Book: Yes, I'd forgotten you're moonlighting as a criminal mastermind now. Got your next heist planned? Simon: No. But I'm thinking about growing a big black mustache. I'm a traditionalist.

'War Stories'


Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."

Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!


Consuela - Jan 02, 2009 8:06:05 am PST #8510 of 25501
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

Okay, so I have a problem that's been driving me crazy the last few months.

I got a new Macbook in October and I love it. But it has this issue and I don't know how to begin dealing with it.

I have a wireless router and a DSL connection through Earthlink. Periodically, and by periodically I mean frequently, and by frequently I mean several times in every hour, I will click on a link and it will fail to resolve.

Except by "fail to resolve" I mean what I get is not a 404, but the Earthlink search page. Blah blah this page does not exist, perhaps you mean this other site?

But this is for links like my own LJ. Or a specific page on someone else's LJ, even though my LJ friends' page resolves. Or B.org. Pages which absolutely exist. And I clearly have a connection to the internet, because I got the Earthlink search page, so it's not a problem with the wireless connection (which has its own problems, but this isn't it).

Please note that I never had this problem with my old Dell laptop. It's something specific to the way the Macbook interacts with the DSL, I guess.

Anyone have any ideas of what I need to do to diagnose and correct this? I've had DSL through Earthlink for years and never had any problems with them.


Jesse - Jan 02, 2009 8:17:27 am PST #8511 of 25501
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Another random question: my computer just randomly turned off and had some trouble turning back on. It did, obviously, but where should I go looking to see what might be going on?


le nubian - Jan 02, 2009 8:46:47 am PST #8512 of 25501
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

Consuela -

have you tried using other browsers and see if you happen to have the same things happen?


Rob - Jan 02, 2009 9:16:14 am PST #8513 of 25501

It could be an incompatibility between Earthlink's DNS servers and Mac OS. Can you try using OpenDNS for a while and seeing if the problem goes away?


le nubian - Jan 02, 2009 9:31:51 am PST #8514 of 25501
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

I thought she might need to adjust browser settings.


omnis_audis - Jan 02, 2009 9:55:36 am PST #8515 of 25501
omnis, pursue. That's an order from a shy woman who can use M-16. - Shir

Consuela, I second Rob's suggestion for OpenDNS. I wonder if you did some install disk for Earthlink? Those are notorious for installing stupid stuff. On the Mac, its usually their slow DNS. I don't know how savy you are, so if you want help on how to change that:

System Pref's -> Network -> Advanced button (lower right) -> DNS tab


Consuela - Jan 02, 2009 10:26:38 am PST #8516 of 25501
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

Oh, thank you folks. So I checked it with Safari, and yes I got the same problem--while looking at the OpenDNS website, coincidentally enough.

omnis audis, I have not installed any Earthlink software on the Macbook. I have opened the DNS tab you told me about, but what should I do with it?

And what does OpenDNS do? What do I do to access it? Is it an application?


omnis_audis - Jan 02, 2009 12:06:58 pm PST #8517 of 25501
omnis, pursue. That's an order from a shy woman who can use M-16. - Shir

If there are any DNS Servers listed, highlight them and click the "-" at the bottom of the column. Then Click the "+" and add the two from the website. The applications access that preference, so there should be nothing left to do. In case you can't open that page, they are:

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220


le nubian - Jan 02, 2009 1:03:13 pm PST #8518 of 25501
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

Consuela,

when I had your problem, it was because I was using joikuspot and they told me to adjust my settings in Firefox.

This is what I had to do:

Tools --> Options --> Network ---> Settings

Check that “Auto-detect proxy settings for this network” is selected. Click OK and restart your browser


beekaytee - Jan 02, 2009 1:32:57 pm PST #8519 of 25501
Compassionately intolerant

Given my extraordinary techo problems lately, I'm considering getting a part time job at the Apple store. Access to geniuses and employee discounts in and environment with smart, cheerful people. Sounds pretty good.

Anybody done it know anyone who has?