FTP Upload results in 0x80004005 error?

[major4579]

PWM ver 1.7.1 - Firefox 1.5.0.12 - Windows 2000 SP4

I'm trying to setup an upload to my web server to transfer passwords between 2 computers.
I've setup the account as follows:

URL: ftp://ftp.xxxx.biz/home/www/xxxx/data   (the site name has been changed to 'xxxx')
Username/Password are filled in correctly
Filename Pattern: passwordmaker.rdf

I click on Upload and eventually get a "0x80004005 error" message, and the file does not transfer.

I created a local passwordmaker.rdf and using an FTP file sync program, copied and pasted the various fields into it (this program had separate URL and Folder fields, which I filled in with "ftp://ftp.xxxx.biz" and "/home/www/xxxx/data" respectively). This program transferred the file without a problem.

I googled "0x80004005" and was amazed at all the different programs that report this error number. One is Outlook (I do NOT use it), other are databases.

2 additional questions:
1) I'm assuming that I can enter "passwordmaker.rdf" for the filename pattern - this way I don't have to keep changing the name to transfer it back and forth between 2 computers.

2) What should be in the "Backup Directory" field?

Thanks,
John

[Miquel 'Fire' Burns]

I have this feeling that the path is not quite correct. Anyway, the URL should include the file name as well. I assume data is a directory in of itself. (Backup Directory and filename pattern is for where PasswordMaker stores the file before downloading a new one BTW)

[major4579]

Even though it looks a little funny, the path is correct (that's how my webhost sets it up). To double check I used Filezilla and filled out the two fields as follows:

Host: xxxx.biz
Server Type: FTP
 on Advanced Page:
Default remote directory: /home/www/xxxx/data/

When I connect with Filezilla I go right to the /home/www/xxxx/data/ subdirectory and can see files that I have uploaded through other programs (Filezilla, an FTP File Sync program, and even the windows command line FTP utility).

The only program that balks at this remote directory structure is PWM.

-John

[Miquel 'Fire' Burns]

There's the issue (mainly with the UI of Firefox Edition), you're trying to replace your data directory with the backup of PasswordMaker's file. The URL field should look like: ftp://ftp.xxxx.biz/home/www/xxxx/data/filename.ext

The file name pattern is for the backup directory only.

[Eric H. Jung]

The backup directory is only used when downloading settings FROM your remote server to the local file system. The filename pattern is also only used when downloading settings FROM your remote server to the local file system.

For uploading to the server, the URL must be of the form:

ftp://xxxx.biz/path/filename.rdf

in other words, the complete hostname, path, and filename on a single line. Let me know ifyou're still having problems.

Most of the tips given in this post and by miquel can be read in the tooltips when hovering over individual fields on the Remote  Settings dialog box.

[major4579]

I changed the URL to:

ftp://ftp.xxxx.biz/home/www/xxxx/data/passwordmaker.rdf

Still get an 0x80004005 error.

BTW, tooltips doesn't seem to be working for me...

-John

Note: While I'm more than happy to help work out this bug -
it's become a moot point for me since I now use another program to FTP the PWM.rdf file in my profile to my server.

[Eric H. Jung]

Seeing your sig which indicates you're using Mozilla Suite 1.7.12 makes me wonder if you're encountering this bug which was fixed for Firefox 1.5, but I don't know when or if it was fixed for Mozilla Suite. There's a work-around I can code into PasswordMaker described here, but I'm hesitant to bother given the underlying bug is already fixed in Firefox (and most likely SeaMonkey). Any chance you're going to upgrade?

[major4579]

Eric,

Sorry I hadn't updated my sig in awhile - it should be correct now...

[Eric H. Jung]

Well, great. I still don't have any answers for you. Any chance you'd be willing to try with FF 2.x? If you get the error with that, then I suspect the FTP server is implements some kind of non-standard FTP protocol subset. Do you know what the FTP server software is, by chance?

[major4579]

Eric,

Using Filezilla I get the following when connecting to the FTP server:

Status:   Connected. Waiting for welcome message...
Response:   220 ProFTPD 1.3.0 Server ready.
Command:   USER xxxx
Response:   331 Password required for xxxx.
Command:   PASS ******
Response:   230 User xxxx logged in.
Command:   SYST
Response:   215 UNIX Type: L8
Command:   FEAT
Response:   211-Features:
Response:    MDTM
Response:    REST STREAM
Response:    SIZE
Response:   211 End

As for FF 2.x - there's 2 reasons I haven't upgraded from 1.5: speed and there are a couple of extensions that are not supported. I kinda hoping that 3.x will be better. Remember this is from someone still running Windows 2000!

[tanstaafl]

Personally I find 2.0.x to be faster than 1.5.x... and what extensions?? If they aren't updated, then maybe they aren't needed? I wouldn't be comfortable using an extension that has gone this long without being supported...

[Eric H. Jung]

If they aren't updated, then maybe they aren't needed? I wouldn't be comfortable using an extension that has gone this long without being supported...

Some extension authors move on to other things... some even die, too. Often there is only one person behind an extension, and if he no longer has time to update it, the extension goes fallow. This is because Mozilla makes NO EFFORT to maintain backwards compatibility for addons... unlike, say, Microsoft, which bends over backwards to ensure old software works with new releases:

The most impressive things to read on Raymond's weblog are the stories of the incredible efforts the Windows team has made over the years to support backwards compatibility:

    Look at the scenario from the customer's standpoint. You bought programs X, Y and Z. You then upgraded to Windows XP. Your computer now crashes randomly, and program Z doesn't work at all. You're going to tell your friends, "Don't upgrade to Windows XP. It crashes randomly, and it's not compatible with program Z." Are you going to debug your system to determine that program X is causing the crashes, and that program Z doesn't work because it is using undocumented window messages? Of course not. You're going to return the Windows XP box for a refund. (You bought programs X, Y, and Z some months ago. The 30-day return policy no longer applies to them. The only thing you can return is Windows XP.)

I first heard about this from one of the developers of the hit game SimCity, who told me that there was a critical bug in his application: it used memory right after freeing it, a major no-no that happened to work OK on DOS but would not work under Windows where memory that is freed is likely to be snatched up by another running application right away. The testers on the Windows team were going through various popular applications, testing them to make sure they worked OK, but SimCity kept crashing. They reported this to the Windows developers, who disassembled SimCity, stepped through it in a debugger, found the bug, and added special code that checked if SimCity was running, and if it did, ran the memory allocator in a special mode in which you could still use memory after freeing it.

[tanstaafl]

If they aren't updated, then maybe they aren't needed? I wouldn't be comfortable using an extension that has gone this long without being supported...

Some extension authors move on to other things... some even die, too. Often there is only one person behind an extension, and if he no longer has time to update it, the extension goes fallow. This is because Mozilla makes NO EFFORT to maintain backwards compatibility for addons...

Oh, I know... and it wasn't a criticism...

Of course, Eric, you are going to live forever, and never abandon PWM (the one extension that I would consider sticking with an older version of FFox for), so I'll be free to continue upgrading to the latest and greatest FFox versions for eternity...