Lots of dead mirrors

[rik_rs]

Going in "software sources" and clicking "base (jessie)" to check for the best mirror, in UK I get more dead mirrors than working ones.

Some unreacheable mirrors:
ftp://free.hands.com/debian/
ftp://ftp.ticklers.org/debian/
ftp://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/
ftp://mirror.lchost.net/debian/
ftp://ftp.ox.ac.uk/debian/
ftp://mirror.positive-internet.com/debian/
ftp://mirror.sov/uk/goscomb.net/debian/
and so on...

9 UK mirrors are working, 11 are dead.

I can't tell how many are dead on the entire list because the test takes ages in that condition. On a small portion of the list I've counted 55 unreachable then I gave up.

Is there any way to have such list updated or at least a way to remove dead mirrors manually?

[catweazel]

At least four of those mirrors listed are accessible from Australia. There must be something wrong with your routes to them.

Code: Select all

catweazel@Fenella ~ $ apt --help
[...]
edit-sources     - Edit /etc/apt/sources.list with your preferred text editor

[rik_rs]

Those are only a set. There are other 50 with 425 Failed to establish connection. It's a bit strange it's a routing problem.
I'm on Plusnet fibre 76/20 and I've got problem only with Mint LMDE.

To be sure, I've tested those little sample from everywhere in the world and they are really dead.
For example:
ftp://ftp.ticklers.org/debian/
result
http://r.h-t.co/en/1/cc2a9143-9791-e711 ... 03ff7328cc

Some today are back to life, e.g.
ftp://ftp.ticklers.org/debian/
ftp://mirror.lchost.net/debian
ftp://mirror.positive-internet.com/debian/

The others don't reply from NY, Munich, Australia, UK, etc).
So the mirrors list of LMDE distro really needs some housekeeping.


PS: what should I do into sources.list? I've already a good source (4.6MB/s). I was simply reporting the problem because the speed tester is not working properly with all those dead servers.

[catweazel]

To be sure, I've tested those little sample from everywhere in the world and they are really dead.
For example:
ftp://ftp.ticklers.org/debian/
result
http://r.h-t.co/en/1/cc2a9143-9791-e711 ... 03ff7328cc

From ftp://ftp.ticklers.org/debian/

Screenshot_20170905_065701.png

What you do with that file is remove the repos that are bothering you.

[dcrowder]

I can get to ftp://ftp.ticklers.org/debian/ from the USA as well.

[rik_rs]

I can get to ftp://ftp.ticklers.org/debian/ from the USA as well.

Actually me too. I see ticklers in the browser now. The problem with that particular server is that it does not reply to ping and maybe that could be the reason the Mint tester marks it as dead? (or maybe it's only because it stops working randomly or at certain hours?). We have different time zones so could be that when you make the test is always fully available while it's not in my daytime.

However you missed the point: it's not a problem of 1,2,3 dead servers or not, there are tons of dead servers when using the Mint LMDE tester. It's not normal. On Mint ubuntu bases I only have a handful of dead servers and the test completes in 4 minutes while on Mint LMDE takes ages (I've never completed 1 fully scan because I give up after half an hour waiting).

Please, try to test "base (jessie)" from the "Software source" tool and let me now the time it takes to complete.

What you do with that file is remove the repos that are bothering you.

/etc/apt/sources.list contains only the selected source not the the list of mirrors the tester uses when you look for the faster source.

I mean, when from Mate o XFCE I go in "software source" and click to select a mirror, it automatically starts a speed test, Such test, only with Mint lmde takes ages to complete.
On Mint ubuntu based take only 4 minutes.


NOTE: With this post I aimed to:
1) report this problem so that, if it's not only my problem or a problem in this area (and I dout because I see this thing only with Mint LMDE), the team could deliver an update package "Mirror list" as it happens quite often with the Mint ubuntu based. Maybe for the LMDE such list comes directly from Debian, but maybe can be filtered if Debian doesn't care about dead mirrors. Or maybe could be set a shorter timeout/retry so that dead mirrors can be skipped quickly.

2) or in the meantime, if feasible, edit the list of mirror by myself so that I don't have to wait ages to run a test.
In this regard: WHICH FILE contains such list? Or is it binary coded?

If interested, in my spare time I can make an accurate list of all the dead mirrors in Mint LMDE.

PS: I use LMDE only in the spare time, so it's not a real problem for me. This is only a sort of bug report to help improve LMDE (unless it's a dead distro walking).

[rik_rs]

From the same machine, if I go here
https://www.debian.org/mirror/list
all the dead mirrors shown by "Software sources" are working.

So the problem is not the servers, is not the routing, is the program "Software sources" of Mint LMDE Betsy.

E.g., I've tested more and more time http://free.hands.com/debian/
it always works in the browser but it never works in the Software sources speed tester.
I have no idea how the test is done. Cannot be the ping because it pings OK.

Any clue?

[catweazel]

all the dead mirrors shown by "Software sources" are working.

Then they're not dead.

it always works in the browser but it never works in the Software sources speed tester.
I have no idea how the test is done. Cannot be the ping because it pings OK.

Any clue?

https://github.com/linuxmint/mintsource ... intSources

[rik_rs]

Then they're not dead.

Some are really, completely dead, while others are accessible via browser but mintSources.py says it is unreachable.

I've tried to set the unreachable mirror anyway and it actually works. So the problem is only the way mintSources.py test the servers.

https://github.com/linuxmint/mintsource ... intSources

Yeah, I was on the way... I was only trying to define if could be something on my part. I've also changed DNS and sniffed packets, but it sound all OK despite it doesn't work.

[Pierre]

are those broken link's repeatable on an later day or later days??.

ie: I've had that issue, recently, but those particular servers did eventually come good.

[rik_rs]

Issue opened here
https://github.com/linuxmint/mintsources/issues/98

PS: I've just noticed that there are ftp://* and http://* of the same server for some servers and the speed tester check OK those with http while mark unreachable the ftp version

For example
http://ftp.ticklers.org is going at 5.5MB/s
while
ftp://ftp.ticklers.org is unreachable.

Maybe there is something wrong in the way mintsources test the speed with ftp://