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Brand New Mac Mini Won't Open Certain Sites

R

rakhmetov567

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 22, 2009
6
0
I'm posting what appears to be the first such post in a long time. My brand new Mac Mini 2009 will not open certain websites, no matter which browser I use (Firefox, Safari, or Opera).

The list includes all sites at the following domains but I am sure is not limited to:
about.com
techbargains.com
ehow.com
expertvillage.com
harmonycentral.com

My wife's PC and my old PC all open these sites fine. Other macs on my wireless network also open them fine.

The message I get is that the browser could not connect to the server. The connection is fine as I can open other pages.

I called Mac support but those people know very little (the tech confused Java with Javascript). After having me check the firewall settings under Security and finding them to be fine, she told me to do a partial restore.

That sounds like the old days with Gateway computers and is a bunch of bull. I bought the hardware and software and they don't want to fix it. They didn't offer and I wouldn't dare send it in, as I've heard horror stories about Mac care.

Any one ever see or hear about this? If so, any solutions without doing a partial restore? Are there other settings that could be causing this?

A very disappointed Mac newbie. As I've been saying to myself when it does this, "Welcome to the Mac world." I'd schill for a Microsoft ad right now.
 
Well, Archive and Install is another option. It'll back up all of your files and reinstall the OS, and you won't lose anything. A bit of a hassle, but it should fix your problem.
 
straight out of the box. in fact, one of the first things I did was try to load techbargains and got the error. i'm going to do the archive and install option. i'm backing up now.
I was hoping not to do this.
 
Before doing that I'd install all the updates via Software Update, which likely include both an update to the OS (10.5.7) and an update to Safari, both of which could very well help out the issue and wouldn't take as long as the Archive and Install. It's worthwhile just to see; that's very strange behavior, that certain sites would be blocked by all the browsers..
 
duky said:
Before doing that I'd install all the updates via Software Update, which likely include both an update to the OS (10.5.7) and an update to Safari, both of which could very well help out the issue and wouldn't take as long as the Archive and Install. It's worthwhile just to see; that's very strange behavior, that certain sites would be blocked by all the browsers..
Click to expand...

Yes, this is the first thing to try. There have been at least a couple key bugfixes to OS X since 10.5.0 that might be causing this.
 
Thanks, but I've taken care of these things too. The tech double checked that I was up to date.
 
I assume you also tried both over WiFi and Ethernet? Sorry for all the obvious questions (if they are obvious)--there just must be a reason for this.

I personally think that on principle you should take it to an Apple Store and demand a replacement if you've exhausted these options. It's unacceptable for a new computer to exhibit that behavior and you shouldn't have to spend an hour reinstalling the OS to get it to do what you want it to do, and you're still within the 14-day window for a free exchange.
 
rakhmetov567 said:
Thanks, but I've taken care of these things too. The tech double checked that I was up to date.
Click to expand...

That makes the router your next most likely candidate. You say that 'other Macs' on your wireless network are doing okay. Are you sure? Are those Macs also running 10.5? Is your Mac Mini connected via wireless, or via a cable? Is your router firmware up to date?

Another possibility is your ISP; are you on a top-notch ISP in the United States, or is the ISP possibly using a defective proxy server somewhere along the line?

Since you have Firefox installed, try the following and see if it changes anything:

Browse to about:config

network.http.pipelining set to true
network.http.max-connections set to 8
network.http.max-connections-per-server set to 3
 
OK, I did the archive and install and with the freshly loaded OS, I still can't access these pages. I then installed all the updates and still nothing.
I changed the three about:config settings to what you recommend in Firefox but to no avail.
I also added the DNS Server IPs and still nothing.
The other Macs I've used on this network were running later editions of 10.5 and they all are able to access these sites on my router.
When plugged in via ethernet cable directly to the router, the problem persists.
I also momentarily changed my Verizon FIOS firewall settings to minimum to see whether that would help. It didn't.
My router is up to date with its firmware installs.
I'm at my wit's end here. Tomorrow actually marks the 3 months that Apple Care expires (I still think of the thing as brand new as the problem existed out of the box), although I wouldn't trust them anyways.
Any other ideas?
Also, all my files seem to be fine after the archive and install. Can I delete the archived "previous system" folder to free up the extra GBs?

I really do appreciate everyone's insight and guidance. Hopefully I'll get this figured out. If only my neighbor's had unsecured connections, I'd at least know whether it's the network.

If nothing else, I'm going to load XP on it and see whether it works.
 
Load XP, but I would also take it somewhere else and see if it has the same problem on a different network.
 
It has miraculously cured itself

After four months of not loading any of these websites, I stumbled onto About.com (previously wouldn't load) and did a double take. I then loaded techbargains.com and it worked.
Something I did along the way helped and there's a good chance it was one of these suggestions, so many thanks :D
 
sonspot said:
i would say it has nothing to do with the mac mini, probably something with your firewall or isp, nothing to do with the machine..
Click to expand...

I agree. It does not seem very likely that out of nowhere, the computer decided to work. It seems like an issue with the Router or the ISP blocking something. But still, now you can enjoy your Mac Mini.
 
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