The reason for errors -9838 and -4

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The reason for errors -9838 and -4

Okay guys, did a little investigation on this one, and this is indeed a server overload problem. I did a tcpdump network trace to apple's servers as I was "Accessing iTunes Store..." and it turns out the server (in my case albert.apple.com) acknowledges the connection request, then quickly slams the TCP window shut sending an advertised window of 0 bytes in the acknowledgement packet. Essentially, the server is saying, "don't send me any more data until I can process the connection." Only problem is, the connection then hangs because the servers are overloaded. Eventually, the connection may time out (error -4). And if the server has too many connections open to it, it will immediately reply with error -9838 (unable to establish a connection).

This doesn't help anything, other than to reassure you that this is simply a "All Apple servers are swamped, try again later" problem.

MacBook Pro 15, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Jul 11, 2008 8:42 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 11, 2008 8:46 AM in response to WesJansen

How does a company like Apple get caught with their pants down like this? I miss my StarTAC right about now.

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Answer 2

Jul 11, 2008 8:50 AM in response to WesJansen

okay thanks for figuring that out. so i guess that the servers will stay like that until people finally realize to give up and try again later. wish there was some way to tell everyone that

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Answer 3

Cander

Level 3

850 points

Jul 11, 2008 8:53 AM in response to juanvaldez

They didnt get caught with their pants down. Apple didnt invent internet pipelines and current hardware limitations.

I am so sure if Motorolla had millions of people htting up its website for a firmware upgrade it would be running so smooth right?

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Answer 4

taiki

Level 1

0 points

Jul 11, 2008 8:53 AM in response to WesJansen

I'm not at all surprised by this. I figured that's what the error meant.

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Answer 5

Jul 11, 2008 8:57 AM in response to WesJansen

It's a shame Apple could not have provided such response. Apple your communication skills are horrible. It's a shame that you have such a loyal audience.

WesJansen wrote:
Okay guys, did a little investigation on this one, and this is indeed a server overload problem. I did a tcpdump network trace to apple's servers as I was "Accessing iTunes Store..." and it turns out the server (in my case albert.apple.com) acknowledges the connection request, then quickly slams the TCP window shut sending an advertised window of 0 bytes in the acknowledgement packet. Essentially, the server is saying, "don't send me any more data until I can process the connection." Only problem is, the connection then hangs because the servers are overloaded. Eventually, the connection may time out (error -4). And if the server has too many connections open to it, it will immediately reply with error -9838 (unable to establish a connection).

This doesn't help anything, other than to reassure you that this is simply a "All Apple servers are swamped, try again later" problem.

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Answer 6

Jul 11, 2008 9:05 AM in response to Cander

I don't think the problems are out of their control. There should have been a better way to manage all of us trying to upgrade at the same time.

Thus some sort of queueing or metering system should have been designed.

Of course, perhaps Apple software technology is not at the level where one can implement a queue.

Message was edited by: juanvaldez

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Answer 7

Jul 11, 2008 9:06 AM in response to Cander

That's completely wrong. This is Apple's mistake. To launch everything at once and not have proper sever and connection lines to support it is ridiculous. If they'd even made the 2.0 update available to users a day or two ahead current users like myself wouldn't have a phone stuck in limbo right now and their network traffic wouldn't be nearly as high. You can't build something up and then not be able to handle the demand, especially so much that it screws your existing customers. It's basic common sense to over prepare. They had this problem on the first launch, then to let it happen again with more people is unacceptable. This is going from a publicity stunt (which it is) to a publicity nightmare. News of server failure and customers being stuck without phones is sweeping the net. As a PR rep. (which I am) I never would have approved such a ridiculous idea for any company.

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Answer 8

Jul 11, 2008 9:08 AM in response to jmilleruk

I completely agree with you. Apple is lucky they have such a loyal customer base. I mean, how hard is it to post something on it's site saying the servers are down rather than having customers freak out and throng to forums to see what the problem is!

From here on, I'm not going to update my firmware without looking at the forums and seeing everything is working fine.

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Answer 9

odnet

Level 1

0 points

Jul 11, 2008 9:08 AM in response to WesJansen

thanks for the investigation....... i thought i was getting somewhere after progressing past the -9838 error..... now its just been replaced by the -4!... ah well, at least no-one can get hold of me for a while! ;o)

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Answer 10

Jul 11, 2008 9:31 AM in response to MrGuitarguy

I have to completely agree with MrGuitarGuy about this- Apple was foolish to try to accomplish the .Mac/MobileMe conversion, the iPhone 2.0 rollout and the 3G release all at the same time. Even the Apple Support pages are slowed down due to this! Didn't Apple learn anything from the first iPhone rollout? They really shot themselves in the foot by limiting the activation to Apple and AT&T stores only. Now I'm stuck with a bricked iPhone- it's resorted to its "pre-activation right out of the box" state until iTunes can get a connection with its servers. Way to blow it big time, Apple! And I'm a loyal Apple fan for years now- what kind of impression do new Apple product owners have because of this?

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Answer 11

Jul 11, 2008 11:36 AM in response to WesJansen

This is really stupid~ i can't use my phone and i really need the phone today

what the **** is wrong with you APPLE ~

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Answer 12

Jul 11, 2008 11:45 AM in response to jmilleruk

And to think I waited to 11:00 AM to do this thinking I would be safe. WOW this does suck.

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Answer 13

El Guero

Level 1

0 points

Jul 11, 2008 11:55 AM in response to Cander

Cander wrote:
They didnt get caught with their pants down. Apple didnt invent internet pipelines and current hardware limitations.

Oh, please. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of sites that are pounded on daily with traffic much heavier than this. Everyone here reporting this problem was able to download the 200MB update with no problem. Almost no traffic and processing, by comparison, is needed for reactivating an existing phone. The scheduling of so many things on the same day could be questioned in retrospect, but it was definitely doable with their internet and server capacity.

This is a simple case of incompetence at all levels. The managers responsible for planning, testing, and establishing contingency plans in the event of inevitable problems should be looking for new jobs.

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