James Doublesin
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac App Store

Q: Safari doesn't connect to certain websites in Sierra

Ever since I upgraded to macOS 10.12 (Sierra) on my late 2015 iMac , sometimes I am not able to connect to certain websites in Safari.  I am connected via WiFi, and other browsers like Firefox and Chrome work fine, and other connected apps like Mail work fine.  But Safari  returns an error:  "The certificate for this server is invalid". This would happen when I try to connect to yahoo.com, while something like cnn.com works.

Sometimes, I can logout the user account which has the issue, then log back in, and then everything works.  If I reboot the iMac, and log back into the same user account, it works every time.

It seems that I start seeing this issue after the iMac wakes from sleep (for example, usually in the morning or after a long period not using the computer).

I even did a clean install of Sierra this past weekend, but the issue still persists.  Help!

 

thanks,

James

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015), macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Oct 19, 2016 7:44 PM

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James Doublesin

Q: Safari doesn't connect to certain websites in Sierra

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  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Oct 19, 2016 8:06 PM in response to James Doublesin
    Level 9 (50,379 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 19, 2016 8:06 PM in response to James Doublesin


    I even did a clean install of Sierra


    Please describe what that means. Obviously if you have an unaltered Sierra installation the cause lies elsewhere, either with your router or your ISP, and I don't want to cause any unnecessary duplication of effort.



  • by James Doublesin,

    James Doublesin James Doublesin Oct 19, 2016 8:16 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac App Store
    Oct 19, 2016 8:16 PM in response to John Galt

    Thanks John.  I completely formatted my drive and installed Sierra from a USB thumb drive.  I thought maybe the upgrade from Yosemite left something behind that was causing the errors.  I didn't have any of these issues with Yosemite with the same router and ISP. 

    I will try to power cycle the router and see if I hit the problem tomorrow.

     

    Thanks,

    James

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Oct 19, 2016 8:22 PM in response to James Doublesin
    Level 9 (50,379 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 19, 2016 8:22 PM in response to James Doublesin

    Try that, and if you still encounter trouble the following will help isolate the cause.

     

    Use the following procedure to determine if the problem is isolated to your Mac, or lies elsewhere.

     

    1. Shut down your Mac.
    2. Load macOS Recovery by holding ⌘ and r (two fingers) while you start your Mac with a third finger.
    3. At the macOS Utilities screen, release those two fingers.
    4. Choose Get Help Online.
    5. Safari will launch, but it will lack your bookmarks, favorites, history and other preferences.

     

    Determine if you can open the websites that have been giving you trouble.

     

    Restart your Mac normally and describe your results.

     

    If the problem does not occur in Recovery mode, but returns after restarting your Mac normally, please read If Safari is slow, stops responding, quits unexpectedly, or has other issues - Apple Support. The applicable section is "Remove Internet plug-ins and other add-ons" and the Support documents that follow "Learn more".

     

    If the problem remains in Recovery mode, write back for instructions.