Problem with Paypal connection - Error (28) connect() timed out!

mc12345678:

My understanding of those results is that where ever ipncheck was successful, you could use paypal basic (IPN) at least as far as your software is concerned. (Not sure if it establishes communication with paypal or not.). Where the paypal curl failed indicates that paypal express will likely not work. Where you ran just curltester.php, with success indicates that curl works and works with the zencart site. Where tested curl with ups, well, version used for 1.5.0 doesn't know what to do with a ups flag so defaults to zen cart. So no results related to ups there. Just that curl works. May also want to test with ssl=1 to ensure able to have ssl connection and that that is not a problem.

I have done a curl test with ssl=1
The results are the following:

http://birthdaysextreme.net/curltester.php?ssl=1

CURL Test Page
This page is intended for testing CURL behaviour. You should be accessing this page via CURLTESTER.PHP running on YOUR server.

You submitted the following fields and data:
Array
(
[field1] => This is a test
[statuskey] => ready
)
Data validation
Good
Other Info
Your server IP address is: 209.17.114.78.
Your system identifies itself as: Zen Cart(tm) - CURL TEST
Copyright © 2003 - 2013 Zen Ventures, LLC - Authors of Zen Cart™
Array
(
[url] => "https://www.zen-cart.com/testcurl.php"
[content_type] => text/html
[http_code] => 200
[header_size] => 179
[request_size] => 212
[filetime] => -1
[ssl_verify_result] => 0
[redirect_count] => 0
[total_time] => 0.297001
[namelookup_time] => 0.162745
[connect_time] => 0.185075
[pretransfer_time] => 0.271706
[size_upload] => 37
[size_download] => 2116
[speed_download] => 7124
[speed_upload] => 124
[download_content_length] => 2116
[upload_content_length] => 37
[starttransfer_time] => 0.296977
[redirect_time] => 0
[certinfo] => Array
(
)

[redirect_url] => 

)

what does it mean?

mc12345678:

My understanding of those results is that where ever ipncheck was successful, you could use paypal basic (IPN) at least as far as your software is concerned. (Not sure if it establishes communication with paypal or not.). Where the paypal curl failed indicates that paypal express will likely not work. Where you ran just curltester.php, with success indicates that curl works and works with the zencart site. Where tested curl with ups, well, version used for 1.5.0 doesn't know what to do with a ups flag so defaults to zen cart. So no results related to ups there. Just that curl works. May also want to test with ssl=1 to ensure able to have ssl connection and that that is not a problem.

I have done a curl test with ssl=1
The results are the following:

http://birthdaysextreme.net/curltester.php?ssl=1

CURL Test Page
This page is intended for testing CURL behaviour. You should be accessing this page via CURLTESTER.PHP running on YOUR server.

You submitted the following fields and data:
Array
(
[field1] => This is a test
[statuskey] => ready
)
Data validation
Good
Other Info
Your server IP address is: 209.17.114.78.
Your system identifies itself as: Zen Cart(tm) - CURL TEST
Copyright © 2003 - 2013 Zen Ventures, LLC - Authors of Zen Cart™
Array
(
[url] => "https://www.zen-cart.com/testcurl.php"
[content_type] => text/html
[http_code] => 200
[header_size] => 179
[request_size] => 212
[filetime] => -1
[ssl_verify_result] => 0
[redirect_count] => 0
[total_time] => 0.297001
[namelookup_time] => 0.162745
[connect_time] => 0.185075
[pretransfer_time] => 0.271706
[size_upload] => 37
[size_download] => 2116
[speed_download] => 7124
[speed_upload] => 124
[download_content_length] => 2116
[upload_content_length] => 37
[starttransfer_time] => 0.296977
[redirect_time] => 0
[certinfo] => Array
(
)

[redirect_url] => 

)

what does it mean?

twi:

REGULAR CURL TEST

CURL Test Page
This page is intended for testing CURL behaviour. You should be accessing this page via CURLTESTER.PHP running on YOUR server.

You submitted the following fields and data:
Array
(
[field1] => This is a test
[statuskey] => ready
)
Data validation
Good
Other Info
Your server IP address is: 209.17.114.78.
Your system identifies itself as: Zen Cart(tm) - CURL TESTThat's just a test of CURL being able to reach a known good site: zen-cart.com.
So that just tells you CURL itself is fine.

twi:

CURL TEST WITH PAYPAL=1

28 connect() timed out!

Array
(
[url] => "https://api-3t.paypal.com/nvp"
[content_type] =>
[http_code] => 0
[header_size] => 0
[request_size] => 0
[filetime] => -1
[ssl_verify_result] => 0
[redirect_count] => 0
[total_time] => 20.016929
[namelookup_time] => 0.017601
[connect_time] => 0
[pretransfer_time] => 0
[size_upload] => 0
[size_download] => 0
[speed_download] => 0
[speed_upload] => 0
[download_content_length] => -1
[upload_content_length] => -1
[starttransfer_time] => 0
[redirect_time] => 0
[certinfo] => Array
(
)That's your error 28-connect-timed-out that you need to get your hosting company involved to fix.

twi:

CURL TEST WITH ?ups=1As mc12345678 said earlier, the ups=1 test doesn't do anything with the curltester script because curltester doesn't know anything about that parameter. So it just tests connectivity to zen-cart.com, just like your first test up above.

twi:

IPN CHECK

http://birthdaysextreme.net/ipncheck.php
IPN CHECK

IPNCHECK.PHP - Version 1.3.9

CURL RESPONSE RECEIVED - Communications OKAY
IPN TESTING - Response Received via CURL -- COMMUNICATIONS OKAY

IPN TESTING - Confirmation/Validation response with fsockopen(): FSOCKOPEN() RESPONSE RECEIVED - Communications OKAY
Default method likely to be used for communications is: CURL, with the fallback method being FSOCKOPEN if possible.
Script finished.
The IPNCHECK script doesn't test communications for Express Checkout.
It tests whether an IPN post-back can be performed. And that's only used for Standard transactions.
While it does test connectivity, a "pass" doesn't guarantee problem-free IPN usage.
The IPNCHECK tool doesn't verify anything with respect to your CURL problems.

twi:

I have done a curl test with ssl=1
The results are the following:

http://birthdaysextreme.net/curltester.php?ssl=1

CURL Test Page
This page is intended for testing CURL behaviour. You should be accessing this page via CURLTESTER.PHP running on YOUR server.

You submitted the following fields and data:
Array
(
[field1] => This is a test
[statuskey] => ready
)
Data validation
Good
Other Info
Your server IP address is: 209.17.114.78.
Your system identifies itself as: Zen Cart(tm) - CURL TEST
Copyright © 2003 - 2013 Zen Ventures, LLC - Authors of Zen Cart™
Array
(
[url] => "https://www.zen-cart.com/testcurl.php"
[content_type] => text/html
[http_code] => 200
[header_size] => 179
[request_size] => 212
[filetime] => -1
[ssl_verify_result] => 0
[redirect_count] => 0
[total_time] => 0.297001
[namelookup_time] => 0.162745
[connect_time] => 0.185075
[pretransfer_time] => 0.271706
[size_upload] => 37
[size_download] => 2116
[speed_download] => 7124
[speed_upload] => 124
[download_content_length] => 2116
[upload_content_length] => 37
[starttransfer_time] => 0.296977
[redirect_time] => 0
[certinfo] => Array
(
)

[redirect_url] => 

)

what does it mean?It means what it says: CURL can be used to make an SSL connection to another server ... in this case it's the zen-cart.com server.
Basically it just means SSL works with CURL. That's all.

DrByte:

That's just a test of CURL being able to reach a known good site: zen-cart.com.
So that just tells you CURL itself is fine.

That's your error 28-connect-timed-out that you need to get your hosting company involved to fix.

As mc12345678 said earlier, the ups=1 test doesn't do anything with the curltester script because curltester doesn't know anything about that parameter. So it just tests connectivity to zen-cart.com, just like your first test up above.

The IPNCHECK script doesn't test communications for Express Checkout.
It tests whether an IPN post-back can be performed. And that's only used for Standard transactions.
While it does test connectivity, a "pass" doesn't guarantee problem-free IPN usage.
The IPNCHECK tool doesn't verify anything with respect to your CURL problems.

Thank you for a very clear interpretation. I will have to contact them by phone to resolve this. Based on your explanation, its not something I can fix. The host should fix this. Correct me if I am wrong.

DrByte:

It means what it says: CURL can be used to make an SSL connection to another server ... in this case it's the zen-cart.com server.
Basically it just means SSL works with CURL. That's all.

Thank you for this explanation as well. conclusion is that there is no problem with my CURL settings. So the problem lies at: CURL TEST WITH PAYPAL=1

28 connect() timed out!

Array
(
[url] => "https://api-3t.paypal.com/nvp"

One side question: Does pointing you URL away to another directory, and then pointing it back to the same directory at the root cause these kinds of communication problems?

Cause what I now have is Paypal express not working and UPS mod intermittently works. I am just wondering if my actions is what caused the errors, or it was so coincidental that Paypal was having the same problems as I was trying to upgrade my sites by pointing the URLs to the finished and tested zc 1.51.

twi:

One side question: Does pointing you URL away to another directory, and then pointing it back to the same directory at the root cause these kinds of communication problems?No.
twi:

Cause what I now have is Paypal express not working and UPS mod intermittently works. I am just wondering if my actions is what caused the errors, or it was so coincidental that Paypal was having the same problems as I was trying to upgrade my sites by pointing the URLs to the finished and tested zc 1.51.
I suspect it's coincidental, not related.

DrByte:

No.

I suspect it's coincidental, not related.

Thank you very much. That takes the burden away from me trying to fix my finished site and in the process destroying it. I will definitely contact hosting to look into this and won't quit pressing for it until they resolve it.

mc12345678:

My understanding of those results is that where ever ipncheck was successful, you could use paypal basic (IPN) at least as far as your software is concerned. (Not sure if it establishes communication with paypal or not.). Where the paypal curl failed indicates that paypal express will likely not work. Where you ran just curltester.php, with success indicates that curl works and works with the zencart site. Where tested curl with ups, well, version used for 1.5.0 doesn't know what to do with a ups flag so defaults to zen cart. So no results related to ups there. Just that curl works. May also want to test with ssl=1 to ensure able to have ssl connection and that that is not a problem.

Thanks! Looks like ssl works fine:

CURL Test Page
This page is intended for testing CURL behaviour. You should be accessing this page via CURLTESTER.PHP running on YOUR server.

You submitted the following fields and data:

Array
(
[field1] => This is a test
[statuskey] => ready
)

Data validation
Good
Other Info
Your server IP address is: 209.17.114.78.
Your system identifies itself as: Zen Cart(tm) - CURL TEST

Array
(
[url] => "https://www.zen-cart.com/testcurl.php"
[content_type] => text/html
[http_code] => 200
[header_size] => 179
[request_size] => 212
[filetime] => -1
[ssl_verify_result] => 0
[redirect_count] => 0
[total_time] => 0.287322
[namelookup_time] => 0.139673
[connect_time] => 0.165073
[pretransfer_time] => 0.255606
[size_upload] => 37
[size_download] => 2116
[speed_download] => 7364
[speed_upload] => 128
[download_content_length] => 2116
[upload_content_length] => 37
[starttransfer_time] => 0.287293
[redirect_time] => 0
[certinfo] => Array
(
)

[redirect_url] => 

)

mc12345678:

There are several "programs" out there to install and take advantage of traceroute already available by your host if it is, otherwise had found some that use sockets calls to cycle through, if sockets is enabled.

Otherwise, I hadn't found anything for which I had enough access rights to iniatate. Be sure that if/when you do that it is tcp port 443 that is used. Port 80 (default) won't tell you anything useful.

Thanks! I ran a traceroute but it only traces from my computer to my host. AT&T was not shown in the path so they suggested I run a traceroute from my site to PayPal to see where it dies. But I don't know if/how I can do that.

Running traceroute to test your server must be done from a telnet or ssh terminal console on your server.
Your hosting company has all the tools necessary to do that, and they also have the knowledge about networking to be able to understand the results and to relay them to the necessary 3rd-and-4th-party vendors involved to get them to fix the problems.

Thanks! I was afraid of that. My hosting company is also NetSol, like Twi. Sometimes it can be difficult to get them to do those things. I'll give them a call tomorrow.

RNRN:

My hosting company is also NetSol ... Sometimes it can be difficult to get them to do those things.
Most people say the same about NetSol.

As far as notifications go, host was contacted Sunday 9 days ago and yesterday responded that they were still working on it and that updates would be provided when they became available.

In the meantime we've gone with PayPal standard. Albeit both methods are a "courtesy", I would prefer Express to be functional, but better something than nothing.

mc12345678:

As far as notifications go, host was contacted Sunday 9 days ago and yesterday responded that they were still working on it and that updates would be provided when they became available.

In the meantime we've gone with PayPal standard. Albeit both methods are a "courtesy", I would prefer Express to be functional, but better something than nothing.

I believe I just got a better explanation fro NetSol if that is the actual answer to all of this. I was given a "service ticket number" and a link to chat support. I told them about the error (28) connect () timeout issue. What they told me is that:

1. "they do not support connect to an API" on shared hosting. (I thought they did because that is what I have been using, name Paypal express checkout.

2. they migrated their Unix hosting to a new firewall about "2 weeks ago". (what a coincidence)

I told them I can forego Paypal express and use standard instead. But I still have this connection problem with UPS the Mod. It provides quotes intermittently. I told them that UPS does require API. (correct me if I am wrong)

They kept telling me that they do not support third party and open source softwares. I asked them what I need to do to get the problem resolved. and they told me that I can upgrade to Virtual hosting if I am able to run a server. (I would run my own in house server If I do that)

They kept telling me that I need to tell them what the problem is, which none of us are able to pinpoint so far.

Is any of this true what they are telling me?
Any suggestions anyone?

RNRN:

Thanks! I was afraid of that. My hosting company is also NetSol, like Twi. Sometimes it can be difficult to get them to do those things. I'll give them a call tomorrow.

Can you give us all the result of what they will be telling you after your call?

twi:

They kept telling me that I need to tell them what the problem is, which none of us are able to pinpoint so far.
Sigh. I guess everything I've posted has been for naught then, since nobody's listening.

The "28 - connect timed out" error means that something broke in the process of connecting from your server to PayPal's server. It could be that your host has their DNS set to very old data and thus is getting the wrong address for PayPal's servers, or that the communications between your server and PayPal's server is broken/blocked.

twi:

I believe I just got a better explanation fro NetSol if that is the actual answer to all of this. I was given a "service ticket number" and a link to chat support. I told them about the error (28) connect () timeout issue. What they told me is that:

1. "they do not support connect to an API" on shared hosting. (I thought they did because that is what I have been using, name Paypal express checkout.

2. they migrated their Unix hosting to a new firewall about "2 weeks ago". (what a coincidence)

I told them I can forego Paypal express and use standard instead. But I still have this connection problem with UPS the Mod. It provides quotes intermittently. I told them that UPS does require API. (correct me if I am wrong)

They kept telling me that they do not support third party and open source softwares. I asked them what I need to do to get the problem resolved. and they told me that I can upgrade to Virtual hosting if I am able to run a server.
If you want my honest personal opinion, based on my observations of the frustrations encountered by countless other merchants who chose NetSol, the best course of action is to move to a more reliable host. Get your site running on another host and then demand a refund of the balance of services you've paid for since they're no longer fulfilling what you paid them for ... especially since they broke things with their firewall change and don't know how to fix it.

DrByte:

Sigh. I guess everything I've posted has been for naught then, since nobody's listening.

The "28 - connect timed out" error means that something broke in the process of connecting from your server to PayPal's server. It could be that your host has their DNS set to very old data and thus is getting the wrong address for PayPal's servers, or that the communications between your server and PayPal's server is broken/blocked.

Sorry for the oversight. cause I am really confused and frustrated over the situation given my limited knowledge over all of this.

I didn't exactly told them: "It could be that your host has their DNS set to very old data and thus is getting the wrong address for PayPal's servers" But I did mention that: zencart forum (dr byte) suggested that their security certificates are out of date, and that they should look into it.

I should go again and tell them exactly what you told me hear and see what they are saying this time. Thanks.

DrByte:

If you want my honest personal opinion, based on my observations of the frustrations encountered by countless other merchants who chose NetSol, the best course of action is to move to a more reliable host. Get your site running on another host and then demand a refund of the balance of services you've paid for since they're no longer fulfilling what you paid them for ... especially since they broke things with their firewall change and don't know how to fix it.

Any suggestions on a good host for zencart?