Login problem

[cly]

I have a problem where most users can login absolutely fine, but every now and then certain users cannot login. They enter their details and then they are thrown back at the login screen - they are not logged in and the items in their cart are gone. It is like a completely new session id has been created, and the old one discarded. Perhaps for certain people the session id is not passed correctly? It is all very strange.

 

Configuration:

- I have this working with a shared SSL cert. Ie, http uses www.mydomain.com, while https uses www.myotherdomain.com/mydomain.

- configure.php contains:

HTTP_COOKIE_DOMAIN is www.mydomain.com

HTTPS_COOKIE_DOMAIN is www.myotherdomain.com

HTTP_COOKIE_PATH is /

HTTPS_COOKIE_PATH is /

USE_PCONNECT is true

STORE_SESSIONS is mysql

 

Remember, the site is working fine for nearly everyone, including myself, and I can't see the problem occurring myself, but occassionally I will get a customer emailing me saying that it won't work. Each customer explains the problem identically.

 

I have searched for other people with the same problem, but even though there are posts regarding login problems, nothing really matches this problem... so if anyone has any suggestions, I would be more than happy to listen and try different things out! It has really got me puzzled.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

[♥Vger]

Ask those who can't login if they use AOL as their Internet Service Provider - as this is the most likely reason. It's not a fault with osCommerce, it's a result of the rubbish way in which AOL handles sessions.

 

By the way , use_pconnect should be false.

 

Vger

[cly]

Thanks for your input.

 

The website is based in New Zealand, and AOL only has a tiny presence here, one of the smaller ISP's. The last user was using an ISP called Xtra (which is linked with MSN), but I since that ISP is one of the largest in country, I see many people managing to purchase via the same ISP - but I will keep a look out to see if there is any pattern with regards to what ISP is being used.

 

Regarding the PCONNECT setting, I use that because for some reason if I don't it takes quite a bit longer for the initial page to be displayed. By enabling the persistant connection it decreases the waiting time. Any ideas why this may be?

[OceanRanch]

You might also check in admin that "Check IP Address" is set to false. Some ISPs (AOL included) will have multiple proxy servers that will cause the clients IP numbers to change and then cause OSC to create a new session IF check IP address is on.

 

Tom

[cly]

I had "IP Address Check" set to true, so I have now disabled it. It know that this ISP has a transparent proxy, and if one of these users was to fin out it's own IP address via another computer on the internet then it will sometimes swap between the proxy and it's real IP address... this seems like a logical explanation... thank you! I will try it out. :)