Certain websites unusable -- browser or java problem?

R

riddle

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I consistently find that certain websites time out or return error messages from my Mac in a way that makes me wonder whether I have browser issues. However, I've been unable to find a browser that resolves the problem (and I've tried Firefox 1.0, Safari 1.2.4, and IE 5.2). That makes me wonder whether maybe there's a java issue.

This is on a Powerbook G4 running Mac OS X 10.3.7. I don't know how to determine the version of java I'm running.

The sites are a miscellany, including some which probably do have serious performance issues (like Orkut) and some which are too obscure to use for diagnostic purposes (some features of my local university library site). But one that's driving me crazy is the American Airlines site, aa.com.

Specifically, the frequent flyer flight search page:

http://www.aa.com/apps/AAdvantage/RedeemMiles.jhtml

...returns me the error:

http://www.aa.com/apps/reservations...tml?_DARGS=/apps/AAdvantage/f_BookAward.jhtml
Request Timeout
The server timed out waiting for the client request.

This happens any time of day or night, in any browser. Is it just them, or could I have something wrong at my end?

Thanks.

-- Prentiss Riddle http://prentissriddle.com
 
You can check the Java versions by pasting this into Terminal;

ls -l /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/CurrentJDK

The search page loads fine for me in Safari and Firefox.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. That test indicates that I'm running JDK 1.4.2. Similarly, I'm not sure how to check whether that's the version I should be running. I do regularly run Software Update -- if the JDK is covered then that's presumably not my problem.

I should have been clearer about how to test the problem at aa.com: loading the search page is fine, it's when I do a search that I hit the error.
 
JDK 1.4.2 is the latest version.

I just did a search and it worked fine in Safari.
 
There's probably something going on between your end and theirs, possibly a router or firewall issue. You mentioned your university... are you in a dorm? Like, behind a firewall? Sometimes that can cause weird problems.
 
I'm on a cable modem (Time-Warner Roadrunner) with my own router doing a bit of firewalling. Nothing that should stop standard HTTP or HTTPS connections. Surely they're not trying to connect back to my desktop via some other port?!

I can test it from a wireless connection elsewhere in town and see whether that helps. If so, it could point to the kind of problem you describe. In that case I don't know how I'd begin to diagnose it further or get the people between roadrunner.com and aa.com to fix it...
 
I just went to my account on AA and tried the pages you mentioned without a problem using Safari 1.2.4 on OS X 10.3.7 with this week's security update. While I was there I took a look at the page source and it uses JavaScript not Java. The two are unrelated except for the letters J A and V in the name and a very superficial resemblance in the code syntax. JavaScript does not use Apple's Java Virtual Machine.

I can't tell you why the site is failing for you, but it has and does work quite well for me. There is a possibility that American Airlines was having a server problem when you were trying the site. That is, by far, the most frequent cause of the timeouts such as you encountered. The search function is performed by a different server probably even on a different machine cluster than the web page itself so it is very possible for one server to be up and the other down.
 
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