My Digital subscription

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My Digital subscription

This topic has 34 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 6 September 2018 at 18:10 by Roderick Jenkins.

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23 May 2018 at 17:19 #355053
Raymond Berry 2
Participant
@raymondberry2
I now have a print and digital subscription, mainly so that I can also read older ME editions. Except I can't. I am able to digitally reafthe current edition through 'pocketmags' but I cannot access an archive edition. I have done everything my subscription letter told me to do and I can get to the pages where the archive editions are, several pages in fact. BUT the problem is that when I click on an edition, a new page comes up and says:

An Error Has Occurred

I'm sorry but we can't process your request at this time (bad referrer)

Now am I a bad referrer or what? I have paid for this and it should work. I did what you advise and repotedmy problem to :

help@me.secureorder.co.uk

Three days ago and got an automatic response telling me:

Thanks for your email, a member of our Customer Service Team will respond to you as soon as possible.

Your reference number for this email is: MTM******X

This was 3 days ago, I have written back twice now saying that no-one has responded to me and they still haven't responded .. . .

So I can only put this post here and hope. Please help me.

Raymond Berry

Edited By JasonB on 23/05/2018 18:26:06
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23 May 2018 at 17:19 #39467
Raymond Berry 2
Participant
@raymondberry2
This is alarming
23 May 2018 at 18:28 #355067
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
Hello Raymond, I have just logged in as you before approving this post and had no problem looking back at several mags in the archive so you have entered all your details correctly.

Quite possibly a problem at your end, can you say what type of computer you are using, operating system, browser and what versions of each as this may help us.

J
23 May 2018 at 18:54 #355073
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
Hello Raymond,

Have you tried again recently? It can take a short while for a new subscription to validate on the system so the 'valid from' date on your account is 22 May (yesterday) so access may only have been granted in the last 24 hours.

I would guess this means that the customer support will only have got the data recently as well.

I've repeated the test here and everything is as it should be now, as Jason says, could you try again and if it doesn't work give us more information on your system – by email if you prefer:

neil.wyatt@mytimemedia.com

Other things thing that might cause a problem are if you aren't allowing this website to store cookies and other people have found that refreshing their internet cache solves issues like this.

Note that Jason and I emulating your account will have logged you out.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 23/05/2018 18:56:02
23 May 2018 at 23:21 #355101
Raymond Berry 2
Participant
@raymondberry2
I have tried again just now, but all I get is the same response:

An Error Has Occurred

I'm sorry but we can't process your request at this time (bad referrer)

When I went through this before I carefully went through all the instructions and the only thing that did not happen was that I was told Iwould get an email sent to me so I could click a link to confirm my email address. This email never arrived and I have searched in my spam section but no luck. I am a registered member of the ME Forum and have my subscription number on my account and also pocketmags works perfectly. The only thing I cannot do is read an archive magazine, I can see them all listed on the page but when I click one of them all I get is the above response. I have tried and tried, I always accept cookies etc. but something is not working at ME end not mine. All is working perfectly here, I have thoroughly checked my computer and cannot understand why something is not working at mydigitalmagazine.co.uk. It is from them that I am receiving this message.

Ray Berry.
24 May 2018 at 06:56 #355114
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
We can't find anything wrong at this end by signing in as you so all details have been entered correctly. The fact you can get as far as clicking on the magazines indicated you have entered all your details correctly.

Once again as we have both asked give some details of your system.

I'm going to e-mail you a link to one of the digital mags that could be read by anyone subscriber or not, if you can't read that then problem is almost definately your end.

Edited By JasonB on 24/05/2018 06:59:03
24 May 2018 at 08:04 #355121
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
Hello Ray,

Have you refreshed your cache? There is definitely no issue with your account or the system. If Jason and .I can both see it when we emulate your account is is an issue with your computer.

If you are using a PC you need to have a working flash player installed, for example.

"Bad referrer" usually means that something is happening to mean the link is not what was expected. This could happen if you are using a proxy connection.

Our subs manager is in work today, I emailed her yesterday so hopefully she will contact you.

The verification email isn't essential,sometimes they get stopped as 'spam'. before reaching their intended recipient

Neil
24 May 2018 at 09:53 #355126
Raymond Berry 2
Participant
@raymondberry2
I have now ensured adobe flash is up to date. I have closed and cleaned my browser of all old links. Now my browser 'Firefox' is running again fresh from being cleaned etc. I have logged into the Model Engineer site again. Clicked on magazines, chose page three or ME No 4539 and clicked on it. Exactly the same response.:

An Error Has Occurred

I'm sorry but we can't process your request at this time (bad referrer)

Ray

PS the link that Jason sent to me worked perfectly.
24 May 2018 at 10:03 #355128
Raymond Berry 2
Participant
@raymondberry2
My system is a fairly recent high end HP Pavilion. My broadband connection is BT. It runs on Wifi or connected directly. Printer is HP Colour laser. Large screen by LOC. All working perfectly monitored by my Norton account. No problems experienced with any other site. Checked Norton and firewall, all is normal and not stopping ME site.

Nothing strange here. But still getting:

An Error Has Occurred

I'm sorry but we can't process your request at this time (bad referrer)

There is nothing strange or wrong at my end. I am not a newbie, I am an experienced digital engineer of 25 or more years standing. I can see no fault at my end at all.

Ray Berry

Senior support engineer Thorn EMI Computeraid Services. (Retired)
24 May 2018 at 10:09 #355129
Raymond Berry 2
Participant
@raymondberry2
I have also accepted that the email was stopped as spam so I have searched my Gmail files to check. It was never received at my address. It is not in my 'spam' or 'bin' files. My Firefox cache has been refreshed – again. I have downloaded and installed a new copy of Adobe Flash.

What more can I do do?

The error is occurring in you server system.

Ray
24 May 2018 at 10:57 #355133
SillyOldDuffer
Moderator
@sillyoldduffer
Posted by Raymond Berry 2 on 24/05/2018 10:09:11:

…

What more can I do do?

The error is occurring in you server system.

Ray

'Bad Referer' is usually caused by something at the client end; proxy, security/privacy setting, corrupt cache etc. I doubt it's the server, more likely something wonky between it and you.

Try accessing the Archive from a different computer.

Download Wireshark and have a look at the failing request to see what the Referrer contains. Here's what I send when asking for 'Experimental Flashsteam' in the For Sale section:

As you can see, the referrer in my example is this forum page, which is correct. Interesting to see what your machine sends when clicking to get to the archive.

Dave

PS 'Referer' vs 'Referrer' is a special treat for spelling pedants and paradox fanboys. It seems both spellings are simultaneously 'correct' and 'incorrect' because the words first use in a technical paper was misspelt, or was it…
24 May 2018 at 11:54 #355141
Fowlers Fury
Participant
@fowlersfury
Raymond, you write that you're using Firefox.
The latest version (Firefox Quantum 60.0.1) is very different from previous versions and how it handles – or doesn't – Flash, at least with Windows.
Have you tried access using another browser? (Edge, Chrome or I.E.)
I'm finding a number of websites that now only display correctly with Edge.

If you're using ver 6.0, click on Help > Troubleshooting information.
Scroll down to "Extensions" and look at Flash Control to see whether "enabled" or "False".
24 May 2018 at 13:30 #355153
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
I'll leave it for the paid staff to deal with as Kate is now on the case

The fact you could view the direct link to the mag I sent you suggests you have the right Flash etc on your machine just some issue going via the site.
24 May 2018 at 14:23 #355158
DMB
Participant
@dmb
Would/could the use of a VPN be causing the prob?

Is it possible that MTM's software will not work with VPNs?
24 May 2018 at 14:59 #355163
SillyOldDuffer
Moderator
@sillyoldduffer
Posted by DMB on 24/05/2018 14:23:07:

Would/could the use of a VPN be causing the prob?

…

Yes, but not necessarily. A lot of things can cause this error. Most likely is a corrupt cache on the client, but there's a whole bunch of other stuff between Raymond and the Server that might malfunction. Kate is much better placed than we are to diagnose what's adrift because she has access to both server and Raymond. (And knows what she's talking about, rather than relying on my aged memory!) Be interesting to know what caused it if they ever find out. Bugs like this often disappear because something in the chain refreshed automatically and ditched the junk data. Very frustrating!

Firing up Wireshark on my network revealed that I've got a problem too. Although everything seems to be working OK I'm seeing excessive repeats and out-of-sequence packets that suggest something in my home network isn't well. And the cat's been sick!

Ho hum, back to work.

Dave
24 May 2018 at 16:36 #355166
Samsaranda
Participant
@samsaranda
Dave, too much information.🐈

Dave W
24 May 2018 at 17:08 #355168
Raymond Berry 2
Participant
@raymondberry2
More information. Someone suggested I use another browser. I have Chrome and so I tried that. Success, everything works as it should and I now can read archive magazines. But still when I try to access it on Firefox, I get the same error page. Firefox is my preferred browser, but at least it works using Chrome.

No I do not use a proxy server.

I did the check on firefox, followed the address to extensions and no flash control is there, neither true nor false.

Does anyone know who this Kate is and does she have an email, perhaps she could help me use firefox.

Ray
24 May 2018 at 17:27 #355170
Swarf Maker
Participant
@swarfmaker85383
Flash is a 'Plug-In', not an 'Extension'. With Firefox open, using Ctrl, Shft A (or the menu) takes you to the 'Add Ons' page. Select 'Plugins' on that page. If Flash has installed correctly you can select whether it is activated manually or automatically, etc.

Edited By Swarf Maker on 24/05/2018 17:28:10
24 May 2018 at 18:04 #355173
Fowlers Fury
Participant
@fowlersfury
"Flash is a Plug-in….." I didn't write otherwise.

Raymond ~ as before, latest Firefox handles or doesn't Flash on websites.
It's explained here:-

**LINK**
24 May 2018 at 18:18 #355175
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
Hi Ray,

Kate is our Subscriptions manager

She sent me this message a couple of hours ago, but i only got back at about 5:00pm:

Hi Neil,

We had this problem recently with another sub and we reached the conclusion that it was an issue with his machine (he used his wife’s and it worked) – the last email I have on the subject suggested he check the status of Adobe Flash on his machine and check for any updates. I haven’t heard from him since so am hopeful that might have fixed it. It’s a tricky one as it definitely isn’t a problem at our end!

Would you be okay to suggest this to him please? I’m up to my neck in GDPR law at the moment ☹

I'm using Windows 10 and Firefox 59.0.3 and have Shockwave Flash version 29.0

Try installing a plugin from addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/search/?q=shockwave+flash

Many Email providers block a lot of spam silently and it never even reaches your spam folder, that just contains things from people who you have told the system you consider to be 'junk'.

I will resend your validation email, but i doubt it will get through.

Thanks,

Neil
24 May 2018 at 18:55 #355188
Swarf Maker
Participant
@swarfmaker85383
Hi 'Fowlers Fury'. The only reason for stating 'Plugin' as distinct from 'Extension' was as a consequence of your previous advice:- "If you're using ver 6.0, click on Help > Troubleshooting information.
Scroll down to "Extensions" and look at Flash Control to see whether "enabled" or "False".

I also use Firefox at the same version level as yourself and if I do as you suggest, for me, like Raymond Berry, there is no mention of Flash under the 'Extension' heading and thus no options to select.

I offered the alternative method using the menu as a possible route to helping him out of his problem as it seemed to be the most obvious place where a user selection can be made. I wonder if there is a difference between the 32bit and 64bit versions of Firefox? I am using the 64 bit version 60.0.1 on Windows 7 Professional.

Edited By Swarf Maker on 24/05/2018 18:57:27
24 May 2018 at 20:50 #355202
SillyOldDuffer
Moderator
@sillyoldduffer
Have you tried clearing the Firefox cache as per these instructions? They also have a good description of why bad things happen when a cache gets corrupted.

Also mentioned, and new to me, is the possibility that the cache cannot be cleared because malware has infected the system. Not difficult to write malware that takes a copy of the cache and restores it after the corrupt cache is deleted by the user. You delete it, and the malware immediately puts it back!

Maybe malware is causing the original problem. Changing the referer would be a way of generating fake per click revenue, and a website might well be configured to block it.

Easy enough to run a malware checker before clearing the cache. I've found the free version of Malwarebytes effective at finding and removing nasties.
24 May 2018 at 20:57 #355205
Grindstone Cowboy
Participant
@grindstonecowboy
+ 1 for the free version of Malwarebytes, also CCleaner can be handy for getting rid of stuff that sometimes resists deletion by 'ordinary' means.
24 May 2018 at 21:22 #355209
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
Posted by Raymond Berry 2 on 24/05/2018 17:08:42:

I did the check on firefox, followed the address to extensions and no flash control is there, neither true nor false.

For clarity, you need to check under options –> add ins not under extensions.

Neil
25 May 2018 at 01:37 #355228
Enough!
Participant
@enough
Posted by Raymond Berry 2 on 24/05/2018 17:08:42:

But still when I try to access it on Firefox, I get the same error page. Firefox is my preferred browser, but at least it works using Chrome.

Latest versions of Firefox have Flash deactivated by default. You have to turn it on manually.
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