PayPal Error with no error code!

[brendancollis]

My sites been down for 4 weeks,, lord knows how long its going to take to get up and running again,,, I don't have the confidence in 1.5 as I did with 1.4. I defo don't have the confidence to transfer the 1.4 site that was running (ok very very slow) to another server

[symanski]

How long were you down for in total? Ouch

About three weeks. I had to put messages up on the website to explain why customers couldn't make order, and contact those who tried. Managed to keep some business by sending out PayPal Money Requests, but also discounted when I did this to encourage sales. Yes, I lost money. But what else could I do?

[symanski]

My sites been down for 4 weeks,, lord knows how long its going to take to get up and running again,,, I don't have the confidence in 1.5 as I did with 1.4. I defo don't have the confidence to transfer the 1.4 site that was running (ok very very slow) to another server

You can set up a completely free site here:

http://www.000webhost.com

and test to see if your existing site works or not. Then I'd suggest that you redirect from your current site to this one. It's not ideal, but perhaps it will get you working again. Then you can decide if you want to take them on as your full hosts and ditch your current provider. Not your current host's fault, but what choice do you have?

 

It's where I have a back-up site at the moment and last time it was checked it was fully operational.

[nuacco]

same problem, Error occured, blank page

Prestashop 1.5.2, paypal 3.4

 

i start thinking that it might be both bug in the module, and Paypal blocking my IPs..

will try moving my installations (i have done several, just to test) to the new server today..

 

 

UPDATE: i have moved to another server and it works. So, yes well, it must be the IP blocking issue

Edited December 13, 2012 by nuacco (see edit history)

[Prestagreedo]

I'm having the same problem, it all worked fine until a few days ago. I updated the Paypal module to the latest version, + backward compatibility for my version, and it worked. Now I get the blank error messages.

 

I've just found out that the problem is due to the IP being blocked.

My email server was also blocked, but BOTH paypal and ebay, so I wasn't receiving any sales emails either, my hosting co. found that the serve is being blocked (it's a good hosting site, UK based). they contacted paypal. I was kept on hold for 20mins but didn't manage to speak to the technical team.

incidentally, I wonder where they other people having problems are based?

[brendancollis]

I'm in the UK ,,, I may try the free server to trial

[symanski]

found that the serve is being blocked (it's a good hosting site, UK based).

Mine too is UK based. Used them for over a decade and they've always been superb for me.

[RickieSee]

I can report that I moved my site to another IP/host.

 

Everything WORKS.

 

So, we have a similiar problem guys - is it PayPal or our hosts? And the vital issue is: WHY?

Edited December 14, 2012 by RickieSee (see edit history)

[RickieSee]

I will admit I nearly cried with joy when the migration worked (without a hitch).

 

My host had served me well for years aswell. So:

 

I did a reverse-IP lookup on my shared-host (found other sites on the same IP) and found a site that also used PayPal for their checkout procedure. I think he was using OpenCart.

 

I got to checkout stage and completed the sale - it worked.

 

So that would suggest that it's not a blanket IP ban. It's something more specific. Any thoughts?

Edited December 14, 2012 by RickieSee (see edit history)

[brendancollis]

Big question then,,, what Hosting is not blocked? and TEL ME NOW!!!!!!!!!! lol

[symanski]

I can report that I moved my site to another IP/host.

 

Everything WORKS.

 

So, we have a similiar problem guys - is it PayPal or our hosts? And the vital issue is: WHY?

The only common factor between all of these issues is PayPal. Earlier in this thread someone got a reply stating that it was mis-routing on the internet which is frustratingly plausible although not proven.

[symanski]

I think he was using OpenCart.

 

I got to checkout stage and completed the sale - it worked.

 

So that would suggest that it's not a blanket IP ban. It's something more specific. Any thoughts?

One of the hints that I got that this was an IP block problem was looking at other sites where someone using a different cart was having similar problems as us with PayPal. Perhaps there's a similar forum of OpenCart users having similar problems?

 

It's difficult to point your finger to Prestashop's PayPal module when you're able to move the site, unmodified except for the localisation settings, to a different host and it works fine. In theory the OpenCart cart should be performing the same operations as the Prestashop's PayPal module so it would be interesting to see if there are any differences in the modules.

 

I'm open to considering that the Prestashop PayPal module is doing something different that's causing the problem. I simply don't know.

[symanski]

Big question then,,, what Hosting is not blocked? and TEL ME NOW!!!!!!!!!! lol

Which host are you with?

 

The risk is that if you swap to a different host will PayPal then block that one too? Unfortunately PayPal haven't been helpful with diagnosing where the problem lies. Hence why I think it's dangerous to recommend a particular host as being clear when it could easily become blocked (again!).

[Prestagreedo]

It's not a matter of hosting company, but individual IP addresses, at least in my case.

They moved my site to a different address and now paypal works fine!!!

I'm just lucky that it happened on a new site that I had just launched and I only lost 1 or 2 sales.

 

The hosting company I use respond to tickets within a maximum of 10 mins, and moved server without any problem, just had to wait for a quieter time for them to do it.

I don't think hosting companies are to blame, the one are use are not the cheapest, although not expensive either, but very realiable.

 

One possible suggestion is that they had someone banned by paypal/ebay hosting a site, but it seems too wide a problem, and too silly of PP to block entire IP addresses.

Looking at things from another angle, are Paypal blocking Prestashop shops? Could it be that it was our Prestashop site that caused PP to block the IP? Maybe Prestashop is blacklisted by PP (not saying it is, it wouldn't make sense to me, just putting forward a possible explanation). Maybe we can ask our host if this has happened before to them? The block happened a few weeks after I launched a new shop,

 

Also interesting to know how, at least in my case, Paypal and eBay both blocked the IP.

 

On a different note: what do I need to change on Prestashop after moving server? Orders are going through ok.

[symanski]

On a different note: what do I need to change on Prestashop after moving server? Orders are going through ok.

If you're still on the same domain name and database then you don't need to change anything. But it's one of the configuration files that you need to change.

 

So if you copy your site to a different server and are using a different address then you need to edit "settings.ini.php" inside the "/config" directory. Plus as you're using a different database you'll have to change this address too.

Edited December 14, 2012 by symanski (see edit history)

[Prestagreedo]

it seems al fine now, except that my hosting provider screwed up a DNS redirection of my main domain, but that's a different story...

Edited December 14, 2012 by Prestagreedo (see edit history)

[RickieSee]

PayPal & Ebay are the same company.

 

One way we could know for sure is if It is the Prestashop module that is putting up flags with PayPal, is if we install OpenCart on the domain's/hosting that are blocked by PayPal...

[symanski]

Results are in:

 

Open Cart works.

 

(I'm still faithful to Prestashop, of course)

 

Good work.

 

Have you done a re-check of Prestashop at the same time just to verify?

[RickieSee]

Good work.

 

Have you done a re-check of Prestashop at the same time just to verify?

 

Yes. Just did a side by side test now.

 

Conclusive evidence that the error is related to Prestashop's code.

 

How bizarre. So (as we all knew) there is a small chance this could happen even on a new host.

 

And no, the latest PayPal module makes no difference. This is damning really.

Edited December 14, 2012 by RickieSee (see edit history)

[RickieSee]

*And* it is IP based.

 

I repeated the test on a spare domain, on the same blocked hosting plan.

 

Same results.

[symanski]

*And* it is IP based.

 

I repeated the test on a spare domain, on the same blocked hosting plan.

 

Same results.

 

This is where we need someone who knows the Prestashop PayPal module and is able to compare it's functionality to that of the OpenCart one. Obviously the Prestashop module does work, but why is it being blocked with some hosts?

 

Both codes should follow the API guide that PayPal produce. So in theory they should be the same.

[RickieSee]

This is where we need someone who knows the Prestashop PayPal module and is able to compare it's functionality to that of the OpenCart one. Obviously the Prestashop module does work, but why is it being blocked with some hosts?

 

Both codes should follow the API guide that PayPal produce. So in theory they should be the same.

 

I agree. I feel between our shared experiences on this thread it's been narrowed down. I wonder if any of the PS development team would like to share any ideas?

[Dh42]

Are you running ssl certificates with both Prestashop and opencart?

[RickieSee]

No.

[Dh42]

So neither site is running a ssl certificate? A quick and easy way around the problem, and also good e-commerce practice, is to get a ssl certificate.

[RickieSee]

So neither site is running a ssl certificate? A quick and easy way around the problem, and also good e-commerce practice, is to get a ssl certificate.

 

No.

 

I don't operate any OpenCart sites. I installed OpenCart as a diagnostic for sorting this problem.

 

I own 16 ecommerce sites, and some Magento biggies. Sadly I don't require an SSL certficate for any of my Prestashop sites - which tend to be small, SEO driven niche sites where PayPal is suitable and essential. Probably like a lot of guys here. It's unnecessary.

 

Sadly, purchasing an SSL certficate for each domain isn't the solution to this for many of us. It's fair to say this issue needs at least exploring at some point if PS is to stay ahead of the game.

 

It's fair to say that this issue is something to do with PayPal's recent (Sept 2012) DNS changes. It'd be interesting to hear an experts opinion.

 

To quote PayPal, who surprisingly replied to me within half an hour:

 

"I believe your issue has occurred because the system has been updated and you should not be coding specific IPs into your integration any longer."

[Dh42]

The reason for the ssl certificates is because you will be assigned your own IP address. The reason the problem is happening is because people on the shared IP address you are using are trying to make fraudulent charges with paypal. Paypal has been updating the way their plugin / api works. Maybe the open cart version is not updated to use it yet, but at some point it will have to be updated or it just will stop working.

[RickieSee]

Please elaborate on:

 

"The reason the problem is happening is because people on the shared IP address you are using are trying to make fraudulent charges with paypal"

 

Is this the official Prestashop line?

[Dh42]

I don't officially speak for Prestashop, I am just a moderator and someone that is familiar with how paypal is set up.

 

There are 2 possible scenarios to what is happening. The first is that paypal has blocked your ip address. When you host on a shared server without a dedicated ip address, you are at the mercy of what every other site on that ip address does. Someone could be a spammer and get the ip address blacklisted with the spam lists. Someone could try to pass fraudulent charges to paypal and get paypal to ban the ip address. Both of those actions will ban every site on the ip address from those services, sometimes it is thousands of sites.

 

The other is the problem is based around your hosting. Paypal has been making cart companies change how the modules work with paypal. Read this memo from paypal to Xcart. https://www.x.com/content/bulletin-ip-address-expansion-paypal-services If you notice, the roll out was finalized the end of Sept. This thread was started the first of Oct.

 

If you notice in the memo, there are 2 courses of action, you can either get your host to change your firewall settings, or you can get an ssl certificate and use port 443, the ssl port.

 

If you notice, neither of these things are under Prestashops control, paypal sets the rules for using their api and they establish what will work and what will not.

[RickieSee]

Hi Dh42,

 

Yes I completely understand. I think it's just bizarre! I don't blame Prestashop in the slightest. Love this cart. Perfect for it's uses and nothing compares.

 

I think you're dead on with the two points. It's something along these lines - it'd just be fascinating to find out the exact nature. The funny thing is we'll never know for sure

 

On a positive, I should've moved the sites to a VPS ages ago, just didn't out of sheer lasiness! Now I'm glad the sites are nice and speedy

[symanski]

There are 2 possible scenarios to what is happening. The first is that paypal has blocked your ip address. When you host on a shared server without a dedicated ip address, you are at the mercy of what every other site on that ip address does. Someone could be a spammer and get the ip address blacklisted with the spam lists. Someone could try to pass fraudulent charges to paypal and get paypal to ban the ip address. Both of those actions will ban every site on the ip address from those services, sometimes it is thousands of sites.

 

Dh42, thanks for your input. What you say does make sense; it really does.

 

However, there's a couple of points that are rather strange on this one. Firstly, if the IP is banned then why does OpenCart on the same server work fine as RickieSee has tested? If it were a straight IP ban then surely no cart system would work?

 

Secondly, if it were a Prestashop problem then why would a site without modification be able work when moved to a different server? Or even suddenly work again without warning or alteration on the same server which seemed to be blocked?

 

Thirdly, PayPal stated they don't block IP addresses!

 

It's a very strange mystery that we've got here. All we until tonight is evidence that points to a blocked IP, but RickieSee's test also points to there being something different in the way Prestashop uses PayPal's API from OpenCart's method. It may well be that the Prestashop is much more advanced that OpenCart's handling of the payment, but we really need someone to compare the two and see if there is something causing problems.

 

I suspect that it might be that OpenCart is still using fixed IPs and Prestashop dynamic lookups (as it should be) but the end result that Prestashop is defaulting to IPs that are blocked, but the OpenCart's ones are clear. I personally believe that the reason why OpenCart has worked for RickieSee is because OpenCart has gone in via a different IP address from the Prestashop module. And that's what I think needs investigated next to prove that Prestashop is right.

[Dh42]

You have good 3 points, but take this into consideration.

 

Open cart could be using the older system and not have updated to the new way of processing payments. Then that would explain why opencart worked and Prestashop didn't.

 

Depending on the host and how their array is set up, the two installations could have been on 2 different machines with 2 different IP addresses.

 

Third, paypal does ban ip addresses. Maybe the person you talked to did not know, but that is a a quick network security trick to saving a system. They usually only do temp bans, like for a few hours to 24 hours. It is not the ips that Prestashop is using that are blocked, it is either the host machine that is blocked from accessing paypal or it is the host machine is not set up correctly to allow for paypals new method of using dynamic ip addresses.

[symanski]

I'm assuming that RickieSee had installed both systems in to the same host's directory. If so, then my understanding is that it should be on the same server. At least on my limited experience of small scale web servers that's the case. And on shared platforms they host many servers on the same machine.

 

I was being slightly funny about the PayPal blocking of IPs. Earlier in this thread someone quoted PayPal stating that they don't block IP addresses, but PayPal also said they thought it was a routing problem that was causing the problem.

 

I think to progress this further on our side is to see what addresses the PayPal module is trying to contact. Then check those for blocks (as I did above with that script). If we can then compare results from working sites to non-working ones at least we've have something. We'd at least be making some progress. Otherwise we're going round in circles.

[see26]

Thought I’d add my experience.

 

Had this same problem, a couple of days ago it just stopped working. The same site on my local computer connected fine. Plus I ran the test script kindly provided by symanski and the IP addresses came back online on my local computer but offline on the host’ server.

 

The hosting company has moved the site to another server and thankfully it seems to be working fine. (I ran the test script again on the new server and its connecting ok to those IP addresses)

 

So neither site is running a ssl certificate? A quick and easy way around the problem, and also good e-commerce practice, is to get a ssl certificate.

 

I'm a bit confused, do you mean this shouldn’t have happened with an SSL certificate? because our site does have one.

[Diabloflash]

Hey everyone new to the forum.

 

I have found a way to pass this error problem ( doesn't fix it, but you get your $$ )

Go to your Prestashop Paypal Modules ( works with PayPal v2.8.7 and older)

And remove your API password and save it. Thats it!

 

Paypal should now work when check out now!

BUT.............

The Problems with this:

1) You get the Paypal payment, but your backoffice will not receive THE ORDER and your stock will NOT CHANGE!

2) Customer will not receive comformation of the order and will not be able to look at his/her order on their prestashop account.

3) Paypal will send you an email telling you to knock it off.

4) Customer may get pissed if not responed to quick with tracking / maunal sent conformation!

 

Hope this helps! I'm in the same boat I really need this problem fixed !!

Losing business!

 

Thanks Pat

 

P.S I try finding a place to upload the PayPal v2.8.7 Module.

[RickieSee]

Using Google Checkout as an alternative kills conversion rates. Let's get this fixed

[symanski]

I had a look at the PayPal module that I'm using, one which was blocked for a while. I was looking to see if it specified any IP addresses specifically or if it used the domain names. I did this because PayPal seem to believe that the module is using a specific IP address and not the domain name as they recommend.

 

I can confirm that the modules use the domain names and not specific IP addresses. I'm not a PHP programmer, but I understand enough to see that they use the domain names and I seen no evidence of IP addresses being used.

 

Further I had a look at OpenCart too. There are three modules for OpenCart, Standard, Pro and Express. What's interesting is that the Standard module doesn't use the "api-3t" address but Pro and Express does. I believe that this is one of the addresses which is being blocked and hence why OpenCart has worked where PrestaShop hasn't. Although I only set up the Standard module it doesn't need the API details that we have to enter in with PrestaShop's PayPal module. I believe that you need the API details for better integration between your site and PayPal.

[RauldelCerro]

Hello,

 

I disabled the step of accepting conditions of sale, and it works well. Not the best solution, but I prefer that customers can pay by paypal.

 

Greetings from Spain.

[bygonetelephones]

If i upgrade to the

Website Payments Pro Hosted will this cure the problem?

[Alt100]

I'm having the same problem. The customer tries to checkout and they get an error but with no code. I'm using SSL so have a dedicated IP address. I've contacted my server host and the gave me this response.

 

Hello,

 

Thank you for the update.

 

I have recreated the issue in question, however, please note that this is not caused by the configuration of the server. I can see that the module is trying to connect to the following IP address for the payment module:

 

> 173.0.84.101

 

However, this is timing out. Thus, you will have to contact the Paypal team for more details on what could be causing that. Thank you in advance.

 

 

I've upgraded to the latest PAYPAL module but still the same problem.

 

I've contacted PAYPAL and am still awaiting a reply.

 

In the mean time i'm using google checkout. Not ideal!!

[symanski]

I'm having the same problem. The customer tries to checkout and they get an error but with no code. I'm using SSL so have a dedicated IP address.

 

I've contacted PAYPAL and am still awaiting a reply.

 

When you do a reverse IP lookup on 173.0.84.101 you get api-3t.paypal.com which is the address we've identified is the problem. From my earlier work it seems that PayPal are blocking access from your IP address, but why I can't say.

 

All I can say is that it's not your site but your IP address. If you were able to change IP addresses on your host (not possible with SSL sites I believe - although not 100% sure) then it would work fine. All you can hope for is a reply from PayPal, but do contact their MTS team rather than the standard customer support. Standard customer support is useless for this and would only be a waste of your time. MTS is bad enough as they will blame everything but PayPal without actually trying anything.

 

It may help if you ask your host to do a traceroute on this IP address and domain name (using port 443) and passing this information to PayPal MTS too.

[itsnotreet]

Morning all and happy new year!

 

Just to add my bit here. A Prestashop site of mine was suffering the exact same problem, as was a Zencart site so I contacted my hosts and they where surprisingly aware of the problem and confirmed that around the 1st October Paypal began to randomly block ip's from certain host providers.

 

My hosts moved the sites to a new server and the problem was solved. So I can confirm beyond any doubt that the problem lies with Paypal and them blocking ip's for no apparent reason!

 

Any good hosts should move your sites free of charge without too much hastle - mine moved 47 sites the same evening!

 

Hope this helps someone.

[symanski]

My hosts moved the sites to a new server and the problem was solved. So I can confirm beyond any doubt that the problem lies with Paypal and them blocking ip's for no apparent reason!

 

Thanks for your input on this. It really does help.

[alexvic36]

Hey Guys,

 

 

I'm going crazy! My whole business is dying because of this stupid PayPal issue

As here: http://techdot.com.a...out/payment.php

 

I've tried heaps of stuff but I'm just not good enough at getting it working! Any ideas/advice? I host with Media Temple, so they're very good & I could ask them to shift servers...but are we sure IPs are the problem?

 

Totally losing business Might pay someone a small amount if they can help fix it.

 

It only occurs when you tick 'I accept terms & conditions' etc and it redirects to the confirm order page. Why does it redirect all the time? Sometimes it allows me to go down and instead click "PayPal" after ticking accept conds and it will work. Sometimes however I accept conds redirects directly to order summary which is where PayPal dies.

 

Cheers

Edited January 31, 2013 by alexvic36 (see edit history)

[colin7291]

hello sorry for my English .... we are on July 20 is no solution has been found ... I pay with aprepaid card is I still have enough to pay for my purchase on ebay is everything a 10486 erroronce I buy these yesterday is always good I try to spend all of the solution changed browser,the cookie clean, reboot, even the most tared solution I will wait some days my hope that the solution will appear by miracle because for everything I try I is not even f****** my foot in the screen is if I miss the solution meets me the link .

 

 

Thank you ....

Edited February 6, 2013 by colin7291 (see edit history)

[colin7291]

I just tried to pay for an item with paypal through ebay checkout. I get an error message saying...

 

We were unable to process your PayPal payment because of a restriction on your account. Error code #13113

 

 

What can I do now to remove this restriction or how do I pay for this item. I have no unresolved cases in my resolution centre. I paid for an item yesterday with no problems.

[Martin_NZ]

My paypal module recently stopped working after an update and while my situation may not mirror yours yours you may like to check the following file as there is a coding error in the latest paypal module in the file process.php

 

In the paypal module folder /modules/paypal/express_checkout/

 

you need to edit the file process.php as there is an error on line 124

 

change line 124 from

 

if ($cart_currency != $currency_module)

 

to

 

if ($cart_currency !== $currency_module)

 

 

your problem may be solved by inserting the additional = symbol on that line.. This solution worked for me.

 

Kind Regards

Marty

 

http://NZstore.biz

[Basmanoff]

Hello,

Problem solved!

 

I had same problem with my paypal. I spend lots of hours to find solution on the intrernet and finaly found which works for me. Hope it will help you as well.

By default my hosting provider disabled the outcoming conections, so just ask them to enable it and thats it. It works!

Hope it will help for you too.

 

[sirandrewdavis]

I had this problem for a couple of days and was pulling my hair out trying to solve it. Fortunately, I had two servers to play with. On one the Paypal module gave no response on the other the module worked fine. Both had their firewalls set up ok for ssl outgoing traffic and had a similar set of system software. After adding a few lines to the Paypal_connect module to make it report the error, I discovered it was returning a Curl error 7 with the message Connection Refused.

 

This was just enough info to be able to get google to point me in the right direction. I discovered that an obscure file on my server called /etc/selinux/config had the line SELINUX=enforcing while on the other server on which the same website was working with no problem the same line was SELINUX=disabled. I changed this and the Paypal payment module now communicates with Paypal with no problems.

 

I was surprised how much digging it took to discover this. I would have thought an issue like this would have had more exposure on google.

Edited March 9, 2013 by sirandrewdavis (see edit history)

[Fehmi135]

Hi,

 

Thank you for your information @Sirandrewdavis, but I don't really understand what we do to solve the problem ?

 

Can you explain me ?

 

Thank you very much

[sirandrewdavis]

Fehmi135,

 

If your problem is the same as mine, you'll need your server folk to change the /etc/selinux/config file. They'll need to change the line with "SELINUX=enforcing" to "SELINUX=disabled". SELINUX stands for security enhanced LINUX and is a feature that provides a mechanism for supporting access control security policies. On my old server, it had been set by Plesk to disabled but on my new server it was set on. There is probably a cleaver way of defining a policy to allow the Paypal connect module to communicate with Paypal while leaving SELINUX enabled.

 

However, it could also be a firewall issue. It wasn't for me. But one thing I'm sure of it's not Paypal dropping the connection as a lot of people seem to think.

 

Good luck,

 

Andrew

[imprentavalenciana]

I've the same issue yesterday, so I would like to know how you guys have fix it?

 

Best regards,

 

Luciana

[Fehmi135]

Thank you to sirandrewdavis, but I do not have the same problem.

And for the moment no solution has been found, I'm in France and several people with the same problem

[vinylbodyshop]

I have had this problem for a couple of days now, I have emailed PayPal asking them to unblock my website's IP address and domain. I have also emailed my host's asking them to change me to a different server and ip address. I shall post back with an update on how I get on.

 

Just would like to say a big thanks to symanski for his information.

 

@symanski I have created the ping php script you made, how do I go about to executing it on my website?

[symanski]

Just would like to say a big thanks to symanski for his information.

 

@symanski I have created the ping php script you made, how do I go about to executing it on my website?

 

If you save the script text on page 5 of this thread to a text file in Notepad or similar. Then rename the text file from ptest.txt to ptest.php and upload it to your website. Then simply with your internet browser go to that file.

 

So for example if your site was www.vinylbodyshop.com and you put the file, ptest.php, in to the route directory then you'd simply go to www.vinylbodyshop.com/ptest.php It will take a few minutes to run if it's not getting through, but will complete very quickly if it does! You'll then see the results.

 

With the results that I posted then you'll see that only a couple of them are blocked. But if I run them today they're all blocked. I'm once again suffering from this PayPal problem.

[vinylbodyshop]

If you save the script text on page 5 of this thread to a text file in Notepad or similar. Then rename the text file from ptest.txt to ptest.php and upload it to your website. Then simply with your internet browser go to that file.

 

So for example if your site was www.vinylbodyshop.com and you put the file, ptest.php, in to the route directory then you'd simply go to www.vinylbodyshop.com/ptest.php It will take a few minutes to run if it's not getting through, but will complete very quickly if it does! You'll then see the results.

 

With the results that I posted then you'll see that only a couple of them are blocked. But if I run them today they're all blocked. I'm once again suffering from this PayPal problem.

 

Yeah I have done exactly as you have said with the ping script. Didn't return any results and looked like it had timed out. So guess my site is not connecting with PayPal at all. I am currently onto my hosts and they are aware of the issue and are trying to solve it by moving me to a new server, fingers crossed this works.

[RickieSee]

Update - I am now suffering from this problem again.

 

- The migrated websites to a new host continue to work.

 

- The websites on the original host do not work (See my previous posts). Sometime Mid>late January out of the blue they began to work.

 

TODAY the 15th March the problem is back.

 

What's going on here?

[symanski]

TODAY the 15th March the problem is back.

 

What's going on here?

 

Same for my site too. Losing customers because of it. Not a happy bunny.

 

What's going on? No idea. Have messaged PayPal's MTS team but nothing back from them.

[RickieSee]

Same for my site too. Losing customers because of it. Not a happy bunny.

 

What's going on? No idea. Have messaged PayPal's MTS team but nothing back from them.

 

We meet again

 

PayPal blame the host and/or Prestashop.

 

Host blames PayPal and Prestashop.

 

Prestashop stay silent.

 

Frustrating isn't it.

 

Going to have to bite the bullet and move them all. But what does that solve? Nothing. What's to say it doesn't resurface on your brand new shiny dedicated server/VPS.

[leonidnk]

Hi,

My PayPal works again. Host support solved the problem, but I do not know how.

[vinylbodyshop]

Just thought I would provide an update. My website is now resolved and working fine. My hosts said that it was a problem with their cURL system and PayPal's API servers not communicating. I hope this little bit of information helps you guys point your website host technicians in the correct place to sort the issue.

[symanski]

We meet again

 

Next time let's make it in a nice bar with a couple of cold beers?

 

Prestashop stay silent, which isn't helpful at all. Our hosts do the best they can and PayPal takes an age to reply but ultimately it seems the problem solves itself.

 

Firstly, I don't think it's Prestashop because if you search Google you find other people having the same problem. Us Prestashop users are just better organised at reporting the issues here.

 

Secondly, it's not our host's either. This can be eliminated because there's too many of us on different hosts having the same problem.

 

Thirdly is it PayPal's problem? All fingers point towards PayPal and that can't be denied. Just like all our stores have to point towards PayPal. But the one reason that PayPal stated of being a faulty router on the internet is just as plausible. The next job really is to determine if it's an internet router problem or not and I simply don't know how to go about that.

[symanski]

Just thought I would provide an update. My website is now resolved and working fine. My hosts said that it was a problem with their cURL system and PayPal's API servers not communicating. I hope this little bit of information helps you guys point your website host technicians in the correct place to sort the issue.

 

I'd seen someone else ages ago suggesting the same. However, since we're all on different hosts all affected at the same time suggests that it's not a local problem to your hosting server.

 

cURL is a command for getting information from the internet in a UNIX/Linux system. Inside the PayPal module it will be processing that command or one similar. But it won't be able to get the information if the route to that information is broken or blocked. And that's essentially what's happening. Some parts are clear, but others are blocked. Unfortunately it's all the important parts for the payment that's blocked!

[vinylbodyshop]

Hi Guys, I asked my webhosts (one.com) to provide details of how they resolved the PayPal error with my website. Here is what they shared below, I hope this helps the others determine and fix their problems:

 

Hi,

 

Since the transfer of the domains to the cluster servers, our servers

use a lot fewer IP's. Some providers of different services, for instance

Paypal, have limitations for how many connections from the same IP they

allow. Our technicians have finally added more IP's on our servers so

the issue was resolved for Paypal.

 

Should you have anymore inquiries please do not hesitate to contact us

thru our 24/7 online chat or email us.

Best Regards

 

Jan

One.com

[tukker]

Hello Guys,

 

I askes my host to move my website to another IP.

Before they moved the website I asked them to run the script on page 5. when this script works well, you know sure the paypal connection will work fine.

 

After they moved my website everything works fine.

 

But when another website hosters on this IP will use paypal payment in the future the problems will be back again ??

[symanski]

PayPal MTS have responded to me asking me to get my host to perform various tasks, mainly trace routes. I've forwarded this on to my host who are looking in to this problem.

 

MTS tell me that they don't block access to the APIs (and I fully believe them). My host also tells me that they don't block them either. MTS also told me that they believe it's a router on the internet that's been configured to block access on routers owned by AT&T or Sprint. I've got to get my host to get their IP addresses unblocked by AT&T and Sprint or whoever else it is in the path that's blocking my access.

 

We're slowly getting closer to a solution! Although I'd still like to know who it was that started putting these block in place and why.

[liquidspace]

hi guys,

 

im having the same problem... after reading this thread decided to buy new IP address from my hosting provider for my site, but problem still exist... any clues whats realy happening? im from Lithuania.

 

all the bet,

liquid

[symanski]

We contacted Paypal and got an immediate response

 

This is exactly what they said, and confirmed by email to us:

 

I'm guessing they're getting a bit more used to answering these questions! Although it did take a few days for them to reply to me.

 

My host is working through the directions that PayPal have given them. Hopefully it will be solved soon. But, yes, it definitely seems to be a block.

[symanski]

Potential solution ahead

 

We were also experiencing this problem on Prestashop 1.5.3 using the latest PayPal Module version directly from GIT (as of 2013-03-20) only on our production server.

The Paypal express checkout would load with our cart contents, and allow us to login via paypal and pay for the order, however when returning to the store, an error would appear stating "ERROR OCCURRED:" with no log information.

 

I think what you've got is a different error. You're getting through to PayPal, with the error in this thread you are not.

 

Firstly, I think the express module is different from the standard module for payment (correct me if I'm wrong - I'm no expert).

 

Secondly, when the fault in this topic happens you are not able to move from your site to PayPal. It sits for a while and then gives you the error report, but without any error conditions and without taking you to PayPal.

 

Thirdly, with the fault many are reporting it's from a live working system suddenly and without warning stopping working. They've made no changes to their shop nor has the host changed the server environment.

 

Forthly, the script on page 5 of this increasinly lengthy topic reports off-line for all the IP addresses tested.

 

4mdev, I'm not trying to chase you away and your contribution will be exteremly useful to anybody suffering for the same fault as yourself. I'm just trying to keep this particular thread / topic on track with the communication blockage that we've already identified. There's too many forums that you visit where the discussion very quickly veers from the original post to something quite different, and it's usefulness to anybody with the same problem vanishes. But equally, a separate thread with the contribution you've made here would be absolutely fantastic for anybody who's having the same problem as yourself!

[benjamin utterback]

Hi symanski, I unapproved that post and other posts relating to it. The problem was different and the fix was different. Thank you for trying to stay on topic, especially with this thread.

[leecook]

My host has just come back to me and said:

 

We are currently aware that a small portion of our customers are unable to connect to PayPal using curl in their e-commerce application. Our engineers are aware of the issue and working towards a resolution. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience while we resolve this issue.

 

I then asked them how long this will be to which they responded:

 

Unfortunately, we cannot provide an exact time frame when the issue will be resolved. I can confirm that there have been some positive developments regarding the issue. We shall get back to you with the confirmation of the resolution as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience till then.

 

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

 

I am just hoping it is sooner rather than later but at least there is progress.

 

I just wanted to thank you all and especially symanski as without this I would not have got this far.

 

cheers

[4mdev]

Apologies for the misleading solution, I've just re-read the OP and I agree there's a difference. I probably meant to post this in another thread anyway so it's my own fault for having so many tabs open.

 

Anyway, I've reposted the solution on the "Paypal Error Occurred!" thread in case anyone finds it useful in future. That thread seems to have the same symptoms as I described.

 

Best of luck with this issue guys, sorry I can't help your particular situation.

[symanski]

I'm back up and running again!

 

I'd had some information back from PayPal MTS and forwarded it to my hosts. They were able to get me back up and running, although I don't know exactly what they did. The person phoning me isn't necessarily the person who got it up and running again!

 

MTS asked me to perform a few tests:

Can you Provide us your Server IP, your Provider, and following data:

 

- Ping 173.0.82.113

- - tcp traceroute 173.0.82.113

- - tracert api-aa-3t.paypal.com

 

weve had several merchants reporting that theyre either unable to connect to our API endpoints, or were unable to deliver IPN messages to them due to the network connection timing out.

The initial analysis seemed to point at a routing issue with, or right after, a router owned by Sprint.

For example, traceroute shows the trace stopping right after 144.232.11.178, which is an IP address owned by Sprint.

NetSec has further investigated these cases and found out that the traffic for these merchants is getting blocked at AT&T. This was confirmed by AT&T, and they cited it was due to AT&T customer complaints.

For all merchants currently seeing connectivity issues with either our API endpoints or for IPN delivery and where a traceroute stops after 144.232.11.178, please contact your hosting / network provider, who in turn can reach out to AT&T to get your IP address unblocked.

Please note that we PayPal -- are not blocking your IP address, nor can we ask for you to get unblocked by AT&T on your behalf, as the owner of the IP address will need to do so.

A temporary solution might be for a hosting provider to issue a new public IP address to you as the merchant, though we would strongly recommend you work with AT&T and your Provider to find out the cause for the block first.

 

I'd say that we're now starting to see a picture of how this fault happens. It's a router somewhere on the internet. It perhaps is being deliberately blocked, but for what reason I couldn't speculate. The frustration for any merchant must be that it's somewhere where you have no control over nor can you contact whoever it is that owns it. You're limited to PayPal, who aren't in a position to help, or your hosts. Thefore you must talk to your host.

 

If you are having this problem then the first step must be to run the script on page 5 of this thread. Once you've confirmed that the majority of the returns (it does take a few minutes to run) are off-line then you have a blockage. You've confirmed the fault. This information should be passed to your hosts and them asked to do the tests PayPal MTS have asked (quoted above). Give your host the information that MTS gave me.

 

If you follow this you should be back up and running a lot quicker than I was first time round!

[andrew]

We were told by our hosts to go here

 

http://rbl.att.net/block_inquiry.html

 

And request an unblock.

 

Got a confirmation back from AT&T that it was in progress .... Still waiting

 

Strange that everything was ok for three years - then just stopped.

 

(Did PayPal maybe change their servers / connections to AT&T)

 

- Andrew

[andrew]

Finally solved for us .... our host moved us to a different server!

 

Despite not showing on AT&T's blocked list - Sprint was still blocking it, the only way was to move.

 

- Andrew

[D-fox]

I wrote to Sprint as my traceroute stops at their servers, they answered that from them to Paypal there was no issue. Yet from me to Paypal going throught Sprint it seems it gets stuck at Sprint. Paypal announced long ago that port 53 and 443 should be open for incoming and that DNS should respond to norm, having a buffer higher that 4kb. I suspect these not to be updated all over.

see dig command for more on checking DNS (or my next post) and this Papypal bulletin:

 

March 30th, 2013 INITIAL NOTIFICATION: We are experiencing an issue which is affecting PayPal REST APIs on the PayPal Live Site. PayPal Merchants may be experiencing a higher than usual error rate for:
'HTTP 500' - Internal Server Error.
Our technical teams have been engaged and are actively troubleshooting the issue.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Sarahd (see edit history)

[D-fox]

And here's the spec for the DNS norm so you may check at your servers

 

 

 

*** PAYPAL DNS REQUIREMENTS ***
Your infrastructure MUST support IETF RFC 4035 (Protocol Modifications for the DNS Security Extensions).
This includes:
- Your DNS software MUST support EDNS0 (see IETF RFC 2671)
- Allow IP fragments.
- Allow port 53 traffic on both TCP and UDP so that if UDP fails, it can fall back to TCP.
- Allow DNS responses of up to 4k thru any intermediate firewalls between your resolver and the internet to allow for the larger signed responses.
In addition IETF RFC 5625 (DNS Proxy Implementation Guidelines) states that:
- Resolvers MUST handle Resource Records (RRs) of unknown type transparently.
- All requests and responses MUST be proxied regardless of the values of the QTYPE and QCLASS fields.
- Similarly, all responses MUST be proxied regardless of the values of the TYPE and CLASS fields of any Resource Record therein.
We advise that the customer SHOULD not:
- Indiscriminately block ICMP.  Many firewall books say to block all incoming ICMP, but this is a bad idea.  DNS servers react to blocked "ICMP unreachable" with a timeout mechanism, which means worse service.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Sarahd (see edit history)

[symanski]

I wrote to Sprint as my traceroute stops at their servers,

 

Thanks for your posts. It seems that we're now getting a much clearer idea where the problems are - Blocking by AT&T and Sprint.

 

How an ordinary e-commerce shop owner would ever know where this problem was and how to fix this is a mystery! Hopefully with excellent contributions from the likes of yourself we'll have helped a good number.

 

Thanks to everybody here who've made a significant contribution to this.

[jaybright]

My paypal is down again today too. Has anyone found a fix for this without migrating to different server/changing IP? Having this down every 2 weeks is killing my business

[D-fox]

Bonjour,

 

Comme on peut le voir dans ces logs, le traceroute echoue bien avant d'atteindre nos serveurs.

Les dernières IPs atteintes appartiennent à un autre hebergeur. Cela reste un probleme de routage general que votre hebergeur se doit de prendre en charge dans la mesure ou la transmission des données TCP/IP est leur metier et qu'ils ont tous les outils pour resoudre cela, ce qui pour nous est impossible.

 

Cordialement,

Cosmin.

 

Translated: Check with your hoster whom has the tools for correction, it's their job... papypal answered today.

 

Does anyone have an idea on how to re-reroute a server to another path ??

[leecook]

My host has now solved this problem for me. It was with AT&T and they had put a block on IP addresses they hosted. They contacted AT&T and requested them to be lifted which they have now done. Now Paypal works again. I would suggest anyone to talk to their host as it seems there is always a restriction in place somewhere.

[D-fox]

My host went around the issue by setting outgoing IP different from base IP... works up to now, but slow.

[D-fox]

Greetings Sarahd,

After reviewing the trace you provided, we’re seeing the last hop 18 144.232.11.227 (144.232.11.227) 138.639 ms send: Operation not permitted, with 144.232.11.227 belonging to AS1239 SprintLink Global Network.

We found that out of the three IPs you referenced we found that 94.126.16.46 is indeed being blocked by our IP Security team.

You will need to contact your hosting company and have them contact us in regards to the block.

Regards,

AT&T IPSCPS

 

For those whom are being blocked -> contact this person at email [email protected] whom seems to be aware.

[lasseboy]

Hi!

Is there any solution for paypal blocking.

I have Paypal module 3.4.9 and PS 1.5.3.1

And the wrong messages is:

 

Please try to contact the merchant:

• PayPal response:
  
• ->
  

[symanski]

Hi!

Is there any solution for paypal blocking.

I have Paypal module 3.4.9 and PS 1.5.3.1

And the wrong messages is:

 

Please try to contact the merchant:

• PayPal response:
  
• ->
  

 

Probably best to read through this thread. It's lengthy, yes, but you'll see what does and doesn't work. There's no short cuts, sorry.

 

But you've certainly found the right thread, so you're almost there.

Edited April 25, 2013 by symanski (see edit history)

[lasseboy]

Probably best to read through this thread. It's lengthy, yes, but you'll see what does and doesn't work. There's no short cuts, sorry.

 

But you've certainly found the right thread, so you're almost there.

 

I have read all , but did not get any wiser!

[TMSC]

Please can you help with this problem? We have this notification every so often but there is no report or error code!

 

Hi, Error reporting from your PayPalAPI module A client has encountered a problem with the module PayPalAPI, see the report:

[tihon]

I solved a problem with my hosting admin. You need to change IP address of your site.

[leecook]

I have read all , but did not get any wiser!

 

Hi, the main outcome is if you are getting the error in this thread there are two options, both may involve contacting your hosting company. The first is to change the IP address of your site. The second is to get the existing Ip address blocked from whoever is blocking it.

 

The problem I had was with AT&T blocking a number of IP addresses that sat with my hosting company. They ended up contacting them and got them unblocked. It now works for us.

[leecook]

Please can you help with this problem? We have this notification every so often but there is no report or error code!

 

Hi, Error reporting from your PayPalAPI module A client has encountered a problem with the module PayPalAPI, see the report:

 

Hi, I think the fact that you are getting the error occasionally and it is a different error to what is in this thread may suggest you won't find the answer here. I just wanted to save you from reading this long thread when I don't think it will help you.

[mdgt]

I solved the issue with the latest Prestashop 1.5.4.1 and the Paypal 3.5.0 in this way:

I checked the "set shop domain" and noted that I was not using www. infront of my domain.

I changed it to www.XXXX.com and then the paypal module worked.

 

It seems that the paypal module is fixed to a www. address.

It is now up and running at my store.

[scannon]

when looking at the pay pal module (which still does not work for me) i see the href= is set to "javascript:void(0)"

 

is that what it should be?

 

really need this to work. all my hair is now gray.

[Nick Lappage]

My shop stopped working on 29th May 2012 around 17:00hrs so I have raised a topic at this link http://www.prestashop.com/forums/topic/251710-paypal-module-configuration-error/page__pid__1252276?do=findComment&comment=1252276 since PayPal are not blocking my site or server... unless PayPal are blocking Prestashop payments on my site. Other ways to pay via PayPal using buttons and forms still work well.

[Nick Lappage]

If anybody who may be reading this can help please? I can see by looking at the code on the PayPal moduile page that this CSS line is missing...

 

<link href="/vsoc_shop/vsoc_shop/../modules/paypal/css/paypal.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" />

 

I still cannot receive any payments as the module says that I have to enter the correct credentials. This is on two different PayPal accounts using Multistore - both of which worked until very recently. My hosting company have confirmed that it is not blocked by PayPal, which I have proven from other methods, so I must assume it is a Prestashop module problem. Assistance would be really useful please.

 

Also just received this message from the PS Email system.

 

A client has encountered a problem with the module PayPalAPI, see the report:

 

PayPal response:

TIMESTAMP -> 2013-06-04T19:12:05Z

L_ERRORCODE0 -> 10472

L_SHORTMESSAGE0 -> Transaction refused because of an invalid argument. See additional error messages for details.

L_LONGMESSAGE0 -> CancelURL is invalid.

L_SEVERITYCODE0 -> Error

[ndreamer]

I don't know if im getting exactly the same problem but it's annoying as hell. Some of my customers after they go though the checkout and complete the payment are redirected back to my home page with no error message, no money and no email get's sent to them. i have no idea what's happening and im losing sales because of it. I have to email them a paypal payment link which works every time. I'm using the host Prestashop recommended A2 Hosting, using the install script they supplied.

[Nick Lappage]

I wish my customers could even get there. The PayPal buttons are unresponsive and I can't even get the PayPal module to look correct as the CSS code to get the page looking right does not even get placed onto the main page.

 

Does anyone know what would happen if I uninstalled the module, deleted it from the Prestashop modules and then deleted the PayPal database lines from the SQL Databases?

[Nick Lappage]

My shop stopped working on 29th May 2012 around 17:00hrs so I have raised a topic at this link http://www.prestasho...76#entry1252276 since PayPal are not blocking my site or server... unless PayPal are blocking Prestashop payments on my site. Other ways to pay via PayPal using buttons and forms still work well.

 

Hi again, I've got a lot back now, but it's still not right. I had to uninstall the free PayPal module and then delete it. Then uploaded the free PayPal module from the addons site which got back the CSS. Configured the API in both multistore shops using the same API account and it works in one store (join) but not the other (merchandise).

 

Working store link is http://vsoc.org.uk/v...shop/vsoc_join/

Non working store link is http://vsoc.org.uk/v...oc_merchandise/

 

Any ideas? I swear I've checked and compared everything on the various modules and store options and they seem the same.

[hansoft]

Hi

 

Brand new to Prestashop and therefore of course also Paypal checkout module, I had hoped that it would be easy to use something pre-designed and ready-to-use ....

 

But after installation on an Apache 2.0 server with PHP 5.2.1.3 I get the exact same error with no errorcode from Paypal when cheking out.

 

The screen looks like this:

 

Error occurred:

Please try to contact the merchant:

1. PayPal response:

2. ->

 

[<< Back]

 

 

I have spendt 4 hours reading this thread and I have tried all the solutions given here. I have even contacted AT&T at the email address found in this tread and also got an answer, that my IP is not blocked. I did that even if the script checking connection to paypal server at IP 173.0.84.68 stated that I was NOT blocked (green and online)

 

My situation is therefore, that I am getting the error with the paypal as IF I am blocked and cannot get connection to paypal. But appareantly I do have access to paypal ???

 

I am using Prestashop v. 1.5.4.1 and Paypal module v. 3.5.5

 

Is there perhaps another reason why the error with no errorcode could turn up??

 

If Prestashop configuration view states that PHP is configurered correct and the needed modules in PHP is activated, is there anything else I need to activate on server ? Is SSL in Apache mandatory ??

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Henrik

[ndreamer]

The screen looks like this:

 

updating to the latest version of presta+paypal helped fix some of my problems, I have also had to disable Paypal Express as it's still buggy. For some reason i have also seen presta is not saving states, despite it being a required field as well which might be causing issues, at least with paypal express this feature would have been great for my site because of my older customer base. Wish i never used presta cart with my site but im stuck with it at least for now.

[symanski]

I have spendt 4 hours reading this thread and I have tried all the solutions given here. I have even contacted AT&T at the email address found in this tread and also got an answer, that my IP is not blocked. I did that even if the script checking connection to paypal server at IP 173.0.84.68 stated that I was NOT blocked (green and online)

 

My situation is therefore, that I am getting the error with the paypal as IF I am blocked and cannot get connection to paypal. But appareantly I do have access to paypal ???

 

With the script it tests all the IP addresses that I resolved from the PayPal host names. In theory PayPal could change which IP addresses they use and the scripts would need updating. Under that theory you could have a situation where the new addresses were blocked. But let's assume that's not the case.

 

Since you've gone through this whole thread (which is rather long) you'll understand that it's been quite a difficult one to solve. Nor were there any other valid ideas of why you got such a limited response from the PayPal module. So I'd suggest that it may be a good idea to try copying your entire site over to another host (I did like to a free one earlier) or better still host it locally on your own PC to try.

 

Hosting it in a different site will at least give you the confidence to determine if it's an internet routing problem or configuration of Prestashop / PayPal. It gives you an environment that you can use to test too.

 

What I did was to use VMWare Player with a pre-built Ubuntu install. Then using the XAMPP package for the server side hosted a copy of my website. It is a bit of a challenge to do I admit, but you then have a better idea of what does and what does not work.

 

Although it was a long time since I did this let me know if you decide on this and I'll try and give you some help when you're attempting to host locally.