1 mac out of 20 wont resolve http

asiajason · Nov 7, 2011

I have a lab of macs, and one of them will not access anything by browser- chrome or safari.

In terminal, I can ping and nslookup ip's and names outside the network, so DNS and routing appears to be working correctly - at least for icmp and nslookup queries.

Any troubleshooting steps I can follow to try and resolve this?

Thanks much!

XJ-linux · Nov 7, 2011

Anything look different on that system's /etc/resolv.conf or /etc/hosts files? Can you get to the various website by just directly typing in the ip address?

dtravis7 · Nov 7, 2011

XJ-linux said:
Anything look different on that system's /etc/resolv.conf or /etc/hosts files? Can you get to the various website by just directly typing in the ip address?

That is what I was going to ask but held off due to him saying sites look up in the terminal with both IP and Names.

XJ-linux · Nov 7, 2011

Hmmm... I should read more carefully next time dtravis

Could be Firewall/NIC related... try disabling the network adapter (or switching from wired to wireless adapter) and re-enabling it. Also, you can also try renewing the DHCP lease or manually assigning a new address to the problem machine. Sounds like this system is getting protocols it can receive filtered out somehow. The network guys could also check the port and see if someone messed with a setting, or perhaps changed an ethernet cable from one port to another.

asiajason · Nov 8, 2011

you guys are good and responsive.. thank you..

I checked the resolv.conf and hosts file, and it was the same as the others. But I then tried www.google.com's ip (as resolved by nslookup) and VIOLA! worked. So... then I tried a regular http request (google.com) and now it works....

jeesh, this system (and only this system) has not been working for a week.. and I'm really not sure what just happened (why it worked / not worked)

Thanks for those suggestions, I really appreciate it!

Cheers,
Jason

dtravis7 · Nov 8, 2011

That screamed DNS for some reason. If the issue shows up again, report back. We are here to help.

asiajason · Nov 9, 2011

dtravis7 said:
That screamed DNS for some reason. If the issue shows up again, report back. We are here to help.

Thanks kindly!

And.... btw, it did come back!

Today, I can't use IP nor NAME in the URL. (both chrome/ safari)

BUT, I can still use ping and nslookup successfully in the terminal.

I am the admin of the router, and I haven't made any changes to that recently either....

anything else I can try for troubleshooting this?