bye bye news.virginmedia.com?

[stuart noble]

Second day with no access, but no announcement that it's being dropped. Ah well, I'm beginning to prefer Google Groups anyway.

[Dan S. MacAbre]

stuart noble wrote:
> Second day with no access, but no announcement that it's being dropped. Ah well, I'm beginning to prefer Google Groups anyway.
>

My ISP dropped usenet access a few months ago. I've found that eternal
september works well, if you still want to use a newsreader.

[Robin]

stuart noble wrote:
> Second day with no access, but no announcement that it's being
> dropped.

Oddly VM's (Highwinds') server still seems to be updating binary groups
but not text groups. But then it has been off-and-on (and ignored by
VM's "support" staff) for years which is why I - like others - use
eternal-september.org for text groups.

>Ah well, I'm beginning to prefer Google Groups anyway.

Each to their own but I do wonder if you might have eaten some unusual
mushrooms or cactus :)

--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

[T_i_m]

I am currently in eMail conversation with Highwinds support staff (who
seem to be responding very quickly so far, something else VM CS might
learn from) but we haven't got to the bottom of it yet.

I'm guessing there isn't much point asking how many VM users aren't
getting their messages if they don't also have an alternative means of
access?

I get no error messages when I check for new messages, just 'no new
messages'.

Cheers, T i m

[Chris]

Seems to be working for me?

[T_i_m]

I wonder if it's a locality issue? I'm in Herts.

Cheers, T i m

[Robin]

T_i_m wrote:
> I am currently in eMail conversation with Highwinds support staff (who
> seem to be responding very quickly so far, something else VM CS might
> learn from) but we haven't got to the bottom of it yet.

Respect. I've never managed to get through that far. I'm left feeling
incompetent: one of the few skills I've mastered.

> I get no error messages when I check for new messages, just 'no new
> messages'.
>

Ditto.

But curiouser and curiouser: I have downloaded the whole of uk.d-i-y
from the VM server using GrabIt. It gave me headers from May 2010 to
this morning. And I can then get (a random selection of ) the messages.

[Robin]

Robin wrote:

Ooooh - you've fixed it.

Posted from news.virginmedia.com

[Robin]

T_i_m wrote:
>
> I wonder if it's a locality issue? I'm in Herts.
>

I'm in London. But I don't think it was a simple routing issue as I
could telnet the server OK.

[stuart noble]

> Each to their own but I do wonder if you might have eaten some unusual
> mushrooms or cactus :)
>

I have an Android phone so my soul is already sold to the devil :-)

[T_i_m]

Robin wrote:
> T_i_m wrote:
>
>>I am currently in eMail conversation with Highwinds support staff (who
>>seem to be responding very quickly so far, something else VM CS might
>>learn from) but we haven't got to the bottom of it yet.
>
>
> Respect. I've never managed to get through that far. I'm left feeling
> incompetent: one of the few skills I've mastered.
>
>
>>I get no error messages when I check for new messages, just 'no new
>>messages'.
>>
>
> Ditto.

That's consistent at least.

>
> But curiouser and curiouser: I have downloaded the whole of uk.d-i-y
> from the VM server using GrabIt. It gave me headers from May 2010 to
> this morning. And I can then get (a random selection of ) the messages.

Oooerr. Maybe it's just not updating the recent ones then (as has been
suggested elsewhere)?

The last one I see from VM was from Jonno on the 17th at 22.57.

Cheers, T i m

[weel...@gmail.com]

On Friday, February 19, 2016 at 9:35:02 AM UTC, stuart noble wrote:
> Second day with no access, but no announcement that it's being dropped. Ah well, I'm beginning to prefer Google Groups anyway.

Same here no access for 2 days.

[T_i_m]

Jethro_uk wrote:

> On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 10:58:48 +0000, T_i_m wrote:
>
>
>>I am currently in eMail conversation with Highwinds support staff (who
>>seem to be responding very quickly so far, something else VM CS might
>>learn from) but we haven't got to the bottom of it yet.
>
>

> To be fair, I had an issue a while back, and was directed to HW support
> who were excellent.

I think they now understand the issue and have directed me to VM TS.
>
> Although, still being fair, the *very* few times (twice I think) I have
> needed VM technical support, it's been excellent.

I agree, the TS is generally ok, once you get to them.
>
> However, their customer service sucks donkeys.

As does their accounts / billing dept (at times).

> And it isn't a compliment
> to say it's better than BTs (which it is) because all you're doing there
> is deciding if you want a dog turd for dinner, or a full sick bag for
> supper.

;-(


Cheers, T i m

[T_i_m]

Robin wrote:
> T_i_m wrote:
>
>>I wonder if it's a locality issue? I'm in Herts.
>>
>
>
> I'm in London. But I don't think it was a simple routing issue as I
> could telnet the server OK.

Ah, ok.

Have any of us reported the issue to VM yet (I haven't) as I don't see
it on any of their status pages?

Cheers, T i m

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <na6uio$hih$8...@dont-email.me>,
Jethro_uk <jeth...@hotmailbin.com> wrote:
> However, their customer service sucks donkeys. And it isn't a compliment

> to say it's better than BTs (which it is) because all you're doing there
> is deciding if you want a dog turd for dinner, or a full sick bag for
> supper.

I'd rather have an ISP where you never need 'customer service' ;-)

--
*Go the extra mile. It makes your boss look like an incompetent slacker *

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[T_i_m]

Robin wrote:
> Robin wrote:
>
> Ooooh - you've fixed it.

;-)
>
> Posted from news.virginmedia.com

Hmm, still not fixed here. Oh well, they must be doing something if you
are working again.

I'll try later.

Cheers, T i m

[John J Armstrong]

I've just read through this thread. I too have had no access for two
days. I'm on virginmedia in Dundee, so I don't think it's a local
issue. I'm using Forte Agent. This "fix" has worked for me (so
far!) - you might think it's worth a try.

I went into "Tools", then Newsgroup Directory, looked for uk.d-i-y,
highlighted it and clicked "Add Newsgroups to Desks". It now shows on
my newsgroup list as "uk.d-i-y [2]". I tried this successfully with
another group.

I'd be grateful if anone can shed light on what's happening. I
haven't phoned virgin, as their helpline is not always the most
helpful.

[Robin]

John J Armstrong wrote:
> I'd be grateful if anone can shed light on what's happening. I
> haven't phoned virgin, as their helpline is not always the most
> helpful.

No idea what the fault is but it seems to work now in this area if you
(a) unsubscribe then (b) subscribe again. YMMV

[Brian Gaff]

You poor person. I won't go near google groups.
I use the long lasting autumn server.
Brian

"stuart noble" <stuart.d...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:17e98535-cace-41cb...@googlegroups.com...

> Second day with no access, but no announcement that it's being dropped. Ah
> well, I'm beginning to prefer Google Groups anyway.

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
bri...@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please!

[Brian Gaff]

The issue is those who want the binary groups with a decent retention.
Brian

"Dan S. MacAbre" <n...@thanks.com> wrote in message
news:na6nuj$22r$1...@dont-email.me...

[Dan S. MacAbre]

Brian Gaff wrote:
> The issue is those who want the binary groups with a decent retention.
> Brian

What sort of binaries? Surely, usenet is a very inefficient way of
sharing files?

[Chris J Dixon]

Robin wrote:

>John J Armstrong wrote:
>> I'd be grateful if anone can shed light on what's happening. I
>> haven't phoned virgin, as their helpline is not always the most
>> helpful.
>
>No idea what the fault is but it seems to work now in this area if you
>(a) unsubscribe then (b) subscribe again. YMMV

It probably depends on how your newsreader is set up, but perhaps
they have reset article numbering, and your reader was looking
for (but not finding) something in sequence after the highest it
had previously seen.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
ch...@cdixon.me.uk

Plant amazing Acers.

[stuart noble]

Google Groups seems fine so I'm really not bothered if the server comes back.
Typically VM will not admit there's a problem, then they'll quietly fix it while still denying there ever was a problem. Still, the broadband is excellent

[T i m]

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 18:09:50 +0000, Chris J Dixon <ch...@cdixon.me.uk>
wrote:

>Robin wrote:
>
>>John J Armstrong wrote:
>>> I'd be grateful if anone can shed light on what's happening. I
>>> haven't phoned virgin, as their helpline is not always the most
>>> helpful.
>>
>>No idea what the fault is but it seems to work now in this area if you
>>(a) unsubscribe then (b) subscribe again. YMMV
>
>It probably depends on how your newsreader is set up, but perhaps
>they have reset article numbering, and your reader was looking
>for (but not finding) something in sequence after the highest it
>had previously seen.
>

I think that was the right answer. I got a nice (informative / formal)
reply from NW support earlier:

"Hi T i m,

New posts are still coming into uk.d-i-y. (As I type, the last message
came in 6 minutes ago.) A small change was made to the service about
36 hours ago regarding the article numbers for the newsgroups (which
affects XOVER and article retrieval by article number). If you delete
the newsgroup from your subscribed list and then re-add it, the Usenet
client will reindex the group (by redownloading XOVER) and you should
see all new articles. (I'd recommend deleting the newsgroup, exiting
the client, then reopening the client and re-adding newsgroup.) Please
try that and let us know if it works.

Thanks,
Brian"


I just did as he suggested and it looks like we are back online via VM
again. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[stuart noble]

Thanks Tim. You did the donkey work I frankly couldn't be arsed to do. TB is now busy downloading millions of headers and then "not responding". Not sure I'm prepared to put up with this crap :-)

[T i m]

>Thanks Tim.

You are very welcome. ;-)

>You did the donkey work I frankly couldn't be arsed to do.

;-)

>TB is now busy downloading millions of headers and then "not responding".

Hmm, I've just done a couple on pretty busy ngs in Agent and they both
went fine?

>Not sure I'm prepared to put up with this crap :-)

Whist I found TB ok as an emergency solution, I still prefer Agent
(even my elderly V2.0). ;-)

Mind you, my TB is 0.9! ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Robin]

The ability to download at a steady 50 Mbps makes Usenet a good source,
even after allowing for the inefficiency of the coding. I have in mind
open source software of course.

(top posted for Brian's convenience)

Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
> What sort of binaries? Surely, usenet is a very inefficient way of
> sharing files?
>

[John J Armstrong]

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 12:06:27 -0800 (PST), stuart noble
<stuart.d...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks all for your replies, which make perfect sense. You do get
this "millions of headers" problem on busy groups like this, but it's
a one-off for the first time after re-installation.

[stuart noble]

> Thanks all for your replies, which make perfect sense. You do get
> this "millions of headers" problem on busy groups like this, but it's
> a one-off for the first time after re-installation.

Hardly a one off. At least 6 times it has said it has 1174943 unread, then hangs. Boring. I can't actually fault GG but maybe I'm missing something

[stuart noble]

> Thanks all for your replies, which make perfect sense. You do get
> this "millions of headers" problem on busy groups like this, but it's
> a one-off for the first time after re-installation.

Hoo Bloody Ray. Finally TB/news server is back after a lot of frigging about that I won't bore us with. I mean, am I really expected to move obscure files about and enter things in a RUN command box in this day and age? A man of my calibre! Goodness me.
Anyway, thanks again Tim. I'm firmly back in the 20th century

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <cc22c099-c026-46eb...@googlegroups.com>,

I don't know your newsreader prog or ISP, but can't you just add one of
the free news suppliers, like AIOE? I have two such here, and it visits
both. But looks for duplicates and ignores them if it's got the posts from
the first. If one goes down, it just uses the other one. Seamlessly.

--
*That's it! I僧 calling grandma!

[Stuart Noble]

On 20/02/2016 11:55, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
> In article <cc22c099-c026-46eb...@googlegroups.com>,
> stuart noble <stuart.d...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Thanks all for your replies, which make perfect sense. You do get
>>> this "millions of headers" problem on busy groups like this, but it's
>>> a one-off for the first time after re-installation.
>
>> Hoo Bloody Ray. Finally TB/news server is back after a lot of frigging
>> about that I won't bore us with. I mean, am I really expected to move
>> obscure files about and enter things in a RUN command box in this day
>> and age? A man of my calibre! Goodness me. Anyway, thanks again Tim. I'm
>> firmly back in the 20th century
>
> I don't know your newsreader prog or ISP, but can't you just add one of
> the free news suppliers, like AIOE? I have two such here, and it visits
> both. But looks for duplicates and ignores them if it's got the posts from
> the first. If one goes down, it just uses the other one. Seamlessly.
>

Thanks. Next time I might just do that.
Virgin and Thunderbird, the devils I know (or thought I knew!)
For some reason the former's "changes" sent the latter into a tailspin,
so I couldn't easily remove the news account and reinstall it. Managed
in the end, and all's well so far, so I'll leave well alone for now

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <6OYxy.1091012$TN6.8...@fx34.am4>,

You can easily add a second account to Thunderbird. It's a long time since
I've looked, but think the AIOE site gives details of how to.

Every news feed seems to go down once in a while, so makes sense to have
an alternative.

--
*Vegetarians taste great*

[Martin Barclay]

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 16:05:52 +0000, Brian Gaff wrote:

> You poor person. I won't go near google groups.
> I use the long lasting autumn server. Brian

I have agree, I (& lot of other people) block googlegroups.
http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/

[Stuart Noble]

> I have agree, I (& lot of other people) block googlegroups.

Well, they're free, and they do seem to work, and the archive search is
painless. Yeah, time to block them then

[Tim+]

Last time I looked archive search was a pain in the arse. All the "advanced
search" options seem to have vanished and stuff that I *know* should be
there can't be found.

[Tim+]

Sorry, just found 'em (the advanced search options) on the "desktop"
version. Too much time messing about on tablets I suppose. ;-)

Tim

[Bob Eager]

You have to be joking. The archive search is *terrible*.

I use news.individual.net. Yes, it costs, but you get what you pay for.
It has staggeringly good uptime, carries a wide range of groups, and has
excellent spam filtering.

The cost? A monstraous 10 euro - a year.

[Martin Barclay]

On Sat, 20 Feb 2016 19:46:24 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

> On Sat, 20 Feb 2016 16:50:26 +0000, Stuart Noble wrote:
>
>>> I have agree, I (& lot of other people) block googlegroups.
>>
>> Well, they're free, and they do seem to work, and the archive search is
>> painless. Yeah, time to block them then
>
> You have to be joking. The archive search is *terrible*.

Not to mention that they do /nothing/ about spammers, religious nut
spammers etc.

> I use news.individual.net. Yes, it costs, but you get what you pay for. It
> has staggeringly good uptime, carries a wide range of groups, and has
> excellent spam filtering.
>
> The cost? A monstraous 10 euro - a year.

--
http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
The Usenet Improvement Project is an attempt to make Usenet participation a
better experience for those who are clued as to what the Usenet medium is and
how to use it.

[hgww]

"Tim+" <tim.d...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:naa5mt$10m$1...@dont-email.me...

They're still there. Its just got a weird UI now so you have
to be viewing a particular group before you get the arrow
head in the search bar that allows you to see the advanced
search form.

[Stuart Noble]

Put it this way, I've never *not* instantly found what I was looking
for, so it's fine for my needs. There seems to be an irrational
hostility towards Google in some quarters, but most of what they provide
for free works very well IMO, and much of it we now take for granted.
Similarly, I will forgive Virgin for screwing up the news server, and
not move (just yet!) because mostly their stuff works pretty well.

[Phil L]

Virgin's working OK for me now after a three day absence.

You have to unsubscribe then resubscribe to all your newsgroups

[Stuart Noble]

which wasn't easy for me because TB was hanging as soon as a group was
selected. I deleted the whole news account in the end, and that wasn't
easy either. All good now

[John Smith]

There was a glitch - not all of the groups I subscribe to were
affected. Indeed I found that resetting the affected ones (d-i-y being
one) did the trick - am using Unison on a Mac.

[ARW]

"stuart noble" <stuart.d...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:cc22c099-c026-46eb...@googlegroups.com...

>
>> Thanks all for your replies, which make perfect sense. You do get
>> this "millions of headers" problem on busy groups like this, but it's
>> a one-off for the first time after re-installation.
>
> Hoo Bloody Ray. Finally TB/news server is back after a lot of frigging
> about that I won't bore us with. I mean, am I really expected to move
> obscure files about and enter things in a RUN command box in this day and
> age? A man of my calibre! Goodness me.

I did it the easy way.

I removed my Virgin newsgroup account from windows mail and then just
reinstalled it!

But thanks to everyone that posted.

--
Adam