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

mazurka

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 26, 2004
50
0
After several decades devotedly using Safari I feel I must say goodbye to it now, as too many hours per day are spent looking at the "Safari Can't Find The Server" error message. It's just that I no longer have the patience to wade through all the "fixes" suggested on various forums. I've tried most of them, nothing works. Safari gets worse and worse. Even the link to this site threw up "Safari Can't Find The Server". I've deleted history, caches, reset DNS servers, about anything you can think of, and also anything else that 11 year-old kids recommend on the web. Sadly, I've moved to Chrome now, and imported all my bookmarks. It feels unfamiliar, but it works. Thanks, Safari, it was good knowing you.
 

Howard2k

macrumors 603
Mar 10, 2016
5,671
5,587
Obviously it’s an issue with your installation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that message.
Have you thought about a clean install?
 

mazurka

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 26, 2004
50
0
Good that Chrome is working for you. But that definitely sounds like a problem with your machine.
I'm now getting the same problem with Chrome. This is disturbing, because I work from home on an iMac running Mojave and many of the sites I regularly have to visit are now giving me this message about being unable to find the server. Here's the strange fact to add to the problem: my iPhone has now also started to return "cannot find server" messages when I try to open certain well-known and popular sites. To be clear, my iMac connects directly with broadband through cable modem, while the iPhone uses my home Wifi network. So essentially they're both supplied from the same broadband source, one directly and one via WiFi. The same problem now also occurs on my iMac on Firefox.
Screenshot 2018-10-13 at 10.49.57 AM.png
 

You are the One

macrumors 6502a
Dec 25, 2014
633
795
In the present
So essentially they're both supplied from the same broadband source, one directly and one via WiFi. The same problem now also occurs on my iMac on Firefox.

The common denominator starts from your router to your ISP. Seems to the your problem is your router. Have you updated the FW on the router? Is the box old? Try to use another router or have the SP change it.

iu


You'll be back on the Safari in no time :)
 

Argyboy

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2017
139
87
Dublin, Ireland
I'm now getting the same problem with Chrome. This is disturbing, because I work from home on an iMac running Mojave and many of the sites I regularly have to visit are now giving me this message about being unable to find the server. Here's the strange fact to add to the problem: my iPhone has now also started to return "cannot find server" messages when I try to open certain well-known and popular sites. To be clear, my iMac connects directly with broadband through cable modem, while the iPhone uses my home Wifi network. So essentially they're both supplied from the same broadband source, one directly and one via WiFi. The same problem now also occurs on my iMac on Firefox. View attachment 794541

Are you experiencing the same thing if you connect your iMac to another internet connection? if you have the possibility, try setting up a wireless hotspot on your iPhone and then connect the iMac to that via WiFi. See if you have the same issues.
 
  • Like
Reactions: artfossil

mazurka

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 26, 2004
50
0
The common denominator starts from your router to your ISP. Seems to the your problem is your router. Have you updated the FW on the router? Is the box old? Try to use another router or have the SP change it.

iu


You'll be back on the Safari in no time :)
[doublepost=1539437567][/doublepost]Ok I think I’ve broken the logjam. I changed the DNS settings on the Mac and the iPhone and iPad to 8.8.8.8 and though I’d done this before I obviously forgot to hit “Apply” afterwards. This is now working and I’m back on Safari (!). I also did a reset on my router but I think the DNS was the game changer. Thanks to everyone who made helpful suggestions. I’ll update if anything bad happens :)
 

Spudlicious

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2015
936
818
Bedfordshire, England
[doublepost=1539437567][/doublepost]
Ok I think I’ve broken the logjam. I changed the DNS settings on the Mac and the iPhone and iPad to 8.8.8.8 and though I’d done this before I obviously forgot to hit “Apply” afterwards. This is now working and I’m back on Safari (!). I also did a reset on my router but I think the DNS was the game changer. Thanks to everyone who made helpful suggestions. I’ll update if anything bad happens :)
Google DNS, which you're now using, is very fast and reliable but those folk don't have the best reputation for respecting privacy. An alternative is 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 (OpenDNS) and there are others. Better than setting DNS on individual devices is to complete the DNS fields in your router settings, if those fields are blank the router will use your ISP's default DNS and then, apart from the issues you've seen, your privacy is non-existant.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.