Transparent Black Screen Over Home Page on Safari Reset

Question

Level 2

418 points

Transparent Black Screen Over Home Page on Safari Reset

Just this evening I've noticed a transparent black screen covering my entire Reuters,com main home page. I have been using Reuters for years now, as my home page … and have never seen this issue.

As a test, I reset the Safari home page to both CNN, and The New York Times …. and neither one displayed the black transparent screen I see on Reuters.com.

There is also an "X" on the black screen, in the upper right hand portion. This may be indicating a misplaced block or advertisement that is causing this issue. When I "click" on the "X" … the "black transparent" screen disappears, and I see the normal Reuters.com home page.

I have attached a screen grab of what I am seeing.

Also, all my extensions are off, I've cleared the cache, history, done a full Safari "reset" …. and still the issue appears only after using the Safari "Reset" menu selection, under the upper Safari menu text. The page first opens without the "black transparent" screen, and then when the Safari "Reset" menu selection is used …. the exact same Reuters.com page comes back with the "black transparent" screen (and the "X".

I didn't see it occur anytime I "reset" the Safari page all this afternoon, And I have never seen this in all the years I've been using Reuters.

Any ideas as to what is happening here, and a fix? 😕

I've sent a tech notice to Reuters.com (would be interesting to see if they get back as well).

I have a strong feeling this is something buggy, or in error, on their part.

My Operating System: Apple OS 10.8.5

Safari Browser: v6.2.8

My Hardware: 2013 iMac i5 8GB RAM

This is the "transparent black screen" I see over the Reuters.com hem page

It goes away automatically in a few seconds.

Notice the "X" on the web page that comes with this "black screen"

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), 2015 13" MBP, iPhone 4S, AppleTV

Posted on Mar 25, 2016 8:24 PM

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Answer 1

DavidMac Author

Level 2

418 points

Mar 25, 2016 9:34 PM in response to DavidMac

New twist just found …. I played around with the Safari "Reset" selections (check boxes)

If I don't check all the boxes on the Safari reset pop-up window

(which I always have done - use all check boxes) ...

i.e.:

• Clear History

• Reset Top Sites

• Reset all location warnings

• Reset all website notification warnings

• Remove all website date,

• Clear the downloads window

• Close all Safari windows

… and leave the one box … "Remove all web site data" UNCHECKED ….

the Reuters.com home page RESETS WITHOUT the "transparent black screen cover"

By NOT checking "Remove all website data" (which I always have done for years).

the "transparent black screen" issue doesn't come back on reset.

If "Remove all website data" is checked … "transparent black screen" issue comes

back on reset.

ANYONE FIGURE THAT OUT … ?

It must be an "error/bug" that is embedded in the "website data" for the reuiters.com home page!

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Answer 2

DavidMac Author

Level 2

418 points

Mar 25, 2016 8:54 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis:

… all the Safari extensions have, and were off/disabled during this whole time (and have been all day)

I usually keep my Safari extensions off all the time as a rule now-a-days.

What I have now also noticed …. when the "black transparent screen" is there (with the "X" on it), I can still scroll the web page (Reuters.com home page) behind it. However, when I scroll the page behind the "screen", scrolling down to far causes Safari to crash.

Note: This afternoon and this evening, I had been playing around with an app called "FreeMemory Pro". I had it temporally installed on the upper desktop menu, and in my "account /login" items. I have since removed the app "FreeMemory Pro", removed it from the "account/login" items, and trashed the preferences to this app. Since this "black screen issue: only affects the Reuters.com home page, I doubt the "FreeMemory Pro" app had anything to do with it. More like just a coincidence!

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Answer 3

DavidMac Author

Level 2

418 points

Mar 25, 2016 9:16 PM in response to DavidMac

What I've noticed, is if the "X" (on the "black transparent cover") is clicked …. the "black transparent cover" disappears, and the Reuters page is fine. "Reset" Safari, and the "black transparent cover" always comes back …. repeat, and the same …. repeat, and the same!

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Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 25, 2016 9:21 PM in response to DavidMac

The page may be trying to display an ad that is being blocked by something. Are you running any other kind of ad-blocking software, or have you perhaps modified the hosts file to block ads? If not, your version of Safari may simply be too old. Either upgrade to the current version of OS X, or use another browser, such as Firefox or Chrome.

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Answer 5

DavidMac Author

Level 2

418 points

Mar 25, 2016 9:41 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis:

Not running any adblocking, everything disabled. Like I stated, the Ruters.com home site has been running fine this afternoon,

even when doing a few "Safari Resets". I also don't think it's the browser, it's worked fine on Reuters.com.

From my above post, on the "reset selections" …. I have a feeling this is something, someone at Reuters.com messed up, doing

an ad placement, or something like that. It's like there's a large "blank black transparent screen ad space" hanging over the entire Safari window,

with one of those "close with X's" on the screen (attached to the transparent screen).

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Answer 6

DavidMac Author

Level 2

418 points

Mar 25, 2016 10:17 PM in response to Linc Davis

If true … you're right.

All I've done is to start a "tech ticket" to Reuters, with an attached video screen grab of what I see (showing the Safari reset process - live).

If I hear back from them, I'll post any reply here …..

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Answer 7

DavidMac Author

Level 2

418 points

Mar 31, 2016 9:08 PM in response to DavidMac

So …. Reuters tech support never got back to me, even after I sent them a video screen grab of what was happening …. BUT … I noticed a day after my complaint to them …. that the "black transparent screen (with the "X" on it) …. WAS GONE!

Evidently I caught a web site error, or bad ad posting glitch, by Reuters.

As a result, without admitting they were the cause … they obviously fixed it without notifying anyone.

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Answer 8

TildeBee

Level 7

31,923 points

Mar 31, 2016 10:29 PM in response to DavidMac

David --

Here's a thought that may save you from going through all this again.

If you are having problems ONLY on one site, it's most likely not anything on your system. It's on theirs.

I learned this from personal experience. A long time ago, this site was undergoing severe access problems, and I loved to be here so much, I frantically did a ton of troubleshooting stuff. Took hours and hours trying to fix it. Called my ISP, complaining bitterly. Turns out this site was having terrible problems, and was offline for days.

Very glad your problem is solved.

🙂

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Answer 9

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 25, 2016 8:36 PM in response to DavidMac

Please disable all Safari extensions and test. If the problem is resolved, re-enable the extensions one or a few at a time until you find the culprit.

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Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 25, 2016 9:52 PM in response to DavidMac

someone at Reuters.com messed up

If that's true, there's nothing you can do about it.

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