Cant connect to vsftpd

[tjw.]

I can not connect to my vsftp FTP server locally. Installed, started, and showing as active. Below you will find my vsftpd.conf, and error message when connecting. First though, let me tell you what I have done to my system. Installed using Wiki as a guideline. I configured and have running a LAMP server with vhosts enabled. following ports are forwarded on both iptables and router: (TCP: 80, 22,21,20) and (UDP: 53). In my example configuration below (a mirror of the conf I am using with IP and Users replaced), I have one user USER that is able to connect and write files to 192.168.0.10.

vsftpd.conf
anonymous_enable=NO
local_enable=YES
write_enable=YES
dirmessage_enable=YES
xferlog_enable=YES
connect_from_port_20=YES

chroot_list_enable=YES
chroot_list_file=/etc/vsftpd.chroot_list
chroot_local_user=YES

#Within vsftpd.chroot_list is USER that has access to whole server (not chrooted) <<<<<<<<<<

userlist_enable=YES
userlist_file=/etc/vsftpd.user_list
userlist_deny=NO

#Within vsftpd.user_list is USER (makes USER the only user allowed to log into ftp) <<<<<<<<<<

listen=YES

-vsftpd is active-

Error from Filezilla

Status:	Connecting to 192.168.1.69:21...
Status:	Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Response:	500 OOPS: priv_sock_get_cmd
Error:	Critical error
Error:	Could not connect to server

Please help me out. I have never been able to get vsftpd working and I am stuck until I do so.

UPDATE:
using Arch Linux
Followed this guide wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Simple_Stateful_Firewall
Used "modprobe ip_conntrack_ftp" and "modprobe ip_conntrack" as seen by other troubleshoots

I can not ping my websites from outside. I CAN connect though. Very strange. There is a section in the iptables wiki about blocking ping but i did not use it. Possibly has something to do with my inability to connect? doubted but I am trying to provide detail.

[manyrootsofallevil]

which distro are you using?

If it's RHEL or a derivative, have you got SELinux on?

[tjw.]

which distro are you using?

If it's RHEL or a derivative, have you got SELinux on?

Standard Arch Linux install