Safari can't connect to the server

Question

Level 1

85 points

Safari can't connect to the server

Since launching Safari this morning I keep getting the message that 'Safari can't connect to the server.' This happens with any website.

It was running just fine last night.

Firefox, Opera, Mail, iTunes and App Store all connect to the internet and work fine.

I'm running Safari 5.1.0 on Snow Leopard (10.6.8).

So far here's what I've tried, with no success:

Restarted Safari.

Restarted the computer.

Emptied Cache.

Removed All Website Data (in the Privacy tab of prefs)

Reset Safari.

Deleted Cookies.plist and Safari prefs from my user library

Tried running Safari with Firewall turned off

Turned off extensions

Uninstalled Flash

Reinstalled Safari using the latest installer downloaded from Apple

What's kind of interesting, is that Safari is not completely blocked from the interent. For example, it's able to connect to and load Apple's extensions page using the Safari menu > Safari extensions... And if I start typing something into the Google search field it receives search suggestions.

Any ideas?

Mac Pro (Early 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Oct 9, 2013 5:30 PM

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Answer 1

mdavidsydney Author

Level 1

85 points

Oct 9, 2013 5:39 PM in response to mdavidsydney

I just noticed that in the Top Sites page, Safari is happily loading page previews. It can load the previews but of course when I click on one it says it can't connect to the server.

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Answer 2

mdavidsydney Author

Level 1

85 points

Oct 9, 2013 6:45 PM in response to mdavidsydney

Okay, I found the problem. I checked Little Snitch and noticed a new rule which was denying the TCP connections via WebProcess to port 80 (http).

I don't remember making that rule but there it was.

Unchecking the rule fixed the problem.

It's working fine now.

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Answer 3

TildeBee

Level 7

31,917 points

Oct 9, 2013 8:50 PM in response to mdavidsydney

Hi mdavid --

Thanks so much for coming back to tell us what the problem was . . . And I'm sorry you didn't get help earlier. We're all volunteers here, so sometimes help doesn't arrive as soon as hoped.

Your posts here will be here when others looking for help with your situation arrive here. When they search, they'll find your soution, and will get a heads up to check for Little Snitch, if they have it.

Best.

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Answer 4

mdavidsydney Author

Level 1

85 points

Oct 9, 2013 10:28 PM in response to TildeBee

Thanks Bee. I appreciate your kind response, and know full well that the volunteers here do an amazing job.

The most likely explanation for my hassles is that I approved that Little Snitch rule without thinking about what I was doing. It sure wouldn't be the first I'd done something stupid like that. But if someone else might possibly benefit from this then that's great.

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Answer 5

kcates3

Level 1

0 points

Dec 21, 2013 10:14 AM in response to mdavidsydney

Thanks!. I had the same issue. I didn't find that particular rule. I did find 'Web process" had deny any connection turned on. I changed that and Safari appears to be back!

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Answer 6

r100

Level 1

44 points

Jan 5, 2014 1:37 PM in response to mdavidsydney

thank's for reporting back. I was having the same issue. Greets and happy new year 🙂

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Answer 7

Jan 19, 2014 12:55 PM in response to mdavidsydney

mdavidsydney wrote:

Okay, I found the problem. I checked Little Snitch and noticed a new rule which was denying the TCP connections via WebProcess to port 80 (http).

How did you fix it? Probably, I have the same issue.

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Answer 8

mdavidsydney Author

Level 1

85 points

Jan 19, 2014 2:07 PM in response to anastasya.sime

Hi anastasya.sime,

you can try disabling the rule by unchecking it. As you probably already know, to see the rule in the list you click on the Little Snitch menu bar icon and select Little Snitch Rules...

Then once you've unchecked the offending rule, see if you've got Safari working again. In my case, it fixed the problem.

To delete the rule altogether you can just select it in the rules list and hit your delete button.

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