Unable to log on to cPanel

[scotch196]

I'm having problems opening pages that use a php script to display Amazon datafeeds. Pages are either blank or show a number of warnings, apparently because "Connection timed out".

In the Support Knowledgebase, it says in relation to problems with php:
1: Login to your Bluehost.com control panel and go to error log.
2: Scroll down to the bottom of the error log and click on "Click here to see a list of your running processes".
3: If you have about 20, and most of them look like they are "php index.php" and several days old, you can almost always assume that they have stalled and are no longer functioning properly.
4: Click on the kill process link to the right of an old process, continue to do so until your PHP pages start working.

But I cannot try this as I'm unable to get into cPanel. For more than 12 hours I get a message in Firefox: "The server at box446.bluehost.com is taking too long to respond". IE says "cannot find server".

I have submitted a ticket, but have not yet had a response. In the meantime visitors to my affiliate stores are seeing either blank pages or a series of warnings that make it look like the coding is messed up.

Any idea of how I can get into cPanel to try to get my PHP pages working again?

Thanks,
Scotch

[Early Out]

You'll need to contact BH about this. Use Live Chat - big blue button on the main bluehost.com page.

You can check the status of your server by visiting http://serverstatus.bluehost.com and entering your domain name. That will at least tell you whether there's a known problem on that box.

[scotch196]

Thanks for the assistance. Unfortunately Live Chat is not that easy as I live in South Africa.

According to the Server Status, there are no known issues with box446.bluehost.com - yet I still cannot log on using both Firefox and IE. Don't know if it can be a caching issue. Have tried refreshing, using Ctrl + F5 that normally works for me. Not sure what to try next - maybe patience is required.

[scotch196]

Okay, I'm an idiot. Thought Live Chat involved a telephone. Have now been in contact and evidently there are some problems with the server and ticket system. Eventually got into cPanel using www.domainname/cpanel in browser rather than logging in from BH home page.

[scotch196]

When I check server status, it says Server Load OK, no known issues, status ok. Yet when I use Live Chat in an effort to find out what's happened to the ticket I submitted as I've had no email acknowledgement and am unable to log into Helpdesk, I'm told "It looks like we are still having issues with the server, which is not allowing your site to come up."

So I ask: "Is that confirmation that the server is down?" and get the reply: "Yes the server is having issues".

I then ask: "Thanks - but how do I know when the issues are resolved - will I get email confirmation? Otherwise i have to keep coming back here to find out what's going on"

Reply: "You will have to keep checking".

So as we go into the weekend, my site is down, I've had no response to my ticket and can't check it's status. I am not particularly happy with Bluehost right now. Am I being unreasonable?

[redsox9]

Remember that BH has hundreds of servers to manage and they cannot email people left and right whenever a problem arises. Submitting multiple tickets won't help, either, because that just clutters the system. FYI, this subject has been discussed ad naseum in prior posts and - being that we aren't BH - the only honest suggestion we can give you is to give them time to resolve the matter and continue to contact BH if problems persist.

For what it's worth, I've been a customer here for nearly four years and, beyond a few hiccups, I've had very few problems and my experience, from what I've read, has been the norm.

[scotch196]

Thanks - I can understand that BH can't make email contact with all their customers when they have server issues. I was really trying to find out whether there was any way of knowing if my ticket had been received and it's progress other than using Live Chat, particularly as I was at that stage unable also to log into the Helpdesk.

In any event, my sites are still not functioning and, after a second ticket suggesting they have another look at the problem, I rec'd the fll response:

It looks like the server you are on is being attacked by a Denial of Service attack and we have protective measures in place. People will be able to access your site but your account will not be able to make outbound calls until the attack is over. That is why your not able to connect to Amazon.

Strangely, according to BH's server status, there are no issues and all is ok.

I appreciate that all hosting companies experience problems and one shouldn't expect too much for the sort of prices they charge. My main concern with BH is that there doesn't appear to be an upgrade option, so if your site starts placing too much strain on the servers/CPU, you can't upgrade to a more powerful option.

Scotch