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putrid · Jul 15, 2009, 06:22 PM

Howdy all. I have a web site I need to get to that neither Safari or Firefox will open. I'm not the only person within the company that's having this problem. Even folks using Firefox on windows are left in the dark. The only browser that will open it is internet explorer. The rest of us just get a page with 'server not found'. Is there a plug in or fix that will allow Safari to work?
I can't give the name of the site because of sensitive info.
Thanks everyone,
putrid

Big Mac · Jul 15, 2009, 07:04 PM

If multiple people are having a problem accessing the site, either the site's server is down or there's a DNS issue on your network. Nothing you do on the browser level will fix an issue like that.

Spheric Harlot · Jul 15, 2009, 07:27 PM

Except that it works in Internet Exploder…

Chuckit · Jul 15, 2009, 07:54 PM

Unfortunately, no. If it only works in Internet Explorer, all you can do is yell at whoever made such a crap site. If you have an Intel Mac, you might could install Internet Explorer either in a virtual machine like Parallels or through Crossover Mac.

DarkStarRed · Jul 16, 2009, 02:32 AM

Have you tried Safari>User Agent IE 7 to see if this gets you to the front page at least, then you can use the Web Inspector to see the errors accruing.

putrid · Jul 16, 2009, 10:21 PM

DarkStarRed, no I haven't. I'm still kinda new to a Mac. Where would I find user agent ie 7?

besson3c · Jul 17, 2009, 01:12 AM

Don't waste your time with that, changing the user agent will not resolve "server not found" issues. Is the site redirecting you somewhere else? Are you getting some sort of initial response from the server?

Big Mac · Jul 17, 2009, 01:57 AM

Complain to your IT department until it gets fixed, putrid. But really, it doesn't even make sense that all other browsers would get a server not found error.

The only possible thing I can think of is that your IT department set IE up to go through a proxy server.

JKT · Jul 17, 2009, 05:26 AM

Fwiw, for the Firefox users on PCs they can install the IETab add-on which should help them for this type of site. It loads pages using the IE rendering engine within Firefox.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419

turtle777 · Jul 17, 2009, 07:13 AM

What's the website ? Can you share the URL ?

-t

Big Mac · Jul 17, 2009, 08:17 AM

He said the site is confidential.

putrid · 03:45 PM

Unfortunately I can't give out the address. But I can give ya this. It starts out with
https://www5.
Never seen anything like that before.
Thanks folks. Looks like I'll be griping and complaining till I either retire or it gets fixed. They should be able to get this issue resolved something in the next 20 years. LOL
Thanks again,
putrid.

ibook_steve · Jul 17, 2009, 04:25 PM

https just means it's a secured web site. www5 is just the name of the server. It doesn't have to be www.

Usually, if a page is IE only, then you won't get the Server Not Found message. The page will just not do anything. Pages that use PeopleSoft are the worst culprits. I live in San Jose, the hub of Silicon Valley, nearby home of Apple, and if I want to pay my garbage bill online, I have to drag out IE in Parallels to do it because of PeopleSoft. No amount of User Agent fiddling (believe me, I've tried) will let me use a different browser.

But Server not Found usually indicates a connection or DNS issue, as some have mentioned. But it doesn't make sense if, on the same computer, you use IE and it works. The only thing I can think of, and I have this issue at work, is if there is a proxy or some other type of firewall between you and the server. IE in Windows (XP at least; don't know about Vista) uses the proxy setting found in the Internet Options control panel. Firefox in Windows requires you to set up proxy settings in its own preferences (Advanced -> Network tab), ignoring the Internet Options control panel setting (FF 3.5 on the Mac fairs better now; you can choose to use the system proxy settings). If you are using a company machine, perhaps you've never fiddled with the Internet Options and don't know that you have to use a proxy to get to this server.

Just an idea.

Steve

putrid · Jul 17, 2009, 04:46 PM

I'm using my home iMac. All the company computers are PC. I'm beginning to believe this is the companies way of getting back at me for all the times I laughed at them when windows crashed. JK LOL

I did a search with dog pile. Finally got a page that said I'd have to use IE 8 or hire to open the page. And gave a link to inspire me to download that program. However it still didn't find the exact page I needed.

Thanks for the explanation Ibook_steve. Now I know what the 's' and '5' stand for.

I'm not going to complain to our HR department because it's not their fault. And I happen to like the folks. I think I'll send an official letter of complaint to corporate. I know it'll get the 'file 13' treatment. But it's the closest thing I can do to cussing like a hung over sailor on a stormy Sunday morning. LOL
Thanks again for ya'lls help.
putrid