I can't access Bank of America on-line banking on my Macbook and BOA says the problem is with my computer. Please help.

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Level 1

8 points

I can't access Bank of America on-line banking on my Macbook and BOA says the problem is with my computer. Please help.

I have tried, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. My Macbook is running 10.5.8. I have cleared my cache, cookies and browsing and download history. Sometimes I get so far as to be able to access my accounts page and then I can't access any other page on the site like on-line bill pay. Mostly, nothing happens after I put in my user ID. Sometimes I get an "error with the server," and sometimes I don't. Sometimes one user ID gets me a little futher (to the passwords page) and sometimes it doesn't. I've downloaded Adobe Shockwave Flash. This is not happening with any other sites and my husband can access the BOA site with his computer using the same user Id's and passwords using the same internet connection I am using. Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Sep 29, 2012 1:41 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

raehaas Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 29, 2012 6:37 PM in response to shldr2thewheel

I called them 4 times and after hours of troubleshooting they told me it is a computer problem and there is nothing they can do for me.

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Answer 2

Sep 29, 2012 5:51 PM in response to raehaas

call Bank of America 1-800-432-1000. They can help with your online banking issues.

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Answer 3

Sep 30, 2012 4:52 AM in response to raehaas

Ask them if their website uses Java applets for authentication.

If you installed the last security update issued this year for 10.5.8, Java will be disabled (this is because it's rarely needed and is a major security risk).

In Applications > Utilities, open Java Preferences and ensure the two boxes next to the Java version numbers are ticked (checked).

Then check that Java is enabled in each browser. (Browser Preferences)

I recommend turning it off again when you've finished with the BoA site.

Note that this refers to Java not JavaScript, which is a totally different and unrelated process. You need JavaScript for most sites.

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Answer 4

raehaas Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 30, 2012 9:17 AM in response to noondaywitch

Thank you Noondaywitch. I appreciate your help. I called BOA and I asked them if their site uses Java applets for authetication and they said, yes. They also listed the ones I could use and they are: Adobe Shockwave or Shockwave/Object (I am using Adobe Shockwave), Sun Java Console, Java SS2 Link Helper or Java SSV Helper Class. I enabled Java Plug-In 2 for NPAPI Browsers 12.9.0 in Firefox which is the only browser I am concentrating on right now. I also followed your suggestion and opened Java Preferences. The first 3 boxes were already checked and the last one was not (see the screen shot below.) Any help or advice you can provide at this point would be wonderful. I am really stuck here.

User uploaded file

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Answer 5

raehaas Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 30, 2012 9:23 AM in response to raehaas

User uploaded file The screen shot did not appear on my computer. Here is what it said:

(checked) J2SE 5.0 Version - 1.5.0_30-b03

(checked) Java SE 6 Version - 1.6.0_26-b03-384

(checked) J2SE 5.0 Verson - 1.5.0_30-b03

(unchecked) J2SE 1.4.2 Version - 1.4.2_22

Message was edited by: raehaas

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Answer 6

Sep 30, 2012 10:05 AM in response to raehaas

The versions shown are the last ones available for Leopard.

Java 1.4.x is no longer supported, which is why it's off.

If you're still not getting functionality, try enabling it for a short time in case they're using old code.

The only other thing I can think of is that they're using later versions because of the security issues and may not be compatible, but I'm guessing there. (Lion was up to 1.6.0_35 I think - may be higher by now).

Time for someone with a deeper knowledge of Java than me.

I know we have a number of Java developers contributing to the forums, hopefully one will pick it up.

it may help to start a new thread specifically about the Java issue - that would be more likely to attract fresh attention.

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Answer 7

Nov 27, 2012 10:08 PM in response to noondaywitch

I am having similar problems. It is a big headache. Apple needs to give us an update that will work. I am preparing to upgrade my operating system but I will have to do Snow Leopard first. I hope after all of that I can use sites that require java. I love my Mac but this is frustrating.

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Answer 8

raehaas Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 12, 2013 4:21 PM in response to leslietcbj

leslietcbj,

I think the issue may be with my internet provider. Who is your internet provider?

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Answer 9

Jan 12, 2013 5:11 PM in response to leslietcbj

Apple doesn't make Java. That's made by Oracle.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/us-warns-java-software-security-conc erns-escalate-1B7938755

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/apple-kicks-java-out-browsers-os-x-u pdate-1C6554818

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Answer 10

MadMacs0

Level 5

5,221 points

Jan 13, 2013 1:33 AM in response to frederic1943

frederic1943 wrote:

Apple doesn't make Java. That's made by Oracle.

True, but Apple still has the responsibility for updating versions prior to Java 7, should that be necessary. Some security experts are still arguing that this vulnerability affects back to Java 4.

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Answer 11

Jan 13, 2013 8:49 AM in response to MadMacs0

But Apple has to wait until Oracle releases a patch to close the loopholes in Java. Apple can't rewrite code for some other company without getting in a huge legal mess.

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