Archive for the ‘ArniesAirsoft Updates’ Category

There’s an upgrade underway for the forum software. The forum may show errors whilst this takes place.

We should be back up and running shortly. This upgrade addresses various errors and issues we’ve been having since the latest software release.

Update: this is now complete, please report any issues via the usual channels so they can be fixed

Okay well a simple install of a new forum search engine (it’s transparent so you won’t see a physical change.. it’s just faster) produced an error that when I looked in to it crashed the entire server.

We had a couple of issues that cropped up.; This included the fact that we’re incorrectly running a 32bit kernel so not using our full system memory, and somehow our swap partition (virtual memory) was disabled. This meant when the database/mysql crashed and I went to fix it the entire server died due to the load it created. Memory was exhausted and the server just turned itself off and sat in the corner upset with me.

Sadly trouble tickets have not yielded any attention from technical staff so I’ve done a heap of fixes myself. I’ve created a new swap file, mounted it, reconfigured the file mounting system, enabled the swap file, installed the new search engine, catalogued the entire server database and then got the lot running. I can’t easily install the 64bit kernel remotely so this remains outstanding.

We are now live again. With luck I’ve taken a heap of load off the post table with the new search upgrade. We currently host around 2.5 million posts in the forum, so mysql is suffering from this. By moving the search index off mysql and into a separate software system the search engine on the site now no longer locks out everything else while it goes away "to have a think" to find all posts that mention "gbb" for example.

The search index is updated every 15 minutes. As usual ping us any errors you come across on the support pages and I’ll look in to it.

A complete re-index of our server will complete in the early hours GMT so the forums may be slower than usual during this off-peak period.

On Friday we experienced downtime due to a database error which then crashed the server. We are back online however the specifically affected forum table (the one that contains over 2 million forum posts) is currently locked out with an error.

Each time we try to repair this file remotely it is causing over 100% CPU load and then eventually crashing the mysql service. We’re working on the problem at the moment. Sorry for the forum downtime folks.

We’re just upgrading the forum software to the latest version. While this happens the forum will be offline.

This should take up to an hour depending on how much work needs to be done.

• Start time for upgrade 1059hrs (GMT).
• 1209hrs Still going, database rebuild now taking place (to update data in line with new software), will take a bit as there’s a lot of data in our database to rebuild.
• 1239hrs All complete. Well when I say that, I mean “it’s online and useable, I now have stuff to fix in terms of look and function”.

That’s right. The official Arnies Event is back and happening this August!

What is it?

Arniegeddon: Forever is the return of the Arnies community event. A weekend event, the aim is fun and socialising, rather than serious military simulation (although as numerous geardoes attend and all of our brothers in bdus are welcome!).

Games will generally be rapid, fast-paced and most importantly fun scenarios featuring both FIBUA and woodland games. The content while planned WILL be highly flexible, and I will happily arrange new games / shift the focus towards more FIBUA or woodland based around what you all prefer. The aim of the weekend is for you to have fun, so please say throughout the event if you have a preference!

 

Who can go?

ALL members are welcome, whether you have 1 post or 10,000. Arnies regulars and forum staff will be present for you all to meet, socialise with and shoot (yes that includes me!), but the event is VERY newbie friendly and we will welcome new forum members and their friends as much as long term regulars.

 

Where is it?

Based upon the experience of the past 3 Morning After events, Arniegeddon Forever will be run at Gunman Airsoft’s Suffolk site, a former WW2 RAF airfield which features a mixture of urban and woodland, which is easily accessible from major A roads, making it ideal for people across the country. I try to play there as regularly as I can, and I’m from South Yorkshire, so that should indicate how easy it is to access the site!

The site is located at 52° 18′ 12.41", +0° 33′ 57.98" (52.303446, 0.566105 , at an old RAF airfield on Cavenham Road, Tuddenham. When heading down the Cavenham Road from Tuddenham look for a driveway on the right leading across an open field. If you have driven past the quarry on the left, you have gone too far. If heading from the Cavenham side of the road (those of you driving from Bury St Edmund may come this way), look to your left for the site entrance, just after the quarry entrance through the trees on the right.
My awesome (…) road signs will be marking the site entrance once more (more gale force winds / natural disasters notwithstanding). NEW: Google Streetview now has visited the road – please look at this image to see the correct driveway should signs etc fall over!

When is it?

The gates will open at Friday 05/08/11 at 1500, from which point on all are welcome. Game on will comment at 1000 on Saturday 06/08/11, with games concluding at 1300 on Sunday 07/08/11.

 

How much is it? How can I pay?

The total cost of the weekend is £60, payable via PayPal either fully up front or with an initial deposit and payment of the remainder upon arrival. Should you need to use an alternative payment option please contact me and we can discuss alternatives.

To pay please visit the booking thread, where links can be found to the payment system. Please remember when booking to state your forum name so I know who has paid and can add you to the list!

 

If you’ve any questions please feel free to get in touch or visit the Arniegeddon: Forever Facts & FAQ thread. I hope to see you all in August!

Just a warning folks, we will have some planned downtime in the early hours of the morning (0200hrs on 11/06/2011) so that both hard drives can be replaced as they are coming to the end of their working lives. This will result in a 4-5 hour predicted downtime to allow the services to be checked and the server to be tidied up.

With all things going to plan this should be complete by the morning (GMT). We are reliant on the technicians completing this at the data-center so can only relay the slot we’ve been booked and the tasks set to be completed.

Please be aware that things may not go entirely to plan or within the predicted time.

Want to win some free Revision gear? Well get in quick you’ve got a few hours left… This closes at 12:00 p.m. EST on Thursday June 9, 2011.

How to enter? Simply go to this thread in our forums, post a unique number between one and 1500 to be in for a chance to win.

 

ALL WELCOME!

Location: Gunman Suffolk (Formerly RAF Tuddenham)

Dates: Friday 05/08/11 @ 1500 – Sunday 07/08/11 @ 1300

Price: £60 for the weekend (payable by partial deposit or in full in advance – see the booking thread for more detail). Please ensure you approach Marlowe before attempting to book – any unsolicited bookings will be cancelled and refunded.

For more information please contact Marlowe directly or visit the MA7 FAQ Thread. Hope to see you there!

Stage 1 of the forum upgrades has been put into place. There’s a lot yet to do and this should incorporate a lot of bug fixes and features that have been asked for.

At the moment the latest forum software has been loaded. which has in turn created a series of minor bugs that need to be addressed and are currently being looked into. Once the minor bugs have been ironed out the new features will be rolled out and the look of the site will be gradually improved and made more “homely”.

Status updates and details of the upgrades can be found here.

I’m currently upgrading the forum software to the latest release. There’s lots of new features, so lots of new files to upload and update. Do bear with us while this occurs.

1250hrs: This should be a simple process, but I doubt it’ll be a smooth as I am always reassured that it will be. Please stand by for updates.

1300hrs: 2068 of 4000 odd files updated; nearly done with the uploading stage.

1335hrs: Files updated, now running upgrades

1359hrs: All updates done, forums back online. There’s a couple of trivial errors we are aware of but we’ll work on those while the board is live.

Please report any bugs/issues on the relevant forum topic.

15:22hrs: I am aware of the current login issue and I am working on that right now

1638hrs: Okay the login issues have been fixed temporarily. A new skin has been applied to the forums to enable this (I was going to do that work tomorrow). For now logins work. Please ensure that you are using the latest skin

As per above, just go to the bottom left of your screen to enable the new “Elegance” theme.

(last update: 1638hrs GMT 14/11/2010)

A bug has crept into the forums over the past 24/48hrs (see here) that has meant that the forum permissions which is what defines a user can see and not see in the forums has appeared. The net result is that at present a collection of forums are invisible to regular users.

This is now a known issue and the staff and admins are working on it. We’ve also got the software creators looking at it to fix the issue now.

I’m staying up till it’s fixed as I have to be around and awake to ensure it’s fixed/sorted.

I might fall asleep on the keyboard, but when I wake up I’ll add an update when things are fixed, or I know more.

Update@ 01:07 I’ve manually set the permissions for all forums for regular and new members in the forums by hand. With luck that’s all issues fixed for 99.9% of users. Any problems, please email report it on the board in the first instance, or email me direct at arnie@arniesairsoft.co.uk.

The issue is that we’ve now discovered a bug because of the size of our forum where we have so many forums that there’s a memory error in the code from the manufacturer that causes the permissions to blank out if we set them in bulk using their code. This means that once the bug was found we had to re-add everything manually. We are waiting on a fix for their code in the next 24/48hrs so we can again return to bulk changes in permissions to make our lives easy…

We’ve got a new competition up thanks to Intelligent Armour. Up for grabs this time are two prizes:

• first prize will be set of Lowa Mountain GTX boots
• second prize is a BlackHawk MULTICAM Battle Bag

To win, simply check the Intelligent Armour “interesting facts page” and answer this question (remember we are not asking for a guess here, the answer to the question is on that page):

Who was most likely to be the first law enforcement officer to have been saved by body armour?

The competition closes on 25th June 2010 at midnight GMT. Winners will be announced on Monday 28th June 2010. See the competition page for full details of how to enter. Good luck!

Update May 3rd: We have had the hardware completely rebuilt and the server is being checked by technicians today to locate the source of the problem and diagnose if it is hardware or software. As soon as there is an update I’ll post more news. Apologies for the downtime folks it is a pain for all concerned but we are currently reliant on the datacentre technicians to sort out the glitch.

May 2nd: It appears that there’s been a recent bad shipment of hard drives from a certain manufacturer and we’ve had two new models installed in our server from the start. These are due to be replaced tonight which should fix the random downtime periods we have experienced over the past few days and bring us back to the 100% uptime that we are aiming for.

We had a few hours planned downtime last night whilst the main server was taken offline to have a logic board replaced.

The work has been completed and that should (fingers crossed) cure the minor niggles that we’ve had since the move of irregular loading. It appears that the secondary SATA controller was duff and causing backup routine issues.

I’ve been playing designing a new skin for the site from the ground up today. Whilst wanting to keep things familiar the ‘toons needed to come back (created by Mallinder).

I have most of what I have done so far online now however there’s a few tweaks and sorting that I need to do to it before it is perfect. You’ll probably see a few errors here and there as I go.

Still to sort:

• finish coding the text CSS styles
• random custom header images to return
• design a better background image
• update inset mag/banner images
• redesign “navigation” – it’s old and relates to the old site
• rework the new map page courtesy of Airbana
• restyle forums to match
• rebuild old forum posts

There’s more but I’ve probably forgotten what it was I was doing – grey matter going foggy after looking at text on a glowing screen for too long…