# Is there something wrong with the board? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 19, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264 "2011-08-19T02:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/1 "2011-08-19T02:12:25Z")
For the last few days when I’m trying to post (mostly from my iPad in air ports) I’ve been getting data base errors. I can usually just hit the back button and then submit again (and I haven’t gotten any double posts) and it goes through, but it’s been fairly regular. Anyone else having this problem? -XT ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/2 "2011-08-19T02:17:25Z")
I get it occasionally, probably once or twice a day over the past few days. As you say, it’s never an ongoing problem, so i haven’t worried too much about it. ---
**Author:** ![StarsApart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@StarsApart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarsApart)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/3 "2011-08-19T02:37:37Z")
I was getting that a bit earlier today too (on Firefox in Ubuntu) but it seems to have cleared up. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/4 "2011-08-19T02:42:25Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Is there something wrong with the board? In which way – historical, allegorical, tropological, or anagogical? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/5 "2011-08-19T04:45:15Z")
I was having this problem and PM’d Tuba Diva, she asked for a Screenshot of the database error so they knew what to expect. Unfortunately, after she asked I ceased seeing the error \>.\<. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/6 "2011-08-19T15:13:08Z")
I been seeing this occasionally in the last couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/7 "2011-08-19T15:21:00Z")
I’ve had this occasionally, and assumed it was basically a timeout error. It’s always gone when I’ve refreshed the page, so I haven’t worried about it. I’d say maybe a couple of times a day recently. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/8 "2011-08-19T16:22:29Z")
I’ve been seeing it once or twice a day for a week or so. Not quite as often as I have in the past before a database repair becomes imminent, but they are definitely out there. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/9 "2011-08-19T17:45:17Z")
It is unfortunately a very uninformative error message - but I’ll grab a screenshot next time I see it. Been seeing it 1-2x per day the last 4 days. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/10 "2011-08-19T18:08:12Z")
I just got it after clicking on a link to a thread in ATMB > [@](#): > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/image.php?type=dberror](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/image.php?type=dberror) > > Database error The Straight Dope Message Board database has encountered a problem. Please try the following: > [ul] > [li]Load the page again by clicking the [Refresh](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=620555#) button in your web browser.[/li][li]Open the [boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/../) home page, then try to open another page.[/li][li]Click the Back button to try another link.[/li][/ul] > The [boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com) forum technical staff have been notified of the error, though you may contact them if the problem persists. > We apologise for any inconvenience. The link I clicked before the error was: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=620555](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=620555) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/11 "2011-08-19T18:41:48Z")
In general, the database error messages have been a bit more frequent the last few weeks/months. It was pretty good before that. It doesn’t seem to portend doom the way it used to in the bad old days(crosses fingers). If you were on the boards back in the 1999-2005 or so days, when we threw a database error, you might as well have gone fishing or read a book for a few hours. Sometimes overnight. Been pretty stable the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-board/593264/12 "2011-08-20T15:28:56Z")
Haven’t been getting database errors, but I am getting long pauses much more often recently. Touch wood, SDMB always eventually wakes up again for me without error messages.