Error loading images

FrancisJauniau

Hi,

I cant easily display and navigate through the thumbnails of your catalog. But since two years and more and more often (now 4 or 5 times a day), when I click on one the image doesn't load and I see a message "Error loading image. Pleause try again later".

If I actualize the page, close the vavigator, reboot the PC, nothing changes. I must wait 1 or 2 hours to restart with success my request.

I tried many navigators : chrome, edge, mozilla, an other PC, an other internet provider with the same results. The cache of the navigator is empty before every session. My anti-virus is Microsoft defender.

In the past I created about sixty individuals a day. Now if I do 5, it's a record...

Please help me if you can !

Francis

Áine Ní Donnghaile

This is a known issue and is, more or less, by design. It's known as throttling. If you are searching at the same time as many other people - prime time - you may encounter more throttling.

The website restricts access when it is busy.

https://www.familysearch.org/developers/docs/guides/throttling

All you can do is wait.

FrancisJauniau

Thank you.

Francis

glyman3967850

I frequently encounter this message "Error Loading Image - please try again later" when I am moving from one page to the next. I can usually look at 25-50 images, then I get this error message. It happens with multiple digital films - land records, probate records, etc. I usually have to make a note of what image the error occured, close and re-open the digital film, start where I left off, look at many as I can before I get the error message again. Hoping someone can resolve this issue. Thanks.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

Yep, you've come up against FS's image-viewing throttle. There have been many complaints since at least this summer (if not earlier); try searching Community for "Error loading image" for a selection of other threads about it.

There hasn't been any official word (that I know of), but it appears to be more-or-less intentional, as a way of dealing with server load. If you're viewing images at the same time as many other users in your area (i.e. using the same servers), then after viewing some number of images, you're forced to take a break. Neither the number of images nor the length of the timeout seem to be constant, so they're probably also traffic-dependent.

Jack L. Burns

Very sad! This throttling places a severe handicap on any research I can do. The throttling stops any progress for hours. How can that work?

This problem has been getting worse over the past several years that I have been researching microfilm records in Italy. The timeout was maybe 5 minutes a year ago. Now it can be several hours.

Is anyone listening?

Please help.

FrancisJauniau

The answer of thée European Team...

We refer to your email reply to FamilySearch dated the 19th of January 2023. As support for FamilySearch we are all volunteers who are trained to answer queries from patrons who use the FamilySearch site.  (We want to tell you that we are all volunteers for FamilySearch. As such we are fully trained to answer queries from patrons requiring help and advice using FamilySearch.) We are not trained as technical advisers when patrons encounter technical problems with their computers and mobile devices. 

We went out of our (the) way to assist you with the Ping Pour that you were encountering when accessing 

FamilySearch.  We have reread the advice and it refers to speed from your router to your computer. For further assistance regarding this matter, we would suggest you see a qualified technician or contact your internet provider. (This is for you to decide to go with that advice or seek further help from a Computer Technician.) 

As to your initial query as to why you are seeing a black screen (The information below is telling why you are receiving a blank screen) whilst trying to access images on FamilySearch.  You might be seeing a black/blank screen when trying to access record images which we do not have permission to show.  Not all records held by 

FamilySearch are “ours” but are contracted to FamilySearch by the record custodians, they dictate who and how records can be seen, and contracts are made with their preferences in mind.  FamilySearch also link with other genealogical websites to share records, but they also have a say in what we are allowed to share. 

(We know that this does not help specifically, but as) All contracts have a time limit, you may find things less restricted at a future date. In the meantime, we would suggest you visit a FamilySearch Center in Belgium, Often records that cannot be seen online have a restriction that they can only be viewed at one of our centres.  We hope the following information will help you understand the position FamilySearch in under when it comes to some of the records we hold: 

• Record contract restrictions vary and each one is tailored to a set of agreed terms. These are set by the record custodian, and they decide the restrictions on each collection, not FamilySearch. Because our records are available online, such terms may differ from general terms that are available to individual members of the public.  
• Many different types of restrictions exist, each set up by the individual record custodian.  
• FamilySearch often partners with another organization to create a record collection. The partner often provides the name index online, but not the digital images. It is then left to the individual to contact the partner for access to an image or a copy of a record. 
• 
  
• There are many FamilySearch Centers throughout Belgium where you obtain help using FamilySearch. 

1. To find a FamilySearch centre near to you please follow these steps: 
2. Sign into FamilySearch in the usual way 
3. Click on the Help at the top right of the screen – this is a question mark in a circle. 
4. In the drop-down click Contact Us, this page will open. 
5. On the Contact Us page click on Europe 
6. Scroll down the page and click the blue Find In Person Help 
7. On the page that opens in the search box put the town where you live and click Search. 
8. A new page will open with a map and those FamilySearch Centres are marked with the FamilySearch Logo.  All information on its opening times and contact details are there when you click on the logo. 

This information was found in the articles we have attached to this email along with their hyperlinks to make it/them easier to reach and study 

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/what-are-the-image-restrictions-in-historical-records   

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/find-a-familysearch-center  

We wish you well with your research and hope we have provided you with the best available information to assist you whilst researching your family (using FamilySearch, and we wish you well.) 

Regards 

EU-Support Team 

genthusiast

In other words, there is no way around 'throttling'.

I think this thread topic just keeps looping back here in COmmunity to the same problem/solution - I suggest reading from a previous thread:

CHold

Nov 20, 2021

To all in that have made comments regarding this question:

Here a few links that may help:

This is really an issue related to Historical Records

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/i-get-an-error-message-when-downloading-from-historical-records

Part of this article states the following:

If you see the error message below as you download records or images, please send an email as requested in the message.

"It appears that you may have data needs that exceed the general use license and purpose for this web application. Please contact recordrequests@FamilySearch.org for information on proper access of FamilySearch data. If you believe that you have been improperly blocked, please send an explanation of your needs to searchfeedback@churchofjesuschrist.org."

If you see the message below, the system blocked your ability to download more records than our contract agreements permit. If you feel this message does not apply to your activities, please send an email to recordrequests@FamilySearch.org for information about access. If you feel you are being improperly blocked, please send an explanation of your needs to searchfeedback@churchofjesuschrist.org.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-can-i-request-historical-records-data-for-academic-purposes

Part of this article states the following:

FamilySearch uses a restricted-use license to share certain genealogical data with academic institutions. We want to encourage research in areas such as historical demography, geography, statistics, history, genetics, and computer science.

When we get requests, FamilySearch grants or denies them based on the following:

• Proposed use of the data.
• Whether FamilySearch can license the content in question.
• The internal resources required to provide the data.

The research-use license is rather strict and includes the policies below:

• Distribution or publication of the data to any third party is restricted.
• The use of data can only be for the purpose of the stated research.
• Researchers are required to provide a copy of all research results to FamilySearch.
• Researchers are to destroy any copies of the data when the research has ended.

Please look at the related articles associated with the above help articles.

I have spoken to a person that is trained more in Historical Records and they indicated that this is really an Historical Records Issue. Family Search uses a restricted use license which limits the amount of information that can be downloaded at one time.  Please follow the directions within the KA to request the variation.

Also, please note that: The record owners set the limits individually by record collection and they are the ones that block the downloading of records. Not the Family History Department, FamilySearch or the Family History Centers.

Because this is an Historical Records Issue I will move this question to the Search team and they may have more answers to assist you looking at the records you need.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/i-get-an-error-message-when-downloading-from-historical-records

By the way this Article Id: 842 was updated August 02, 2022 - so relatively current I suppose about the email contacts.

Good luck to all!

JThereseD

This has been happening to me for three days. I can’t see a single image. When I looked at the link referenced above, it says I am seeing this because I have downloaded too many documents. When I use the term download, I mean that I have put the document into my computer for future reference. Do they mean download in this sense or just viewing documents on the screen. I view loads and loads of documents, but I don’t download them to my computer, so I am confused. Do they not want us researching and viewing documents? I can understand them not wanting power users, but I am just one person doing my own research.

FrancisJauniau

Clear communication from familysearch on this subject would be highly desirable.

KonaKona

I see I'm not alone with this issue and the frustration! I have cleared my search history, rebooted my computer and tried to access records with my phone. All with the same result - "Error loading image. Please try again later."

FrancisJauniau

and since today I see a blank page...

Martina Moss

It looks like family search needs to boost their servers. What is the point of digitizing millions of records if we can access so very little and in a very frustrated fashion.

Also, I click on more pages than I would have to do, if records were correctly indexed. But what is the point of description that a person was borne in Slovakia, if records clearly state which town or village ? When I look for indexed data and find a possible match, I have to open every single one of them till I find the right one in the right village. If data were indexed accurately, far less bandwidth would be needed to access the database.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

@Martina Moss, you can generally figure out the location (and denomination) without looking at the image: search the catalog for the film (image group) number, which is found in the Document Information (in the left-hand column of the individual index entry page).

Given FamilySearch's ongoing ...troubles with location identification, I suggest approaching your research from the other end: instead of searching the entire database by name and then trying to narrow it down by place, start with the place in the catalog, and search by name only within a particular film or image group.

Shelbie Louise Drake

As a professional researcher who needs to look at records for clients, this is beyond frustrating. I have been researching for years now and never once saw this message till last summer.

Mike357

@FrancisJauniau, @glyman3967850, @Jack L. Burns, @genthusiast, @Shelbie Louise Drake

With respect to the common thread being expressed, that the system freezes after searching some number of images and we often see a related error message, "Error Loading image;" it might help to revisit what we are being told and asked as of today.

First. Yes, it appears that throttling is here to stay. It is used to protect FamilySearch from malicious behavior - thus, the system is said to be operating as intended. As a result, when the number of images that one tries to view exceeds a limit, the system will no longer allow browsing for some period of time.

However, in some instances we may have been careful to measurably and slowly move through images, and yet we still have run into this problem. In this case, the system may NOT be operating as intended and we need to have our specific situation reviewed as a potential system error.

This can only be done upon condition that we provide ALL of the information that is needed. That needed information is currently:

1. Name and User Name of the individual reporting a problem;
2. the date AND time of day when the problem occurred;
3. the specific DGS, or film number, that was being used when the problem occurred;
4. how the DGS was being accessed: via the Catalog, a Record Collection, via "Search Images," etc. (if a Collection, please provide the collection name);
5. how many images were viewed before the images stopped advancing;
6. approximately how many minutes one had been able to browse images before the images would no longer advance;
7. exactly what happened: did the image viewer simply stop advancing with no error message; did an error message appear, what did it say; did the image counter (i.e., image number) advance but the image did not; provide as much information as possible.

Hopefully, if we believe that we are seeing problems that are ,most likely, beyond what one would expect of a reasonable throttling environment, this will help get our problems addressed.

Ejay A.

Has anyone in this post had this issue in the last 30 days?