Session Timed Out.

[psynaut]

My client’s computer keeps getting a session timed out when he’s making in snippet master. This happens the most after he’s tried to insert an image. Snippet master let him insert the image but times out on saving.
He’s running IE 7 on XP. I’ve check the session.gc_maxlifetime setting and it set to 1440.
Also, this problem only happens on his computer. Snippet master works fine for me.

Any suggestion on how to fix this problem

[admin]

The session time-out should be the same regardless of what computer he is using...  it is a "server side" setting.

Is this problem consistant for him?  If he reboots, does it still do this?  Has he been able to recreate the problem on any other machine?  Did it always do this for him, or just started recently?

[psynaut]

Yes, I read you’re the other posts with this being a server problem, but , in this case, it doesn’t appear to be.

The problem is consistent only after he tries to insert a image and saves the changes. It happens every time.
It also happens in other places, but it’s not consistent there.

I‘ve tested snippet master on both my laptop and desktop on multiple browsers and I can’t reproduce the error.

This was a fresh install of snippet master, about a couple weeks old. The problem started last week when I was at his place training him on using it and has persisted ever since.

He’s running IE7, so I’m having him install Firefox to see if that helps. This is the only thing I can think of that could be causing the problem.
He’s running no 3rd party firewalls … just the XP default.

If you can think of anything that might help, please let me know… Thanks

[admin]

Honestly, I've tried to figure this one out and I just can't.  The session expiry system is 100% based on the server, and the php session information.

Basically, the way it works is like this:

1) When you run any page in snippetmaster, it creates (or updates) a "PHP session".   

(The "php session" is a file that exists in the temporary location of the web server, and contains info (encrypted of course) about the user, if they're logged in, what permissions they have, etc.)

2) Each time you run a page in snippetmaster, it updates the "timestamp" of the session file.

3) The server runs a "garbage collection" process every 25 - 30 minutes or so, and deletes any session file from the temporary location that haven't been updated for the last 25 - 30 minutes.

4) If snippetmaster runs a page, and the "session file" that it expects to be there is gone (it was deleted), then it displays the session error.  (ie: If you leave snippetmaster for a while, go have lunch, and then come back, the server will have deleted your php session file.. and so snippetmaster won't be able to find it any more and it displays the error.)

This has absolutely nothing to do with the browser.  The browser, in fact, has no permissions or ability to touch session files on the server, which are located in the server's temporary storage area, outside of the browsers "reach".

This is why I'm very confused about this... because for this error to occur, the session file needs to be deleted, etc.. and the browser should not be able to do that.

I'm totally open to ideas on what is causing the problem.. but unless the web server is really poorly configured from a security perspective, there should be no way that the browser is causing the session file to be deleted and triggering the error.

But... obviously something is doing it, otherwise you wouldn't see the error.

All this to say... I have no idea. 

[psynaut]

Well …after convincing him to finally install and use Firefox, the problem seems to of been solved.
I’m having him try it a few more times to make sure all is working.

So… all I can conclude is this is an issue with IE 7.

I know you’re saying this problem isn’t browser related, but I really hoping that in this case it is, as it makes the solution easy for me.

I’m keeping my figures crossed, the problem doesn’t appear in Firefox.

[taragh]

I think I am getting a similar error. I am working on a Mac and use snippetmaster with no problem on log in and sessions in Safari and Firefox. I then went to test on Windows XP with IE 6.0. I log in ok and then select a page to edit and immediately get session expired. I have the Mac and PC side by side to test. Only the PC experiences this problem.
I'm not technically knowledgeable. I do have MacAffee installed for security. I know you said it should be a server issue but this seems to be related to the browser/machine.
Any advice would be helpful as my client whom I purchased the pro for will be using pc and most likely internet explorer.

[jww]

An old thread but still the same problem. I read all the other threads, checked the system variables, etc.

And while I know it's all supposed to be a server issue - apparently it is not entirely for whatever reason.

I get all the same random session time outs after a few seconds or minutes that others have reported in the past ONLY using IE - Firefox works just fine. I'm on IE 8, whatever the latest patch is.

Fortunately, the kids using it are all on Firefox but I'd like to try to fix this if possible.

[jww]

to add - the problem appears on multiple computers, before and after reboots. Always trouble on IE (but sporadic - sometime it works for minutes, sometimes for seconds), always works on Firefox.