Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Gmail Virus?

A

ApplesAOranges

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 7, 2011
335
3
I´ve used Gmail with Mac (Safari + Firefox) over 5 years, never had a problem, until now.

I just can´t connect to Gmail anymore. It first started with Safari, sometimes I could connect, sometimes not. I tried clearing the cache, reseting, switching the "32-bit" button from Safari.app, sometimes those helped and it worked again few times, until it didn´t again.

Then I switched using Gmail mainly with Firefox, hadn´t had problem with it before. It worked great for a few days, but now it started having the same problem, just can´t connect.

Virus?

OS X 10.6.8
Safari 5.1.7
Firefox 15.01
 
Last edited:
Virus?
Click to expand...

Nope.

But someone will be with you shortly.

EDIT: Seems Mister GGJstudios is not drunk yet.

Have you checked your DNS settings yet as shown in the following guide?

To learn more about malware in Mac OS X and what steps can be taken to protect yourself, read the following F.A.Q.:


To edit your thread title to a descriptive one, to get a knowledgable audience and help making the thread easier to find for people looking for the same information, just click on the
edit.gif
button on the bottom right of your original post and then click the
MR_Edit_GoAdvanced_button.png
button below your message.
 
Last edited:
ApplesAOranges said:
Then what could it be?

This has never happened before and it just suddenly started. I haven´t done anything out of the ordinary with the Mac.
Click to expand...
Check your DNS settings in your Mac and your router.
Clear your cookies and cache.
Check to see if you have any ad blockers, extensions or plug ins that could be interfering.
Or you could use the Mail.app to access your Gmail account(s).
 
Last edited:
GGJstudios said:
Check your DNS settings in your Mac and your router.
Clear your cookies and cache.
Check to see if you have any ad blockers, extensions or plug ins that could be interfering.
Or you could use the Mail.app to access your Gmail account(s).
Click to expand...

I cleared cookies and cache from Firefox. It started working again! ...About two hours and now it doesn´t anymore. :(

This gotta be a virus. There´s no other explanation for something like this.
 
ApplesAOranges said:
This gotta be a virus. There´s no other explanation for something like this.
Click to expand...
It can't be a virus because there are no Mac OS X viruses that exist in the wild. The "this must be malware" reaction to anything that you don't expect or understand really isn't the right approach for Mac OS X. Most Mac users rarely encounter malware, if ever. There are certainly far more likely explanations for your issue. It's just a matter of finding what they are.

Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 10 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). Also, Mac OS X 10.6 and later versions have anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.
  1. Make sure your built-in Mac firewall is enabled in System Preferences > Security > Firewall

  2. Uncheck "Open "safe" files after downloading" in Safari > Preferences > General

  3. Disable Java in your browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox). This will protect you from malware that exploits Java in your browser, including the recent Flashback trojan. Leave Java disabled until you visit a trusted site that requires it, then re-enable only for the duration of your visit to that site. (This is not to be confused with JavaScript, which you should leave enabled.)

  4. Change your DNS servers to OpenDNS servers by reading this.

  5. Be careful to only install software from trusted, reputable sites. Never install pirated software. If you're not sure about an app, ask in this forum before installing.

  6. Never let someone else have access to install anything on your Mac.

  7. Don't open files that you receive from unknown or untrusted sources.

  8. For added security, make sure all network, email, financial and other important passwords are long and complex, including upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

  9. Always keep your Mac and application software updated. Use Software Update for your Mac software. For other software, it's safer to get updates from the developer's site or from the menu item "Check for updates", rather than installing from any notification window that pops up while you're surfing the web.
That's all you need to do to keep your Mac completely free of any Mac OS X malware that has ever been released into the wild. While you may elect to use it, 3rd party antivirus software is not required to keep your Mac malware-free.
 
Tried all that, still can´t get it to work. Although I don´t understand anything about that DNS stuff.

Now I noticed something odd. I tried logging into Gmail with my MBP, same thing with that too, can´t log in:

Safari can´t open the page "https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?... blah blah..."

This is really weird! With my iPhone Gmail still works though.

I cleared everything from Firefox and restarted. After that the Gmail worked one time and then stopped working again. Tried the same thing again and the same thing happened. So I can actually repeat this now. I have to clear everything from Firefox and restart EVERY FREAKING TIME I want to read my mail. Safari still not working, even if I do this.

Funny how a machine can work perfectly for 5 years and then this happens in a day without doing anything differently than before! Reminds me of the Windows days.

mail.google.com Is this site down or what? ´Cause I can´t access it. Is this a widespread problem with Gmail? Because everything else in my browsers still work perfectly.

p.s. Weird, I can´t use the smileys or the bold/italics or anything anymore in this forum. Before I could.
 
Last edited:
ApplesAOranges said:
Tried all that, still can´t get it to work. Although I don´t understand anything about that DNS stuff.

Now I noticed something odd. I tried logging into Gmail with my MBP, same thing with that too, can´t log in:

Safari can´t open the page "https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?... blah blah..."

...
Click to expand...
Have you tried opening this site? BTW, if you are trying to access your Gmail account from school or through your employer's network, then there is an outside chance that access has been disabled. Although I have never heard tell of such a thing happening with Gmail, it is a serious problem with Yahoo! Mail. My firm's incoming mail server blocks a substantial fraction of incoming Yahoo! messages.

Earlier this year, my firm installed filters that restricted access to such offensive sites as c|net. Something similar may be happening in your case.
 
ApplesAOranges said:
I cleared cookies and cache from Firefox. It started working again! ...About two hours and now it doesn´t anymore. :(

This gotta be a virus. There´s no other explanation for something like this.
Click to expand...

Right ... no other explanations that that .. other than possibly an OSX bug, your ISP accidentally blocking google mail, a google issue with your mail account or probably 100 other things. Nope, must be a virus as its the only thing you can think of so that nails it. Even though in fact, there are no OSX viruses in circulation. Unless of course, you are the very first one to get it !

Did you reboot?
 
It could be an app like LittleSnitch or similar in which you denied 'at the moment' or 'forever' permission to Google or Gmail.
 
MisterMe said:
Have you tried opening this site? BTW, if you are trying to access your Gmail account from school or through your employer's network, then there is an outside chance that access has been disabled. Although I have never heard tell of such a thing happening with Gmail, it is a serious problem with Yahoo! Mail. My firm's incoming mail server blocks a substantial fraction of incoming Yahoo! messages.

Earlier this year, my firm installed filters that restricted access to such offensive sites as c|net. Something similar may be happening in your case.
Click to expand...

Don´t understand. No I can´t open that site.

I have now established that I can´t open my Gmail with 4 different Macs. But I can open it with Firefox, if I don´t tick the "Stay signed in" box and always rebooting Firefox when I want to use it.

I can always use it once, then when I go to another site, I can´t go back to Gmail, it won´t open. :confused:

Also noticed this with Safari. I ticked Private Browsing on and I could access accounts.google.com and mail.google.com Sign In page, but when I try to sign in again "Safari can´t open page" and after that can´t access those pages anymore.

But if I untick and tick again the Private Browsing I can access that page again, but not sign in.
 
Last edited:
I was reminded of another thing to try:

Go to System Preferences > Network > Advanced > TCP/IP > Configure IPv6: Off.
If this is set to anything else, change it to Off. See if that helps.
 
Have you tried resetting Safari with all options selected?

This will clear local storage other than cookies and cache that may be causing the problem.

Have you recently switched to a new router?

Sometimes hardware incompatibilities can cause issues with logins and online forms that don't occur when just doing more basic web activities.

For example, I had such issues occur with the combination of a motorola cable modem and a d-link 4 port router many years back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back