Australia Post Delivery Rate Server Down

[Candylea]

Is anybody else up yet I'm down still in North Queensland 4.56pm

after a big headache trying to work out what the hell was going on because I just installed paypal express & Patch

Scary didn't kknow what was going on

[Candylea]

I'm back all good but I must say a big thank-you for starting this thread I would have been there for hours

[redmonds]

Hi all,

I have just installed the updated AustPost Improved Mod on a New Clean Store and am experiencing problems.

The quoting is not working and is responding with the error

"AustPost (ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server.
Please try again later, or contact the store owner if problems persist.)"

I have checked the AP server using the links posted previously and the AP server is ok so I must have screwed something up.

Can any one assist.

Thanks

[redmonds]

I did note that although this mod is obviously approved fro ZC 1.3.8 the files used in the mod are of varying versions some V1.3.8 some older.

I did a compare and merge on the three existing files. One of which is a language file and should not cause a problem. I then uploaded the files that came with the mod and no change. Still have the error.

I also noticed that although the AustPost shoed the error it also showed the price as $0 and was able to be selected and proceed to through the checkout.

[RodG]

G'day Redmonds,

> The quoting is not working and is responding with the error
> "AustPost (ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server.
> Please try again later, or contact the store owner if problems persist.)"

> I have checked the AP server using the links posted previously and the AP
> server is ok so I must have screwed something up.

If you are using V2.0.x of the Austpost module please be aware that this version users a different server than previous ones. The 'new' server is located at
austpost.vcsweb.com (please see the readme called 'servers.txt'' that is contained in the distribution files).

The main reason for this change is to offer a centralised server for the 'fixed costs' (eg, insurance rates, letter rates, prepaid satchel costs, etc), which aren't available from the orginal drc.edeliver server. Having said that, the server at austpost.vcsweb.com performs a redirect to the drc server for its 'regular' quotes.

As well as this, the new version of the module defaults to using the CURL method of server access (rather than the FILE method). Theory (and tests) dictate that if the CURL method fails the module will then try the FILE method. However, this code has not been widely tested.

OK, that's the preamble. Now to try to find a solution.

Since there are several possibilties for your failure to get a quote we need to do a little debugging.

First up I'll get you to bypass the CURL method of access and force it to use FILE.
You can do this by loading /includes/modules/shipping/austpost.php into a text editor.
Locate the line that reads:
if (function_exists('curl_init')) {
Change it to read
if (function_exists('XXXcurl_init')) {

Save the file and try to obtain a quote. If you can obtian a valid quote you have proven that the problem is with the FILE fallback code. If this is the case, simply leave the files as they are and hopefully I'll have a proper fix ready for the next release.

Another possible problem of failing to get a quote is if your webhost is blocking outgoing web requests via script files. There are a number of hosts that do this, but many of those have already included an exception to their rules so that requests to drc.edeliver.com.au are allowed. You can test to see if this is the case by loading /includes/modules/shipping/austpost.php into a text editor, and looking for the line that reads:
$SERVER = "http://austpost.vcsweb.com/" ;

Change this to:
$SERVER = "http://drc.edeliver.com.au/" ;

Resave the file and see if if the error goes away. If it does, you can then choose to either define your own 'fixed costs' . This is done by editing/uncomment the code that reads

/* Fees as of December 2007
costPrePaid3k=9.30
costPrePaid500g=5.30
costCOD=9.30
costREGaus=2.70
costREGints=10.85
costREGintl=17.50
costLETaus=50,1.00,1.45,2.45
costLETint=1.95,3.85,5.80,11.60
costINS=1.20,1.20,5.50,2.00
*/

OR, better yet, politely ask your webhost to allow scripted access to http://austpost.vcsweb.com (they will also need to leave the drc.edeliver.com.au accesssable).

If, after making the changes to:
if (function_exists('curl_init')) {
and
$SERVER = "http://austpost.vcsweb.com/" ;

And you STILL don't get a response from the server we are then treading on new ground and further faultfinding will be required.

PLEASE GET BACK TO ME WITH YOUR FINDINGS.

Cheers
Rod

[RodG]

G'day again Redmonds,

> I also noticed that although the AustPost shoed the error it also showed the price as $0 and > was able to be selected and proceed to through the checkout.

I guess I'll need to look into trying to do something about that, OR, do you think it may be better to simply leave it? What is better, to give a shipping quote of $0 and let the customer checkout anyway (you can always add shipping charges after the fact), or, the alternative is to not let them checkout at all because there isn't a valid shipping cost?

Just seeking opinions.

Cheers
Rod

[redmonds]

Rod,

Thanks for ytour help it was the curl problem/solution that worked for me.

In regards to the aloowing checkout with and error I would definately prefer to allow the checkout and then worry about it afterwards. But perhaps something else shoudl be entered such as

'if you proceed you will be contact with correct shipping costs' or something like that.

Agains thanks for your help and a great mod.

[RodG]

G'day Redmonds,

> Thanks for ytour help it was the curl problem/solution that worked for me.

Thanks for your help too. At least now I know what the most likely cause is, and where to look to fix it. :-)

> In regards to the aloowing checkout with and error I would definately prefer to allow the
> checkout and then worry about it afterwards. But perhaps something else shoudl be
> entered such as
> 'if you proceed you will be contact with correct shipping costs' or something like that.

I like that idea. I'll see what I can do :-)

Meanwhile, wanna help me out with this CURL problem? If so, simply locate the CURL code and uncomment the debug lines. namely,
//$info=curl_getinfo($ch);
//echo 'INFO: <pre>'; print_r($info); echo '</pre><br />';
//echo 'ERROR: ' . $error . '<br />';
// print_r($data) ;

(just delete the '//'). Ensure it tries to use CURL again, then get a quote. A copy of the output should prove very useful.

Cheers
Rod

[RodG]

G'day centaur,

> I was so glad that I'm not the only one having this problem

What problem? The one back in June when the AustPost server was down?

> I have tried all the fixes above

Which version of the AP module?
What version of zencart?
What are the EXACT error messages you are seeing?

> Also - I had the same problem as an earlier post,

Does this mean you are having multiple problems?
If you could report *your* specific problem (ignoring any other posts, which may or may not be relevent) then I may be able to give some advice or suggestions specific to your problem, because from the sounds of it, you have more than one.

>Does the script convert so if Someone buys something for say 60 Euro, does the correct >postage get charged in Euro?

Currency conversion is a function of zencart itself, not the postage modules, so I guess the answer is 'yes', if someone byts your products in euro the shipping quotes will also be in euro.

Cheers
Rod

[RodG]

G'day Centaur,

> Very Sorry I was not Specific

No need for apologies, but generally speaking, the more info you give the better.

> Error is :- AustPost (ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the > Australia Post Server. Please try again later, or contact the store
> owner if problems persist.)

Although this is a generic error message, it does suggest to me that the problem you are experiencing is possibly not related to the server being down (or inaccessible), however this is still possible.

> My site is hosted om Servers in America, if that helps.

That wouldn't make any difference.
What would/could cause this problem though is if your products weights and/or dimensions exceed the allowable limits, so that needs to be one of the first things you can check.

If they are OK and If you've already tried disabling CURL (as per earlier this thread) could you please email me with name of your webhost/server and/or IP address. With this information I can look for a match in the log files to verify that the request is being recieved, and if so, whether there is any obvious errors in the data).

Cheers
Rod