firefox "cannot find server"

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dolores9
Guest

firefox "cannot find server"

Post by dolores9 »

I've recently downloaded the latest firefox but it wont open/connect. I get the following error message:

Server not found
Firefox can't find the server at www.google.com.

* Check the address for typing errors such as
ww.example.com instead of
www.example.com

* If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network
connection.

* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

My connections are OK(IE, OE and Opera work just fine). My firewall has been told to accept firefox. What else can I try/do?
Can someone pls reply to xxx@xxx.net?
Ta!
Desperate from Hackney

[edit]email removed. no mail support here but harvesting robots. trolly (moderator)[/edit]
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Tony-E
Posts: 8778
Joined: November 5th, 2004, 11:28 am

Post by Tony-E »

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Error_loading_websites

The most likely cause is your firewall. Try removing Firefox from the list of accepted programs in your firewall and let the firewall re-detect Firefox.
Guest
Guest

Post by Guest »

Tony E wrote:See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Error_loading_websites

The most likely cause is your firewall. Try removing Firefox from the list of accepted programs in your firewall and let the firewall re-detect Firefox.


I swear if I could collect $1 for every post like Tony's, I would be a millioner. Stupitd, canned, response: "your firewall" or "DNS issue" and pointing to that one article in KB. Can you guys THINK? Every other software works ok, but FF cant??? Would FF be the first suspect???

I had the same issue after installing FF2. Uninstalled it, put 1.5 back - no "DNS issues" and no "firewall issues". Works like a charm.

funny how installing the old version fixes all that all of a sudden.
VanillaMozilla
Posts: 13808
Joined: November 7th, 2005, 11:26 am

Post by VanillaMozilla »

anonymous wrote:Can you guys THINK? Every other software works ok, but FF cant???

Um, I am so tempted by your comment, but I will be nice. :lildevil:

"Most personal firewalls will deny access by any program, and each new version of any program, unless you have specifically allowed access. Neither a browser nor any other program can control the firewall. If it could, that would completely defeat the purpose of the firewall."
-- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firewalls , first paragraph.

Firefox 2 is a new program, and your firewall doesn't know that it's OK for it to access the Internet. Your firewall already knows about Firefox 1.5.
Last edited by VanillaMozilla on November 16th, 2006, 2:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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trolly
Moderator
Posts: 39851
Joined: August 22nd, 2005, 7:25 am

Post by trolly »

Seems you do not know how a firewall works.
A firewall remembers the exact version of each program. And FF2 is not the same program as e.g. FF 1.5.0.7 for a firewall. A modified program can be hijacked by a trojan or virus and allowing a modified program to access the net without asking would render each firewall useless because a bad program needs disguise itself only as a standard program normally allowed like IE.
So a firewall will block a modified program because it is its job to do exactly that. Most firewalls ask the user what to do with a modified program, some do not. Norton/Symantec Internet Security is a common candidate for the latter.
Think for yourself. Otherwise you have to believe what other people tell you.
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luvwoods
Guest

Post by luvwoods »

I also have frustrating difficulties with "cannot find server" and "connection timed out". Also stalling in dns lookup. I have read many forums similar to this one and no one really *knows* the answer.

I use the Sierra Wireless Aircard 860 to connect to Cingular's EDGE Network. Previously I used Highstream dialup. I was very satisfied with the dialup performance. I did have occasional errors (using IE) and most forums blamed it on XP. Since it was only occasional, I didn't pursue a remedy.

Since moving to a rural area far from the wirelines, I have much more difficulty loading all my favorite webpages. I've tried many of the fixes specified in various forums to no avail. It seems random, so I attribute it to the network (busy times, low signal, insufficient server capacity). I now use Firefox exclusively, for other reasons, but find no difference in IE as concerns the subject problem.
VanillaMozilla
Posts: 13808
Joined: November 7th, 2005, 11:26 am

Post by VanillaMozilla »

If you have determined that stalling in DNS lookup is indeed is your problem, then you must know the solution: replace your DNS lookup service. See the KB article "Error loading Websites".
luvwoods
Guest

Post by luvwoods »

dns stalling is only part of the problem, and, at the time of the above post, I had already been using Treewalk for some time with no evident improvement.
VanillaMozilla
Posts: 13808
Joined: November 7th, 2005, 11:26 am

Post by VanillaMozilla »

Yeah, sorry, I really don't know. From your description, the bottleneck appears to be the phone line. There's only so much speed in a phone line. And since IE is doing the same thing, it's not a Firefox issue.

I have no idea if DNS service is still part of the problem, but some dialup services are reported to perform poorly. Trolly's program should give you a good idea how your DNS service is performing. Trolly says it uses exactly the same procedure as Fx to get IP addresses. If domain-name resolution is still a problem, even with Treewalk, you could try selecting your own DNS server instead of TreeWalk.

Some people have reported improvement with pipelining and other ways of tinkering with your Internet connections. That won't speed up the connection, but if you still happen to have any unused bandwidth, it might conceivably speed up Web sites.
prosete
Guest

Let me be the 3rd poster to have the exact same problem...

Post by prosete »

...except that I can generally connect with an additonal click or two on the refresh icon.

Disabling my Zone Alarm makes no difference. I still have the same, frequently occurring "Server not found" error.

Using IE6 also causes the same problem, regardless of whether I use Zone Alarm or not.

I have also changed out my DSL modem twice, to no avail.

I have cleaned out ebery possible spyware through the use of 3 different anti-spyware products.

I have no Symantec app installed.

It gets tiring.
User avatar
dickvl
Posts: 54145
Joined: July 18th, 2005, 3:25 am

Post by dickvl »

prosete:
It could be a slow response from your ISP.

You can try to flush the DNS cache and see if that helps:
Error_loading_websites#DNS (Flush DNS cache) (KB)
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