Forum: Author Hangout

Speaking about browsers

Switch Blayde 🚫

I didn't want to hijack the Chrome thread with my Safari issue, so here goes.

There is one site I go to a lot. Sometimes I go to it and it comes right up. But often it doesn't. I wait and wait. Sometimes I hit the x or redo at the top and it still spins its wheels.

And then Safari times out (I don't remember the exact message. It might be something like it can't find the URL but I don't remember - can't get it to happen right now).

Then when I go to the site (after the time-out msg) it comes up immediately.

Is it them or me?

Replies: AmigaClone

AmigaClone 🚫

@Switch Blayde

Is it them or me?

Do you observe the same behavior on any other site?

If you don't, then there is a better chance that either the site or it's connection to the internet is the issue.

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@AmigaClone

Do you observe the same behavior on any other site?

No.

Well, when I sign out of Hotmail it brings me to MSN's page. Lately, if I click on an article nothing happens (that happened in the past, but MSN fixed it. Now it's happening again). I don't wait like I do on the other site so I don't know if the behavior is the same.

But it doesn't happen anywhere else.

awnlee jawking 🚫

I get something similar with Chrome. I get a message along the lines of telling me the site isn't responding and do I want to retry. And, more often than not, the page I want to see pops up soon afterwards.

I've experienced this with several sites, including Google and, occasionally, SOL.

I'm not certain but I suspect the problem lies with my ISP.

AJ

Replies: Tw0Cr0ws

Tw0Cr0ws 🚫

@awnlee jawking

Might also be your DNS

Lazeez mentions a fast DNS on his blog, it might be worth a look.

Replies: Dinsdale

Dinsdale 🚫

@Tw0Cr0ws

Might also be your DNS

Sorry, but that is extremely unlikely for just one site - unless it is only accessible via IPV6 or something. Poorly written http / https could be the cause.

When you first try and go there, are you following a link from another site? Are there any differences in the URL (including http ./. https)?

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Dinsdale

When you first try and go there

Sometimes it's clicking from my Favorites. Sometimes it works the first time, too.

Sometimes I'm already on the site and come back to it from another window (like flipping between this forum and that site). I click on a link on that site (like the "all threads" or "reply to topic" links on this page) and sometimes it works and sometimes it spins it's wheels until I get the error message. But then when I click from my Favorites it always works and if I were to click on that same link it would work. So maybe it has something to do with being inactive.

So it seems if I'm active on the site, everything works. But if I come back to it or bring it up in the window for the first time, it sometimes works and sometimes does not. It's wattpad, btw. Not a weird site. That's where I discuss things with other authors about the publishing industry.

Switch Blayde 🚫
Updated:

This is the message I get:

Safari Can't Open the Page

Safari can't open the page "http://…" because the server where this page is located isn't responding.

But then I click on it in my favorites and it comes right up.

Switch Blayde 🚫

It's not just inactivity either. I was reading an SOL story for quite a while, then came here, and I just went back to the wattpad window. I clicked on the link I mentioned in my last post and it worked fine.

Ernest Bywater 🚫

From what you say it sounds like a handshake issue between you and the site, mostly likely a choke point along the path of the Internet or the site access itself is being overloaded and it's timing out, so a later attempt when there's less traffic goes through. It's not a browser issue but a traffic load issue.

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Ernest Bywater

It's not a browser issue but a traffic load issue.

I hope so.

btw, MSN is different. When I click on an article it doesn't time out. It never comes back. So it's only happening on that one site.

I wish they had the talent Lazeez has.

Replies: REP

REP 🚫
Updated:

@Switch Blayde

MSN is flakey. They frequently run scripts - scripts that take a very long amount of time to execute.

I run IE and have MSN as my homepage. When I try to go to another site from MSN, I often get a message telling me the site in not responding due to a long running script. Yeah - undoubtedly a long running MSN script. :(

Replies: Dinsdale

Dinsdale 🚫

@REP

I run IE and have MSN as my homepage. When I try to go to another site from MSN, I often get a message telling me the site in not responding due to a long running script. Yeah - undoubtedly a long running MSN script. :(

Well of course. I often get that message on one ancient machine for one particular site - reading the articles on https://en.chessbase.com/ as it happens. Since the oldest is also the slowest, I can safely assume that the browser is measuring elapsed time.

Back to the original problem, is Noscript (or similar) involved here? Something weird with cookies?

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Dinsdale

Back to the original problem, is Noscript (or similar) involved here? Something weird with cookies?

I have no idea, but thanks.

Zom 🚫

For my 2 cents, you might find is is the result of a server that is part of a multiple round robin or load balanced service being down or jammed or overloaded. A reload or re-request causes a different server in the group to respond and then all is well. There is a lot of that going around these days.

Replies: Darian Wolfe

Darian Wolfe 🚫

@Zom

I (back in the day) wrote my own homepage and still use it. It has news feeds to the services I think relevant and the links that I use most at top ect. It reduces a lot on initial script running plus I see only what I want to see which is how a computer should work lol.

I use primarily Chrome, but a couple of tricks I learned to test the issues being discussed are 1. try accessing a site using a text-only browser and see if it loads quicker. This is getting harder as a lot more sites are starting to refuse connections with text-only browsers.

2. the use of various bookmarklets which allow you to bypass some scripts.

I'm old enough to remember when a computer operator had complete control of their box and found it highly offensive if a piece of software did anything on their box they didn't want it to do. Browers like Chrome give you almost no control over them or the signals they send or receive.

Oh well, Just another old man bitchin'. I wish Fravia+ was still around.

Uther_Pendragon 🚫

I read from the library, so I don't have the possibilities that some of you have.

Every once in a while, access to some site takes an incredible length of time. I cancel my call, then repeat it immediately.

Half the time, this brings up the site rapidly; the other half, the wait is repeated.

Replies: Keet Keet

Keet 🚫
Updated:

@Uther_Pendragon

Every once in a while, access to some site takes an incredible length of time. I cancel my call, then repeat it immediately.

Half the time, this brings up the site rapidly; the other half, the wait is repeated.

Could be that you use a very slow DNS server. Every site you visit has a name like 'storiesonline.net'. Your browser can't use that name because it needs a 'real' address: an ip-number. Your browser makes a call to the DNS server you have configured passing the name you typed in the address bar and waits for the DNS server to return the correct ip-number.

So you are waiting for the DNS server to respond with the ip-number. To speed up this process the browser keeps a cache of recently used domain names so it can avoid a call to the DNS server. If that cache gets corrupted some calls will fail. Try clearing your cache and if that doesn't work try a different DNS server.

How DNS and DNS cache works

Of course it's also possible that the site you are trying to get to is slow in it's response. Nothing you can do about that.

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Keet

If that cache gets corrupted some calls will fail. Try clearing your cache

I may just do that, but as a last resort. Whenever I've done that, it's caused major inconveniences. Cookies do make things easier, like not having to re-log onto SOL.

I'm hoping it's the site and will be fixed one day. I'd hate to clear cache and cookies only to find it didn't solve the problem.

Thanks, everyone.

Replies: Dinsdale

Dinsdale 🚫

@Switch Blayde

Cache only, leave the cookies alone.

Replies: Switch Blayde Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Dinsdale

Cache only, leave the cookies alone.

I did that. Let's see what happens.

The instructions to do that also said I might want to clear History too. But when I did that it said it would delete cookies as well so I cancelled it.

Replies: Dinsdale

Dinsdale 🚫

@Switch Blayde

The instructions to do that also said I might want to clear History too. But when I did that it said it would delete cookies as well so I cancelled it.

Good call.
I am not expecting too much from your clearing of cache - although it has helped me in the past - but it is something which does not *cause* any problems. Globally clearing other forms of history is not something you should do lightly.

Replies: Keet

Keet 🚫

@Dinsdale

Globally clearing other forms of history is not something you should do lightly.

I consistently clear everything when I close the browser (automatic). Yes, I must log in every time I (re-)start the browser but that's a 3 second action.
The only real 'inconvenience' is that I have to remember to sync the forum read to the server before closing so I can retrieve it after I log in.
It's a privacy thing, I don't like to have a useless history hanging around.

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Dinsdale

Cache only, leave the cookies alone.

It did not fix the problem. My guess is it's on their end.

MSN did fix their problem though (before I cleared cache).

Keet 🚫

@Uther_Pendragon

I read from the library, so I don't have the possibilities that some of you have.

Do you mean that you use a computer in a physical library? In that case you are indeed limited to what you can do. If it's a cache problem you can still bypass the cache and maybe even clear it. In most cases just use ctrl+F5 to reload the page. If that doesn't work read this wikipedia article and select the part for the browser you use: Bypass your cache

Dinsdale 🚫

To summarise, you are having problems with that one site with Safari. Everything else is just fine.
Do you have a second browser installed on your machine? You could copy-and-paste the link to the other browser and test that, which would simulate having deleted *all* history.
Safari is based on Konqueror, but Safari was developed further and Konqueror has rather died the death over the last 3-4 years.

Replies: Switch Blayde Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Dinsdale

Do you have a second browser installed

Yeah, I have Chrome. I could try that.

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Dinsdale

Do you have a second browser installed on your machine?

I've been using Chrome on that site. It's working fine. Actually, a lot faster than Safari. I had one instance where it looked like it was going to hang, but it was only a moment's hesitation.

So it's my Safari and not the site.

Switch Blayde 🚫
Updated:

I've been using Chrome with wattpad without the problems Safari was having so I thought the problem was Safari. Well, after all this time, the problem is happening on Chrome.

So it has something to do with using wattpad over time regardless of browser. Something must not being clearing out.

Replies: John Demille

John Demille 🚫

@Switch Blayde

So it has something to do with using wattpad over time regardless of browser. Something must not being clearing out.

That's usually easy to fix in three steps:

1 - Clear your browser's cache
2 - Clear that site's cookies
3 - force reload the site by holding down the shift key on your keyboard and click the reload button a couple of times.

That basically clears any data that the site may have saved on your computer.

In Safari, you can do all that in one place. Open preferences, click on 'Privacy', click 'Manage Website Data...' (a sheet drops down) type some of the site's URL in the search field, then select the site and click 'Remove'.

In Chrome, from the Chrome menu, select 'Clear Browsing Data'. It's not as granular (no per site), but it allows you to do it.

Replies: Switch Blayde Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@John Demille

Thanks.

Can I clear the site's cookies without clearing all cookies?

Replies: awnlee jawking

awnlee jawking 🚫

@Switch Blayde

Can I clear the site's cookies without clearing all cookies?

You can on a PC.

From Chrome's Settings menu option, scroll to and click on advanced settings at the bottom. Under the Privacy heading, click on Content Settings, then under the Cookies heading click on Cookies and site data. You can delete individual entries.

AJ

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@awnlee jawking

From Chrome's Settings menu option,

I need to be selective with Safari.

I already did the sledgehammer cleanup on Chrome because I only use it for that one site.

Switch Blayde 🚫

@John Demille

In Chrome, from the Chrome menu, select 'Clear Browsing Data'. It's not as granular (no per site), but it allows you to do it.

Since I only use Chrome for wattpad, I cleared the browsing data. First results — it's super fast again.

Replies: John Demille

John Demille 🚫

@Switch Blayde

Since I only use Chrome for wattpad, I cleared the browsing data. First results — it's super fast again.

That means that their site, to save on their resources, saves a lot of data to your computer and it's a little too much if normal (fairly modern) system can't keep up. Or that their code really sucks.

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Forum: Author Hangout

Speaking about browsers

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