Some websites lose their formattting?!

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Level 1

16 points

Some websites lose their formattting?!

Weird problem here, where SOME websites (ie. slashdot.org, kijiji) lose their formatting (pictures still show, but the layout looks like Google from the 1980's). Other websites (ie. Huffington Post) render just fine. ....And the problem is not what you think!

It's not a browser issue, as this happens across all browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari). It's not a JAVA issue, I updated Java for my OSX (10.6.8), and Adobe Flash is installed and to date. You might be thinking "maybe it's a permissions issue", as I did. I "Applejacked" the system (repairing disk permissions and other system repairs), and also repaired disk permissions via Disk Utility. Weirdly, sometimes it repairs itself, and I'm thinking "maybe the action I took; ie. disk permission repair, java config, etc, worked". But then upon reboot, those affected websites render poorly once again.

In case you think "Maybe it's a firewall", stopping my Little Snitch firewall has no effect. But, I also have a nagging problem on reboot, where I get "Little Snitch has quit unexpectedly" error on each reboot. Still, the program works regardless. Sometimes another program will display that same error upon startup. I don't know if this is related to my website problem, but I suspect it is.

If this problem sounds at all familiar, please offer a clue!

iMac, Snow Leopard 10.6.8

Posted on Jul 24, 2016 10:43 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

685,251 points

Jul 27, 2016 6:57 AM in response to Mayden Vane

Try a restart.

Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode

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Answer 2

Mayden Vane Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 26, 2016 2:34 PM in response to HBean012

I have already looked at login items, login daemons, etc to see what is loading with the system and might be causing this weird issue with some websites. There wasn't much loading on boot, and I could not find anything that wasn't "benign", I would say. But in case it helps, I am including a screenshot of Activity Monitor and also a sample website to show the exact problem....

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

685,251 points

Jul 25, 2016 6:55 AM in response to Mayden Vane

Safari - Unsupported third-party add-ons may cause Safari to unexpectedly quit or have performance issues

Safari doesn't load a page or webpage items are missing

Safari/other browsers – Website not loading

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Answer 4

Mayden Vane Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 25, 2016 11:30 AM in response to Mayden Vane

Thanks for the reply, but as mentioned, its a "weird" problem that is not browser-specific. I use Firefox, and that's where I first noticed this problem. It occurs across all browsers, therefore I assume it must be system-related. Indeed, none of the Safari fixes linked applied here.

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Answer 5

Mayden Vane Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 30, 2016 11:50 PM in response to Mayden Vane

UPDATE: For the record... and if it helps anyone with similar problems, I am updating my query. I may, repeat may, have solved the problem (months later...), by running Applejack once again. For what it's worth, it "feels" resolved, but that may prove tentative. I did restart the iMac, and sites like slashdot.org are working again, with full formatting and pictures. But if it is due to permissions or other file problems that Applejack can fix, that still remains to be a very strange problem, if only certain websites are affected across all browsers. Whether the problem will return in future days remains to be seen.

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Answer 6

HBean012

Level 1

15 points

Jul 25, 2016 9:14 PM in response to Mayden Vane

Check and see which programs are running. Some may be preventing your pages from appearing properly. To do this, go to Activity Monitor. Could you possibly attach a screenshot for us to look at?

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Answer 7

HBean012

Level 1

15 points

Jul 26, 2016 5:13 PM in response to Mayden Vane

I'm not sure if you already mentioned this, but are your browsers updated to the latest versions?

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Answer 8

HBean012

Level 1

15 points

Jul 26, 2016 5:18 PM in response to HBean012

By the way, what computer do you have? You can possibly update it for better web results.

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