FTP server not functioning properly

[rwas]

Hello,

After launching the ftp server module and after logging in with a unix ftp
client I find that although I can see directories (ie., mc, hdd, pfs, mass) I
can do little else. I cannot create new directories within mc, hdd, or mass.
Doing a "dir" in any of these directories (except pfs) gives me "ps2" as a
subdirectory and nothing else. I am unable to traverse directories or see
files that *should* be there.

I've tried versions 4.30 and 4.38. They both do the same thing.

Help appreciated.

Robert W.

[dlanor]

Hello,

After launching the ftp server module and after logging in with a unix ftp
client I find that although I can see directories (ie., mc, hdd, pfs, mass) I
can do little else. I cannot create new directories within mc, hdd, or mass.
Doing a "dir" in any of these directories (except pfs) gives me "ps2" as a
subdirectory and nothing else. I am unable to traverse directories or see
files that *should* be there.

I've tried versions 4.30 and 4.38. They both do the same thing.

The FTP server in uLE does not support 'passive' FTP mode.

Everything you describe fits in with an attempt to use 'passive' mode, so I suspect this is the cause of your problems. Please try again using 'active' (aka: normal) FTP mode instead.

Best regards: dlanor

[rwas]

The FTP server in uLE does not support 'passive' FTP mode.

Everything you describe fits in with an attempt to use 'passive' mode, so I suspect this is the cause of your problems. Please try again using 'active' (aka: normal) FTP mode instead.

Best regards: dlanor

Nope, nada, zero...

I used <ftp -a -A> which basically logs in as "anonymous" and starts up in *ACTIVE* mode right off the bat. I reviewed the the directions found @ "http://ps2ulaunchelf.pbwiki.com/ps2ftp" and used a browser to ftp to it. I see
the directories but viewing subdirectories shows me a single folder labeled "0". No data.

UlaunchElf works great when using it via its gui however.

rwas

[dlanor]

Nope, nada, zero...

I used <ftp -a -A> which basically logs in as "anonymous" and starts up in *ACTIVE* mode right off the bat.

Well, that should have worked then, but since I don't use linux I can't test that myself.

But I have heard of some other FTP clients that would revert to 'passive' methods even when they are supposed to use 'active' methods only. Like using 'passive' methods for directory operations and the user-specified 'active' mode only for real file transfers. That would result in the same problem you report.

But perhaps it is something else entirely. I just don't know...

I reviewed the the directions found @ "http://ps2ulaunchelf.pbwiki.com/ps2ftp" and used a browser to ftp to it. I see
the directories but viewing subdirectories shows me a single folder labeled "0". No data.

This is quite normal for passive mode, but I never get it in active mode.
(Using the FlashFXP client I always use under WinXP.)

UlaunchElf works great when using it via its gui however.

That's good to hear, and for networking perhaps you can use the HOST protocol instead. (I'm not sure if the Windows clients can run under WINE though.)

Best regards: dlanor

[E P]

For Unix there are all sorts of issues with FTP clients. I know as I tried quiet a few myself. The shell command based ones all have issues like midnight commander among others. Part of the problem is with how those clients respond to the server. I made some temporary hacks in one of my unreleased builds, but it was always a hit and/or a miss. Eventually I grew tired of it and soon realized that any trivial solution couldn't be quickly had. In the end, I figured that I would likely do more harm than good if I left in my adjustments.

As far a working FTP client, FileZilla is what I use. It has a few Linux lib dependencies to get it working, but what Linux applications don't these days. I use it since I've become accustomed to using it under Windows. FileZilla is open source and the authors comments in his developers forum tend to be quite an interesting read.

I did notice that there is some sort of strange bug that now currently plagues the FTP server. My hdd partition auto-mount code no longer works unless disc control is turned off. It took me a while to track down this odd behavior. My test buid's CNF configuration had disc control turned off for some reason otherwise I would have noticed this before releasing v4.39. Needless to say I found a better workaround by removing herbens latter changes to ps2ftpd as a fix but I'm still puzzled by this. How could these be in anyway related? At least mounting manually using the custom command option works without fail. I hope to investigate this further as this issue seems very peculiar.

[dlanor]

I did notice that there is some sort of strange bug that now currently plagues the FTP server. My hdd partition auto-mount code no longer works unless disc control is turned off.

Ouch! That's really weird.
We've seen many odd dependencies between different IRXs in the past, and the disc control feature has been involved in some before, but I've never seen it touch the FTP server.

But there's definitely something odd going on.

I normally have disc control on, and kept it so. Booted my v7 with empty tray and launched MISC/PS2Net, after which I started FlashFXP on the PC. And there I could then browse into various PS2 HDD partitions through the hdd entry, resulting in automatic mounting and directory switch to show that pfs content. So here that worked fine.

I then inserted a homebrew disc in the tray and restarted the console (full power cycle), to see if that made any difference. Repeated the same test again, and now I did get the problem you described. So this is not just tied to the disc control being on, but on some further action only made when there really is a disc in the tray to be checked. I also tested that the error could be made to go away simply by removing the disc from the tray and retrying the hdd browsing in the FTP client two times (once extra to clear some error state).

I belive this pinpoints the source of the trouble as being the chkesr module, which is responsible for identifying the ESR patch on DVD discs, since no other part of the disc control procedures has been modified lately (except in minor details).

It took me a while to track down this odd behavior. My test buid's CNF configuration had disc control turned off for some reason otherwise I would have noticed this before releasing v4.39.

As mentioned above you could still have missed it, if your tray was empty when using the FTP server.

Needless to say I found a better workaround by removing herbens latter changes to ps2ftpd as a fix

Sorry, but I didn't get exactly what you meant here. Please clarify!
Are you now using an unofficial beta version with those ps2ftpd changes ?

but I'm still puzzled by this. How could these be in anyway related?

They should not be, but I haven't studied the FTP server in detail recently and don't remember all relevant details. Possibly the browsing involved also causes some kind of refresh of the CDVD access, in which case it could interact with the disc control activities of the main program, though I don't see exactly how yet.

At least mounting manually using the custom command option works without fail.

Good, but it is really confusing why that works differently.

I hope to investigate this further as this issue seems very peculiar.

It is indeed, and I hope you can get to the bottom of it.

As you may have noted I'm a bit busy with other stuff right now (the new MC modules), but then I too want to have a closer look at the disc control stuff again, as there are some unresolved issues with its undue influence on unrelated operations. (Worst of all the effect on some other applications failing to launch uLE in some circumstances.)

Best regards: dlanor

[E P]

But there's definitely something odd going on.

I then inserted a homebrew disc in the tray and restarted the console (full power cycle), to see if that made any difference. Repeated the same test again, and now I did get the problem you described. So this is not just tied to the disc control being on, but on some further action only made when there really is a disc in the tray to be checked. I also tested that the error could be made to go away simply by removing the disc from the tray and retrying the hdd browsing in the FTP client two times (once extra to clear some error state).

I belive this pinpoints the source of the trouble as being the chkesr module, which is responsible for identifying the ESR patch on DVD discs, since no other part of the disc control procedures has been modified lately (except in minor details).

As mentioned above you could still have missed it, if your tray was empty when using the FTP server.

Thanks, I'll be sure to keep all of this under advisement with my further tests.

Sorry, but I didn't get exactly what you meant here. Please clarify!
Are you now using an unofficial beta version with those ps2ftpd changes ?

No just the one from v4.39. It included herben's last changes to the FTP server from way back. It looks like that is part of the problem. I know removing them seemed to fix it at least in my earlier tests. I'll be sure to do some more testing to figure out where things go awry.

Good, but it is really confusing why that works differently

Indeed.

As you may have noted I'm a bit busy with other stuff right now (the new MC modules), but then I too want to have a closer look at the disc control stuff again, as there are some unresolved issues with its undue influence on unrelated operations. (Worst of all the effect on some other applications failing to launch uLE in some circumstances.)

No problem, it's apparently just my chunk of ps2ftpd code that's not working properly so I'll just have to find a workaround or at least probable reason for it.