[TheRabbi]

Hi all. I want to apologize for being away from the forums for so long. I took a short hiatus after some brutal Registration hacking to work on some other stuff, and then I had to go to California, and then school started. So, now that I'm back in my normal routine, I'm back on the forums. I'll try to parse through all the topics that have been started recently, but most of them are either procedural questions that fall under the registration department's jurisdiction (I'm just a lowly programmer!) or they have already been answered elsewhere. Several times. By many people.

However, since these errors seem to be cropping up all over the place, I will attempt to gather the most common ones here. Keep an eye for updates, and I warn you: these answers will be frank.

Error Type: 181 (Client request data did not match the session. This may indicate an attempt to hijack this login session.)

This bug should be solved! See this thread for more information.

If you do encounter this error, please follow the instructions for reporting a bug found at the bottom of this post.

You can attempt to resolve this several ways.

• Go to http://www.acen.org/...tion/logout.php. You may get an error message there, but disregard it.
  
• Clear your browser's cookies.
  
  • For Firefox: Tools | Options | Privacy | Show Cookies. Either click "Remove All Cookies" or type "acen" and remove those cookies.
    
  • For IE7: Tools | Internet Options | Browsing History | Delete... | Delete Cookies... and click "Yes".
    
  • For Opera: Tools | Advanced | Cookies. Either type "acen" and remove those cookies or select all of them and hit "Delete".
    
  • For Safari: ...sorry, I'm not going to reboot into my Mac side to figure this out. I'm sure it's similar, and that someone will post it below.
  
  
• Sometimes you need to close your browser and re-open it.
  
• Sometimes you need to just come back to it.

In order to prevent this bug from hitting you in the future:
Make sure you log out when you have finished. Not only is this more secure and good practice, but it will prevent this bug from striking in the future in most cases.

Believe me, we're working on this bug. We know it's there. We know the error message is scary. Personally, I've lost over 50 hours of my life to this bug, over 24 of that in one go. We're testing a patch right now to see if we can get rid of this, but since this bug comes and goes, it's hard to set up the correct testing environment. Please be patient with us as we work on this.


Error Type: 101 (An illegal parameter was passed to the "Attempted to get illegal key 'payend' from class 'L_BadgeType'." function.)

This bug should be solved!

If you do encounter this error, please follow the instructions for reporting a bug found at the bottom of this post.
If you were subject to this bug:
Please PM me with your badgetype, badge number (or login name), and real name and I will restore your badge.

Error Type: 105 ("We're sorry, but this browser is not supported by Limon due to problems with its implementation of cookies, javascript, or rendering engine. Supported browsers include Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Internet Explorer 7. We're working hard to support as many browsers as possible, but for right now you'll just have to use one of those to access your registration account (if you already registered) or create a new one (if you haven't). We apologize for the inconvenience.)
As this bug says, you're accessing this page with a browser that is not supported. Everyone should have either IE7 (Windows 2000 and above), Safari (Mac OS X), or Firefox (you Linux types) installed or installable. Note that IE6 is not supported. Yes, we know that some employers only have IE6, and we're sorry that we can't support it at this time. Its implementation of javascript, cookies, and rendering engine are not compatible with Limon and getting the program up to full functionality is higher on our priority list than dodging around the quirks (such a charitable word) of IE6.

IE7 has been tested on three operating systems (2000, XP, Vista). Firefox has been tested on six operating systems (XP, Server 2003 (don't ask), 98SE (yeah, that's right), Tiger, Leopard, Ubuntu). Safari has been tested on Tiger and Leopard. Opera has been tested on XP only. We have heard rumors that the Wii browser is supported. I can confirm that the Safari included with the iPhone/iPod Touch is supported. I recall that the AOL browser is supported. I do not know if Opera mobile is supported. No, you cannot use lynx. (If you're using curl, well, you shouldn't have any problems understanding this error message; go download and compile Firefox.)

Error type: 0 (Zend Session is read-only.)

This is a known bug and is on our list of things to fix. For right now, it's perfectly harmless, though we're not sure exactly what's causing it.

In order to work around this bug:

• Hit 'back' and log in again. The error should clear up.

"I get an error that says there's a 'security certificate error' or a 'domain name mismatch'... something about 'trying to connect with acen.org but the certificate presented belongs to *.acen.org'. Is there a security risk here?"
No, there is not a security risk here. ACen's SSL certificate recently changed to allow subdomains, but the original link for the registration site specified acen.org instead of www.acen.org. In short, if you use https://www.acen.org/registration/, you will not run into any problems.

"I tried to pay/join a group/register/pay for my group but I got a blank white screen! What happened? Will I be charged?"
To get quite technical, this error occurs when there is a parsing error in the programming. This can be as a result of a mistyped line of code, or a new debugging statement we've put in to chase down a bug. We try to avoid these as much as possible but it's not always feasible to catch them all (especially since working with an IDE isn't always possible for some debugging situations). We do test our scripts before we put them up, but sometimes these errors still sneak in there.

If you encounter this error, you should PM me or Riker, following the instructions at the end of this post. The sooner we know about it, the sooner we can get it fixed. As for whether the charge will go through or not, it's impossible to say in every case, but I can definitively say this: If the charge did go through, the system will know this and you won't be charged again. If the charge did not go through, well, you haven't been charged for anything, so there's no harm in paying again.

"How do I know when I've paid?"
If you can "Get Confirmation" when you log in, you have paid successfully. If you check your badge info, you will see your badge's status. "Paid and pending" means that your badge is paid but your order has not yet been processed by the Registration department.

"When will badges be mailed?"
According to this thread, the answer from the Registration DH is "sometime in April." He also asks that you bear with us while we try to avoid last year's mailing fiasco. Mailing thousands of badges ain't easy, guys. Also, he'd appreciate it if you don't bring up last year; he's trying to get out from under that even though he didn't have anything to do with it.

Update: The first batch of badges has gone out. You may or may not be among this first batch, but beware that PMing us to ask where your badge is will not result in it being mailed faster. The badges are coming via first class mail, and all badges belonging to a group will be sent en masse to a group leader, probably the group leader who paid.

Please hunt around the forums before you PM someone with your question. There are many threads on the badge mailing here and one may be able to answer your question. Don't forget that you can search the forums for your topic as well.

If you live in Canada: If you did not PM someone about your postal code, please PM Tevva or send an e-mail to acenreg08 AT gmail DOT com.

If you live in Estonia: You rock, dude. Your badge should be on its way soon. Awesome props for getting a badge mailed to Estonia.

"I haven't gotten a confirmation e-mail!"
Check your spam folders, and you may find it there. I've confirmed that these e-mails are indeed going out.

In any case, if you need a confirmation at any time, you can log in and choose "Get Confirmation" from the menus on the left.

"I forgot to check that I wanted my badge mailed!"
We should be rolling out a fix that lets you change this yourself soon. If you've already paid, well... I think you're out of luck. You can always e-mail acenreg08 AT gmail.com and ask if they'll take the extra $1.50 to add it even though you're paid, but no guarantees. If you haven't already paid, PM me with your badge number. I'll do what I can. And please, next year, look out for it.

"When are concert tickets going on sale?"
Registration does not answer questions that aren't directly related to registration, because we don't want to give out misinformation. This question, for example, is best asked of the Main Programming department. There is a forum for each [external] department at ACen; please direct your query there. If you're not sure where to direct it, the general forum is where you want to go.

See also this topic for more information.

"OMG your program sucks it never works and I can't believe you wouldn't make it work for me this sucks."
This isn't a great way to get support for your problem, and believe me, there's nothing worse than reading posts where people trash something you've been working on for eight months, sometimes at a very high priority, sacrificing sleep and other obligations for. I'm happy to help and I know the program isn't perfect (yet), but I can't help someone who is rude to me and my work (and my partner's work) and won't even tell me what the problem is. Therefore I ask you to be polite; we're just as stressed that something we made isn't working correctly. We know what's at stake, and we try to work quickly; insulting us will only make us less eager to put your bug high on our list of things that need to be solved.

If you have a bug to report, please PM me with:

• your badge number
  
• your login name
  
• your browser (IE7, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc...)
  
• your OS (XP, Vista, Leopard, Ubuntu, OpenBSD, etc...)
  
• what you were doing when you found the bug (how could I reproduce it?)
  
• approximate time of the bug
  
• did you receive an error message, and, if you did, what was it?

I hope this covers a lot. I will attempt to keep it updated.
(Edited! Added a question about non-registration questions. Added a topic jump too.)
(Edited! Added a snide remark about people who use curl.)
(Edited! Added a question about getting an SSL error.)
(Edited! Added a way to prevent the dreaded error 181 from occurring in the future in most cases.)
(Edited! Added a question about confirmations.)
(Edited! The dreaded 181 bug is solved. Keinahora.)
(Edited! Added a question about Error 0.)
(Edited! Added a section about the dreaded white-screen problems.)
(Edited! Cleaned up and clarified some other sections.)
(Edited! Was able to personally confirm that the iPhone/iPod Touch browser is compatible with the registration system.)
(Edited! Added a bit about the 101 bug and proper responses to it.)
(Edited! Badge mailing has gone out!)

[Cousin Ichigo]

It is no longer affecting me, but I have heard a few (very few but a few none the less) of others having this problem. When trying to register the registration page and later the credit card payment page would not accept my email address (it said there was an error and that it was incorrect and that I should check and submit it again). I was using firefox and XP the email address was a roadrunner email address (ends in @wi.rr.com the wi changing depending on the state you live in). Also i tried a @yahoo.com email address that had an underscore in it and that didnt work. Then i tried a different yahoo email without an underscore and it didnt work to register so then i ended up using my boyfriends computer to register. Im sorry but i dont know his browser or OS but if you need it i can find out for you. It worked to register on his computer using the non underscore email address but he couldnt log in. So i longed in on my computer, which worked, pick my badge stuff etc. and then went to pay and tada i couldnt pay because it wouldnt accept my email address so i tried again a day or so later, didnt work, but when I tried a few days after that it worked...i dont really know what happened but I finally got registered, luckily before the price went up.

Im not sure if others are having this problem but I just wanted to make you aware of it and what i figured out through my trials so if its a problem you can figure it out quicker.

Thank you so much for all that you do and I'm just glad there is a capability to register and pay online at all.

[TheRabbi]

Cousin Ichigo, on Feb 7 2008, 07:59 AM, said:

It is no longer affecting me, but I have heard a few (very few but a few none the less) of others having this problem. When trying to register the registration page and later the credit card payment page would not accept my email address (it said there was an error and that it was incorrect and that I should check and submit it again). I was using firefox and XP the email address was a roadrunner email address (ends in @wi.rr.com the wi changing depending on the state you live in). Also i tried a @yahoo.com email address that had an underscore in it and that didnt work. Then i tried a different yahoo email without an underscore and it didnt work to register so then i ended up using my boyfriends computer to register. Im sorry but i dont know his browser or OS but if you need it i can find out for you. It worked to register on his computer using the non underscore email address but he couldnt log in. So i longed in on my computer, which worked, pick my badge stuff etc. and then went to pay and tada i couldnt pay because it wouldnt accept my email address so i tried again a day or so later, didnt work, but when I tried a few days after that it worked...i dont really know what happened but I finally got registered, luckily before the price went up.

Im not sure if others are having this problem but I just wanted to make you aware of it and what i figured out through my trials so if its a problem you can figure it out quicker.

Thank you so much for all that you do and I'm just glad there is a capability to register and pay online at all.

I had not heard of this bug before, but I think I know where in the code this bug would be. I will take a look.

[iwadrama]

Help!

Hello, I am still having problems. I have done everything that you have recommended and I am still getting the error type 181. I don't know what to do about it. I tried contacting the support but it's been almost a week and they still haven't gotten back to me!

Thanks

[Rinkuchan]

hi. I still have not gotten a confirmation letter in email and still don't know if i paid or not. I checked your procedures to find out by "Get Confirmation" menu on the left hand corner when you're logged in page but i don't see THAT "Get Confirmation" any where. Can you please help me? Please. Okay reply back thanks~

(I paid awhile ago around the end of January)

~RINKUCHAN~

[TheRabbi]

iwadrama, on Feb 20 2008, 10:30 PM, said:

Help!

Hello, I am still having problems. I have done everything that you have recommended and I am still getting the error type 181. I don't know what to do about it. I tried contacting the support but it's been almost a week and they still haven't gotten back to me!

Thanks

We're working on this and we're rolling out a fix very soon that should help with this.

Rinkuchan, on Feb 21 2008, 05:23 PM, said:

hi. I still have not gotten a confirmation letter in email and still don't know if i paid or not. I checked your procedures to find out by "Get Confirmation" menu on the left hand corner when you're logged in page but i don't see THAT "Get Confirmation" any where. Can you please help me? Please. Okay reply back thanks~

(I paid awhile ago around the end of January)

~RINKUCHAN~

You can always check your status under "Badge Info" on the left hand side. But, if you've paid, you should be able to get a confirmation from the menu on the left-hand side.

If you sent in your payment, it may be such that your payment hasn't been processed yet. In that case, you won't be shown as paid. (I can't help with this; I don't process payments.)

[iwadrama]

TheRabbi, on Feb 22 2008, 01:39 PM, said:

We're working on this and we're rolling out a fix very soon that should help with this.

Thank you!

[akaikurama]

I just wanted to say thank you for getting that 181 error fixed. You have worked hard at geitting this issue fixed, and desivere a hardy pat on the back, for job well done.

[TheRabbi]

akaikurama, on Feb 24 2008, 07:49 AM, said:

I just wanted to say thank you :wub: for getting that 181 error fixed. You have worked hard at geitting this issue fixed, and desivere a hardy pat on the back, for job well done.

Thanks! Let me tell you, we're every bit as relieved that that bug is finally gone.

I can say that it was not a happy fix to do, and we can't simulate the load of traffic that people will put on it, so it may crop up again with some configuration we didn't test. (We hope not.) However, whereas at one point last night we were getting 181s every few clicks trying to get the badges processed, we then (after the fix was deployed) proceeded to process a few hours' worth of badges (figure 1 badge every five to ten seconds) with no errors whatsoever. (In fact, in order to pound on it, I ordered everyone processing badges to do it in IE7.)

I humbly accept your thanks (and I'm sure Riker, the other programmer, does too; the bugfix really was an equal team effort), but I have to say that thanks should also go to Goon, Bloo, Rosa, Jesica, Corey, Eva, Phillip, and everyone else in the room for staying and pounding on this for us while we deployed numerous attempts at fixing this bug. Their patience with our directions and weird requests is admirable, and I'm sorry for making you use IE7.

[Purplegodess]

TheRabbi, on Feb 24 2008, 09:49 AM, said:

Thanks! Let me tell you, we're every bit as relieved that that bug is finally gone.

I can say that it was not a happy fix to do, and we can't simulate the load of traffic that people will put on it, so it may crop up again with some configuration we didn't test. (We hope not.) However, whereas at one point last night we were getting 181s every few clicks trying to get the badges processed, we then (after the fix was deployed) proceeded to process a few hours' worth of badges (figure 1 badge every five to ten seconds) with no errors whatsoever. (In fact, in order to pound on it, I ordered everyone processing badges to do it in IE7.)

I humbly accept your thanks (and I'm sure Riker, the other programmer, does too; the bugfix really was an equal team effort), but I have to say that thanks should also go to Goon, Bloo, Rosa, Jesica, Corey, Eva, Phillip, and everyone else in the room for staying and pounding on this for us while we deployed numerous attempts at fixing this bug. Their patience with our directions and weird requests is admirable, and I'm sorry for making you use IE7.

Aw thanks so much Rabbi! :1) haha

[akaikurama]

TheRabbi, on Feb 24 2008, 09:49 AM, said:

Thanks! Let me tell you, we're every bit as relieved that that bug is finally gone.

I can say that it was not a happy fix to do, and we can't simulate the load of traffic that people will put on it, so it may crop up again with some configuration we didn't test. (We hope not.) However, whereas at one point last night we were getting 181s every few clicks trying to get the badges processed, we then (after the fix was deployed) proceeded to process a few hours' worth of badges (figure 1 badge every five to ten seconds) with no errors whatsoever. (In fact, in order to pound on it, I ordered everyone processing badges to do it in IE7.)

I humbly accept your thanks (and I'm sure Riker, the other programmer, does too; the bugfix really was an equal team effort), but I have to say that thanks should also go to Goon, Bloo, Rosa, Jesica, Corey, Eva, Phillip, and everyone else in the room for staying and pounding on this for us while we deployed numerous attempts at fixing this bug. Their patience with our directions and weird requests is admirable, and I'm sorry for making you use IE7.

I'm used to IE 7 now (it's not that bad)

[Serenahind]

Okay I went to register but it won't let me pay. I clicked the pay and I just get a blank page. I tired internet explorer and firefox. What should I do?

[asi2577]

Serenahind, on Mar 3 2008, 10:56 PM, said:

Okay I went to register but it won't let me pay. I clicked the pay and I just get a blank page. I tired internet explorer and firefox. What should I do?

I also am getting the same error, really would like to get the payment out of the way also so I know I have everything for the con. (I used Opera, IE and FireFox)

[asi2577]

asi2577, on Mar 4 2008, 04:32 AM, said:

I also am getting the same error, really would like to get the payment out of the way also so I know I have everything for the con. (I used Opera, IE and FireFox)

LOL, it started to work after my last post and payment went through. Thx

[rei_0]

Thank you~ It works beautifully now.

[Serenahind]

What does it meanwhen it says your status is froze. It sas i paid online by credit card. Does this mea there was a problem with my card? I checked and my available balance has sufficent money to cover the cost of the three day pass. I really like to know.

[Cherry_Wolf]

I have the same problem as Serenahind. I'm sure curious as to why mine is frozen.
Thanks for taking the time!

[TheRabbi]

Serenahind, on Mar 6 2008, 11:51 PM, said:

What does it meanwhen it says your status is froze. It sas i paid online by credit card. Does this mea there was a problem with my card? I checked and my available balance has sufficent money to cover the cost of the three day pass. I really like to know.

Cherry_Wolf, on Mar 6 2008, 11:58 PM, said:

I have the same problem as Serenahind. I'm sure curious as to why mine is frozen.
Thanks for taking the time!

We've been getting a few reports of these and we're checking to see what this is. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

If you want to see if you've been charged (which is something that won't change even if we take you out of 'frozen' status), you can do it a few ways: You can choose Get Confirmation, you can check your balance under Badge Info, or you can dig through your inbox to find your confirmation letter you received after you paid.

[Serenahind]

TheRabbi, on Mar 7 2008, 09:06 PM, said:

We've been getting a few reports of these and we're checking to see what this is. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

If you want to see if you've been charged (which is something that won't change even if we take you out of 'frozen' status), you can do it a few ways: You can choose Get Confirmation, you can check your balance under Badge Info, or you can dig through your inbox to find your confirmation letter you received after you paid.

I checked my inbox and sp,am I never got a confirmation letter. I just printed out the payment page.

[Serenahind]

Serenahind, on Mar 8 2008, 06:37 AM, said:

I checked my inbox and sp,am I never got a confirmation letter. I just printed out the payment page.

When I clicked Get confirmation, it still says my status is frozen, I contacted a moderator twice and got no response. itdosn't say anythin under badge information. On the confirmation letter page it just says I paid online by credit card. I really like someone to get back to me.

[rei_0]

Mine is frozen now too, the money was never taken out of my account.

[Serenahind]

rei_0, on Mar 9 2008, 04:32 PM, said:

Mine is frozen now too, the money was never taken out of my account.

Why do you think thatis? It has happened to two other people now. Do they not have a badge for the peole whose badges are frozen? Will we miss the prereg price? Are we even paid?

[ChasingSirens]

Serenahind, on Mar 9 2008, 09:00 PM, said:

Why do you think thatis? It has happened to two other people now. Do they not have a badge for the peole whose badges are frozen? Will we miss the prereg price? Are we even paid?

I'm having the same problem you guys are. I got a confirmation e-mail and it says payed for on 3/4/08 but my account was NOT charged, for my badge or my boyfriends and it says Registration Status :Frozen.

Sooo did you guys just not process my payment or what?

[TheRabbi]

ChasingSirens, on Mar 10 2008, 02:28 PM, said:

I'm having the same problem you guys are. I got a confirmation e-mail and it says payed for on 3/4/08 but my account was NOT charged, for my badge or my boyfriends and it says Registration Status :Frozen.

Sooo did you guys just not process my payment or what?

Take a look at this post. I know it's not a lot to go on, but it has the info you need.

[Chibifaery]

ChasingSirens, on Mar 10 2008, 07:28 PM, said:

I'm having the same problem you guys are. I got a confirmation e-mail and it says payed for on 3/4/08 but my account was NOT charged, for my badge or my boyfriends and it says Registration Status :Frozen.

Sooo did you guys just not process my payment or what?

I am having this issue too! It's not for my badge but for a badge I paid for for a friend.

[Big__Tasty]

I registered and paid two months ago. I ordered the mail-in badge and everything.
So a few days ago when I went back to check on the account, my confirmation page did not exist, and I was unable to login. I checked my bank account to make sure there wasn't some weird mistake, and sure enough, there was a charge to my account the day I registered. I checked my e-mail for a confirmation (and yes, I checked my spam folders and my bulk folder, and it is nowhere to be found). Now, I couldn't log in again, so I decided to just make a new account.
Now it says I'm unpaid (as expected, since my other account seems to have vanished), but I don't see an online payment method. Scripts and cookies are enabled, so what gives? If there was an issue with payment, I was not notified. I really don't want to have to sit in line like I did last year despite having ordered my badge for mail delivery. At-the-door registration is a huge mess that I'd like to avoid (unless the Midwest Anime Organization has had a major overhaul of on-site registration methods in the last few months...which I really doubt). Can I get any help here?

[TheRabbi]

Big__Tasty, on Mar 13 2008, 11:25 PM, said:

I registered and paid two months ago. I ordered the mail-in badge and everything.
So a few days ago when I went back to check on the account, my confirmation page did not exist, and I was unable to login. I checked my bank account to make sure there wasn't some weird mistake, and sure enough, there was a charge to my account the day I registered. I checked my e-mail for a confirmation (and yes, I checked my spam folders and my bulk folder, and it is nowhere to be found). Now, I couldn't log in again, so I decided to just make a new account.
Now it says I'm unpaid (as expected, since my other account seems to have vanished), but I don't see an online payment method. Scripts and cookies are enabled, so what gives? If there was an issue with payment, I was not notified. I really don't want to have to sit in line like I did last year despite having ordered my badge for mail delivery. At-the-door registration is a huge mess that I'd like to avoid (unless the Midwest Anime Organization has had a major overhaul of on-site registration methods in the last few months...which I really doubt). Can I get any help here?

Can you remember what your old login was? If so, I'll take a look and see why it's not coming up. Even when we cancel an account, it sticks around with a flag that says it's cancelled, and I know that anyone who's supposed to be mucking around in the database knows well enough not to delete anything. So it's probably still there, somewhere.

[Big__Tasty]

TheRabbi, on Mar 14 2008, 11:54 AM, said:

Can you remember what your old login was? If so, I'll take a look and see why it's not coming up. Even when we cancel an account, it sticks around with a flag that says it's cancelled, and I know that anyone who's supposed to be mucking around in the database knows well enough not to delete anything. So it's probably still there, somewhere.

My typical handle is Totemo Oishi (or Oishii) or some variation thereof. I tried every permutation I could think of before coming here. Is there any way you could look it up via my e-mail address?

[Serenahind]

Okay, my account is unfrozen, yay! However, it says registered, unpaid, before my account froze, I [aid by credit card. Payment hasn't gone through my credit card so does this mean payment was never made? Should I pay again with the smae card? Thank you for the five dollar discount btw, I do appreciate it.

[Serenahind]

I still need help with my registration problems, is there someone else i can talk to?