Can't connect to download.microsoft.com - can't download MS Office updates
I have a customer who is using a Powerbook G4 with Mac OS 10.5.8. With this computer it is impossible to connect to download.microsoft.com. When running the Microsoft AutoUpdate application to update Office, the app lists the available updates, but when I click Install to start the download of the update the application immediately say it has lost the connection. The problem occurs both for office 2004 and 2008.
It is also not possible to go to microsoft.com/mac and download the updates manually; the download links for all updates lead to download.microsoft.com and a "server not found" page is shown. All other web sites work normally.
The client is normally connected to a wireless network. I turned off Airport and connected to internet using his wireless USB broadband modem but had the same problem - so it isn't a setting in the wireless router.
If I open Terminal and ping download.microsoft.com I get back 127.0.0.1 (= localhost), which is very strange. I looked at /etc/hosts and /private/etc/hosts, but couldn't find anything unusual there, and the files had the same contents as on my own Macbook Pro which also has Mac OS 10.5.8.
My Macbook Pro can ping and download updates from download.microsoft.com when I'm connected to the same wireless network as the client's Powerbook. The client has a wired Windows XP computer that also has no connection problems. To solve the update problem temporarily I have downloaded the updates to my computer and transferred them to the client's computer.
As far as I can see the firewall in Mac OS is turned off. This connection problem has occurred on the computer since it had Mac OS 10.4 and Office 2004, and I think Leopard was installed on top of the old 10.4. To format the HD and reinstall everything from scratch would probably solve the problem, but is there anything else I can try first?
It is also not possible to go to microsoft.com/mac and download the updates manually; the download links for all updates lead to download.microsoft.com and a "server not found" page is shown. All other web sites work normally.
The client is normally connected to a wireless network. I turned off Airport and connected to internet using his wireless USB broadband modem but had the same problem - so it isn't a setting in the wireless router.
If I open Terminal and ping download.microsoft.com I get back 127.0.0.1 (= localhost), which is very strange. I looked at /etc/hosts and /private/etc/hosts, but couldn't find anything unusual there, and the files had the same contents as on my own Macbook Pro which also has Mac OS 10.5.8.
My Macbook Pro can ping and download updates from download.microsoft.com when I'm connected to the same wireless network as the client's Powerbook. The client has a wired Windows XP computer that also has no connection problems. To solve the update problem temporarily I have downloaded the updates to my computer and transferred them to the client's computer.
As far as I can see the firewall in Mac OS is turned off. This connection problem has occurred on the computer since it had Mac OS 10.4 and Office 2004, and I think Leopard was installed on top of the old 10.4. To format the HD and reinstall everything from scratch would probably solve the problem, but is there anything else I can try first?
MBP C2D 15" 2,5/4 GB, Mac OS X (10.5.8)
