Some sites won't load at all - why?

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Level 1

15 points

Some sites won't load at all - why?

I am hoping someone out there has encountered my issue and can give me some advice!

My cousin has a website for his bike shop. He asked me to take a look at it and give him some feedback. When I typed the URL into Safari (on a Mac Pro running Leopard), I got nothing (blank white screen). I tried it also in Firefox and Opera with the same result. I then tried it on my husband's PC (in Firefox) and it came right up. I looked at the source code for the site, but did not see anything that looked unfriendly to Macs.

So then I went on Browsercam (screen shot service) and had it take screen shots of the site in a bunch of different Mac and PC systems and browsers. They all came up just fine. At that point, I'm thinking it's something with my computer. However, I also have a Mac Mini connected to the internet (running Tiger) and when I tried it on there, the site would not come up (same behavior as the Mac Pro).

I would suspect something with the router (perhaps?) except my husband's Windows box is on the same connection and the site does come up for him. This is not the first time this has happened. Maybe every couple months or so, I run into a site that behaves this way. What I want to know is why and how can I fix it! Anyone have any ideas??

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Jan 16, 2008 5:09 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 16, 2008 9:04 PM in response to brightgirl

Same issue here. If I disconnect from Airport and reconnect, I can access the websites for a short moment, but then it stops loading any new content or if I click a link on that site it won't load.

Any ideas? These are sites that i accessed flawlessly day in and day out. Some examples are frphoto.com & uwcu.org. The site work fine on my fiances iBook G4.

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Answer 2

Jan 17, 2008 12:33 AM in response to brightgirl

Hi,

I am having the same problem with my Imac and my g4. I reset safari and I was able to access one of the sites after that but the shopping site Kalahari.net I am still unable to access. I am linked to the internet via a server that also has PC attached and there is no problem there when I wish to access the site. It seems to be a firewall issue of some kind that is blocking arbitrary sites. Wish someone has an answer to it?

Don

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Answer 3

brightgirl Author

Level 1

15 points

Jan 17, 2008 5:11 AM in response to brightgirl

mike3rdbase: I tried the two sites you mentioned and they loaded up quickly for me, no problem (in Firefox). It sounds like your issue might have something to do with your wireless, although I'm really not sure.

For the record, my Mac Pro is hard wired into the router along with the PC. The Mac Mini is connecting to the router wirelessly.

Don Lambert: I think you and I may actually be dealing with the same issue. I tried kalahari.net and it would not come up at all. On my husband's PC, it came up. This is very similar to what I experience yesterday. My cousin's website is www.pro-cycling.net - could you try that one and see what happens on your end?

Firewall issue sounds like a good bet, but I have no idea how to fix that! Hopefully someone else will have an idea for us! Thanks!

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Answer 4

Jan 17, 2008 5:41 AM in response to brightgirl

Hi Brightgirl,

Yep I think so too. I tried the cycling shop and it worked from my side which by the way is in South Africa. I am going to try the repair tool in utilities and see if I fiddle there I can get some joy. If I do I will post a reply if not I will wait for someone more clever than me to respond(hopefully)

Don

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Answer 5

Jan 17, 2008 6:54 AM in response to brightgirl

I found that if I "Renew my DHCP Lease" from the Network window, I have a 30 sec window where I can access the 2 sites I'm having problems with. But after that, it can never find the site unless I renew my dhcp lease again.

This is odd....and again, still working on my fiances iBook G4 with wireless connection. We're using airport extreme as our router.

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Answer 6

brightgirl Author

Level 1

15 points

Jan 17, 2008 7:00 AM in response to mike3rdbase

mike3rdbase: I tried that and (sigh) it didn't help my issue... but it does sound like you are getting closer to diagnosing your issue which is great! Wish I knew more about the network stuff to help you understand what that means, but I don't (someone here probably will though!)

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Answer 7

Jan 17, 2008 7:07 AM in response to brightgirl

see if this works

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6287616#6287616

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Answer 8

Jan 17, 2008 10:23 AM in response to brightgirl

Hi Upsman1992
Tried the adding of the dns sites around me and nope nothing has changed. I have noticed that when I try an connect to Kalahari.net the router locks up so I do not know why it is doing that and it seems to only happen with that site. Any other suggestions I do so hate using the pc.

Don

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Answer 9

brightgirl Author

Level 1

15 points

Jan 17, 2008 10:28 AM in response to Don Lambert

Same here. Tried adding the additional DNS sites and still had the same results. Don, interesting about the router locking up. I will have to have my husband check that later. Did you just open the software for the router and then look at what it was doing while you were trying to access the "forbidden" site?

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Answer 10

Jan 17, 2008 11:32 AM in response to brightgirl

Hi Again,

I have a fairly old router that has lights that indicate what its status is, so when I go "The Site" all the lights come on and thats it no more surfing until it is reset.

Don

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Answer 11

Jan 17, 2008 1:58 PM in response to Don Lambert

Sorry no more ideas. Safari for me has been working for me since I added the dns things.

Im not very savvy about these things I just used somebody else's idea.

good luck

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Answer 12

Jan 17, 2008 5:48 PM in response to brightgirl

Well the it took about 45 minutes on the phone with apple, and a $49.00 charge but they helped me figure it out. Essentially they locked down my wireless properties more. They noticed that the DNS Servers that Airport was pulling from the cable modem was different then what was stored in the TCP/IP options of my network settings (they were actually blank). They had me enter the DNS Servers shown in the airport admin utility and turn off my IPv6 and now Safari can access all those sites. I checked my fiances iBook and her DNS servers are blank as well. No explanation as to why hers has not stopped working, but it worked for me.

While it was a bit pricey, I had truly exhausted all my options. I was very impressed with the tech's customer service at Apple. Very friendly and knowledgeable. If I were to run into a software issue again in the future like this I wouldn't hesitate to call back. Thus being said, my next Mac will have the Apple Care plan so I don't get nailed $50 3 years later although this was my only problem every with my mac, so I suppose that it was cheaper going this route.

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Answer 13

Jan 18, 2008 1:15 AM in response to brightgirl

Hi Mike,

That doesn't seem to be my problem, I did try the route you went but it is not the same fault I am sure.

Thanks, Still hoping that Between Brightgirl and I and the help of someone more clever that me we can get this thing resolved.

Don

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