Problems FAQ's

My scripts don't work in your server.

You have not enabled scripts on your domain in the Control Panel.

The script needs to be executed and is not in the "cgi-bin" directory under "htdocs" (the Web server understands that any file requested from /htdocs/cgi-bin should be executed rather than simply read and sent). Please note that HTML and Linux PHP pages will not work if placed under "cgi-bin".

It is a CGI script set to run under Linux, but it does not have the required permissions set (if you upload files using FTP, then the default permissions will be set automatically to allow the domain user to execute it

Permissions on the file should be rwx------ i.e. mode 700. Refer to What are UNIX file permissions?

For security and privacy, CGIs are run on behalf of your domain user by Apache's suEXEC[1] wrapper. This makes several checks before running a script, but the two most important are that the script, and the directory in which it is located, should not be writeable by anyone other than the script's owner.

Your PERL or Python CGI has not been created with an editor that writes UNIX line-feed characters (Linux only), or it has not been uploaded in ASCII FTP mode. Refer to PERL and Python CGIs to be uploaded in ASCII.

Your PERL CGI has not been uploaded to "cgi-bin" with a .pl extension (Windows only). Refer to Will a PERL script written for UNIX run on a Windows server?

You are using a mail script in which neither the 'to' nor 'from' address relates to a domain hosted by Fasthosts, or the 'from' address is blank.

You are trying to use a script component that has not been installed on the Web server, or the wrong version of a component that has been installed. You may also be trying to use a component for a purpose for which it was not intended.

There is incorrect pathing within the script. For example, when writing or configuring scripts such as PERL or ASP scripts for Windows servers, you should bear in mind that the full physical path to your website's home directory is as follows: e:\domains\.co.uk\user, where is your domain name without the "www.". For an example, refer to Example of how to list records from a database without adding an ODBC connection to the server.

You are trying to access an ODBC data source that needs adding to the server. There is no need to add an ODBC data source to the server if you use ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) to open and close connections

You are using a third party to run your scripts, but there may be a problem at their end.

Your script's syntax may be incorrect. Examine the code, and, if possible, test it llocally.

I keep getting a 500 server busy message.

The scripts you are using may not be closing objects and database connections. Although the script may will work for a while, eventually the script could adversely impact Fasthosts' Web servers.

I have ADSL or a firewall and can not FTP my files.

Problem
You are experiencing difficulty using FTP through a firewal or are using ADLS to connect to the Internet.

Solution
Use Passive mode. If you have a personal firewall and there are still problems, you may need to temporarily disable the firewall in order to transfer via FTP.

Cause
The FTP protocol supports two modes of operations: Active (also known as Normal or PORT mode) and Passive (PASV). These modes determine whether the FTP server or the client initiates the TCP connections that are used to send information from the server to the host.

Active Mode
Active mode is the default. In this mode, the server opens a connection to the client, as illustrated below. Active mode complicates the construction of firewalls, because the firewall must anticipate the connection from the FTP server back to the FTP client program and permit that connection through the firewall.

Pasive Mode
Many FTP servers and clients support an alternative mode of operation called Passive mode. In this mode, the FTP client initiates the connection that the server uses to send data back to the client (see below). Passive mode is desirable with a firewall, because it simplifies the firewall's task - i.e. it can simply allow internal connections to pass through to the outside world, but does not need to allow outside connections to come back in.

Internet Explorer Issue
Note that Internet Explorer 5.0 does not support passive mode when accessing ftp sites in the browser. upgrade to 5.01, 5.5 or 6 to be able to use Internet explorer and windows explorer to ftp to your website.

I can't open attachments in Outlook.

Problem
You cannot receive a mail attachment using Microsoft Outlook.

Possible Causes
For your protection Microsoft Outlook will not retrieve files with the following suffixes: .ade, .adp, .bas, .bat, .chm. .cmd, .com, .cpl, .crt, .exe, .hlp, .hta, .inf, .ins, .isp, .js, .jse, .lnk, .mdb, .mde, .msc, .msi, .msp, .mst, .pcd, .pif, .reg, .scr, .sct, .shs, .url, .vb, .vbe, .vbs, .wsc, .wsf, .wsh, .exe

Work Around
Ask the sender to resend the attachment in a zip file.