The outage of February 24, 2023

T. S.
T. S. Member Posts: 3
edited November 21 in English Forum

This morning I discovered that my local installation of Logos depends on Faithlife's servers being up and operating for my local installation to start. Rather than opening my library, the program kept trying to communicate with Faithlife servers and eventually showed me an inoperable sign in screen.

It looks like whoever architected the communication flow between the desktop program and Faithlife did so with the assumption that Faithlife servers will never go down. 

Aside from toggling the 'Use Internet' setting, how do we make sure that users can access their licensed and downloaded content when Faithlife's servers are down? 



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Comments

  • Paul Chatfield
    Paul Chatfield Member Posts: 4

    Exactly.  My Logos froze and then didn't let me in as the servers were down.  This outage shows the importance of a "work offline" button or something that can get Logos working when Faithlife servers are down

  • DMB
    DMB Member Posts: 3,087

    Not doubting these posts, but I don't understand them ... and several earlier ones also, with the same issue.

    My Logos (Verbum, but same) always has his 'Use Internet' on ... probably since 2009 (Logos version), and have never seen any issue ... I keep my MBP's web access turned off, except in the early morning ... Verbum happily opens, no matter.  When we're traveling, quite often no access, but no problem either.

    There has to be some clue as to what the software issue is.

  • Don Awalt
    Don Awalt Member Posts: 3,521 ✭✭✭

    That's very odd. I had Verbum up and running just now (Mac), I thought I remembered on the logon screen there was a "Work Offline" button - there was years ago. Of course you have to be logged out to see that screen.

    So anyway, I closed Verbum,  I turned off the internet to my laptop, and I verified with other apps that there was no internet access. I re-ran Verbum - it came right up! Library opened fine, I double clicked on a (downloaded) resource, and it opened. I also saw the message "Preparing library" briefly.

    So it seems clear to me that at least in the case of Mac/Verbum, the internet is NOT required to run the program; or at least in some cases it isn't. Maybe because I had already opened the app for the day, maybe there is one daily thing that it has to do that was already done on my computer that was not yet done on yours?

    Once it is working, you may want to do some testing to see what caused that on your computers - it's not as simple as "If it can't access FL, it can't run the app"; there's more to this than meets the eye.

  • Ronald Quick
    Ronald Quick Member Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭

    If you open Logos while holding the CTRL button, it will open a window that gives you the option to work offline.

  • T. S.
    T. S. Member Posts: 3

    @Ronald, thank you, that is very helpful; I did not know this was a feature. 

    @DMB & Don,  as strange as it sounds, the behavior I experienced coincided with the timing of the outage that occurred today: https://status.faithlife.com/

  • Paul Chatfield
    Paul Chatfield Member Posts: 4

    If you open Logos while holding the CTRL button, it will open a window that gives you the option to work offline.

    I tried this and it didn't work.  I also checked a website which confirmed the logos site was down so don't think it's a local issues but one to do with their servers.

  • Ronald Quick
    Ronald Quick Member Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭

    If you open Logos while holding the CTRL button, it will open a window that gives you the option to work offline.

    I tried this and it didn't work.  I also checked a website which confirmed the logos site was down so don't think it's a local issues but one to do with their servers.

    Wow - there should be a default built into the program that Logos will still open even if their servers are down.  

  • David Wanat
    David Wanat Member Posts: 1,827 ✭✭✭

    Wow - there should be a default built into the program that Logos will still open even if their servers are down.  

    Yes, it sounds like a severe design flaw. Maybe they should make it a priority for the next update. 

    WIN 11 i7 9750H, RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD | iPad Air 3
    Verbum Max

  • Stephen
    Stephen Member Posts: 200 ✭✭

    I decided to try this, I turned off the wifi on my mac (Logos was closed), then I tried to open Logos and it opened just fine and worked (I did not dig deep in using it).

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,105

    Yes, it sounds like a severe design flaw. Maybe they should make it a priority for the next update. 
    Before we panic we need to find out the specific conditions that caused this. I have no trouble when my own internet goes down. Most features run unaffected including opening the program.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • MWW
    MWW Member Posts: 427 ✭✭

    I  frequently travel, and flying in the air with no Internet, or at my daughters house with very sketchy Internet. I don’t have any problem running Logos on my Mac. However, some features on my iPad don’t work without internet access.

  • DMB
    DMB Member Posts: 3,087

    I decided to try this, I turned off the wifi on my mac (Logos was closed), then I tried to open Logos and it opened just fine and worked (I did not dig deep in using it).

    This probably is independent of the won't-logon-at-all problem, but on the Mac (for me), it only recognizes the wifi connection at startup.  If I turn the wifi off (on the Mac), and later on (while Verbum is running), Verbum is lost. Whatever feature needs the server, Verbum doesn't know what to do. Waits and waits. Have to restart.  Probably the only app I have like that.

  • Ronald Quick
    Ronald Quick Member Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭

    I have no trouble when my own internet goes down

    The majority of my time in Logos is offline and I never have had any problems either.  

  • xnman
    xnman Member Posts: 2,780 ✭✭✭

    xn = Christan  man=man -- Acts 11:26 "....and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch".

    Barney Fife is my hero! He only uses an abacus with 14 rows!

  • Paul M
    Paul M Member Posts: 636 ✭✭
  • David Wanat
    David Wanat Member Posts: 1,827 ✭✭✭

    Yes, it sounds like a severe design flaw. Maybe they should make it a priority for the next update. 
    Before we panic we need to find out the specific conditions that caused this. I have no trouble when my own internet goes down. Most features run unaffected including opening the program.

    Who’s panicked? If there’s cause-effect here, then it obviously needs to be addressed. 

    WIN 11 i7 9750H, RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD | iPad Air 3
    Verbum Max

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,105

    Who’s panicked? If there’s cause-effect here, then it obviously needs to be addressed. 

    Just encouraging calm language until the If condition is defined; it may or may not be a "severe design flaw." When we know what it is and how many users it affects, then FL can correctly prioritize the correction -- all hands on board to sometime in the next few betas ... or invisible to us because it is not an app issue but rather an infrastructure issue.

    True story: When I taught for Control Data, the LA school's computer was down for several days. The students who ran the computer had been correctly taught how pulling the red button was a last resort to be used only in case of fire. The student who pulled the button had, in fact, seen smoke before pulling the button. Actual cause of smoke? An arrogant salesman who ignored the no smoking sign and was smoking a cigar behind the main processor. Moral: take the safest action based on the available information but get the actual facts as quickly as possible.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • Mark Smith
    Mark Smith MVP Posts: 11,791

    I tried this and it didn't work. 

    You must hold the CTRL key down until the screen that offers the option to work offline pops up. It works fine for me.

    Pastor, North Park Baptist Church

    Bridgeport, CT USA

  • Frank Sauer
    Frank Sauer Member Posts: 1,525 ✭✭✭

    I just tested this, I was able to open Logos - but without internet connection it took SUBSTANTIALLY longer than if connected. I do not recall it ever taking that long with no internet previously (though it has been a while since I tried unconnected).

    Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 15 & Android 14

  • Ronald Quick
    Ronald Quick Member Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭

    The students who ran the computer had been correctly taught how pulling the red button was a last resort to be used only in case of fire.

    So I have to ask - what did pulling the red button do? [:)]

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,105

    So I have to ask - what did pulling the red button do? 

    Cut ALL power with no shut-down routine which blew circuits, destroyed tapes and disks . . . at least on the CDC machines once you restored power, it was easy to reenter the boot code to make it possible to run. Did you know that HAL in 2001 was played by a CDC machine from Liverpool, CA?

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • Stephen
    Stephen Member Posts: 200 ✭✭
  • Ronald Quick
    Ronald Quick Member Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭

    Thanks.  No, I didn't know that about HAL.