File transfers Fail only with images

Anytime I try to upload images they stall out in the transfer queue and retry 2 or 3 times before going through. I have used previous versions of SmartFTP on the same server and it used to work fine. But since upgrading to v4 I have had this problem. It only happens with images or directories with images (because it's waiting for the children to upload) Any other file types zip right through no problem.

I have waited in excess of 2 minutes to upload a 52kb file in the past, and when uploading large amounts of images this is unacceptable. And like I said before nothing has changed except purchasing and updating my install of SFTP. Any help or advice would be appreciated.


[16:23:04] Operation Begin

[16:23:04] Resolving host name "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"

[16:23:04] Connecting to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Port: 21

[16:23:05] Connected to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.

[16:23:05] 220---------- Welcome to Pure-FTPd [privsep] [TLS] ----------

[16:23:05] 220-You are user number 7 of 50 allowed.

[16:23:05] 220-Local time is now 15:23. Server port: 21.

[16:23:05] 220 You will be disconnected after 15 minutes of inactivity.

[16:23:05] USER xxxxxxx

[16:23:05] 331 User xxxxxxxx OK. Password required

[16:23:05] PASS (hidden)

[16:23:05] 230-User xxxxxxxx has group access to:  iamlion   

[16:23:05] 230 OK. Current restricted directory is /

[16:23:05] SYST

[16:23:05] 215 UNIX Type: L8

[16:23:05] Detected Server Type: UNIX

[16:23:05] RTT: 400.880 ms

[16:23:05] FEAT

[16:23:06] 211-Extensions supported:

[16:23:06]  EPRT

[16:23:06]  IDLE

[16:23:06]  MDTM

[16:23:06]  SIZE

[16:23:06]  REST STREAM

[16:23:06]  MLST type*;size*;sizd*;modify*;UNIX.mode*;UNIX.uid*;UNIX.gid*;unique*;

[16:23:06]  MLSD

[16:23:06]  AUTH TLS

[16:23:06]  PBSZ

[16:23:06]  PROT

[16:23:06]  ESTA

[16:23:06]  PASV

[16:23:06]  EPSV

[16:23:06]  SPSV

[16:23:06]  ESTP

[16:23:06] 211 End.

[16:23:06] Detected Server Software: PureFTPd

[16:23:06] PWD

[16:23:06] 257 "/" is your current location

[16:23:06] CWD /www/test/wp-content/themes/twentyten/images/headers

[16:23:06] 250 OK. Current directory is /www/test/wp-content/themes/twentyten/images/headers

[16:23:06] PWD

[16:23:06] 257 "/www/test/wp-content/themes/twentyten/images/headers" is your current location

[16:23:06] TYPE I

[16:23:06] 200 TYPE is now 8-bit binary

[16:23:06] PASV

[16:23:06] 227 Entering Passive Mode (xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,245,80)

[16:23:06] Opening data connection to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Port: 62800

[16:23:06] STOR cherryblossoms-thumbnail.jpg

[16:23:06] 150 Accepted data connection

[16:23:06] 6542 bytes transferred. (84.0 KB/s) (76 ms)

[16:23:47] Timeout (40s).

[16:23:47] Active Help: https://www.smartftp.com/support/kb/74

[16:23:47] Client closed the connection.

[16:23:47] Transfer failed.

[16:23:47] Operation End


It looks like a network issue. You can try to switch to active mode (PORT):
https://www.smartftp.com/support/kb/how ... de-f1.html

Thanks for the prompt reply!
Hmm... that seemed to work.

Any idea what kind of network issue this might be? Any other ideas on how to correct it?
And what is the active mode actually doing differently here? I'm just curious if there is a reason it's set to passive by default and if there is any potential downsides to staying in active mode?

Thanks again!

Network issues are hard to debug. So I cannot really tell you from what information I have where the problem is. It could be anywhere: server, nat router, personal firewall, antivirus, etc. There is no downside of using active mode (PORT).

Well this worked for the uploads, but downloads still do the same. 

[23:31:11] Operation Begin

[23:31:11] Transfer failed.

[23:31:11] Operation End

[23:31:42] Operation Begin

[23:31:42] Transfer failed.

[23:31:42] Operation End

[23:32:13] Operation Begin

[23:32:13] Transfer failed.

[23:32:13] Operation End

[23:32:43] Operation Begin

[23:32:43] Transfer failed.

[23:32:43] Operation End

[23:33:15] Operation Begin

[23:33:15] Transfer failed.

[23:33:15] Operation End

[23:33:45] Operation Begin

[23:33:45] Transfer failed.

[23:33:45] Operation End

[23:34:15] Operation Begin

[23:34:15] Transfer failed.

[23:34:15] Operation End

[23:34:45] Operation Begin

[23:34:45] Transfer failed.

[23:34:45] Operation End

Images just sit in the Queue for a while and then randomly on a retry they go through. Sometime on the second try, sometimes on the 8th...

I have no firewall currently active and nothing else has any trouble uploading and downloading. Including other free FTP apps.

And like I asked last time, what exactly is the active mode doing differently? I'd like to actually know, this way I can troubleshoot stuff myself in the future.

Just to add a little more info:

My server has a limit of 8 FTP connections at a time and I am not going above that. the passive button is unselected.

I am noticing that the first four files download. But SmartFTP never sees the progress. So the downloaded files just sit in the queue with an average & current speed of "0 bytes/s" until a full 60 seconds have passed. Then the file is removed from the queue and the next file attempts to download, fails, then waits for a retry and repeats the above behavior. (goes through but SFTP doesn't see the progress and everything hangs for another 60 seconds)

If I stop the queue, and then hit play, four more files will download fine but then the process repeats.

Needless to say downloading a large amount of files that add up to only few Megabytes has taken over an hour on high speed internet. If you can think of anything to help solve this issue that would be great. And if you need any extra info just let me know what you need.


[00:33:20] Operation Begin

[00:33:20] Resolving host name "adomain.com"

[00:33:20] Connecting to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Port: 21

[00:33:41] A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.

[00:33:41] Client closed the connection.

[00:33:41] Active Help: https://www.smartftp.com/support/kb/58

[00:33:41] Source connection error.

[00:33:41] Transfer failed.

[00:33:41] Operation End

[00:34:14] Operation Begin

[00:34:14] CWD /www/pastor/wp-content/plugins/wptouch/themes/core/core-images

[00:34:14] 250 OK. Current directory is /www/pastor/wp-content/plugins/wptouch/themes/core/core-images

[00:34:14] PWD

[00:34:14] 257 "/www/pastor/wp-content/plugins/wptouch/themes/core/core-images" is your current location

[00:34:14] MLST pinstripes-horizontal.gif

[00:34:14] 250-Begin

[00:34:14]  type=file;size=48;modify=20110202191221;UNIX.mode=0644;UNIX.uid=2052;UNIX.gid=2052;unique=807gbb408c0; pinstripes-horizontal.gif

[00:34:14] 250 End.

[00:34:14] PASV

[00:34:15] 227 Entering Passive Mode (xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx,81,205)

[00:34:15] Opening data connection to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Port: 20941

[00:34:15] RETR pinstripes-horizontal.gif

[00:34:15] 150 Accepted data connection

[00:34:15] 226-File successfully transferred

[00:34:15] 226 0.012 seconds (measured here), 3.76 Kbytes per second

[00:34:15] 48 bytes transferred. (475 bytes/s) (101 ms)

[00:34:15] MLST pinstripes-horizontal.gif

[00:34:15] 250-Begin

[00:34:15]  type=file;size=48;modify=20110202191221;UNIX.mode=0644;UNIX.uid=2052;UNIX.gid=2052;unique=807gbb408c0; pinstripes-horizontal.gif

[00:34:15] 250 End.

[00:34:15] Source File Size=48, Destination File Size=48

[00:34:15] Operation End

From the last log you have sent, it seems to be a network issue:
[00:33:20] Connecting to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Port: 21[00:33:41] A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because

For whatever reason the connection gets refused. Try to uninstall your software firewall and antivirus product and then try again. If the problems with the refused connections are still there, try to see if you have the same problem using the command line ftp client ftp.exe: ftp.exe yourhost.com


From the last log you have sent, it seems to be a network issue:
[00:33:20] Connecting to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Port: 21[00:33:41] A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because

For whatever reason the connection gets refused. Try to uninstall your software firewall and antivirus product and then try again. If the problems with the refused connections are still there, try to see if you have the same problem using the command line ftp client ftp.exe: ftp.exe yourhost.com

I have no firewall on, as I stated earlier. And no anti virus.

And Fire FTP and FileZilla all work perfectly. But I hate using them. The interface on both is less than optimal. Hence the reason I bought SFTP. SFTP used to work fine when i had the free version. but since buying the new and for me updated version, I have had this issue. Would a network issue only affect one File type in one program?

I have run a few tracerts from here to my server and from my server here and they all work out fine.

I am not familiar with the command line ftp client. Any info on how to use it?

And nicoleweems8935's post is spam. It's just copy and pasted from your earlier response with a link to a sketchy shoe store added.

I can only reiterate it, it is no problem with SmartFTP. It's most likely a network issue with a software firewall / antivirus product or any other product that hacks into the winsock layers.
- Reboot your router
- Try it on a fresh installation of Windows 7