Main/Front page not working unless I delete browser data for the site

[BillGuy]

For some reason the primary main/front page does not work for me unless I delete the site data (cookies & cache) for the overtake.gg domain from my Firefox 132.0.1 browser.

After deleting those items, the front page will work one time only and then display the generic XenForo error message shown in the screenshot below. This behavior will repeat indefinitely until I once again delete the cookies and cache for the site. This will again get me only a single page view for the main page.

For reference, I tried opening Firefox in its safe mode (extensions disabled) but the behavior remained the same. I keep getting the XenForo error.

Strangely, I encounter no issues at all if I go directly to one of the “sub-URLs” such as https://www.overtake.gg/forums or https://www.overtake.gg/media . Hence, how I was able to log in to post this.

 

[Peter Boese]

I have the same problem with Firefox! I first thought the site is in maintenance, but it seems it is only caused by Firefox.

 

[Peter Boese]

For some reason the primary main/front page does not work for me unless I delete the site data (cookies & cache) for the overtake.gg domain from my Firefox 132.0.1 browser.

After deleting those items, the front page will work one time only and then display the generic XenForo error message shown in the screenshot below. This behavior will repeat indefinitely until I once again delete the cookies and cache for the site. This will again get me only a single page view for the main page.

For reference, I tried opening Firefox in its safe mode (extensions disabled) but the behavior remained the same. I keep getting the XenForo error.

Strangely, I encounter no issues at all if I go directly to one of the “sub-URLs” such as https://www.overtake.gg/forums or https://www.overtake.gg/media . Hence, how I was able to log in to post this.

View attachment 797664

I tried to set this in Firefox settings and then the website works:

Sorry its in german. It should be "Safety & Security" and "Only-HTTPS-Mode in all windows"

 

[GeekyDeaks]

Thanks for the report! We have had a few others report the same thing and I know one of those was definitely firefox too. Unfortunately, we are struggling to replicate it, but that is probably because we are now testing with firefox 'after' the event.

Can you first try doing a hard reload? Should be CTRL + SHIFT + R on windows/linux and CMD + SHIFT + R on mac.

If that doesn't work, it would be super helpful if you can get us some diagnostics. I'll draft up a quick set of instructions for firefox if you are still having an issue after the hard reload and have time to help.

 

[GeekyDeaks]

I tried to set this in Firefox settings and then the website works:
View attachment 797682
Sorry its in german. It should be "Safety & Security" and "Only-HTTPS-Mode in all windows"

ok, that could be pointing at the problem. I'm wondering if firefox is not clearing the cache properly for both 'http://www.overtake.gg/' and 'https://www.overtake.gg/' - the hard reload might help as it will force the browser to ignore the cache and go get all the content directly from it's source.

 

[Peter Boese]

ok, that could be pointing at the problem. I'm wondering if firefox is not clearing the cache properly for both 'http://www.overtake.gg/' and 'https://www.overtake.gg/' - the hard reload might help as it will force the browser to ignore the cache and go get all the content directly from it's source.

I can't reproduce it anymore, even if i put this setting back, so i think the cache is gone or set right now.

 

[Pete Conway]

Yeah, it worked for me,
CTRL + SHIFT + R on the page that is giving you the 'Site Unavailable' message, then everything is good to go

 

[GeekyDeaks]

Yeah, it worked for me,
CTRL + SHIFT + R on the page that is giving you the 'Site Unavailable' message, then everything is good to go

Briliant! thanks for letting us know

 

[BillGuy]

Two additional updates…
1)
I got some time on another PC to test. Same exact version & patch level of Windows 11, same exact version of Firefox, exact same extensions for Firefox. This second PC had no issues at all loading the main page for the site.

2)
Back on my primary “probelmatic” PC...

Doing a Ctrl+Shift+R hard reload when I am looking at the XenForo error does indeed get me to a normal view of the main page. However, just like clearing cookies and cache for the domain, it is a one-time fix on this computer. I get the XenForo error again the instant I go to another site and then back to Overtake.

For reference, I also tried the following…

• View XenForo error page on https://www.overtake.gg/ URL
• Ctrl+Shift+R to view normal content of the page
• Close browser while still viewing the main Overtake page after the hard reload
• Re-open browser and go to https://www.overtake.gg/

Result: I still get the XenForo error message.

So overall, this situation is down to an annoyance more so than a full-fledged problem. As mentioned, I can access and log into the site when I want to. Just not from the main front page.

From the techno-nerd perspective, I'm baffled on what the issue could be with the Firefox install on my primary PC. I'd be happy to try any other suggestions if they may possibly help any others experiencing the same thing.

 

[GeekyDeaks]

From the techno-nerd perspective, I'm baffled on what the issue could be with the Firefox install on my primary PC. I'd be happy to try any other suggestions if they may possibly help any others experiencing the same thing.

That is pretty odd for sure. Would you be willing to send us a log of the browser network activity? If you just open firefox without going to a site, then right click and select 'inspect' you should see a diagnostic panel open. One of the tabs should say 'network'. Select that and then browse to 'https://www.overtake.gg/'. Assuming you get the maintenance page, can you then right click on the network log and choose 'Save all as HAR' and PM the file over to us?

 

[BillGuy]

I'm familiar with the network timeline in the FF developer tools, so no problem. Should I PM the HAR log over to yourself?

 

[GeekyDeaks]

I'm familiar with the network timeline in the FF developer tools, so no problem. Should I PM the HAR log over to yourself?

yes please!

 

[GeekyDeaks]

I'm familiar with the network timeline in the FF developer tools, so no problem. Should I PM the HAR log over to yourself?

Thanks for send over the HAR. Three things stand out:

1. the responses are not reported as coming from the cache
2. all responses have 0ms in all timings
3. the first response has a 'date' header of "Fri, 08 Nov 2024 16:41:52 GMT"

There are a number of things in the HAR that indicate the browser thinks the response is *not* coming from cache (it has populated entries for headers, cookies, content and timings), *but* 2 and 3 don't make sense if the response was really coming over the wire. Even to a server on my LAN, I get 12+ ms for the first response due to the time taken to setup the TCP socket. The 'date' header is also supposed to be set for when the server generates the response, so that page is definitely not fresh.

I think it's still being cached somewhere, but it has to be local. Either the browser cache logic is bust, or there is something on your machine doing the caching. Do you have any antivirus running that could be intercepting traffic?

 

[GeekyDeaks]

One other thing spring to mind, assuming it is something on your PC, it could be a firefox plugin. There is an api that ad blockers and the like use that can intercept calls. Might be worth going to 'about:support' then selecting 'troubleshoot mode' to temporarily disable everything and see if the problem goes away. If it does, then you'll need to figure out the offending plugin and see if that has something you can clear.

 

[GeekyDeaks]

Ok, annoyingly, the service worker timings are not reported in the HAR (TIL), so the first request can all be reported as 0ms. @BillGuy, if disabling the plugins makes no difference, can you take a quick screenshot of the network tab when you get the problem, specifically the timing on the first request.

 

[BillGuy]

The issue has resolved itself. By which I mean I took no “interactive” action to change anything. Regardless, the main page of the site is functioning fine for me now at the https://www.overtake.gg/ URL.

The only thing I can think of is that it may have been my uBlock Origin extension. It shows as having been updated to v1.61.0 sometime yesterday. However…
a) I have this site whitelisted in the extension and have for multiple months.
b) When the problem was occurring, some of my previous attempts were tried with all extensions disabled via starting Firefox in safe mode (mentioned in my OP).

Still, uBO updating itself is the only thing that seems to have changed in correlation with the main page of the site working again. I took a quick look at the release notes for the 1.61.0 release of uBO I was updated to (LINK). Nothing jumped out at me as a likely culprit. I'm not a developer though.

 

[GeekyDeaks]

When the problem was occurring, some of my previous attempts were tried with all extensions disabled via starting Firefox in safe mode (mentioned in my OP).

Ah, my bad, I forgot to re-read what you had already done!

Either way, very quirky problem. Fingers crossed it really has gone away for you!