Tech Forum

We have 6 different PC's in our FHC. One of them takes forever to load (as in 15 minutes plus). Other websites on this problem PC load fast.

Suggests to troubleshoot this?

Thanks
mbg

15 minutes is rather extreme. I'd look at what is different about that machine. Is it low on memory? What about hard drive space? Check the versions of the browser as well as the plug-ins. (I think FamilySearch uses Flash.)

I'd also listen to the hard drive. If it does a series of regular click-click-click with a even tempo (not the usual rapid random rumble sound), it's probably failing. It's just retrying until it finally gets it so no disk error message is bubbling up for display. But that can take a long time.

I'd also run some tests to make sure there isn't a problem with the network connection that choking the throughput down to dial-up speeds. A bad cable or a bad port on the switch can do. The possibly take a major jump if it's on a wireless network.

I'd also look at what it's like after it's been running awhile. I know some machines that just about lock up from all the processes running at boot time, but given 15 minutes are so start to run normally.

Thanks for the suggestions but I really don't think it has anything to do with the physical machine, memory, hard disk or browser. Other websites work fine and are fast. I think it is something with the communication with family search, either something with tivoli or the specific firewall/sophos settings on that machine. Again other websites on that same box work perfectly fine on that same machine at the same time that familysearch is slow.

You might want to see if it can access premium sites like Ancestry.com. On FHC machines, there's a process called Portal.cfg that sets up proxy server settings needed for access. It might affect access to FamilySearch as it could be a "inside" (10.x.x.x) server.

russellhltn wrote:You might want to see if it can access premium sites like Ancestry.com. On FHC machines, there's a process called Portal.cfg that sets up proxy server settings needed for access. It might affect access to FamilySearch as it could be a "inside" (10.x.x.x) server.

FYI - Portal.cfg appears not to be a downloadable option for FHC computers now. All authentication etc., is done using Tivolixxxx.validate.exe. as the current desktop management solution. This should have been applied to all computers in an official FHC, sometime ago.

Please correct me if I've got this wrong!

Biggles wrote:Portal.cfg appears not to be a downloadable option for FHC computers now.

Looks like you can download it from fhc.familysearch.org

I think it's supposed to run automatically, but it's offered as a way to fix things when it goes wrong. (It also doesn't work if the PC is too locked down. )

Thanks for that, I hadn't seen that option. Interesting that it's now called new.Portal.cfg. That will at least eliminate confusion from the previous version.

This is a problem that should be addressed directly by FamilySearch Support. You should call 1-866-406-1830 when you are at the FHC so we can take a closer look and help you work through the problems you are having.

I am a Stake Technology Specialist. All our computers run extremely slow on family search when we have new.portal.cfg and tivoli enabled. I rewired the entire family History Center to gigabit speeds. Internet is 50Mbps service and that is blazing fast for genealogy use. When I disable "portal" all sites speed up extremely but we lose premium access to sites like ancestry.com. The problem I see is when portal is enabled we drop packets excessively. Global Service Support knows me by name with 100's of hours trying to solve this. They said they are working on a new version of portal hoping this would solve this. Unfortunately this has been ongoing for over a year now.
I have had portal disabled for the past 6 months and the internet speed and familysearch.org has been sweet to work with. This last week I re-enabled portal and the complaints of "slow, slow, slow" familysearch.org and error message boxes showing up on familysearch are filling my text box again.

David - were you able to resolve your speed problem and have new.portal.cfg / Tivoli enabled? I am a new STS trying to help a FHC with very slow internet speeds. How do I disable the portal? I would like to test that option.

Thanks,

Tom

DavidGarff wrote:I am a Stake Technology Specialist. All our computers run extremely slow on family search when we have new.portal.cfg and tivoli enabled. I rewired the entire family History Center to gigabit speeds. Internet is 50Mbps service and that is blazing fast for genealogy use. When I disable "portal" all sites speed up extremely but we lose premium access to sites like ancestry.com. The problem I see is when portal is enabled we drop packets excessively. Global Service Support knows me by name with 100's of hours trying to solve this. They said they are working on a new version of portal hoping this would solve this. Unfortunately this has been ongoing for over a year now.
I have had portal disabled for the past 6 months and the internet speed and familysearch.org has been sweet to work with. This last week I re-enabled portal and the complaints of "slow, slow, slow" familysearch.org and error message boxes showing up on familysearch are filling my text box again.