The attached screenshot is the current state of the Samsung RTL, Sunday 21 Aug 2022 16:24 GMT. That’s how the RTL is like on most weekends, sadly. The Korean server which always has over 30 device models, has dropped dramatically. The USA and UK servers don’t even have any usable device, and this since Friday.
Please bring back the java version of the Samsung RTL, we’ve realized that all of these headaches (RTL unavailable or undependable on weekends, devices literally always reserved on some servers (US and UK)… ) began after the switch to the browser based version. We remember, very vividly, using the Samsung RTL during weekends, same time last year, and with the USA server for that matter. That’s impossible these days, completely impossible to use the USA server normally during weekdays, talk less of weekends.
If possible, please switch back to the Java version, it was more cumbersome, but served our needs better and was much more dependable than this web version.
I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed and not going back. The team has a handle on the issue now and just need to find a permanent solution that doesn’t require manual resetting.
Our hopes are high and it is our wish that a permanent fix be found. We requested returning to the Java based version en lieu of the browser based version because issues like this were non-existent. We remember freely using the RTL on weekends, encountering no device availability issue. With the browser based version, using the RTL on weekends comfortably is a myth, irrespective of the server in question. Servers always lose at least half of their device models or they are just oddly reserved for prolonged periods…till Monday comes again
Thanks a huge lot for the feedback and we hope to be getting some good news soon.
Not Good news we can tell it is bots being the issue but it appears to still be happening. I don’t know how long it takes to disallow an entire domain server.
That’s very unfortunate. We decided to take a “week off”, hoping that it’ll be enough time for your team to find a solution. But as you last reply seems to hint, nothing has really changed. The USA server is literally always out of available devices and the UK server is dwindling between being on and off.
Should we have any hopes? Will resolving this case take longer? Will the RTL eternally remain this way? Is there any work going on on your end?
We still have hopes for a return to normalcy, thanks and our regards. Hoping for a reply as well
Here is the situation. Since the beginning of July there have been 7,000 accounts created by two domains and they are the ones abusing the RTL. That is why the servers are going down and all devices are taken.
We have stopped any accounts with that domain from logging in. We do not allow new accounts from the domain. And we have stopped the use of RTL for YouTube.
I think currently the problem is until they sign out it is how do we purge them I’ll ask them for an update.
Thanks for the info, that’s great to hear. From our end, it looks like the UK server has been freed from the grasp of these assailants. For the first time in such a long while, it seems to have all of its devices available for an entire day, we are overjoyed to realize that.
The USA server on the other hand hasn’t changed one bit. Fewer devices, always reserved. We hope for a change in the near future.
We still have a worry though, what if these guys decide to use the same tactic but operating using a different domain name, has the RTL team taken this possibility into account?
Most free email domains have a limit to how many accounts can be assigned. I know the Developer Portal is putting in analytics that will catch this sooner.
Thanks for all the consideration given to our request so far. The UK server seems to have returned to normal, but not the USA server. We still are unable to use it. Can something please be done about this? Also, the USA server doesn’t have the lates Fold and Flip devices. We humbly request for an available USA server and if possible, with the latest fold and flip devices
The Fold and Flip are not available in the US device farm at this time. It is strange that they only target the US I would assume they are looking for an Ad that only appears in the US YouTube. I do not see any other reason to have thousands of bots view YouTube other than generating ad income.
Yes, that’s what I had in mind right from the begining as well. They are surely trying to dubiously monetize a YouTube video. Anyways, can’t the USA server be shielded from this? Why isn’t the team doing what they did on the UK server? It’s been a couple of days now since the UK server seems to have stabilized, unlike the USA server. Is there more to the problem?
My assumption was that the ad was no longer showing in the UK. The issue seems to be that Bots are very stupid and do not know they are not connecting to YouTube or that was not the only thing being targeted by the bots just the one that we caught.
It is a Korean holiday weekend so I don’t hope for any actions on our part until the middle of next week.
I think I know why the bots still target the USA server and have abandoned the UK server.
Unfortunately, unlike what you thought, YouTube is still open accessible on the USA server. YouTube has been blocked on the UK server, but not on the USA server, so they have switched their focus to the USA server.
Please do the same on the USA server, disable access to YouTube
That is where it was to originally happen. The entire device farm was down a week ago I wonder if they used a back up with YouTube still enabled. I’ll let them know Monday morning.
Thanks, I feel liks we are currently drawing the end of this months long struggle. We used using about 5 lucky (in terms of we were lucky to find an open device) device on the USA server, and in all five scenarios; we launched the browser and were immediately met with a YouTube video playing (it’s title had some Thai characters in it).
Well, all of this was just to let you know how we knew andwhy we said YouTube is still accessible from the USA server. We are looking forward to Monday, or next week in general, which we believe, will put an end to this issue.
Another issue, on the UK Server. ALL of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 devices and about two models of the S22 Ultra don’t have access to the internet. They are either not connected to a WiFi network or are connected to a WiFi network with no internet access (the WiFi’s name or SSID is usually “setup”. Can something please be done about this?
While waiting for a fix to the USA server issue we raised, we decided to use some other servers and ran across some issues, we request your help
So many devices in the UK server have lost access to the internet. They are either totally disconnected from a WiFi hotspot or are connected to one (“setup”) having no internet access (“setup” requires sign-in). This isn’t uncommon, but in the past, just last week, only three models were concerned (Z Fold 4, Z Flip 4, and the S22 Ultra, but today, the S22 and S22+, just these two for example, have more than half of their devices disconnected from the WiFi. Using the “reset wifi” option on the webpage doesn’t help. Can something please be done about this? So many of the devices in the UK have lost internet access.
Just an assumption, but I think the Polish server might be the next target of these bots. I think just blocking YouTube or blocking certain domain names won’t be a long lasting solution. What about the use of captchas? Or just any other related mechanism? If these guys are making monetary profits from the RTL, I think they’ll persist and find other ways to circumvent the blocks. Captchas, I believe, will be the best solution.
Usage of the Vietnamese server was literally impossible. The lag was eternal. In the past, we managed to use the Vietnamese server by reducing the image to quality to the least value possible. But today, that didn’t help in any way, for all devices. They were extremely slow, like very very slow, and we think it’s more than just a connection issue, because the Korean server, which is Geographically close to Vietnam, works well. Our request is that some inquiry be done about this, thanks.
I contacted the US RTL team about YouTube being available.
While waiting for a fix to the USA server issue we raised, we decided to use some other servers and ran across some issues, we request your help
Unfortunately this is Korean Holiday and I can contact the US team separately but not the other global sites. I’ll send a note to the head of the RTL but it may be a day or two before they are back in the office and act on it.
Thanks a lot, please keep insisting. We really have had our schedule and plans for months, turned upside down, negatively, because of these bots. Please don’t give up on insisting.
