FirstSpot v5 version history

[alan]

For v5 product features, please refer to http://patronsoft.com/firstspot

Please note:
- The pricing for v5 is virtually unchanged compared to v4. For detailed pricing information, please check out http://www.patronsoft.com/firstspot/buy_now.html .
- Please refer to http://www.patronsoft.com/firstspot/editions.html for a feature comparison of different editions.
- Customer with valid maintenance as of Aug 8, 07 (i.e. v5 beta 2 release date) is eligible for free v5 license. Otherwise, please visit http://www.patronsoft.com/firstspot/buy_now.html to purchase an upgrade or maintenance.
- Note that FirstSpot setup will now support upgrade (rather than reinstall) if only the 3rd digit of the version number change (e.g. v5.1.0 -> v5.1.1). Refer to chapter 5 of firstspot_guide.pdf for upgrade instruction.


v5.0.0 Beta 2 – Aug 8, 07
==================
- Google Checkout credit card module now works with PHP5/Apache2
- ignore Public Adapter IP from IP block list
- upgrade to BIND DNS server 9.4.1
- support NAT within FirstSpot when running on Vista
- change the SSL-enabled login pages session in chapter 5 of firstspot_guide.pdf since openssl.exe is now in FirstSpot\www\Apache\bin directory
- several firstspot_guide.pdf updates
- add randomize login picture/web-link
- add picture/web-link in the redirect page
- redirect to fixed URL now works even if client accesses login page directly (i.e. using link http://10.20.7.1:5788)
- add feature “logout automatically when Infobox is closed”
- fix bug that open InfoBox when Anonymous Mode is on
- fix QuickAdd slip printout browser warning (introduced by Bulk Account slip printout enhancement)
- FirstSpot won’t display InfoBox popup for PocketPC in order to solve the FirstSpot login issue in Windows Mobile 5.0/6.0. This is caused by “Send Information to the Internet warning” in PocketIE in Windows Mobile 5.0/6.0. Note that if the user selects “don’t show this message in the future”, this login issue won’t appear
- use (hh:mm) format to represent Recurring Start Time and End Time (rsdate and redate fields)
- change: NULL or 0 - Auto Delete is disabled

- update for SMTP Roaming
-> two new sub-folders, temp and outgoing in Mail folder
-> temp folder stores incomplete EML files received from clients and the files will be moved to Mail folder once the receiving process is completed
-> outgoing folder stores EML files which are being processed by FSSendMail
-> failed e-mails are stored in outgoing folder and are renamed in “receivedMailX_YYYYMMDDHHMISS.eml” format

- update for Shopping Cart
-> plans with both “Suspend at a specific date and time” and “Suspend after X minutes” options being set are not allowed to be chosen for shopping cart purpose. If the above type of plans are selected by the user, content in the field “At a specific date and time” will be ignored
-> value from “Suspend after X minutes” is translated to a new expiry date (i.e. edate) when user makes the shopping cart purchase if the plan is set to “active when it is created”
-> value from “Suspend after X minutes” is stored in user attributes and will be translated to a new expiry date (i.e. edate) at next login if the plan is set to “active at the user’s first login”
-> no relogin required if expiry date (i.e. edate) in user attributes has changed and the following conditions are fulfilled: 1)new expiry date in the plan or date calculated from suspend minutes in the plan is later than the current expiry date in user attributes, 2)“Account is active when it is created” is set in the plan, 3) no recurring option is set in user attributes
-> anonymous users are not allowed to access Shopping Cart


v5.0.0 – Oct 18, 07
==============
- fix “forced logout” (e.g. idle timeout, time limit per session) with passive login user in IP-based Session Handling problems
- fixed credit card module security issue
- change SELF SIGN UP’s EXTRA INFORMATION FIELDS to not depend on Plan's attribute “Request user to fill in extra information form at the first login” (similar v4 behavior)
- add feature Maximum number of concurrent user
- FirstSpot now backup a copy of httpd-fsvhosts.conf during startup
- fix compatibility problem between Passive Login and Anonymous Mode. Now passive login user will be able to see the Anonymous Mode greeting page correctly.
- add validation check during startup so that Public Network Interface IP cannot be 192.168.0.x when running FirstSpot on Vista (due to ICS)
- change from 2 error messages to 1 error message when ISC BIND fails to start
- fix the problem about unable to reach the lower bandwidth limit in QOS (especially for Skype packets)
- add unbind non-essential network drivers step before installation
- fix unicode (e.g. non-English) connection name problem (symptom : unable to access Configuration Manager after install since Apache fails to start)
- remove comment “NServiceListenThread: Listening to Nservice” in gateway log (switch to _debug=2)
- show privateNIC network component which is bind or unbind in gateway log
- DHCP will now ignore private network card request
- Fix dhcpservice memory leak by CheckExpiration() function
- Fix FirstSpot not work in standard edition
- Fix missing other (Main/Backup) firstspot's subnetmask in dhcpservice.ini when using Failover (*Assume Main and Backup FirstSpot’s subnetmask are in the same)
- Fix print debug log memory leak problems (Not release handle). One of symptoms is the firstspot_DHCP_[timestamp].log stop updating. This might also cause FirstSpotCore.exe to stop/crash under heavy activity.
- Fix VirtualHost Feature (Configuration manager) not show the sample problems <rename>
- values in User Data Transfer Counting fields will be replaced instead of increment upon user’s credit card purchase of any plans
- add option “Reset data transfer counters upon user's purchase” in Shopping Cart tab (designed to reset user’s data transfer counters at the time the plan is purchased using credit card). It is under parameter ”reset_bw_count_upon_purchase” under cart in Config.ini, the default value is 1 (i.e. to reset data transfer counters upon user’s purchase)
- if the <Private> Network Interface connection name is not found, the error messages is incorrectly reported as “<Private> network interface card is not enabled”. Change to “Fail to find the <private> network connection <connection_name>”
- show the 3 characters currency description (e.g. USD) instead of the $ sign for Unit Price in Shopping Cart (according to the settings of Credit Cards in Configuration Manager)
- Fix the Apache Service error 3299 ([error] (OS 11004)The requested name is valid and was found in the database, but it does not have the correct associated data being resolved for. : Failed to resolve server name for <private> (check DNS) -- or specify an explicit ServerName.)
- Fix blank FirstSpot Server Status problem (under Status of Configuration Manager) after switching firstspot_gw_srv_[timestamp].log
- Fix the problem of no force log-out action when user’s airtime credit reaches zero before the expiry date
- Ignore ProxyARP Setting in Standard Edition
- minor change the log message "FSStopByBackupEvent found" which will confuse user
- Fix FirstSpotHB memory leak problems (won’t release file handle)
- Fix FirstSpotHB crash problem (not create Mutex for print debug log)
- Fix Configuration Manager’s UI Customization [Show the extra 'Get Air Time' button] not save correctly
- add Back Mode [Backup Machine will standby] feature in Failover
- Fix the problem of receiving wrong (multiple) Default Gateway for the clients PC when using Multiple Network Segments mode.
- Add "Warning : Bind to first login MAC address will not work under IP-based Session Handling"
- Fix SQL error (when clicking submit) and add warning if user set [Request user to fill in extra information form at the first login] attribute but with no Extra Information Field question defined


v5.1.0 – Feb 13, 08
==============
- Remove popup infobox when click submit extra information field
- Fix problem that user first fails to input require input extra information field, and then input the extra information correctly -> In Advanced Edition, it will popup download window. In Trial version, user can login, but database does not update (user not show in Configuration Manager)
- Fix a bug caused by blank Redirect PHP File field by setting it as a compulsory input if Enable Redirect PHP is checked in Multiple Network Segments tab
- Change the text label “- Warning -” to “- Reminder -” in Shopping Cart tab
- Add prefix checking for all URL related fields in Credit Cards tab
- Scroll bars are available in Administration frame (FirstSpot Status)
- Fix the problem of user’s successful first login without providing content in those compulsory extra information fields (trial version does not have this problem)
- Set re-authentication when user clicks the “Get Air Time” option shown in Infobox after disconnect
- Fix problem that Captcha not work when turn on “Enforce restriction on self sign-up accounts”
- Content of user log will be loaded when “Show User Log” button is clicked instead of during refreshing the Users tab
- Fix credit card payment amount verification problem due to tax issue in PayPal and Authorize.Net, enhance related transaction logging for all payment types
- Fix credit card payment amount verification problem due to zero ending of the price value shown in Shopping Cart
- Fix SQL strict type checking error (Warning: odbc_exec() [function.odbc-exec]: SQL error: [Microsoft][ODBC dBase Driver] Data type mismatch in criteria expression., SQL state 22005 in SQLExecDirect in C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\authserv\common_functions.php on line 362) during self sign-up and Shopping Cart purchase
- Add new option Total Data Transfer (i.e. Upload + Download) in Users and Plans tabs
- Status page within Configuration Manager now supports auto-refresh
- add a warning when administrator tries to edit an user which is online
- Add new option “Action when user's data transfer quota is updated” in Shopping Cart
- Add new option “Apply suspend condition in Plan attributes to user account, even the user account attributes are not defined (i.e. unchecked)” in Shopping Cart
- Fix the problem of showing MAC address as 00-00-00-00-00-00 in Status when client performs re-login in the original browser after logging out previous session and then visiting Shopping Cart by clicking the link shown in Infobox

- Update for DHCP Server
-> Correct the AutoConfig timestamp shown in dhcpservice.ini the same as the lease expiry time displayed in the user's ipconfig screen output
-> Fix the problem when client renews the lease of IP that is no longer in free IP list after restarting FirstSpot, the lease keeps unchanged instead of getting a new IP
-> Fix the problem of IP conflict between Windows machines when (i) a client machine boots up after starting FirstSpot and then requests an IP address that is occupied by another client, and (ii) a client requests an IP after restarting FirstSpot, but the IP has already been occupied by another client before the restart
-> Fix the problem of client obtains an IP that is not in free IP list when client sends the IP request

- Fix passive login user not work with expired date attribute (“Conditions to suspend this account : After x minutes/hours/days” attribute is not supported)
- Fix driver kick action will not remove Real IP Address Mapping problems
- The file firstspot_drv_bootup.log is no longer being generated, which will solve two problems in Vista : i) if install FirstSpot in a different drive letter than Windows, Windows might hang during reboot ,ii) blue screen error with message “DRIVER_UNLOADED_WITHOUT_CANCELLING_PENDING_OPERATIONS” when uninstalling FirstSpot
- Modify trial maximum concurrent logins (It will exclude Client Pass-through)
- Fix counting maximum concurrent logins with passive login user in Trial Version
- Fix the problem of extra line with all “NULL” values printed in the log file when exporting an empty database table in Users tab
- Apply workaround (255.255.255.0 as subnet mask) for network unreachable problem in Linux clients due to receiving 255.255.255.255 as subnet mask when Client Isolation is enabled


v5.1.1 – Jun 16, 08
==============
- Fix driver kick action will not disconnect database connection in RADIUS Authentication Mode (result in “[ODBC dBase Driver] Too many client tasks” error in the local temp table even with low concurrent users)
- Add removing session files and data when user click the logout button to prevent re-accessing Configuration Manager without login process
- Fix Apache crash problem when loading a long DHCP Excluded IP Address list
- Fix the IP Range checking in NAT tab
- Add error message "Transaction failed... Please contact the help desk!" shown in Shopping Cart and stop redirecting to the payment website if error occurs during accessing database table PPAL
- FirstSpot will not modify dhcpserver service (Microsoft's DHCP server) when FirstSpot DHCP Server setting is disabled.
- Auto pop-up of InfoBox is disabled when login using Symbian OS client to fix the login problem of always showing invalid login message
- Fix restricted_redirect option cannot turn off problem
- Fix DHCP faulting application problem (“Faulting application dhcpservice.exe, version 0.0.0.0, faulting module dhcpservice.exe, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x00004a4e.”) when client sometimes obtains an IP address
- Vertical scrolling is available inside the frames of both Real IP Address Mapping and Port Forwarding under NAT tab
- Add error alert when user adds a new port forwarding entry where the public port is already shown in the list
- Fix the failure of updating the expiry date of a passive login account after the field “After X minutes” is set from Shopping Cart or is modified from Configuration Manager
- Fix create bulk account will not insert current timestamp in account active time (sdate field) when that account is active "now" (startmod = 1). It case resetABW.exe will not running correctly. (Some account may not reset data transfer forever)
- Fix create bulk account will insert empty string (instead of NULL) in rsdate and redate field when recurring is off. The symptoms is that administrator cannot edit the users that created by Bulk Accounts feature. This problem only occurs when administrator changes to MySQL and MS SQL datasource.
- Fix failure of updating users’ Total Data Transfer Counter attributes from the selected plan when creating bulk user accounts
- Remove message "retConcPassiveUsrCount: SQLExecute[SELECT reserved1 from fsRadius WHERE MACasUsr = 'Y' and pwd is null;]Fail" from gateway log when using RADIUS Authentcation (this message is harmless, due to Passive Login is not available in RADIUS).
- Add notification message and redirect user to Shopping Cart (or Shared Secret group to login page) if either of the download or upload data transfer counters is set to “Use global setting” and exceeds the corresponding global quota values
- Fix the problem that account will activate even user is login with the wrong password (in ODBC Authentication mode)
- Fix the problem of client obtaining IP 192.168.0.x instead of those in private segment (e.g. when Private connection name has character space) from FirstSpot machine using Windows Vista
- Using Vista with NAT on, when Public side IP is 192.168.0.x, FirstSpot should fail to start due to ICS IP conflict error. But in some case, FirstSpot will incorrectly report as Started. The symptoms for the client PC is after login he cannot access the Internet (i.e. routing fails).
- improve for performance for Local Content (i.e. files that hosted in the FirstSpot machine) for the both unauthenticated and authenticated users. Also, now Global Bandwidth Throttling will not apply to Local Content
- fixed iPhone keep disconnected and need to keep logging in problem (due to InfoBox interaction. FirstSpot will now skip InfoBox for iPhone client).
- Fix failure of resetting users’ total data transfer counters by clicking the reset buttons in Users tab of Configuration Manager
- Fix different time problem between Windows system clock and the field SDATE or EDATE in database table FSUSR due to different daylight saving behaviors detected between Windows and PHP when creating user accounts or logging in
- Fix the problem of force logging out action which does not occur at the expiry time, but one hour after that when daylight saving option is turned on in Windows system clock
- Fix FirstSpotHB.exe will not close when failed to start FirstSpot
- Fix the problem that Anonymous and Share Secret won’t update total data transfer (Field name : bwusageSha) for forced logout case
- Sometimes FirstSpot status is stuck as Starting (e.g. some RRAS error). FirstSpot will now shutdown gracefully (so error.log is displayed correctly in Configuration Manager).
- Fix the problem where sometimes both config.ini and the log files are not being removed after uninstall


v5.1.2 – Jun 26, 08
==============
- When “Logout automatically when Infobox is closed” is enabled, client browser with User Agent "Symbian OS", "SymbianOS" and "iPhone" are now excluded.
- Fix the problem where client is unable to send e-mails when SMTP Roaming is enabled


v5.1.3 – Jul 10, 08
==============
- Fix Anonymous user explicitly disconnect using Configuration Manager will not remove user entry from user table, and write incorrect information in name field of user log table (eg. anonymous_00:00:00:00:00:15)
- Fix FirstSpotCore.exe will crash when administrator explicitly disconnect more than one user in RADIUS authentication mode in the Status windows
- Fix in Anonymous mode, after logout driver kick action will insert to total data transfer field (instead of upload and download separately) in user log table
- Recurred Payment will set the credit card log status to “failed”. It is now fixed.
- Port Forwarding UI can only input port number with 4 digits. It is changed to the correct 5 digits.


v5.1.4 – Aug 13, 08
=================
- Fix in RADIUS authentication, users can login at the same time with using same account
- Fix the redirection failure after logging in if user inputs a HTTPS address followed by a HTTP address in the same browser
- Fix the problem of redirecting to the HTTP site after logging in if user inputs a HTTP address followed by a HTTPS address in the same browser
- Fix login PHP error (missing variable sess_patronsoft1) when user accesses "http://<private>:5788/" using the browser which is not closed after logging out previous session
- Fix the problem where a broken link notification will appear after clicking “OK” to a SSL warning message when user is being redirected to a HTTPS address after logging in, but the page can be shown after refreshing in the same browser
- Fix the long loading time problem during redirecting to a HTTPS address after logging in using v5.1.1 or later, while that address can be loaded smoothly with v5.1.0 or earlier
- Fixed a security issue caused by illegally changing the shopping cart's form value
- Server directory listing is set disabled by default
- Fix the problem that network connection name, which contain multibyte characters (eg. Chinese) and using multibyte system locale (eg. Chinese (Hong Kong S.A.R.)), will not start Apache
- Fix the failure of starting FirstSpot with error message "Fail to start Named BIND DNS Server. Please make sure the Log On account name and password of ISC BIND service are correct in Control Panel." after the first installation in Vista, but actually, the log on information user inputted during the installation was correct


v5.1.5 – Sep 25, 08
===============
- Fix the problem of client which is unable to obtain IP through DHCP when Multiple Network Segments is enabled and FirstSpot is installed in Vista
- Fix the problem of client which is unable to obtain IP through DHCP if FirstSpot is installed in Vista, but the client can obtain IP once the public connection is disconnected
- Fix Exception Free Websites security issue
- Fix several SMTP server connection problems which causes FSSendMail.exe crash when SMTP Roaming is enabled


v5.1.6 – Dec 29, 08
==============
- Fix the crash of FSSendMail.exe due to memory leakage under heavy mail traffic, or disabling SMTP Roaming without restarting FirstSpot immediately
- Fix the crash of FSReceiveMail.exe due to insufficient memory allocated for executing shell command after it has processed over 10,000 mails
- Generate firstspot_FSRM_<timestamp>.log

- Fix the problem where FirstSpot DHCP Server wrongly replies IP renew request from the client with the IP not in the lease list (i.e. not the same IP record as shown in dhcpservice.ini). Steps to reproduce :
i) client obtains IP from FirstSpot
ii) client leaves FirstSpot network and obtain another IP from the other network B
iii) client back to FirstSpot network and try to renew (within the original IP lease period)
iv) after the renewal, client now has the wrong IP from the other network B with the lease extended (even though FirstSpot DHCP server performs the DHCP renewal)

- Fix a DHCP problem with static IP-MAC mapping. When client requests the MAC the second time (after the original IP is released or the lease has expired), it will get a wrong IP.
- Fix idle timeout not work when user account change to restricted account (more than one suspend attribute hit the driver kick acion <eg>)
- fix problem with PayPal after PayPal IPN upgraded from 2.5 to 2.6 (see http://www.patronsoft.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2361)
- add users_add.log to record when administrator adds FirstSpot user within Configuration Manager Users -> Add (or QuickAdd)
- add validation check in login page to make sure FirstSpot username is less than or equal to 40 characters
_________________
~ Patronsoft Limited ~