Bug Page Cannot Be Loaded Error

  • Thread starter Thread starter Vanadium 50
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AI Thread Summary
the "Page Cannot Be Loaded" error on Physics Forums appears to be primarily server-side, as multiple users have reported similar issues, particularly when using public Wi-Fi or slower connections. The error message may be misleading, as it suggests checking the internet connection, while many users experience functionality issues specifically with pop-up features like editing or searching. Some users have found temporary relief by refreshing the page or restarting their browser, indicating a potential caching or session issue. Discussions also highlight that the error may be exacerbated by browser extensions, though opinions vary on their actual impact. Overall, the consensus points to server performance and configuration as key factors contributing to the error.
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I often get the following error. It appears to be server-side.

Page could not be loaded​


The requested page could not be loaded.
  • Check your internet connection and try again.
  • Certain browser extensions, such as ad blockers, may block pages unexpectedly. Disable these and try again.
  • Physics Forums may be temporarily unavailable. Please check back later.
 
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I sometimes get stuff like that when my Internet connection becomes unbearably slow and things time out.
 
How do you `know "Internet connection becomes unbearably slow" and not "the sever PF is on is overloaded"?

I'm pretty sure the issue is server side, since it says "Physics Forums" and not physicsforums.com. My firewall also tells me my throughput, and I see no signs of saturating my bandwidth - no signs of anything, actually - when this happens.
 
Vanadium 50 said:
I often get the following error. It appears to be server-side.

Page could not be loaded​

I agree. I recently experienced the same problem of a PF page not loading. I backtracked and came back, and the page loaded correctly. If it happens to more than one, and I don't think it a traffic issue, then it could be the server, or server-side.
 
Vanadium 50 said:
I often get the following error. It appears to be server-side.
Next time you get this, try a different browser and let me know.
 
It's too short a time to do this. If I hit reload, the page is there.
 
Why would PF servers ask you to check your internet connection? The error message seems to be browser-generated but the problem might be more complicated.

https://forumpromotion.net/forum/threads/not-able-to-access-certain-threads.167366/ has a user with the same problem, it was solved by flushing the DNS cache of the user (see page 2).
This thread had the same error, but here a server-side IP configuration change solved the problem.

Both are xenForo which might be relevant.
 
mfb said:
The error message seems to be browser-generated
How does the browser know the site is "Physics Forums" and not www.physicsforums.com?
 
Visited the website before?
Today websites are not loaded completely with a single request. It could be that some initial connection works but then additional requests fail, causing the browser to produce that error message (using the name from the connection that worked before).
 
  • #11
I just viewed this thread, then I turned Airplane mode on, then I hit refresh, then I got the same error V50 found. Perhaps it is a new rev of Chrome that shows the error this way.

1624853411384.png
 
  • #12
anorlunda said:
Perhaps it is a new rev of Chrome that shows the error this way.
No, it's not Chrome: how would Chrome know that the site is called Physics Forums and uses buttons with a blue background?

The error is generated by the XenForo JavaScript which is not getting a response to one of the (apparently many and not very useful) requests it is sending in the background, it's one for @Greg Bernhardt to take up with XenForo.
 
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  • #13
I did a Ctrl-U. 3100 lines of HTML on that page.
 
  • #15
Fixed it, there was a job stuck in the db and wasn't clearing. Thanks for the help all!
 
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  • #17
PF is practically unusable on a laptop with a poor WiFi connection. It's slow but workable using a phone. Which is how I'm doing this.

For example, it was impossible to search for this thread on my laptop. The site just hung on the search dialogue box.

And, in fact, everything is practically impossible. Other websites are a bit slow, but PF isn't working on a laptop.
 
  • #18
PS anything that tries to open a new window fails. Like the search function.

Also, generally it seems to be cumulative. The first page (new posts) loads quickly, if you click on a thread that's a bit slower. Click on a second thread and it fails. I can only ever get one or two pages at most before it fails.
 
  • #19
I would chalk it up to an Internet problem rather than any particular website.

I had a less severe version of that problem last evening. Very slow, but the lights on my router were going like crazy.

However even the Google home page was replaced by a different page, and their News page was slow after leaving PF.
 
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  • #20
Tom.G said:
I would chalk it up to an Internet problem rather than any particular website.
The problem is consistent and renders the PF site unsuable when other sites are a little slow but otherwise working fine. I can't see any sense in deciding that's a general Internet problem.
 
  • #21
Well, I got this yesterday and it was seconds before my internet connection went out.

Googlebot is slamming this site every minute and they are reporting no connection issues.
 
  • #22
Greg Bernhardt said:
Well, I got this yesterday and it was seconds before my internet connection went out.

Googlebot is slamming this site every minute and they are reporting no connection issues.
If I were to guess, I'd say that on a slow connection it seems to lose the place. For example, something as simple as "liking" a post causes it to hang. The same with opening the search button.

It doesn't happen on a phone, which should be a clue to the techies: what happens different when you're on a laptop?

It can't be simply the Internet if it works on a phone but not on a laptop. Same wifi.
 
  • #23
It's back.
 
  • #24
My wife had a similar problem, in reverse, yesterday. Amazon locked-up the browser on her tablet, but worked fine on this tower machine I'm on. Amazon works OK for her today.

(The Internet poltergeists must have been tamed, for now. :rolleyes: )
 
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  • #25
I'm on a train and have successfully video streamed the highlights of yesterday's golf. But, PF is unusable.

This is not an Internet problem (and I wish some people would stop saying it is).

My guess is that PF is getting tangled up in public wifi security/protocols in some way. You always get one post, but after a short time it just freezes up. It's always on my laptop, not on my phone.

@Greg Bernhardt can someone look at this? I'm on public wifi a lot these days.
 
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  • #26
PeroK said:
This is not an Internet problem (and I wish some people would stop saying it is).
This.
 
  • #27
PeroK said:
@Greg Bernhardt can someone look at this?
To be honest, I don't really know how to diagnosis this. I'm going to get some help on this one. Hold tight.
 
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  • #28
Our web server has been updated. Fingers crossed that maybe that helped. Please update if you receive the error again.
 
  • #29
Greg Bernhardt said:
Our web server has been updated. Fingers crossed that maybe that helped. Please update if you receive the error again.
It's still happening. I had to close the browser window and fire up PF again in order to open this thread and, hopefully, respond.
 
  • #30
Then I clicked "What's new", chose "New posts" and got the "Page cannot be loaded error". So, I closed that window and started again. And, hey presto.
 
  • #31
This seems to be a workaround: close PF and start again repeatedly. Which is what I did to post this!
 
  • #32
  • #34
Did it 5 or 6 minutes ago.
 
  • #35
Vanadium 50 said:
Did it 5 or 6 minutes ago.
Why? I already did the search for you...
 
  • #36
Doing it now.
 
  • #37
Vanadium 50 said:
Doing it now.
I reached out to a Xenforo dev and he said he's seen this happen for those using an ad blocker and visiting a page with "ad" somewhere in the title or page URL. Could this be the case here?
 
  • #38
I am using an ad-blocker but this goes away after a minute. But do a search for "ad" - you see it in lots of places: Academic Advising.
 
  • #39
Worse - any URL ending in unread will have the AD.
 
  • #40
Vanadium 50 said:
Worse - any URL ending in unread will have the AD.
Even worse "thread" is in every URL.
 
  • #41
Greg Bernhardt said:
I reached out to a Xenforo dev and he said he's seen this happen for those using an ad blocker and visiting a page with "ad" somewhere in the title or page URL. Could this be the case here?
I don't think so. Ad blockers generally do not cause a problem in site loading; in fact, often blocking ads makes a site load much faster. In addition, when we log into PF, no one can see any ads, so ad blockers will not really have an effect here.
 
  • #42
Wrichik Basu said:
I don't think so. Ad blockers generally do not cause a problem in site loading; in fact, often blocking ads makes a site load much faster. In addition, when we log into PF, no one can see any ads, so ad blockers will not really have an effect here.
Whether it's the case here, unsure, but the error message literally addresses ad blockers as a possible cause.
 
  • #43
I'm not so sure the error message is the One True Font of Knowledge here. Lots of things can go into error messages. Why not Haiku?

The page you asked for
Sadly is here no longer
Moved permanently

I'm also not sure we can say "Well, just shut off your ad blocker". These days, pretty much all browsers come with ad blockers. I might even make the argument that the real benefit of ad blockers isn't the reduction of legitimate ads, it's a defense against malvertising. I would certainly want more specific advice, like "whitelist physicsforums" than "shut your protection off - it might help. Then again, it might not"

Finally, we have presented evidence that the problem is server side. The best evidence is that a killing a stuck job made the problem go away temporarily. The next best is that multiple people report it. The next best is that it is intermittent. I don't see any evidence against the theory that the server is overwhelmed with the zillion scripts Xenforo wants to run.
 
  • #44
Happened a minute ago. Do you have enough data points? Can I stop recording?
 
  • #45
Vanadium 50 said:
Happened a minute ago. Do you have enough data points? Can I stop recording?
To be honest, I'm at a loss as to how to diagnose this further. There are no signs the server is taxed. We're not hearing from a large number of people. I reached out to a server admin and he didn't have any ideas. What do you suggest?
 
  • #46
Greg Bernhardt said:
To be honest, I'm at a loss as to how to diagnose this further. There are no signs the server is taxed. We're not hearing from a large number of people. I reached out to a server admin and he didn't have any ideas. What do you suggest?
It would be good if you could recreate the error. Connect via a low-speed public wifi (or effectively simulate such a connection).

For me, it seems to happen mostly on pop-up functionality (trying to edit or reply to a post, or simply like a post, or invoke the search function). Someone would need to look at what the software does precisely in those cases and figure out what could go wrong.

The big clue, I think, is that I almost always get a couple of functions on a new window. Then, it seems to get tangled up (it must be something to do with low bandwidth and/or what happens on public wifi). It seems to me that it loses the place and then after 10-15 seconds times out.
 
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  • #47
Presumably this message is sent in response to severl conditions. Can you make one page for half of the conditions and another for the other half?
 
  • #48
Vanadium 50 said:
Presumably this message is sent in response to severl conditions. Can you make one page for half of the conditions and another for the other half?
Sorry I don't know what this means
 
  • #49
This page gets sent when something happens. Probably a list of things. Can you find that list and split it up? I am thinking along the lines of a binary search through the possibilities.
 
  • #50
Vanadium 50 said:
This page gets sent when something happens. Probably a list of things. Can you find that list and split it up? I am thinking along the lines of a binary search through the possibilities.
I got a little more info from an XF dev. He said this error page is cached by the browser as a requirement to meet PWA standards. Still thinking of how to diagnose. Emulating conditions is not easy especially if it is a weird server hiccup.
 

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