This one's a doozy. Website display problem iMac specific.

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This one's a doozy. Website display problem iMac specific.

Alright, so I've been having this problem since day one and I've sucked it up for the past 2.5 years and I've been throroughly annoyed by now. So here's the problem.

Certain websites do not display properly. I do not believe that it is a browser problem because I've tried 3 different browsers (firefox, chrome, and safari) and the problem still persists. So let me post pictures first before I get in to the details:

Comparing the 3 different browsers.

(my concern is that the thumbnails do not display properly). The tabs are also not clickable (ie. I can't click "New Costco Coupons" from "Featured Deals").

So I have Parallels running, and opened up firefox to display the same websites that are giving me problems...

aeroplan thumbnails don't display. (left: windows; right: mac)

kickstarter website "Thanks a billion" doesn't display (left: windows; right: mac)

Kickstarter login page. (left: windows; right: mac): When I click login in windows, pop up opens for me to login. In mac, when I click login, nothing happens.

(the biggest issue that is getting under my skin)

And once again, redflags thumnails. (left: windows; right: mac)

I also believe this is an issue with this particular mac model. I have 2007 macbook pro with the same firefox plugins (they sync) and the same OS 10.9.2 (recently fresh installed on both machines, though the problem persisted before the OS install), and all these sites display fine.

This iMac model:

27-inch, Mid 2011

iMac 12,2

Model: A1312

2.7 GHz Intel i5

I've tried restarting in safe mode with plugins disabled and have ruled out a plugin problem. I've also checked and made sure that flash and java are all updated. Any help at all would be great =)

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2), i5

Posted on Mar 7, 2014 8:25 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

83,011 points

Mar 7, 2014 8:44 AM in response to tsangdw

This is why websites need to adhere to w3.org conventions, and not try to be browser specific or plugin specific, or worse machine specific. http://www.anybrowser.org explains this is an accessibility issue. Those websites that can't give you the time of day, you should boycott under they understand not to do that.

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Answer 2

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Mar 7, 2014 8:57 AM in response to tsangdw

I've used a 2009 iMac, a 2007 iMac, and a 2012 mini all of the show the websites in Safari as your Windows examples. Makes me think you need to take a look your security settings or maybe the extensions you use on the Mac side.

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Mar 7, 2014 10:36 AM in response to tsangdw

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you boot, and again when you log in.

Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, reboot as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

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Answer 4

tsangdw Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2014 11:16 AM in response to Linc Davis

So I'm not sure if I logged in correctly.

After I held shift on boot and the grey status bar popped up. Login screen appeared (safe boot in top right corner). I typed in my password and held shift before I clicked enter (to login).

I assume I'm in safe mode at this point.

Problem still persists.

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Answer 5

tsangdw Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2014 11:18 AM in response to dwb

Security settings of firefox? or the OS in general? Filevault and Firewall is turned off on OS side. I've played around with turning on and off the various plugins in firefox. I even reset firefox to, I guess, default settings (help->restart with add-ons disabled -> reset).

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Mar 7, 2014 11:21 AM in response to tsangdw

Boot in Recovery mode. In the OS X Utilities screen, select Get Help Online. A clean copy of Safari will launch. No plugins, such as Flash, will be available. While in Recovery, you'll have no access to your saved bookmarks or passwords, so make a note of those before you begin, if they're needed for the test.

Test. After testing, reboot as usual and post the results.

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Answer 7

tsangdw Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2014 11:51 AM in response to Linc Davis

Wow, thank you. I would have never thought to do that.

Okay, so when I used safari through recovery mode, the thumbnails displayed properly. So 2 questions follow:

1. If in fact it is a plugin problem, shouldn't the thumbnails have worked when I started firefox in safemode (addons disabled).

2. So is the course of action now... to uninstall all the plugins I have? All my plugins are up to date:

(the hope being that the plugin causing the problem is not an essential plugin [ie. flash, java]).

2.1 is the proper way to uninstall plugins.... to go to Library>Internet Plug-Ins and delete them?

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Answer 8

tsangdw Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2014 12:12 PM in response to tsangdw

So.... I went ahead and just deleted a bunch of the plugins.... and now when I check out th plugins I have installed...

Should I be concerned that there is an "x-"... in front of every MIME Type? because I am under the impression that the X deactivates it?

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Answer 9

tsangdw Author

Level 1

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Mar 7, 2014 12:27 PM in response to tsangdw

So I went ahead and did a clean install of java and flash (deleted the plugin in the "internet plug-in" folder shown above and downloaded again from respective website).

Still no luck.

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Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Mar 7, 2014 12:57 PM in response to tsangdw

You can deactivate all plugins in the Security tab of the Safari preferences dialog. Try that. Flash and Java won't work, obviously.

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Answer 11

tsangdw Author

Level 1

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Mar 7, 2014 2:25 PM in response to Linc Davis

No luck

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Answer 12

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Mar 7, 2014 2:49 PM in response to tsangdw

From the menu bar, select

 ▹ System Preferences... ▹ Network ▹ Advanced... ▹ DNS

Under DNS Servers you should have one or more numerical addresses, such as “192.168.1.1” or “10.0.0.1”. What are those addresses?

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Answer 13

tsangdw Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2014 2:54 PM in response to Linc Davis

8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

192.168.1.254

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Answer 14

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Mar 7, 2014 3:24 PM in response to tsangdw

Delete all those addresses. The list should then repopulate with the address of your router, or whatever DNS address the router is configured to serve. Click Apply and test.

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Answer 15

tsangdw Author

Level 1

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Apr 14, 2014 7:19 PM in response to tsangdw

Decided to look again in to the problem again, and found this:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4222662

Problem solved 😀 had to dig in to the web console to find that these errors existed. And after looking up those errors, I was led to the above site.

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