More on connectivity issues with Safari, other browsers

We previously reported an issue where, for some users, certain sites will refuse to open in Safari unless requested multiple times. In most cases, the issue resolves after one or two attempts, but in others Safari displays the "Cannot connect to server message" several times in a row.

Combo updater Like a multitude of other issues, this problem can sometimes be resolved by re-applying the Mac OS X 10.3.4 combo updater.

Frank Malczewski writes "I too had problems with web browsers and email and what not seeming to become problematic with network connectivity after a certain amount of time (e.g., not being able to connect to websites like apple.com after being logged in for a couple of hours).

"My fix, won't swear it's 100%, but it is much more stable, was to run the 10.3.4 combo updater. It seems to have cleared up all the issues I was having."

Corrupt preferences In other cases, corrupt preferences -- even those created by unrelated applications -- may be causing connectivity issues for Web browsers and other network sensitive programs.

Using a freeware tool like Preferential Treatment to check for such corruption, and deleting the offending files, can sometimes resolve the problem:

Jorge Pinheiro writes "I had the exactly same problem with Safari and all the other browsers (Netscape, Mozilla, Camino, Omniweb, Opera, Explorer, etc.) after installing Security Update 2004-06-07 (two or more attempts to connect to sites).

"I used the application Preferential Treatment and I delete a BBEdit preference file com.apple.LaunchServices.plist, in fact an alias of it, stored in the folder BBEdit Preferences. I also deleted the original com.apple.LaunchServices.plist, but that, I think, was not necessary. All worked fine for me after that."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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