Trouble connecting - HELP!

[Newbie connect!]

I use contribute at work all the time, but have never had to install the
program or create a connection the first time. I'm attempting to set it up at
home for a different not-for-profit website and am having great difficulties
establishing a connection. I know my FTP server, username and password ... but
when it asks for my website on the FTP and I select public_html it's not
working! LOST!! Any help????

[lukaro]

Hi

When you go through the connection wizard, are you able to select the folder that your website is in, rather than selecting an individual file. Try that.

Rgds

[bon60]

:confused; I KNOW where you're coming from....I am in the SAME boat!!! Called
Adobe yesterday and was put on hold for 15min.hung up and was THEN transferred
to 4 different places....so MY time was 1.5hrs.spent and NOTHING was resolved!!!

IF you get anyhelp PLEASE let me know...Thanks

Bon60

[rusky]

I've just had a client who was having a heap of problems creating a connection
to her website (3.11 had stopped working and we had upgraded to CS3) and it has
turned out to be firewalls. She had three installed for some reason, and
turning them off wasn't enough. Once we uninstalled them (particularly Spy
Doctor and Zone Alarm) Contribute was able to establish a connection with no
problems - and she was marvelling at how much faster her computer was running!
Also make sure the Windows Firewall is turned off when trying to establish a
connection.
Best of luck

[bon60]

Hi Rusky;
thanks for the "connection" info..I tried all that you emailed me..and it did NOT work..I am getting VERY frustrated

Bon60:sad;

[AmerigoCo]

I'm having a similar issue. Our web sites are hosted in-house and the decision
was made NOT to connect to them via LAN but rather via FTP, for tighter
security. I can FTP to them just fine in Dreamweaver and FireFTP (Firefox
extension). I can do it from inside the network at the office, and from
outside the network from home. We only have one static IP address, which is
assigned to the CiscoPIX firewall. In order to differentiate between each site
for FTP purposes, each one uses a different port - 8021 through 8026 - and has
a different private IP address.

The short version is, I'm unable to assign a port, which appears to be why I
can't connect to the server and edit through Contribute.

If I call the ftp server ftp.areamaps.us:8021, I get an IMMEDIATE
username/password error message. Since I've copy/pasted both from my
spreadsheet, and since they are working in Dreamweaver and in FireFTP, I can
rule out a true authentication error.

So I went into the "Advanced" settings, selected "Use FTP proxy settings when
connecting." Although we don't actually have a proxy server, I enter the IP
address of the firewall (or leave it out - same results) and the port (both as
8021 or 21, same result), then try again.

This time, when I click "Next," it goes to the testing connection window, I
can see that it's found the web site because the content in the <title></title>
tags appears, but after some wheel-spinning, this error message appears -
"Contribute could not connect because the server is down or not accepting
connections. Please contact your administrator" (that's me). I'm the only
person with FTP access to the sites. I do not have any FTP clients
(Dreamweaver, FireFTP) connected to the site. Immediately after making the
connection attempt through Contribute, I'm able to FTP into the site from both
Dreamweaver and FireFTP (not simultaneously).

I've posted screen shots of the step-by-step process of going through the
connection wizard, as well as the error messages that appear as a result. I
hope someone can help. They can be found at
[url]http://www.amerigocompanies.com/support/Adobe/contribute.html[/url]

The screen shots are from Macromedia Contribute 3, v 3.11, but I get the
identical problems & screens using Adobe Contribute CS3. Both computers I'm
attempting to configure are running Windows XP Pro, SP2. Both computers have
IE 7.0, and my desktop (with 3.11) is also running Firefox.

Thanks.

Lynda

[bon60]

Thanks for the email Lynda..NOTHING works for me..you would think that Adobe
would TRY to fix this poblem for us????
I certainly do not have ANY confidence in them.

If anyone on the Forum know HOW to fix this problem..PLEASE let us know. Thanks

Bon60

[bon60]

No it will NOT let me do that either!!

Bon60:wine;

[AmerigoCo]

What I want to know is, why does Adobe provide this forum, if they aren't also
going to provide monitors to address the issues raised here? This thread
started on April 13th. Today is May 2nd, and not one Adobe technician has
popped in to advise the fix or work-around for this issue.

Very telling, I'd say. Especially in light of the fact that they provide
little if any direct technical support to those who have purchased their
software.

[bon60]

:confused;:disgust;yep you got it!! WEe have had NO help from Adobe at ALL!!!

Bon60

[AmerigoCo]

I just sent a hotly-worded email to their customer service section about the
lack of available support, and the unavailability of Contribute 4 at Adobe.com.
I thought perhaps the issue might have been fixed in 4 and figured I test out
the trial version, but there is no information available about it whatsoever at
Adobe.com. You can't buy it, evaluate it, read about it, discuss it, nothing.

[bon60]

:disgust;HOPE we get some help!!! I have Contribute 3..and cannot connect NO matter what I try!! PLEASE let me know what happens.

Bon60

[HangD]

Have you applied this hotfix that address FTP issues with Cisco Pix firewall
connections, TechNote [url]http://www.adobe.com/go/fc1a435a[/url]. You will need to
download the zip file and extract the NetioFTP.dll file into your program
folder.

Contribute 4 is still available and supported, the trial software is here -
[url]http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=contribute&amp;loc=en_us[/url]

[AmerigoCo]

Finally, a constructive response! :grin;

I gave the hotfix a try, but as I suspected it wasn't something that could
address my situation. I'm downloading Contribute 4 as I type this - hopefully
that will be the difference.

I'll let y'all know what transpires!

Lynda

[bon60]

:cool;Let me know IF it works Lynda...

Bon60

[AmerigoCo]

Shoot. Back to square one. As I said, in my case I have a specific port to
assign for FTP, and there just doesn't seem to be a way to do that. The proxy
server port setting is for the port the proxy server is accessed through.
There are no firewall settings in Contribute like there are in Dreamweaver.

If I set the port in the proxy server settings to 8021, I get an IMMEDIATE
authentication error. Since I'm authenticating fine through Dreamweaver &
FireFTP with the same copy/pasted username/password, that's a bogus error.

If I set the port in the proxy server settings to 21, I get a "server is not
accepting connections" error. Again, I'm connecting with everything else.

This is a BUG BUG BUG in Contribute! I can't believe they don't have a
firewall settings interface! Everyone with half a brain uses a firewall these
days, and they handle it BEAUTIFULLY in Dreamweaver, so they don't even have to
re-invent the wheel! Adobe people who are monitoring this thread - GET IN HERE
AND ADDRESS THIS ISSUE FOR US! There is no way to contact Adobe support on
this issue during the trial version, and my registered versions aren't showing
up in support. It's like Adobe doesn't want to be bothered with us.

[HangD]

Hi Lynda,

Contribute uses an embedded version of IE so the proxy settings you specify in
the browser determine Contribute's connection behavior.

Check the following settings in your web browser::

1. Verify in IE, under Tools> Internet Options, LAN settings, uncheck
Automatically detect settings and use automatic configuration script.
2. Under Proxy Server, check use proxy server, and fill in your address and
port number you are using.
3. Click OK, and then hop over to the Advanced tab in IE Options, make sure
the following are checked: Enable folder view of FTP sites, Enable third party
browser extensions, Use Passive FTP, and Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections,

if you are still having problems, ping me via email with your contact info.

[AmerigoCo]

Thanks SO much for the input. Unfortunately, this solution didn't work; I've
sent you my contact info privately.

Everyone else, I'll keep you posted, although I don't know if what will work
for me will provide the solution for the other connection issues discussed
here. Thank goodness we finally have someone from Adobe on our side!

[bon60]

:brokenheart;Didnt work for me..NEXT???

my email is; [email]george.bonnie@sympatico.ca[/email]

Bon60

[AmerigoCo]

HangD from Adobe is the bomb, my friends. We haven't resolved the issue yet,
but it seems to be related to IE 7.0. If any of you are using 7.0, that might
be the issue.

Because Contribute works through an IE interface, it's the IE settings that
can cause issue. This is why there aren't many setttings in Contribute itself.
Right now, I'm getting ready to try to roll back to IE 6 and see if that
resolves the issue.

I'll keep you posted.