime.org/

Watch Anime Together Club Headquarters:

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Jul 29, 2008 5:08 PM

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Nov 2007

Yeah, mine's still down. However, it worked at one point before going straight back to the page above. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say DNS poisoning. That would put the problem not on either end but somewhere in the middle. And there's been a rash of it going around thanks to some recently exposed security vulnerabilities. And since a PC can take several routes to a destination (website), that would explain why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. So someone in the middle just needs to patch their server.

Mar 5, 2010 5:57 PM

Yincira

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Apr 2008

Thread revival for related topic : is anyone else getting page load errors when trying to access either the reviews or the forum?

Mar 6, 2010 4:34 PM

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Apr 2009

5194

For me it isn't just page errors-mI can't access the site at all now. I was hoping that it was just a problem on my end since we've just switched internet providers, but I can access all my other sites.

Mar 7, 2010 10:05 AM

Shinigami

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Sep 2006

230

Yup, me three. Even worse, I can't access from work either. I've been completely shut out since Thursday.

Mar 7, 2010 1:38 PM

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Jun 2008

I've also been having problem accessing THEM (and now I'm suffering from withdrawal @__@). Tried at school on Friday and have been trying from laptop at home since Thursday...hopefully they'll get these domain issues fixed soon.

Mar 12, 2010 5:06 PM

Heart_of_Storm

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Nov 2007

256

Just to add to this - I cant get on today, not to reviews or forums.

This makes me sad :-(

Mar 14, 2010 9:32 AM

EveryNameTaken

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Jan 2008

kMarple wrote on our boards:

"MonkeyLover" said:
I'm just finding it extremely odd that people in very different geographic locations using a variety of different machines (running different OSs I'm sure) are having troubles at the same time. Seems very strange to me.

NOTE: Explanation below is a bit technical, even with some details left out, so you can feel free to skip the first 4 paragraphs if you just want an answer to "how do I fix it?".

It isn't that uncommon. The DNS system is basically a worldwide network organized in a hierarchy (a tree, if you're familiar with the computer science version). If your computer wants to access a website it doesn't have information cached for, or if its info is out of date, it asks its DNS server for the information. If that DNS server doesn't have it, it forwards the request, and so on until it reaches a server that has the info. The information is then passed back the way it came, and each server that forwarded the request caches it, at least temporarily.

The problem arises when a server has bad information and thinks it knows how to access the site, but doesn't. It forwards this bad data in response to requests, so soon many DNS servers can be using the bad information. There are many ways a server can get the bad information in the first place, but it's a known, serious problem with DNS. There have actually been attacks based on getting a DNS server to send people to a malicious site instead of the real one. Not a concern in this case, since it sounds like the site is just not showing up rather than redirecting to another one.

Since DNS records expire after a period of time the problem usually works itself out eventually. The record expires, the next request gets forwarded, and hopefully comes back with the correct information. The "time to live" (ttl) can be anywhere from seconds to weeks, though.

The advantage of OpenDNS and other public DNS services like Google's (which I use myself) is that they tend to have more authoritative records, and are less likely to give you bad information. This also increases security, since bad information can mean more than just not loading the page you asked for. In many cases, they're also faster, since they're more likely to have information that your default DNS server would have to send off for.

Solution-wise then, the best option would be to switch to more reliable DNS servers, like the OpenDNS servers Amberwolf recommended or Google's (http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/). If that isn't an option, the problem ought to work itself out on its own, but there's no telling exactly how long it could take. Could be tomorrow, could be 2 weeks from now.

There is one other thing anyone having trouble could try, and that's clear the DNS cache on the PC that's having problems. This causes it to request the information from its DNS server again instead of using what it has stored. It may or may not work, depending on whether or not the server it asks is still using the bad information. If you're on a Windows machine, you'd open a command prompt and run

<pre>ipconfig /flushdns

Other OSes / systems should also have some way of doing it, but that one will work on any version of Windows (at least Windows 2000 or better). You'll most likely need Admin rights on the machine to run it.

UPDATE: Several online DNS lookup tools also fail to resolve themanime.org. The ones that do return the IP address [url=http://69.73.181.154/]69.73.181.154, which seems to be correct. Using it directly just brings up a cPanel page rather than the site, which is typical for shared webhosting servers. For debugging though, you might try using that IP directly just to see if it loads at all. If you get the cPanel page, it's most likely a DNS issue. If you can't access it at all, it could be something else.

UPDATE 2: The "whois" record for themanime.org also shows different nameservers (NS1.ALETIA.COM and NS2.ALETIA.COM) than show up in a DNS lookup (ns.nocdirect.com and ns2.nocdirect.com). Aletia.com and the two nameservers from it redirect to a generic domain parking site, so if the site changed hosting services recently (or the hosting service changed hands) the records may be out of date.

Mar 14, 2010 7:55 PM

#10

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Jun 2008

I tried to read all of that. I failed. But thanks for the info anyway. I still can't access it at all and I have no idea why (well, the info about the DNS network may have been a little too complicated for me, I'm afraid...) I've tried to access it cached and it tells me "this is a snapshot of the site as it appeard on March 7th [...]" ? I think around March 7th is the last time I could get on...
Still, hoping for the best. It really is weird that only some members seem to be able to acess the site...

Mar 15, 2010 2:41 PM

#11

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Apr 2009

5194

Same here about the cache thing. Got a message from VenusRozen saying that he could get on and access the site, but I've had no luck. Is the problem localized? Like, only people in the US can't access it? Maybe it's a problem with the servers instead of the hosting site? Either way, I miss it right now ;.;

Mar 15, 2010 8:11 PM

#12

Northlander

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Jun 2008

It's not just the US, because I know Mel used to have problems accessing the site (she's from Iceland.) I've never had any problems, though, so there's nothing I can add here, unfortunately.

Mar 15, 2010 10:33 PM

#13

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Nov 2007

OK, I'll skip the TLDR; and keep this short and sweet. The cause of the problem is unknown, but using one of the more popular DNS services instead of whatever your ISP provides seems to fix the problem. Lots of options, but Google's (which I use) provides detailed instructions here: http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using.html

Mar 16, 2010 8:25 AM

#14

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Jun 2008

1467

People people, calm down and lets really answer what the problem is...

We can point the finger all we want but the truth it out there. THIS IS A TOTAL CONSPIRACY COVER UP!!!!! I see it and soon I will release a documentary about how the gov't does not want us all to access THEM.

RIOT IN THE STREETS!!!

Watch Anime Together Club Headquarters:

Read Everything And Discuss: Manga:

Or just come find me here:

Mar 16, 2010 1:20 PM

#15

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Jun 2008

I'm going to see if I can try the Google thing, but the only problem is that my family all uses wireless laptops (mostly) and that I feel like if I change IP addresses, I'm going to mess stuff up...
Hahaha, y'know, I used to think I was pretty decent with computers. But all this technical stuff is flying over my head.
It's really weird that this problem is only affecting some of us, though...I thought it may be a US only thing but if Heart of Storm and Demondude (who we all know is from the nether regions of space) are having problems from places outside the US, what and where exactly can we trace the problem back to?

Mar 16, 2010 1:28 PM

#16

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Jun 2008

1467

Koko...I am in the US tho. CA represent!

I am going to try on my mobile phone. Who knows, maybe I will get lucky on my lunch break.

Watch Anime Together Club Headquarters:

Read Everything And Discuss: Manga:

Or just come find me here:

Mar 16, 2010 4:34 PM

#17

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Jun 2008

demondude777 said:
Koko...I am in the US tho. CA represent!

OH NO YOU AIN'T...hahahaha, just kidding (?).

Alrighty, just to update...anyone who cares...I figured out how to open a command prompt! (anyone with Windows XP go to accessories and open up command prompt. It's actually very simple!)
I looked up and entered "ipconfig /flushdns ". It keeps telling me "the requested operation requires elevation". Please help me techies. :(
Probably will post this in the comments for posterity.

Mar 16, 2010 5:06 PM

#18

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Nov 2007

kokoRo3 said:
I looked up and entered "ipconfig /flushdns ". It keeps telling me "the requested operation requires elevation". Please help me techies. :(
Probably will post this in the comments for posterity.

You don't have admin rights, or you're running Vista or Windows 7 and need to start the command prompt as an Administrator (right-click on the shortcut in Start -> All Programs -> Accessories and click "Run as Administrator" or equivalent).

kmarple1Mar 16, 2010 5:11 PM

Mar 17, 2010 1:35 PM

#19

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Apr 2009

5194

Well, I flushed my DNS cache, and still nothing. If I change my access server on my laptop, will it affect the desktop computer? Ah, well, I'll make note of the original access, and if something goes wrong, revert back.

Mar 17, 2010 2:04 PM

#20

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Nov 2007

Changing the DNS servers seems to have done the trick for demondude777, Sweetpea, shinigami, and Heart_of_Storm, who have all posted on the forums since they last posted here. kokoRo, you may be the last person having problems, if you haven't already fixed it. If you aren't able to get it working, feel free to let me know.

Mar 24, 2010 1:07 PM

#21

SamildanachEmrys

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Dec 2007

Oh, I thought the site had packed up. Oh well. I'll look into this DNS thing.

<|[[[[{

Mar 26, 2010 3:07 PM

#22

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Apr 2009

5194

Yay! I can get back on now! Thanks everyone for the good advice!

Mar 28, 2010 9:16 AM

#23

SamildanachEmrys

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Dec 2007

Yeah, it worked for me too. Success.

<|[[[[{

Apr 20, 2010 4:00 AM

#24

emanuel

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Dec 2007

it's not working for me.
truth to be told, I'm not sure how to change the dns, but I don't have such a problem with any other site. It's a real pitty not to be able to access themanime.

Aug 27, 2010 12:12 AM

#25

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Nov 2007

emanuel said:
it's not working for me.
truth to be told, I'm not sure how to change the dns, but I don't have such a problem with any other site. It's a real pitty not to be able to access themanime.

It's a very strange problem. I never had any problems elsewhere either, but changing the DNS did the trick for me.

The simplest way to change it can be done within windows:
1. Go to control panel
2. Go to Network Connections (Network and Sharing Center in Vista/7)
3. Right-click on your network adapter (usually Local Area Connection) and select properties. (For Windows Vista/7, left-click the adapter and click the properties button on the pop-up window).
4. This will give you a list of items and protocols the connection uses. Find "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)", select it, and click "Properties".
5. The pop-up window will have two sets of options, one for IP address (leave that alone) and one for DNS server. Usually the default is to select it automatically.
6. Select "Use the following DNS addresses" and enter the following for the addresses:
Preferred: 8.8.8.8
Alternate: 8.8.8.4

Click "OK" after that and it's all done. You may need admin rights on the PC to do it, and you may need to restart to notice a difference. On any site but THEM there shouldn't be any noticeable effect, but Google's DNS is usually a bit faster than an ISP's, so there might be a bit of a general improvement.

EDIT: Strange stuff; I just got the email about a reply in this thread today, but the last post is listed as April. Could be a fluke with MAL. Anyway, hope the above is useful to someone.

Sep 11, 2010 10:58 AM

#26

Yincira

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Apr 2008

Actually, that was me. For one browser session, I could suddenly get back on the boards. I had changed nothing, it just worked again, but the next session it was gone again. I had posted a question asking about it, but then changed my mind, called it quits and deleted the question, and changed the DNS to that of Google. But now I have the problem back on that DNS too.

Edit - And now it's accessible again. I don't get this. Anyway, sorry for the disturbance.

YinciraSep 11, 2010 11:43 AM

Sep 13, 2010 11:37 AM

#27

Shiroitachi

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Apr 2009

Hello hello!

Is the THEM forum down at all? I can access the reviews, but not the message boards. It's been like this for a few days now...

Sep 23, 2010 1:20 PM

#28