Blocking websites in Safari

Greetings,

The Hosts file is just a text file located in the /etc directory that you can edit with any text editor; no need to use Terminal and Pico to do it. Did you enter 0.0.0.0 domainname.com, and then save the changes? Did you reboot your Mac before you tried it in Safari? Be sure to do that.

If you don't want to manage Hosts using a text editor or with Pico, you can also use Hostal, which is only $9.99.

Hi

I believe the correct file is /private/etc/hosts on a mac - certainly on mine, anyway.

Well, it's in /etc on mine; always has been.

I'm not sure what you mean by a directory utility. The /etc directory is a hidden directory; you can access it from the Finder by choosing Go>Go to Folder… and entering /etc and press Return or click the Go button. Inside that directory is a file named Hosts; that's the one you want.

Mine is as well.......

But what OS version are you running: 10.4.11 or 10.5.x? It's in different locations for each of them?

I tried that too, but it still hasn't worked. Hm.

Have you tried to reload the page you want to block?

Safari will load the url as long as it is in the cache, even after a reboot of the mac!

bw, Omar K N

Hi
I was just trying to do the same thing, i.e blocking access to a specific website.
I looked a the/etc/hosts file which reads

Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1 localhost
fe80::1%lo0 localhost

Do I just need to add on a new line as mentioned before,
0.0.0.0 domainname.com
and save it.
or do I need the http://

I have also in the /etc folder these files

hostconfig
hostconfig~
hosts.equiv

Which I am not sure what they are for

Many thanks

Hi--

lune wrote:
Do I just need to add on a new line as mentioned before,
0.0.0.0 domainname.com
and save it.
or do I need the http://

Definitely don't use the "http://" part. That would make it not work.

I have also in the /etc folder these files

hostconfig
hostconfig~
hosts.equiv

Which I am not sure what they are for

The first two are for setting up certain settings like whether or not your computer runs a mail server, QuickTime Streaming Server, etc. The first is the actual file as used by the OS and the second, with the "~" character, is a backup.

The hosts.equiv file is used for storing host and user information relating to allowing remote logins. That's nothing to do with blocking web sites via the hosts file.

charlie

Many thanks for the quick answer.
I'll have a go at it.
I found that adblock doesn't necessarily block certain pop-up junk even after adding custom addresses. Some poker/gambling site comes to mind.
Cheers