Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1005 “The network connection was lost.”

Question

I have an application which works fine on Xcode6-Beta1 and Xcode6-Beta2 with both iOS7 and iOS8. But with Xcode6-Beta3, Beta4, Beta5 I\'m facing network issues with iOS8 but

Answer 1

I have this issue also, running on an iOS 8 device. It is detailed some more here and seems to be a case of iOS trying to use connections that have already timed out. My issue isn't the same as the Keep-Alive problem explained in that link, however it seems to be the same end result.

I have corrected my problem by running a recursive block whenever I receive an error -1005 and this makes the connection eventually get through even though sometimes the recursion can loop for 100+ times before the connection works, however it only adds a mere second onto run times and I bet that is just the time it takes the debugger to print the NSLog's for me.

Here's how I run a recursive block with AFNetworking: Add this code to your connection class file

// From Mike Ash's recursive block fixed-point-combinator strategy https://gist.github.com/1254684
dispatch_block_t recursiveBlockVehicle(void (^block)(dispatch_block_t recurse))
{
    // assuming ARC, so no explicit copy
    return ^{ block(recursiveBlockVehicle(block)); };
}
typedef void (^OneParameterBlock)(id parameter);
OneParameterBlock recursiveOneParameterBlockVehicle(void (^block)(OneParameterBlock recurse, id parameter))
{
    return ^(id parameter){ block(recursiveOneParameterBlockVehicle(block), parameter); };
}

Then use it likes this:

+ (void)runOperationWithURLPath:(NSString *)urlPath
            andStringDataToSend:(NSString *)stringData
                    withTimeOut:(NSString *)timeOut
     completionBlockWithSuccess:(void (^)(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject))success
                        failure:(void (^)(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error))failure
{
    OneParameterBlock run = recursiveOneParameterBlockVehicle(^(OneParameterBlock recurse, id parameter) {
        // Put the request operation here that you want to keep trying
        NSNumber *offset = parameter;
        NSLog(@"--------------- Attempt number: %@ ---------------", offset);

        MyAFHTTPRequestOperation *operation =
            [[MyAFHTTPRequestOperation alloc] initWithURLPath:urlPath
            andStringDataToSend:stringData
            withTimeOut:timeOut];

        [operation setCompletionBlockWithSuccess:
            ^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject) {
                success(operation, responseObject);
            }
            failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation2, NSError *error) {
                if (error.code == -1005) {
                    if (offset.intValue >= numberOfRetryAttempts) {
                        // Tried too many times, so fail
                        NSLog(@"Error during connection: %@",error.description);
                        failure(operation2, error);
                    } else {
                        // Failed because of an iOS bug using timed out connections, so try again
                        recurse(@(offset.intValue+1));
                    }
                } else {
                    NSLog(@"Error during connection: %@",error.description);
                    failure(operation2, error);
                }
            }];
        [[NSOperationQueue mainQueue] addOperation:operation];
    });
    run(@0);
}

You'll see that I use a AFHTTPRequestOperation subclass but add your own request code. The important part is calling recurse(@offset.intValue+1)); to make the block be called again.