Total Inability To Download Anything At All From The Internet

Submitted by rshutt on Fri, 12/19/2008 - 4:26am.

I fully appreciate that this request for assistance may not be 100% within Teknoids' jurisdiction, but I am desperate. For some reason completely unknown, my iMac G5 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (running OSX 10.5.6) has very recently suddenly ceased being able to download anything whatsoever from the internet. I can access the web OK, send and receive email OK etc, but all attempts to download anything at all fail. Nothing whatsoever happens when I click on any "Download" link anywhere on the internet. No spinning wheel, nothing happening in the "Download Activity" window. Absolutely nothing. Can any helpful person suggest a possible reason for this ? Are there any files that I should specifically be checking on my Hard Drive  -  i.e. files that are essential for downloading to work ? If so, please advise and I shall see whether they are missing, corrupted or whatever. ANY help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated. I am at a loss at present !!Thanks !!Ron Huttner LL.B (Hons)(Retired) Barrister, Solicitor, Law Lecturer and Legal ResearcherMelbourneVictoriaAustralia

previous forum topic | next forum topic
( categories: teknoids )
Total Inability To Download Anything At All From The Internet -
Submitted by rshutt on Fri, 12/19/2008 - 3:51pm.

Hi Ken,
Yes I did comparatively recently upgrade from 10.5.5 to 10.5.6.
And I regret to say that I haven't a clue how to use whatever "command
line ftp client" I may happen to have.
I presume that you are referring to the "Terminal" application in Mac
OSX ?
I've never ever used it, as I have no understanding whatsoever of Unix.
Cheers,
Ron

On 20/12/2008, at 1:36 AM, Hirsh, Kenneth (hirshkh) wrote:

> Ron,
> Is there any chance that you downloaded the latest OS X update from
> Apple? 10.5.6 is reportedly causing significant problems according
> to some news articles.
>
> As to getting another browser, go to you command line ftp client and
> open ftp.mozilla.org. Look in /pub/firefox/releases. Pick a
> version directory and have at it.
> Ken Hirsh
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: teknoids-bounces@ruckus.law.cornell.edu [mailto:teknoids-bounces@ruckus.law.cornell.edu
> ] On Behalf Of Ronald Huttner
> Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 8:17 AM
> To: Teknoids
> Subject: Re: [teknoids] Total Inability To Download Anything At All
> From The Internet - Thanks !
>
> Paul,
> That's a fantastic response and I am very grateful indeed.
> I'm in a Catch-22 though, because I can't at present download a
> replacement browser.
> I strongly suspect that it is my Safari that is the problem.
> However I am perfectly able to browse the web with it.
> And my email is working.
> I think I may have to go in to Apple on Monday and ask them to put a
> copy of Safari and/or Firefox on a disk for me.
> By the way I NEVER go in for automatic software updates.
> I always like to wait and see what others have to say first !!!
> Thanks once again for your very full and helpful reply.
>
> Ronald Huttner
>
>
>
> On 20/12/2008, at 12:06 AM, marbux wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 2:22 AM, Ronald Huttner >> wrote:
>>
>> Hi, Ron,
>>
>> I'm assuming that mouse clicks are still working in other apps. Have
>> you tried with different web browsers or is this all with one
>> browser?
>> If the latter, I'd hazard a guess that your browser's code has been
>> corrupted and that uninstalling then reinstalling the browser might
>> cure the problem. But if you can't download, that would require that
>> you have the installer for some browser at hand. Note that some
>> browsers' installers will overwrite existing files safely (won't wipe
>> out your bookmarks, etc. and that I've never run across a browser
>> whose uninstaller removes critical files like bookmarks, passwords,
>> etc.)
>>
>> Another conceivable explanation is that you have an automatic update
>> enabled for the browser, an automatic update was applied, and it
>> has a
>> bug that clashes with your system. If so, reverting to an earlier
>> build of the browser might cure the problem.
>>
>> If you do not have a browser installer on hand, you might research
>> what files make up the installed version and check to make sure
>> they're all there. Most major browser vendors have documentation
>> online for the file list when installed.
>>
>> Armed with that information, you might also try restoring those files
>> from your most recent backup before the misbehavior started.
>>
>> I have assisted several people who had the same problem, albeit not
>> on
>> a Mac. In each case, it was either a corrupted browser or an update
>> with a bug that collided with a particular hardware brand and model.
>> That doesn't rule out other possibilities such as newly installed
>> software that creates a conflict, but I'd start with the browser as
>> the suspect miscreant.
>>
>> I guess the wisdom here is:
>>
>> [i] it's good to have at least two different browsers installed and
>> an
>> archived copy of at least one browser's installer;
>>
>> [ii] automatic software updates are an evil to be avoided,
>> particularly for apps that you depend on mightily; and
>>
>> [iii] it's good to wait and check on the Web whether a software
>> update
>> causes problems before applying updates. Not infrequently, software
>> updates cause problems because the test systems were configured
>> differently from your own.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> --
>> Universal Interoperability Council
>>

parent | login to post comments