intermittent video upload problems

You are not alone. I also decided to voice my frustration in video before adding it to here.

Here is the link to my video conversation:

http://seesmic.com/v/HKVyYun8Wo

I am hundred percent sure that there are more than three people who have this ongoing problem. I personally am growing more and more frustrated by it because I am a "heavy" poster, and hence one out of ten videos being lost in limbos once I have duly recorded it - in a series of posting, so that the one that disappeared is really loss of time, energy, patience, whatever you name it.

This is making the loving experience of Seesmic a source of tension.

Please, please, please, give attention to this problem that appeared last week now, and seems to have had no attention at all from you wonderful guys developing at Seesmic!!!

Sean, you are right. I have it happen many times. I am on a Mac. Thanks Otir for sending me here to tell seesmic. It happens to me MANY times.

please note when i posted the original problem it was about 1 in 10. now it is more like 1 in 5 so my guess is this problem is getting worse. it's a shame because there is so much wit and magic being lost in the bit bucket instead of on the public timeline.

http://seesmic.com/v/ONaBT5Ei5K

is one of the many people reporting the same issue. is anyone reviewing this?

another user complaining....

http://seesmic.com/v/8JbQDMWoZK

these are just a few. it's going to be a pretty common feature of videos on seesmic starting with 'this is my 5th attempt, what's going on with the uploads?'

Sean, Otir, et. al. We are aware of the issue and I am working on tv best way to track down the solution. Unfortunately there are many variables that could cause this problem. I'm working with the devs to figure out the best way to test for this and get the best information from those of you who are experiencing this. Thanks for your patience while I sort this out.

thanks tom
just as a point of reference.

the problem seems to occur pretty often when i put my macbook to sleep and then wake it and start watching and recording. if i refresh the page before recording then it resolves the problem.

i'm not sure if this is the ONLY problem but it seems to indicate a cache issue of some kind....hope that helps.

Sean, that is precisely the kind of information that will help us track down the issue! Thank you so much for that tip. If any of you notice any other patterns in actions thatlead up to the issue please post them here. Thanks!

Hi Thomas, Hi Sean, good to see you here Thomas. I noticed that the problem occurs randomly, even when I am active in the browser, even when I am still reading videos on Seesmic, or working on another website or page.

So I wouldn't second Sean on the fact that it might be connected to the computer being idle, unfortunately (that's why it is so frustrating when you "lose" a video, there was no actual "warning signs", although when I check that I can access the rotating tab - clicking on the conversation thread - it is obvious that it will get lost if no video appear at the turn of the tab).

Hope this helps too.
Take care.

Stumbled upon a video of someone else who is pissed off:

http://seesmic.com/v/l4DAXUG8AL

Since it is not even someone I am following, I assume that everyone at some point has had a video lost that got them frustrated.

Yup.. me too. I just give in and go away when even the refresh doesn't sort it. It is really frustrating. I would be happy for Seesmic to shut down for a day if it means this gets sorted. I have tried to show a few people how seesmic works but just end up looking a fool.

another person who has something to say regarding the issue:

http://seesmic.com/v/0Pwip6mIo6

Another feedback on my interface's behavior: indicating that I will not be able to upload a video is the fact that the Active Conversations box goes "blank".

I wonder if I can't upload a screenshot image here? Let me know, I took a snapshot of what I mean.

People seem to not want to "complain" about it or report for many reasons, ok. Here is Tiil's take on it:

http://seesmic.com/v/tHImM1zBoh

I guess I am going to add up videos of unsatisfied users:

http://seesmic.com/v/lUGeMjCcwD

I have had this problem for weeks too and yes, it took an other step aproximativly at thesame time there was the indiana JOhns thing on seesmic.
it seems to go in pair with some kind of deactivation of the connection with seesmic.... when this happens, clicking on the "conversation" button opens a blank column, you know then it's time to reload seesmic to get it working normally again

well another type of video upload problem surfaced for me this morning. i used the white interface to record a reply and it looked like it worked but then i see in the timeline that it appears with a broken icon.

here's the url:

http://seesmic.com/v/EU8HfvvE64

Sean --

We are looking into it.

Thanks Critter, good luck too, it seems that satisfaction is on the way.

just another post that describes a similar experience:

http://seesmic.com/v/afr0JqT4Is

Problem is still happening. I've had videos hang and not post 5 times just this morning, and no longer have time to keep trying.

This is just to update to report that today, as far as I am concerned, I am seeing a huge improvement as I haven't had (yet?) to restart or reload Seesmic page in order to be able to post.

See my bragging about it here if you haven't received the notification (Critter):
http://seesmic.com/v/ikUdnx6Faf

http://seesmic.com/v/9zgaaTs2K7

Ok. Not fixed. I just had to reload the page. First time in 90 minutes, it's still a better, I'd say :-)

Ok, so the bug is still here, they say: (Moox)
http://seesmic.com/v/25nb4dbqCd

and Faboo Mama:
http://seesmic.com/v/clQzMUNjYv

Hi everyone.
I'm glad to hear some of you are having better luck. We really want to get to the bottom of this issue to make it go away for good. I've setup a little form to gather more information at http://snipurl.com/2bdpb

I'm going to try and get in touch with each of you to gather this same information. If you are willing to hop in there and complete that form, we would greatly appreciate it.

I can't thank you enough for your patience while we track this down, and for your willingness to help us. Y'all really are making Seesmic better!

I am growing tired of reporting. On top of losing the recorded video it is an extra operation to provide (and a time-consuming operation). There should be a warning on the interface to remind posters to reload their page.

It has been said that it is an authentification problem, so it means that everybody has it, and is getting the bug affect them one moment or another.

How many weeks will it take so that the communication about it is made available on the site? (I understand it is not easily fixed, but at least there could be a prominent warning).

I noticed that since the upgrade or change of servers, the issue has not occured a single time. Time to say it is fixed? I don't want to be ruining it by saying it, but feels like yeah!!!

The "upload a video" button seems to have disappeared. I currently can't find an option to upload a pre-recorded video from my computer or something I've posted on youtube. Anyone know what's happened to it? It's been like this for a few days now.

Hey! the bug seems to have hit me back!
http://www.seesmic.com/#/video/8PRYtFqYlz/watch

I too have had several videos just vanish. Most recently this morning.

I've lost about a dozen videos this morning. They show up in playback before posting but they're not in timeline. Also, at times, the timeline only shows a couple of videos. I think this is when it happens the most.

Hi. I just wanted to add my information to see if I can help. I do tech support so I understand the need for as much info as possible so you can recreate the problem to try and troubleshoot it. So, here's what I can tell you: I've lost about 3 videos so far and this has happened as far back as July 08. The most recent one was 8/31/08. Each time this happened, it was when I had recorded a video that was around 6 mins in length. Not sure if that is just a coincidence or not. I have been successful in recording as long as little over 8 mins. although I do try to keep it short and sweet as much as I can.
Here's my specs: I'm on a MacBook Pro running 10.5.4 and I've been using Firefox 3 although I also had issues when I was running Firefox 2. I can't remember how long it's been since I've updated to 10.5.4, so not sure if that's a factor or not. In my timeline there are 2 videos that somehow made it to my timeline, but they don't play back. There is just a little TV icon there. Anyhow, It's frustrating yes, but I'm willing to work with it and just try to re-record. Sometimes if I lose a video, I just take it as a sign that the video sucked anyhow and I just re-record it, LOL.

Thanks for looking into this and keep up the great work!
TheMacMommy