Re: [users@httpd] Weird CGI problem in Windows XP

[Richard Kelsch <rich@xxxxxxxx>]

Joshua Slive wrote:

On 7/23/05, Richard Kelsch <rich@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
  

None of my Perl scripts run anymore via Apache.

Let me explain.  I've been writing simple Perl CGI scripts to run on a
local Apache service via port 8888.  Using a web browser on localhost
has been an easy way of writing friendly software with a familiar web
interface.  All of the production machines do not have the problem, but
suddenly and out of the blue my CGI scripts refused to run.  When I
click on the link to run them I get no response.  At the bottom of the
browser status bar I get a quick "loading" message and then a "Done" and
nothing has changed, as if I never clicked on the link.
    

Sounds pretty strange.  Do you have all firewalls turned off?  I can
imagine some sneaky firewall rejecting requests for anything ending in
.pl.
  

Of course, that was the first thing I thought of, but thanks for the suggestion.  The Windows XP Firewall (useless as it is), I turned it off and repeatedly checked.  I even restarted just because it was Windows (you never know).  The firewall is not an issue, in fact, the exceptions list lists Apache as well.  Nevertheless, I turned it off to make sure.  It doesn't matter.

I checked the error logs and nothing shows up just the starting up of
Apache messages.  I typed in a bogus path and that showed up in the
error logs.
    

It is very odd that nothing shows up in the logs, and leads me to
suspect that the request is never making it to apache.  You could try
mod_log_forensic, which logs the request much earlier in the process,
to see if apache ever sees the request.
  

Actually, I started to investigate the DNS side of things more thoroughly.  My Windows XP seems to be ignoring the hosts file.  It seems to be the cause (I would guess).  I've made sure that "lmhosts" is checked in the TCP/IP settings (I even turned if off, restarted, tested, turned it on, restarted, tested) yet hosts seems to be ignored.

I would bet this was the result of some nasty ad-ware that caused XP to ignore its hosts file.  I have not been able to find a cure.  I run "Spy-Bot Search and Destroy" and "Ad-Aware" quite regularly.  Perhaps they caught something more nasty than I cared to read about and just removed it.

Therefore, I'd say you're right about Apache not even being reached.   Nevertheless, I did try 127.0.0.1 manually, but still no dice.

Thanks anyway for the help.

Richard Kelsch