Unable to access downloads from MT website or via iTunes

Submitted by Stuart Symons
in
General Questions and Comments
Hi there Since the beginning of October I haven’t been able to access any of the podcasts or other downloads from Manager Tools from my work computer. I can ‘see’ the latest podcasts in iTunes but when I click the GET button, I get an exclamation point icon with the error message ‘Authorisation is needed to access (the web address)’. I can access the Manager Tools website but when I try to download the podcasts directly off the site I get the message that the site is either unavailable or cannot be found. I am on a PC using iTunes 7.4.3.1 and IE 6.0.29 SP2. I am able to download podcasts from my wife’s Mac at home so I suspect this might be an issue with being behind a proxy at work. The IT person who’s been looking into this believes it is due to problems with the Manager Tools website. He says he took the following steps to test the site: "1. Tested the web page in question, it presents with some bad HTML code on a Red Hat browser and “You are not authorized to view this” message from Windows. This message displays in windows as a security measure to prevent the execution of poorly written code (on Internet explorer 6). There is no permissions setting that can be changed to prevent this as the web page is indeed broken. ( these tests were done on the AMCOM Internet link ) 2. Tested the Internet by by-passing all proxies and connecting directly to the Internet on our DR Telstra corporate link. The web page displayed the same bad code. Web page is broken off this link also. 3. Tested the web page from my home ADSL connection via Internode. The web page displays poor code on Internet explorer 7 on my Windows XP machine. The web page displays poor code on my Red Hat Linux machine. My home machines are directly connected to the Internet with no proxy servers." Does anyone have any ideas what could be the problem? This seems to be a different issue to the one in this post: http://www.manager-tools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1090 I’ve been listening to Mark and Mike for about two years and have learnt so much from Manager Tools. I am extremely grateful for all the knowledge and experience you share. Stuart
Submitted by Michael Auzenne on Monday October 15th, 2007 2:03 am

Stuart,

Although I'm not aware of any issues, I'd be happy to our technical expert research the issue.

In your note, you mentioned "bad code" several times ... can you provide me more details or examples of what your IT person considers to be bad code?

thanks,
Mike

Submitted by Stuart Symons on Monday October 15th, 2007 2:28 am

Mike

Thank you for your prompt response. My IT person, Ben, said that the 'bad code' error he gets when accessing the site is:

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.

-

AccessDenied

Access Denied

BCA48D8DF163CC6F

-

fWLr/WKk1lXzllH2cdg9iDYEANs/4Z0jbxJbD9NxQiUvvTXCFlEDdBhmFtcd4tlK

I hope this is of some use to your technical expert.

Thank you

Stuart

Submitted by Steve Holden on Monday October 15th, 2007 7:43 pm

There are some confirmed reports on the Yahoo Podcaster Mailing List that Apple is doing some tuning or changes to the iTunes Podcasts Directory.

This might be related and not officially an MT issue.

- Steve

Submitted by Stuart Symons on Monday October 15th, 2007 9:24 pm

Mike

After looking through my correspondence with Ben from IT, it looks like the XML error message he got came from trying to access http://cdn.libsyn.com/managertools/ - which I assume would not work because it’s not a specific mp3 file.

Despite what he has said, I still suspect this problem is related to a change in my company’s proxy or security settings and I have asked IT to review it again.

Mike - if there’s any further light your technical person can shed on this, that would be great, but I don’t want to take up too much of your time.

Just to restate the issue...

I cannot download the following podcasts through iTunes:

How to leave a voicemail
Feedback and the shot across the bow
How to be effective in everyday conversations
How to answer the leadership style question (members cast)

I am also unable to download any of the podcasts on the home page of Manager Tools by clicking on the MP3 Download icon or by right-clicking and selecting Save Target As…

So for example, I can’t download http://cdn.libsyn.com/managertools/manager-tools-2007-10-15.mp3

Until the beginning of this month, I had no problems downloading the podcasts through iTunes or downloaded from the MT website.

Mike and Steve - I really appreciate your efforts to help.

Submitted by Michael Auzenne on Tuesday October 16th, 2007 12:01 am

Stuart,

Are you able to download the following:
http://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/manager-tools-2007-10-15.mp3

This is a copy of the podcast hosted on our core server. You mentioned earlier that you didn't think it was related to a previous post you quoted, but would like to verify that you, in fact, cannot download the link above.

thanks,
Mike

Submitted by Stuart Symons on Tuesday October 16th, 2007 12:36 am

Mike - yes I could download this file.

So do you think it's the same issue as the previous post? That is, my company's proxy is stopping me from accessing the mp3 files from the libsyn server (either via iTunes or the MT website) which means I can't get the podcasts through the RSS feeds?

Thank you for your help.

Submitted by Stuart Symons on Tuesday October 16th, 2007 1:50 am

Salvation! Our IT people have fixed the proxy problem so I can now download the podcasts via iTunes or from the MT website.

Mike – thank you for helping. I’m sure your quick responses have helped engender a sense of urgency about this issue with our own IT people.

Much appreciated.

Stuart

Submitted by lshufro on Monday February 18th, 2008 9:50 am

Same problem as listed above. All my MT feeds have (!) next to it and I can't download. I've had this problem since Oct/Nov.

Submitted by Michael Auzenne on Monday February 18th, 2008 8:12 pm

lshufro,

I'm not sure I understand ... have you spoken to your IT folks? And did they suggest it wasn't something with the corporate firewall?

I'd be more than happy to help out ... what can I do for you?

Mike

Submitted by Kathie Kinde on Tuesday August 12th, 2008 10:49 am

I am having this same problem. In my case, it's because they installed a new enterprise-wide net "nanny" that disallows any downloads of audio or video. :( Of course, the irony is that I can expense the premium membership - but I can't download it.

Submitted by Asterisk RNTT on Wednesday August 13th, 2008 12:55 am

Hey KK

How deep is your expense account? You can always expense and buy me some stuff that you are not allowed to use :wink:

About $1400 canadian will get me two high-end custom suits with 6 custom-tailored shirts. Can you look into that please? Thanks. :P

And can you Midwest people get on things and have a meet up with KK - unlike comedy central, this will be time well spent!

*RNTT

Submitted by Kathie Kinde on Friday August 15th, 2008 8:16 am

*,
I'm about ready to just have a Canadian meet up instead, eh! And no way on the suits. If I'm going to go down in illegal expensing glory, you'd better bet it's going to be on some Jimmy Choo shoes for myself, mister!

I've put in a help desk request and am assured that they are "looking into the problem." However, I do believe there is a separate time zone called "IT Time."

Submitted by Brandon Franklin on Friday August 15th, 2008 12:43 pm

[quote="kklogic"]
I've put in a help desk request and am assured that they are "looking into the problem." However, I do believe there is a separate time zone called "IT Time."[/quote]

A pity things work this way in some orgs. I'm a big proponent of IT Time being at least 1 hour ahead. :)