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problems with BirdGuides (1 Viewer)

G

gordon hamlett

Well-known member
Any one else having trouble getting onto Bird Guides at the moment?

Via Internet Explorer, I keep getting dire warnings that there are problems with the site's security certificate and strong suggestions not to visit the site.

There are no problems logging in via Chrome, even though my same McAfee virus checker is in place.
 
I'm having the same issue with Chrome on a laptop, but on my phone (also Chrome on Android) it's OK
 
Evening all

Yes, as suggested, the warnings are because our SSL certificate has expired (for some reason we didn't get a reminder from our certificate provider, or at least it didn't get to the right person). There's no security risk, but we apologise for any concern caused. If your browser allows it you can override the warning (usually by clicking "Advanced" and then "Proceed to website" or similar - the exact mechanism and wording depends on your browser.)

The certificate is currently in the process of being renewed - I'm hoping it'll be resolved tomorrow (but I can't guarantee it as there are several parties involved). Apologies for any inconvenience/concern caused.

Regards
Dave Dunford
birdguides.com
 
Last edited:
The certificate renewal is now complete and shouldn't see any more alarming (alarmist?) error messages.

Thanks
Dave
 
Hi Malcolm.... you probably need to clear your cache and cookies. CTRL + f5 in Windows. Don't know about other systems.
 
Thanks for the advice, Delia. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Also, when I relogged into Bird Forum, I got the same security warning.

I wonder if it's something to do with my browser. I use Firefox on a Mac. However, all my other regular sites do not report any issues.

Malcolm
 
Can you get into either site Malcolm? If you can, try logging off from them. Re-start your machine, then try again.

PaleMoon and Firefox are OK with Birdforum on my Win8 laptop. So it sounds like your system and I'm pretty sure one of your settings is retain the information about the certificate. I've just Googled Bird Guides with no warning.

Perhaps delete the tab for BG and try from scratch by Googling.

That, I'm afraid, would be at the utter limit of my attempts to help. So maybe someone else can pop in if nothing else is working for you.
 
Thanks again, Delia. I do appreciate you trying to help. Unfortunately, having tried what you suggested, I still have the same problems.

I tried logging on to both Bird Guides and Bird Forum via Safari, which is Apple's default browser, and I had no problems.

So, for some reason Firefox is finding a security with these sites, while Safari does not.

I also looked at the preferences panel while running Firefox but I couldn't see anything that would explain what is happening.

The joy and the mystery of computers!

Malcolm
 
There is likely a security part/plugin in the firefox that does not connect to the actual site but to a "home office" that has a (by now) outdated list of which sites are not in compliance.

Niels
 
Well, some progress at last. The various things I had tried led me to conclude that the problem had to be something in my Firefox settings.

I went into the Preferences panel again and came across this: Query OCSP responder servers to confirm the current validity of certificates.

The option box for this was ticked. When I unticked it, I was able to log into Bird Guides and Bird Forum without problems.

Not sure if this is the best thing to do, though, as I have, in effect, deactivated a security feature.

Anyway, I just thought I would mention this in case anyone else was still having similiar problems.

All very puzzling.

Malcolm
 
I've got the OCSP option ticked Malcolm (found where it was eventually LOL )

It might be an idea to re-visit that in a day or two and see if the problem has gone away, so you can restore it.
 
Thanks, Niels and Delia. I appreciate your input. I'll keep an eye on this issue over the next few days.

Malcolm
 
I'm wondering if there is a problem with the security certificate again?

I was getting warnings about it up until Saturday - then things got worse and I am now completely unable to access Birdforum on my mobile phone (it's a rather old Android) - WiFi doesn't make any difference. Now I get the message ""Data Connectivity Problem - A secure Connection Couldn't Be Established"

I can still access Birdforum ok on desk/laptop.

I think it may be due to the same problems outlined above. I would like to try changing the OCSP option but don't even know where to find this.

If anyone has a clue how to cure this problem, I would be very grateful. Thanks.
 
Hi Woodchat

If you have PaleMoon or Firefox as your browser, you'll find it under

Tools>Preferences>Advanced (I don't know about other browsers)

Birdforum was made into a "secure" site at the weekend, so should now be showing https:// in the address bar.

It might be an idea to try accessing the forum from scratch via Google, though I didn't need to do anything different and, so far as I know, no-one else has reported any issue.

Good luck.
 
Thanks Delia,

I'm guessing my browser on my phone is so old it can't cope with the changes made. I did try to upgrade the browser but haven't got very far with it so far.

Thanks again for your help.
 
Woodchat said:
I am now completely unable to access Birdforum on my mobile phone (it's a rather old Android) - WiFi doesn't make any difference. Now I get the message ""Data Connectivity Problem - A secure Connection Couldn't Be Established"
Click to expand...

Hi Woodchat,

Sorry to hear you're having trouble accessing the site. If you can you let me know what version of Android you're running (or the make and model of the phone) then I can investigate.

Unfortunately you might be right about the browser being old – they way we've ended up having to implement HTTPS requires us to use certain technologies that aren't supported by really old browsers, like IE6 for example, and it may well be that some older phones also fall into that category.

Ollie
 
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