Fetch Softworks

Getting file list got slower (10 posts)

• Started 14 years ago by Pat
• Latest reply 14 years ago from Scott McGuire

• Pat Member

  Hello,
  I am using Fetch 5 on Mac system 10.4.11. I have used it for a long time, but have noticed over the last few months whenever I ftp to a website, the wait time from connect to display of file list is getting longer and longer. This happens on a wide variety of systems/ hosts /websites.
  Sorry if this question has been asked before, I cannot find a "search" on this forum.
  pf

  Posted 14 years ago #

• Scott McGuire Administrator

  Hi,

  Fetch does save some information about your previous connections, but generally it saves very little, so that shouldn't cause connections to get slower over time. I can't immediately think of a likely explanation for why you would be seeing such a behavior.

  But if you can let us know which exact version of Fetch you're using, we'll make some suggestions of things to try.

  (There is a search box in the upper right hand corner of all the pages on the Fetch Softworks website - initially it will return search results for all pages on the website, including the message board, but you can choose to limit it to only message board results.)

  Thanks,

  Scott McGuire
  Fetch Softworks

  Posted 14 years ago #

• Pat Member

  Thanks Scott; cool the search searches EVERYTHING - who woulda thought ! I am using 5.3. I also have version 4.0.3 installed, I use it only for one site because everytime I try to contact that site it gives me firewall error messages (both ends), so I close down 5.3 and use 4.0.3.... !

  Posted 14 years ago #

• Scott McGuire Administrator

  Hi,

  Do you see the slowness problem in both Fetch 5 and Fetch 4.0.3?

  Fetch 5.3 should be able to connect to any server that Fetch 4.0.3 can connect to; we can come back to that and investigate, if you like, so that you don't have to run two versions of Fetch.

  The first thing I'd try to see if it makes a difference is deleting the Fetch Cache. You can do that using the following steps:

  * Quit Fetch.
  * In the Finder, go to the "Go" menu, and choose "Home"
  * Open the Library folder
  * Open the Preferences folder
  * Find the Fetch Cache file, and move it to the Trash. (Don't worry, this file doesn't include any of your preferences or shortcuts.)

  See if you notice a difference in speed when connecting to servers, and let us know.

  Thanks,

  Scott McGuire
  Fetch Softworks

  Posted 14 years ago #

• Pat Member

  Thanks Scott, that seems to have fixed it!

  Posted 14 years ago #

• Scott McGuire Administrator

  Hi,

  I'm glad that seems to have fixed it, although I'll note (for others who may be reading this) that it's very rare for the Fetch Cache to cause slowdowns when connecting.

  Let us know if you notice the problem again.

  If you'd like to investigate why Fetch 5.3 can't connect to the one server that Fetch 4.0.3 can connect to, could you please do the following?

  * Quit all copies of Fetch.
  * Open Fetch 5.3.
  * Try connecting to the problem server.
  * After you receive the error, go to the Window menu, and choose Fetch Transcript.
  * Copy the entire contents of the transcript window, and attach them or paste them into an email to bugs@fetchsoftworks.com.

  Then:

  * Quit all copies of Fetch.
  * Open Fetch 4.0.3.
  * Connect to the problem server.
  * After you connect successfully, go to the Window menu, and choose Fetch Transcript.
  * Copy the entire contents of the transcript window, and attach them or paste them into an email to bugs@fetchsoftworks.com.

  We'll compare the two transcripts and see if we can figure out why Fetch 5.3 can't connect and what can be done about it.

  Thanks,

  Scott McGuire
  Fetch Softworks

  Posted 14 years ago #

• Pat Member

  Here it is - I substituted other text in [] for personally identifiable info.

  fetch 5.3:
  when I try with sftp
  Fetch 5.3 (5D161) Intel running on Mac OS X 10.4.11 (8S2167) Intel English
  StuffIt Engine 0x820, StuffIt SDK Version 10.1.1b1
  Partial serial FETCH5X001-6K2S-LPV5 T
  Connecting to [ftp address] port 22 (9/9/09 10:24:05 AM)
  SSH2_FXP_INIT 3
  Update check skipped at 09/09/2009 10:25 AM (next check after 09/10/2009 01:17 AM)

  fetch 5.3:
  when I try with ftp
  Fetch 5.3 (5D161) Intel running on Mac OS X 10.4.11 (8S2167) Intel English
  StuffIt Engine 0x820, StuffIt SDK Version 10.1.1b1
  Partial serial FETCH5X001-6K2S-LPV5 T
  Connecting to [ftp address] port 22 (9/9/09 10:24:05 AM)
  SSH2_FXP_INIT 3
  Update check skipped at 09/09/2009 10:25 AM (next check after 09/10/2009 01:17 AM)
  Connecting to [domain name] port 21 (Mac OS X firewall is on) (9/9/09 10:26:33 AM)
  Connected to 67.192.48.155 port 21 (9/9/09 10:26:33 AM)
  220 ProFTPD 1.3.1 Server (ProFTPD) [192.168.1.155]
  USER [username]
  331 Password required for [username]
  PASS
  230 User [username] logged in
  SYST
  215 UNIX Type: L8
  PWD
  257 "/" is the current directory
  MACB ENABLE
  500 MACB not understood
  CWD httpdocs
  250 CWD command successful
  PWD
  257 "/httpdocs" is the current directory
  TYPE A
  200 Type set to A
  PORT 192,168,0,11,200,186
  200 PORT command successful
  LIST -al
  Active mode connection blocked by Mac OS X firewall, port 51386
  ABOR
  ftp_list: 2,-30030 (state == GETTING_LIST)
  ftp_list: tw->port_retries == 0, retrying file list
  Connecting to reveriewine.com port 21 (Mac OS X firewall is on) (9/9/09 10:27:09 AM)
  Connected to 67.192.48.155 port 21 (9/9/09 10:27:09 AM)
  220 ProFTPD 1.3.1 Server (ProFTPD) [192.168.1.155]
  USER [username]
  331 Password required for [username]
  PASS
  230 User [username] logged in
  SYST
  215 UNIX Type: L8
  PWD
  257 "/" is the current directory
  MACB ENABLE
  500 MACB not understood
  CWD httpdocs
  250 CWD command successful
  PWD
  257 "/httpdocs" is the current directory
  TYPE A
  200 Type set to A
  EPSV
  229 Entering Extended Passive Mode (|||16064|)
  Making data connection to 67.192.48.155 port 16064
  ABOR
  500 ÿôÿòABOR not understood
  PORT 192,168,0,11,200,192
  200 PORT command successful
  LIST -al
  Active mode connection blocked by Mac OS X firewall, port 51392
  ABOR
  ftp_list: 2,-30031 (state == GETTING_LIST)
  QUIT
  send_cmd():con_conn->Putline() returns 2,32767

  fetch 4.0.3

  SYST
  215 UNIX Type: L8
  PWD
  257 "/" is the current directory
  MACB ENABLE
  500 MACB not understood
  PWD
  257 "/" is the current directory
  CWD httpdocs
  250 CWD command successful
  PWD
  257 "/httpdocs" is the current directory
  PASV
  227 Entering Passive Mode (67,192,48,155,141,220).
  LIST
  150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list

  [file list here]

  226-Transfer complete
  226 Quotas off

  Posted 14 years ago #

• Scott McGuire Administrator

  Hi,

  Thanks for the transcripts.

  First, I see that Fetch 5 is set to try active mode connections first (there are two ways Fetch can connect to FTP servers, passive and active). However, active mode connections will not work when you have your Mac OS X firewall enabled (on Mac OS X 10.4.11, anyway; the situation is different for Mac OS X 10.5 and later); Fetch 5 will automatically retry with passive mode, which is why most of your connections ultimately succeed. However, the fact that Fetch has to retry the connection every time is also contributing to your slow connection times; if you change Fetch to try passive first, you will probably get connections quicker.

  Second, Fetch 5 is trying a less-well-supported version of passive, whereas Fetch 4 is trying the regular version of passive. So let's fix those two problems and see if that helps.

  Please do the following:

  * Quit Fetch.
  * Open the Applications folder.
  * Open the Utilities folder.
  * Open the Terminal application.
  * At the prompt, type:

  defaults write com.fetchsoftworks.Fetch PreferEpsv -bool false

  (It's important to type that exactly; you may want to copy and paste from here.)

  * Next, open Fetch again.
  * Go to the Fetch menu, and choose Preferences.
  * Click the General tab.
  * Check the "Use passive mode transfers" checkbox (PASV).
  * Close the Preferences window.
  * Try connecting to the problem server again.

  Let us know if that works or not. If it does not work, please send a transcript from that connection attempt.

  Thanks,

  Scott McGuire
  Fetch Softworks

  Posted 14 years ago #

• Pat Member

  WOW ! Thanks so much Scott, it works GREAT now. I can't tell you how long I've been using that old fetch just for that one site. Now I can axe it.
  Pat

  Posted 14 years ago #

• Scott McGuire Administrator

  Hi Pat,

  You're welcome, and I'm glad to hear that did the trick!

  If you have any more questions, please let us know.

  Best,

  Scott McGuire
  Fetch Softworks

  Posted 14 years ago #