Images from ONE website won't load

I'm not sure if the OS X Operating System forum is the right place to post this, but here goes. I should note that initially, my problem does not sound relevant to Macs, but if you read on, you'll see why I believe it is a problem with my computer.

For reference, I use a 17-inch Macbook Pro that's running on Snow Leopard, OS X 10.6.

I run a website that hosts a couple of forums, and yesterday, all of a sudden, I was unable to view any images hosted on my site, including the forum headers and graphics. I can see images on all other websites on the internet - it's only my own website that I can't. It's been 24 hours since and the problem persists. I have tried viewing the site on Firefox, Opera and Safari, and my site's images cannot be viewed on any browser on my Mac. I can also no longer access the website's Cpanel using the usual URL I've used in the past (e.g. cpanel.WEBSITE-NAME-HERE.com) and have to go through another URL (e.g. stats.servername.webhostname.com:1234). In addition, my forums are taking about five times as long to even load (but perhaps this is because the browser is trying so hard to load the images that won't load... I'm really not sure. The text and forums are taking pretty long to load, though. I don't know if it's linked to the image issue.).

All other members of my forum can view the images, the forums load fast and normally for them, and nobody that I know is facing the same problem as I am. Of course, as the website's owner, being unable to view any images (along with the other site problems I mentioned) is a HUGE problem, and one that needs to be resolved immediately.

I tried rebooting my computer several times, clearing cookies, checking to see if the site had been accidentally blocked on each browser, checking to see if I'd accidentally selected "block images" on Firefox, etc. Nothing works. I also tried viewing the website on other computers in my household, and it loads just fine on my brother's PC and laptop, so it's not possible that our internet company blocked my site (nor would they have any reason to). As the problem occurred so suddenly, randomly and without warning, I'm pretty sure that I did not personally do something to cause it intentionally - if I did, it was a sheer accident and I'm not even sure what I did. I am also inclined to think it's a computer problem rather than a browser problem, as seeing the issue affects the site on ALL my browsers, not just one of them.

I contacted my web host's live chat support, and according to them, my IP address has not been banned or anything, and the site works fine on their end (they checked it out on several computers). They suggested that the problem lies with my Mac, and they cannot help me with that.

Does anybody know what's wrong?
I would really appreciate suggestions on how I can rectify this - ones I haven't already tried. If you know exactly what happened to trigger this, all the better. I want to know so that I can ensure it doesn't happen again.

Any help would be great, thanks!


P.S. I also just tried using OpenDNS.com to change my DNS and see if that was the issue. It has no effect on the problem so far.

If you view it through a proxy site does it work?

Welcome to Mac Forums
Seeing that it's working on your brothers PC and laptop, and that it's only the one website, I would perhaps try setting up a new admin account, logging out of yours and into the new one and seeing if that rectifies the problem.
Post back with an update

Thanks for the welcome!

Wow... it DOES work with a proxy site.
What is the issue, then?

I forgot to mention that I also did what 6string recommended and logged out of my Admin account. But the sites do not work even if I'm viewing them as a guest or with another account.

Only accessing the site through a proxy makes the images work, and causes the site to load fast and normally.

This still leaves the question as to why all of a sudden you need to view through a proxy.

Indeed! I cannot possibly be viewing my own website through a proxy forever, as it's rather disruptive and annoying.

I've been at it for a day now, trying everything I can think of to figure this out and eliminate it but so far nothing! Even tried clearing my system cache and library cache, and using Macpilot but they didn't do anything.

Is there anything in you proxy settings in system preferences>network>advanced>proxy?
Also, have you tried open DNS to see if that makes a difference?

6string, yes, as mentioned above, I switched to Open DNS yesterday but it didn't fix the problem.

However, I seem to have finally resolved the issue in the most random way possible.

Basically, after having expended every possible method of repair, I went back to fiddling with my Linksys router settings again (I'd already done this yesterday - basically switching every other option back and forth to see if it did anything... but nothing worked. Still, I figured it couldn't hurt to do it again.).

My router is usually set to Automatic Configuration - DHCP, but I decided to switch it to Static IP, which required me to manually fill in the DNS, IP Address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, etc. I did that, but substituted my internet service provider's DNS for Open DNS (my Mac had already been using Open DNS since yesterday, as switching to Open DNS was one of the things I tried in my attempt to fix the image problem - except it didn't have any effect on the issue whatsoever.).

Anyway, right after this, I had to leave the house for a bit, but before I left, I tested the new settings briefly and noticed that the images were still not loading even though the internet worked fine.

When I returned home four hours later, I discovered to my horror that the internet had stopped functioning. I spent an hour trying to get it to work and was about to ring my internet company to complain when I suddenly remembered that I had changed the settings. I thought it was extremely weird that this would happen, as the net had been alright after I modified the settings earlier. At any rate, I wound up switching it back to the original Automatic Configuration - DHCP default, and reverting back to my internet service provider's DNS. In other words, I changed everything back to the way it originally was.

#1 The internet began working again!
#2 Somehow, when I went to view my website after doing this, the images loaded!

I really don't get it. The router is now simply using the same settings it had used throughout the duration of the image problem. And yet, switching it to Static IP and then back to Automatic Configuration - DHCP managed to get the images to work once more.

Whatever the case, I'm not complaining!

Thanks for everyone's help.

Hey guys,

I'm in a kind of desperate situation here as well - have the exact same problem as the TS, and armed with a bunch of googled solutions that do not work.

The Problem:
Can't view my images from my domain on my laptop with my home's broadband connection.
1. Can be viewed on other computers in the same home network
2. I can view it on my laptop if I'm tethering with my iphone, or with wifi connections outside of my home.
3. Works on proxy sites. Also works with proxy connection chrome app Switchy - however connection on this is very slow and I want a cure, not a huge and ineffective roundabout ):
4. This is making me lose lots of hair.

I have tried:
1. Using OpenDNS, put in both DNS addresses in my Static DNS on my Linksys router.
2. Changed the last 3 numbers of my IP address.
3. Cleared the cache
4. Refreshed the pages like a maniac. It's happening in all of my domains hosted by Siteground.com.

And a few other stuff that I can't remember right now... Nothing has worked yet. If I was able to find someone else on this globe who's had the identical problem as me, SOMEONE OUT THERE PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Many people have suggested changing the physical router so that I will have a new DNS or something like that, but that is a pretty ridiculous option for the problem I'm having.