Sonicwall hang fix

[Alan Klietz]

I just got word from a Sonicwall technician about the hang problem. The
problem was in the feature that automatically sends you e-mail when new
firmware is available. The box polls the Sonicwall site for new firmware
once or twice a week around midnight. The file it received had a typo which
confused it, causing it to hang.

The file format was fixed today (11/30) so the hangs should stop. Just to
be safe, I suggest you go to Tools -> Firmware and uncheck the checkbox that
says "Send me e-mail when new firmware is available."

-Alan

p.s. Other than this hanging problem, I'm very satisfied with the box. It
is easy to set up, inexpensive, and otherwise reliable.

[Bruce Pennypacker]

Thanks for the information. Mine locked up on me last night and I was
starting to wonder about it. Considering the few e-mails I've gotten from
this feature were incorrect (they reported 'new' firmware that I'd already
downloaded a few weeks earlier) I'll probably just disable this.

-Bruce

Alan Klietz wrote in message ...

[Don]

I talked to Sonic Tech Support yesterday (tues), they actually called
me. We went over a tech report dump on the phone, and he suggested a
couple of changes. They then followed up again today (wed).
The "update" file on the SonicSys end was mentioned a couple of times.

We had been having to reset the SonicWall every AM when we arrived at
work, but this AM it was fine. Only time will tell for sure, but it
looks like they are making strides in the right direction.

The guys that I talked to were friendly, and seemed to be very
knowledgeable about the product. I find it likely that the tech support
problems experienced by SonicWall users (myself included)were due to
the "growing pains" suggested by others here...
These guys just didn't have the "attitudes" I have experienced with
other tech support people.

Donald Bray
Memorial Hospital

In article <yuX04.1574$Vz.3...@news.uswest.net>,

"Alan Klietz" <al...@pobox.NOSPAM.com> wrote:
> I just got word from a Sonicwall technician about the hang problem.
The
> problem was in the feature that automatically sends you e-mail when
new
> firmware is available. The box polls the Sonicwall site for new
firmware
> once or twice a week around midnight. The file it received had a
typo which
> confused it, causing it to hang.
>
> The file format was fixed today (11/30) so the hangs should stop.
Just to
> be safe, I suggest you go to Tools -> Firmware and uncheck the
checkbox that
> says "Send me e-mail when new firmware is available."
>

> -Alan
>
> p.s. Other than this hanging problem, I'm very satisfied with the
box. It
> is easy to set up, inexpensive, and otherwise reliable.
>
>

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[Greg]

Glad to hear it. Hopefully they will continue on that trend.

Greg

Don wrote in message <823ks5$kac$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...

[Jon Hall]

Just a counterpoint for the discussion. I have been trying to resolve
problems with lockups since September and have gotten virtually NO support.
Lot's of promises and plenty of "did you try the new firmware?" but nothing
to resolve the issue.

Jon

Alan Klietz <al...@pobox.NOSPAM.com> wrote in message
news:yuX04.1574$Vz.3...@news.uswest.net...

[Bruce Pennypacker]

Sonic's ability to provide decent support seems to be very random. I've
goten lots of responses along the lines of "did you try the new firmware?"
to "our engineers are looking into that" and other useless
suggestions/comments. After making enough noise I did start getting better
support from them, including a couple phone calls that helped resolve some
of the problems. Unfortunately it seems like you can just about flip a coin
to determine whether you get decent support from them... It's really too
bad since I think their SonicWalls are decent products. If they can get a
better handle on their support I think they'll be in pretty good shape
overall.

-Bruce

Jon Hall wrote in message ...

[Greg]

I agree. I think they have an excellent product overall. I would be
COMPLETELY behind them if their support (and therefore their "forward
progress") was up to par. We'll see how things progress.

Greg

Bruce Pennypacker wrote in message ...

[Edmund Lian]

On Tue, 30 Nov 1999 15:41:01 -0600, "Alan Klietz"
<al...@pobox.NOSPAM.com> wrote:

>I just got word from a Sonicwall technician about the hang problem. The
>problem was in the feature that automatically sends you e-mail when new
>firmware is available. The box polls the Sonicwall site for new firmware
>once or twice a week around midnight. The file it received had a typo which
>confused it, causing it to hang.

It does seem to help a bit. Since disabling the auto notification, my
SonicWall ran for three days without a hitch. I say "ran" because it
just hung in the middle of a large file transfer. Sheesh. There are
obviously other problems involved...

FWIW, I'm running two SonicWall/10's with VPN and NAT enabled, DHCP
server enabled.

...Edmund.