Troubleshooting Netscape

Often the real problem with troubleshooting Netscape is that your TCP/IP settings are not correct or are conflicting with another program. Check out your operating system before using this web page Windows 95 - Macintosh - Windows 3.1 . The next steps involve actually looking at the error messages that Netscape puts out.

Before you begin troubleshooting, try to access the same URL a few times. Temporary network glitches may clear by the time you reload the page. Also, clear your caches. To do this click on: Options | Network Preferences | Cache - and then click on the 2 buttons to clear the disk cache and the memory cache.

Next, try to access another site immediately after receiving the error. If you receive the same error several times on different sites that you have been able to access before, the problem may be with your own connection. The following troubleshooting tips assume you have tried to troubleshoot your own connection first.

Error Message	Potiental Cause	Tricks & Tips
Unknown file type, no viewer configured for file type, or unable to launch external viewer.	There are many file types that Netscape will recognize automatically (Ex. JPG and GIF). If you are receiving this message, Netscape is telling you that the program has run into a file type it has not been configured to handle.	If you are downloading files, click on "Save to Disk" and select the directory where the downloaded file should be stored. Be sure that you remember what directory you saved the file. You can minimize the Saving Location window and go back to browsing although your connection will be slower. Otherwise, you will need to configure the viewer, external viewer, or get a Plug-in for that file type to view it.
Can't run Netscape after installing the newest version.	You may not be installing the file properly.	Be sure to uninstall and not delete your previous copy of Netscape Navigator. Reinstall your new version of Netscape. If it still fails, call technical support.
The server does not have a DNS entry.	TCP/IP stack not present or malfunctioning. Temporary network slowness or problems. Can't access Internet through firewall. Requested site may not exist or YOU ARE NOT CONNECTED!	If you can reach another remote site successfully, chances are your TCP/IP stack is functioning. If you can't, try disconnecting, rebooting, and reestablishing your connection. Check with your administrator to make sure that your account should be able to access the Internet through the firewall. Ping the host name to make sure it exists. Also, check the settings for your operating system's TCP/IP stack - Windows 95 - Macintosh - Windows 3.1
404 Not Found.	URL may not exist. Memory and disk caches may be set too low.	Under Options \| Network Preferences \| Cache, raise the cache gradually in 1000K increments. Confirm URL when possible with the webmaster for that site. *Note: Don't raise it too high either - this can cause memory and hard disk problems.
404 Access Denied.	File permissions are not set correctly or are not set to be accessed by certain groups.	If you believe that this is an error, you could try emailing the web page owner (or webmaster). The link could be bad or if you are type a URL, you may have mistyped it. Otherwise, there really isn't anything you can do.
503 Service unavailable.	Network lag/slowness problem.	Ping the site to see if it is alive. If alive, then it could be lag. Otherwise, the service really is unavailable
Socket is not connected.	Usually temporary connection problem.	Try at least two other Web pages on different sites. Then, try the site you got the error on again. If you still get the error, you may wish to disconnect and reconnect to the server.
Connection timed out.	Network slowness or site is unavailable.	Ping the host site to determine if the site is accessible from your server. If alive, then it could be lag. Otherwise, the service really is unavailable.
Can't use Netscape to view a local file.	MOZOCK.DLL not loaded or used.	Check your Netscape directory to make sure that MOZOCK.DLL is available. If not, downloading a newer version or reinstalling Netscape may help. You can find this file at Netscape.
Reentrant call to interrupt window.	Usually seems to happen if you click "Stop" before a page has finished loading.	If you experience this often enough, try opening another Netscape window to go to another site. In a moment or two go back to the old window and exit then.
Connection reset by peer.	Remote host reset your connection.	Usually clicking "Reload" will bring up the URL normally.
System call 'connect' failed: connection refused.	Netscape was unable to connect to the remote host.	Often occurs because a system is down or not accepting connections. Use Ping to see if the host is live or not. A traceroute to the site may provide information also.
Can't read newsgroups.	Network connection information in Preferences incorrect, or problem with your provider's news server.	Check to make sure that Options \| Mail and News Preferences \| Servers information is complete and correct. The default of "news" is fine. If the problems continues, contact technical support to see if anyone else has reported similar problems.
General protection faults in Netscape.	Often related to software configuration issues.	Edit NETSCAPE.INI. In the "Network" section of NETSCAPE.INI, change the "Use Asynch DNS" line to "No". Some configurations of Windows networking software will fail using asynchronous DNS. Set "Max Connections" to "1". If this happens in email, delete the INBOX and INBOX.SMN files in the mail directory. Otherwise, definately check out your operating system settings first (see top of page).
Invalid page faults in Netscape.	Invalid page faults are generally caused by lack of system resources, out of date video drivers, or a corrupt swap/paging file.	Close any unnecessary applications, contact your video card manufacturer for their latest drivers, and run scan disk and defrag to clear any hard drive errors that may be preventing Windows 95 from correctly utilizing a paging or swap file. For Windows 95 get http://www.microsoft.com/windows/download/krnlupd.exe and download the file.
FTP transfers hang or disconnect after connecting successfully to FTP host.	Problem with SLIP/PPP TCP/IP stack configuration (the dialing software).	Change the MTU value in your stack software from 1500 to 1006. This can be changes on Windows 95 dialer too. Check out the Windows 95 Annoyances page for how.
Error 57 when attempting to FTP.	Usually occurs when an ftp server is overloaded or very busy.	Try to download the file at off-peak hours. Does not indicate a problem with Netscape.
"Reload" button doesn't really reload all files.	Netscape checks to see if there have been any changes of the files in cache compared to the files on the server depending on how you have the cache settings set. Certainly setting them to verify every time will fix the problem, but will force the web page to download every time you go to it including when you hit the "Back" button. "Once per session" is the typical setting for the cache. Problems can also result if the time/date stamp on the server or on your workstation are incorrect.	Force a complete reload press Shift-Ctrl-R keys or hold down the Shift key and click the "Reload" button.