FTP Listing problem

[ozvalue]

I'm having problems listing directories from ftp. I need to ftp to my hosting service provider where I log on with a user name and password. The problem occurs from two different computers within my home LAN which is connected to the internet using ADSL . When I disconnect one of these computers from my ADSL modem/router and re-connect it through a mobile broadband (wireless) network, the problems disappear. This to me indicates that the problem is with the Bipac 7300 modem router that runs the home LAN or some interaction between it and my hosting service provider.

The listing problem is strange. I have been experimenting with MS-DOS ftp and find that I can log on and I can also list any directories using the ls command. I only have a problem when I list a directory using the dir command. (which is approx like a unix ls -l ). Further, even then I only have a problem when there is a large number of items in the directory. If the directory has 19 items or less then it will still list with the dir command. If the directory has 24 or more items then it won't list (I'm not sure of the exact number) with dir command. This might sound minor but it is enough to totally stop any windows ftp client program such as filezilla from working as they list the directory as they change directories.

Turning off the virus checker and turning off the windows firewall had no effect on the problem. I have tried resetting the modem back to factory defaults but that hasn't fixed it. I logged into an anonymous ftp server and didn't have any of these problems.

Filezilla (vers 3.1.6) test provides the following information:

Connecting to probe.filezilla-project.org
Response: 220 FZ router and firewall tester ready
USER FileZilla
Response: 331 Give any password.
PASS 3.1.6
Response: 230 logged on.
Checking for correct external IP address
IP 220.233.41.132 cca-cdd-eb-bdc
Response: 200 OK
PREP 2872
Response: 200 Using port 2872, data token 294948706
PORT 220,233,41,132,11,56
Connection closed

Summary of results
Connection with server got closed prematurely

I have set up a demo ftp server account where I can reproduce the problem.

ftp to ftp.fiik.org
username: demo@fiik.org
password: test1

You are welcome to log in and change things here.

As to what the domain name FIIK means?
It's exactly what I know about this problem !!!!

Directories I can't list within the above demo account are the following:
/drupalx/misc
/drupalx/modules
/drupalx/themes/pushbutton

I can list all the other directories

Following is a filzilla verbose log of connecting, changing directory to /drupalx/misc and waiting for it to attempt to list it.

Status: Resolving address of ftp.fiik.org
Status: Connecting to 64.208.226.79:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 220---------- Welcome to Pure-FTPd [TLS] ----------
Response: 220-You are user number 2 of 50 allowed.
Response: 220-Local time is now 10:50. Server port: 21.
Response: 220-This is a private system - No anonymous login
Response: 220-IPv6 connections are also welcome on this server.
Response: 220 You will be disconnected after 15 minutes of inactivity.
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Command: USER demo@fiik.org
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 331 User demo@fiik.org OK. Password required
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Command: PASS *****
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 230-User demo@fiik.org has group access to: fiik
Response: 230-OK. Current restricted directory is /
Response: 230 0 Kbytes used (0%) - authorized: 102400 Kb
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Command: SYST
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 215 UNIX Type: L8
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Command: FEAT
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 211-Extensions supported:
Response: EPRT
Response: IDLE
Response: MDTM
Response: SIZE
Response: REST STREAM
Response: MLST type*;size*;sizd*;modify*;UNIX.mode*;UNIX.uid*;UNIX.gid*;unique*;
Response: MLSD
Response: ESTP
Response: PASV
Response: EPSV
Response: SPSV
Response: ESTA
Response: AUTH TLS
Response: PBSZ
Response: PROT
Response: 211 End.
Status: Connected
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ChangeDirSend()
Command: PWD
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 257 "/" is your current location
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ParseSubcommandResult(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ListSubcommandResult()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Command: TYPE I
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 200 TYPE is now 8-bit binary
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Command: PASV
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (64,208,226,79,132,116)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Command: LIST
Trace: CTransferSocket::OnConnect
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 150 Accepted data connection
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Response: 226-ASCII
Response: 226-Options: -a -l
Response: 226 4 matches total
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Trace: CTransferSocket::TransferEnd(1)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferEnd()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ParseSubcommandResult(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ListSubcommandResult()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Command: PASV
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (64,208,226,79,190,113)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Command: LIST -a
Trace: CTransferSocket::OnConnect
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 150 Accepted data connection
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Response: 226-ASCII
Response: 226-Options: -a -l
Response: 226 4 matches total
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Trace: CTransferSocket::TransferEnd(1)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferEnd()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ParseSubcommandResult(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ListSubcommandResult()
Trace: Server seems to support LIST -a
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ListSend()
Status: Calculating timezone offset of server...
Command: MDTM .ftpquota
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 213 20081214153633
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ListParseResponse()
Status: Timezone offsets: Server: -18000 seconds. Local: 39600 seconds. Difference: 57600 seconds.
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Status: Directory listing successful
Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ChangeDirSend()
Command: CWD drupalx
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 250 OK. Current directory is /drupalx
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ChangeDirSend()
Command: PWD
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 257 "/drupalx" is your current location
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ParseSubcommandResult(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ListSubcommandResult()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Command: PASV
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (64,208,226,79,185,66)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Command: LIST -a
Trace: CTransferSocket::OnConnect
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 150 Accepted data connection
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Trace: CTransferSocket::TransferEnd(1)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferEnd()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 226-ASCII
Response: 226-Options: -a -l
Response: 226 8 matches total
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ParseSubcommandResult(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ListSubcommandResult()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Status: Directory listing successful
Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ChangeDirSend()
Command: CWD misc
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 250 OK. Current directory is /drupalx/misc
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ChangeDirSend()
Command: PWD
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 257 "/drupalx/misc" is your current location
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ParseSubcommandResult(0)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ListSubcommandResult()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Command: PASV
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (64,208,226,79,145,181)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Command: LIST -a
Trace: CTransferSocket::OnConnect
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 150 Accepted data connection
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::OnReceive()
Response: 226-ASCII
Response: 226-Options: -a -l
Response: 226 50 matches total
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferParseResponse()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::SendNextCommand()
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::TransferSend()
Error: Connection timed out
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(2114)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(2114)
Trace: CFtpControlSocket::ResetOperation(2114)
Trace: CControlSocket::ResetOperation(2114)
Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing


I tried to read most things on this site but haven't found anything like this.

Can anybody tell me what is going on and what can I do about fixing this? Is part of the problem settings on the server or are all the problems in my modem router.?

Many thanks in advance for your help

Ken

[boco]

First, could you try to increase the timeout value in the settings of Filezilla? I think the default is only 15 seconds.

Settings - Transfers

[ozvalue]

I changed timeout (under setting >> transfers ) to 30 seconds. It made no difference.

Any other suggestions?

[botg]

I tired your test account, works fine, I can list all directories here.

Your run of the network configuration wizard shows that you are using firewalls, consumer-(de)grade(d) routers or so-called security solutions. They are the most likely cause for your problems. Read the Network Configuration guide for instructions.

If nothing helps, uninstall all firewalls and throw your routers away, plug your computer directly into the modem.

[ozvalue]

After many hours of work I seem to have fixed this problem but the fix I made leaves me as confused as the problem did.

To fix it I followed instructions on how to forward ports on the billion bipac 7300. Instructions are here:

http://www.portforward.com/english/rout ... 0A/FTP.htm

Consequently, I set my own PC to have a fixed IP within my home LAN then forwarded public port 21 to come to my fixed IP address at port 21.

This might make sense to me if I was an ftp server but I am only an ftp client and all my reading of what happens with passive mode transfers suggest that ports at the client end have port numbers up in the thousands (for both data and commands) and only the server uses port 21, so why would a forward of port 21 at the client end do anything?
Obviously, my understanding is wrong somewhere.

To make it even stranger, it even fixed it on another PC within my LAN. How that occurs with the forward being only to the first PC, I don't understand at all.

I would love it if someone could explain it.

Hope this helps someone else
Ken
http://www.ausvalue.com

(Note: I have also deleted the test ftp account I set up)