Re: st: Connecting to Internet

[Sergiy Radyakin <serjradyakin@gmail.com>]

I don't think it is likely that George would have identically set
proxies on two different computers in a recently purchased Stata and
forgot about it, but if it is the case, that would probably be an
explanation. To be on the safe side, type:
creturn list
and show us the content of the "network settings" section.

George could use the links to my site that I posted earlier. In that
case I would be able to tell the story from the point of view of the
server. If George tried this already, then no, there were no requests
received whether successful or unsuccessful.

The problem is consistent with a firewall, but George writes that the
Windows firewall is turned off. There might be another firewall in the
router, though I don't understand how it can be selective to
particular program (Stata in this case).
Here is a link to how to block a port in D-Link. Other routers have
similar features that George may try to verify.

The command -ssc- is doing many different things. To simplify the
debugging I suggest using something way lower level and simplier (and
preferably built-in) like -copy- or -view-. I'd suggest:

view http://www.stata.com
copy http://www.stata.com c:\temp\downfile.tmp

It seems the common thing between the computers is the connection. If
such a possibility exists, George, might want to take one of the
computers to a local coffee shop and try their internet connection. If
it works - it will narrow down the problem to the router/network.

George can download older Stata executables from Stata's updates pages
and use them in a combination with his current purchased license to
eliminate possibility that a recent update of Stata has a bug.
See my older message here for the isstata file:
http://www.stata.com/statalist/archive/2008-02/msg00902.html

The log that George has sent can be interpreted only by Stata
engineers. But on the surface it seems that it is something on
George's computer that still triggers the connection reset.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms740668%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
http://www.chilkatsoft.com/p/p_299.asp

Both sources mention timeout settings as ones that can be playing a
role. If any of them were set up manually, perhaps they need to be
revised.

A few more RRs (random recommendations to complete the circle of
dancing with the tambourine):
1) rename Stata.exe to prog.exe; see if that matters;
2) copy whole Stata installation to another folder, run from there;
3) check that there is anything else remotely resembling an antivirus
(sometimes these programs are called helpers, advisers, wizards,
sentinels, and other names that make you want to suffocate them). If
it is not in the tray, it doesn't mean it is not running. Check the
tray settings for hidden icons, check autostart, services, etc.
4) report the version of OS including all optional components and updates.
5) See what else is not working. Stata is nothing special when it
comes to internet communication. It uses the same protocols as many
other programs. If it is experiencing difficulties - something else
might be failing too. That would allow to recover the problem.
6) Boot into Ubuntu Linux, try if the problem persists in a different OS.
7) Try a different internet connection (there are still some dialups
that work at v.90 :)
8) Activate a web server on a localhost and try to contact it from Stata.
9) Bring a friend's laptop with working Stata to your place and see
whether it is working through your ISP.
10) Run Stata from a virtual machine.

Something has to work. Don't give up.

I am definitely interested in how it gets resolved. So please write
what helped here.

Best, Sergiy Radyakin

On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 11:41 PM, Richard Williams
<richardwilliams.ndu@gmail.com> wrote:
> At 09:15 PM 10/7/2013, George Shoukry wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for your suggestions. I can't reach any website from Stata. I
>> bought Stata recently and installed it on my two home computers, but
>> both of them give me the same error (I could never get Stata to
>> connect to the internet). For example, -ssc install estout- gives
>> output:
>> server refused request to send
>> http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/e/ either
>>   1)  is not a valid URL, or
>>   2)  could not be contacted, or
>>   3)  is not a Stata download site (has no stata.toc file).
>> r(676);
>
>
> Here are some other FAQs if you haven't seem them already.
>
> http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/web/
>
> Also, go to edit/preferences/general/internet and see what the settings are.
> I've had annoying problems when a proxy was set and it shouldn't have been.
>
> -------------------------------------------
> Richard Williams, Notre Dame Dept of Sociology
> OFFICE: (574)631-6668, (574)631-6463
> HOME:   (574)289-5227
> EMAIL:  Richard.A.Williams.5@ND.Edu
> WWW:    http://www.nd.edu/~rwilliam
>
>
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