Safari connectivity issues: Yet another fix

As previously reported, in certain instances, Safari cannot connect to some websites on the first or second tries, often requiring multiple attempts -- after which it appears to connect properly.

To recap the previously reported solutions:

• Empty the Safari cache. This can be accomplished either by using the ?Safari? menu to select ?Empty Cache? or deleting the folder located at ~/Library/Caches/Safari.
• Navigate to the directory /Library/InputManagers/ (sometimes this folder is located in ~/Library/InputManagers/) and delete the file SIMBL. This will break the functionality of PithHelmet (a content filtering program for Safari) and perhaps other shareware utilities. Note that if you can't find this folder on your Mac, there's nothing wrong with your installation of Mac OS X. The folder is generally only created when an application requiring an InputManager plugin creates it.
• Re-run the Mac OS X 10.3.4 combined updater.
• Delete the file com.apple.Safari.plist located in ~/Library/Preferences/ and restart Safari ? note that this will reset any user-specified Safari preferences to default.
• Apple Knowledge Base article #151266 offers a number of potential culprits for this issue, as well as corresponding solutions, including ?Try entering ?/index.html? at the end of the address.?

Now a handful of readers have reported that deleting the DNS servers located in the "Network" pane of System Preferences (click configure for the active configuration) resolves connectivity issues:

MacFixIt reader Thomas Ungricht writes:

"I had these 'could not find server'-alerts all the time not only in Safari but in other browsers, in Mail, in Transit and a lot of other applications that connect to the internet for checks.

"I started with checking my Network-[Built-in Ethernet]-Prefs for maybe outdated DNS Servers addresses, but all three where valid (I compared with a list from my ISP, T-online here in Germany).

"Then the '(Optional)' remark on the right side of the DNS Servers list caught my attention! I thought: What if ...? I copied the DNS Servers list to a text-file for backup and then erased it, pushed the [Apply Now]-button and - Voila: Not a single failed connection since then (last 48 hours) through several reboots! "

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Resources