Database problem

[BBH]

Wes Copeland, "wc" on the Donkey Kong Forum, and in charge there since Jeff Harrist passed away, indicates that if he can be of assistance with a Python or SQL issue he is willing.

https://donkeykongforum.net/index.php?t ... n#msg46318

Just posting to confirm that Wes Copeland is definitely interested in bringing the site back up. He's done a lot of work over at the RetroAchievements website as well, so I certainly trust his expertise. I don't know if this is just a matter of nobody being able to give admin privileges to another user or what - if there's any worries that he's going to hijack the website, I can assure you that's not going to happen.

[BBH]

No updates on anything, huh.

I'll just say that http://replay.marpirc.net/txt/scores3.htm was working up until everything died a month ago, and can still be checked if you're looking for historical information on each game's top 3.

If you're trying to grab random replays off the site, you can try looking up individual game pages on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (example: https://web.archive.org/web/20150217082730/http://replay.marpirc.net/r/bongo). Unfortunately, a lot of pages do not have captures newer than 2015, which is a definite problem if you're looking for some recent records. But at the very least, all the old stuff is not gone forever.

[Weehawk]

No updates on anything, huh.

I'll just say that http://replay.marpirc.net/txt/scores3.htm was working up until everything died a month ago, and can still be checked if you're looking for historical information on each game's top 3.

If you're trying to grab random replays off the site, you can try looking up individual game pages on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (example: https://web.archive.org/web/20150217082730/http://replay.marpirc.net/r/bongo). Unfortunately, a lot of pages do not have captures newer than 2015, which is a definite problem if you're looking for some recent records. But at the very least, all the old stuff is not gone forever.

(BBH knows this but for anyone else's benefit:)

All MARP replays are still available at:

Code: Select all

http://marp.retrogames.com/inp/log_romname_xxxxxx_wolf106.zip

Where:
"log" is the player's login ID
"romname" is the name of the ROMset in MAME
"xxxxxx" is the score
"wolf106" is the MAME version used

If the score is confirmed, all of this information except the MAME version can be found on the Confirms page, which still works:

http://replay.marpirc.net/confirm.htm

The MAME version can often be guessed from the time period.

[PG3]

http://replay.marpirc.net/upload.htm - 28.03.24
http://replay.marpirc.net/confirm.htm - 28.03.24
http://replay.marpirc.net/txt/scores3.htm - 28.03.24
http://replay.marpirc.net/txt/scores.htm - 28.03.24
http://replay.marpirc.net/news.cgi - 26.03.24
http://marp.retrogames.com/test/frames.htm - [19.11.00]

https://web.archive.org/web/20231130131 ... lympic.htm - 30.11.23
https://web.archive.org/web/20220628094 ... xlines=999 - [28.06.22]
https://web.archive.org/web/20230607081 ... r/vendetta - 07.06.23

https://web.archive.org/web/20210128155 ... re.com/PG3 - 28.01.21
https://web.archive.org/web/20170916084 ... .php?n=297 - 16.09.17

[Weehawk]

https://web.archive.org/web/20231130131 ... lympic.htm - 30.11.23

Putting http://replay.marpirc.net/r/romname into the Wayback Machine turns up the list for everything I tried.

archive.org is amazing.

[mahlemiut]

All MARP replays are still available at:

Code: Select all

http://marp.retrogames.com/inp/log_romname_xxxxxx_wolf106.zip

Where:
"log" is the player's login ID
"romname" is the name of the ROMset in MAME
"xxxxxx" is the score
"wolf106" is the MAME version used

That this still works suggests that some code is still working, as it has to find the exact folder the zip file is located. (It was split up into multiple folders as the server hated giant folders)
Hopefully this means than any changes that need to be made, are fairly simple and are just related to the MySQL update.

[Weehawk]

Hopefully this means than any changes that need to be made, are fairly simple and are just related to the MySQL update.

Everybody seems to think it's probably something pretty simple.

Out of curiosity, has anybody tried actually talking to a human being at Dreamhost?

[Cicca]

A few additional info...hope it helps....

All MARP replays are still available at:

Code: Select all

http://marp.retrogames.com/inp/log_romname_xxxxxx_wolf106.zip

Where:
"log" is the player's login ID
"romname" is the name of the ROMset in MAME
"xxxxxx" is the score
"wolf106" is the MAME version used

The "romname" is that one valid at the moment the score was made, so it could not match with the actual rom name (i.e. amidarjp -> amidar1)

That this still works suggests that some code is still working, as it has to find the exact folder the zip file is located. (It was split up into multiple folders as the server hated giant folders)

There should be some kind of virtual folders configuration, since any score can be dowloaded pointing at the actual path, or simply to the /inp folder
(i.e. http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/4/5/1/rsj ... olf106.zip or http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/rsj_nagan ... olf106.zip as well)
I tried just a few, but I guess it works for every file...

Out of curiosity, has anybody tried actually talking to a human being at Dreamhost?

I did; that's what they answered to my assistance request:

Code: Select all

Hello,

Ricardo here, thank you for contacting DreamHost support, and I apologize
for the delayed response! I am happy to help with your query.

We have located the account hosting replay.marpirc.net, however, as you
are writing in from an email address that is not listed as the primary on
the account I am, unfortunately, not able to provide you with any
account/domain-specific information, or aid in any request relating to
the domain.

Still, I am hopeful that we can help you, but we must involve the account
holder in the process before proceeding further. As a courtesy, I have
reached out to the account owner on your behalf, but I must point out
that we are unable to compel them to reply should they choose not to do
so.

I appreciate your understanding of our obligation to protect the privacy
and integrity of our customer's accounts.

If you need anything else or have any further questions, please reply
back and we'll do our best to help further.

Regards,
Ricardo C
--

I actually ignore who they contacted.

[Krj]

mahlemiut (or any other red) do you still have FTP access or credentials are invalid after the dreamhost databreach in 2021?
If they are still working, could you download all the replays and upload on a cloud folder or somewhere we can download as a safety measure if we cannot contact zwaxy?
Thanks.

[mahlemiut]

INPs should still be downloadable, if you have the original player initials, game name, score and version that make up the filename.

[WCopeland]

I've been poking around on the MARP server for the last 4-5 hours.

edit: most of this below turned out to be false

As far as I can tell, all Python packages are correctly installed. The issue is that the Apache server for replay.marpirc.net is down, which is causing index.cgi to not process any Python code it depends on. All of the site data is okay, and it appears automated backups of the site have been running like clockwork at least once a week for nearly 15 years.

Unfortunately, restarting the Apache server requires super user/root access, which I'm not sure anyone other than zwaxy seems to have. I tried all kinds of alternatives, including using nginx and caddy servers as an alternative to Apache. Neither of these is really a viable option though, because starting a server with proper public-facing SSL support is always going to require root access.

If zwaxy is truly unreachable (aren't they paying for the server/domain ??), to revive the site, I might recommend restoring the latest site backups onto a new server and continuing from there. The downside is, similar to DKF's restoration, the site would need a new domain name (assuming no one here has access to the current domain's control panel). I'd be happy to help with this if it's what ya'll would like to pursue, but it is a big decision.

[Weehawk]

Unfortunately, restarting the Apache server requires super user/root access, which I'm not sure anyone other than zwaxy seems to have

That would actually surprise me a great deal. Chris "Zwaxy" Moore wrote the Python code that powers the site back in the '90's and has always been the titular "owner" of MARP, but I don't *think* he had anything to do with the re-hosting of the site several years ago.

I'm thinking Chris "Seymour" Gushue, who had always hosted the forum, also took over the hosting of MARP itself then. It's reasonable to believe it is he that has all the access rights. If someone who has more inside knowledge can correct me, please do so.

If someone could get in live contact with Seymour, perhaps this could all be sorted out. In any case, thanks much to Wes for his assistance.

[Cicca]

So....does this mean that who has renewed the hosting for the current 5 years (Weehawk, RAX, essekappa, giro-x, Agodzilla) has no root access to the server...?! Isn't it possible to ask to the host a restart of the Apache server, since the domain is down...?!?
If so, and if it's quite easy to download a full backup of the site, let's start from scratch with a new domain name, and admins with full access privileges....

[WCopeland]

I've been doing a little more digging and I believe I've managed to restore MARP.

[Weehawk]

I've been doing a little more digging and I believe I've managed to restore MARP.

Your last post on DKF was making me think you were suggesting that MARP's code would have to be completely rewritten. I tried to respond to it, to find you had edited it to read you had restored MARP, and apparently you have.

Many thanks, Wes. The community owes you a big one.