What's wrong with Gmail?
April 9, 2009 10:46 AM Subscribe
What's going on with Gmail?
For the past couple days, I've been having problems logging into Gmail, particularly after a browser crash. The progress bar will only load half way, and then loading will stop. When this happened yesterday, I could only get back in after about 8 hours. I thought maybe this was a local problem, but I've been searching around a bit and it seems like a number of people have been having problems accessing Gmail over the past couple days in rather idiosyncratic ways. Anyone experiencing this too, and anyone know what might be going on?
For the past couple days, I've been having problems logging into Gmail, particularly after a browser crash. The progress bar will only load half way, and then loading will stop. When this happened yesterday, I could only get back in after about 8 hours. I thought maybe this was a local problem, but I've been searching around a bit and it seems like a number of people have been having problems accessing Gmail over the past couple days in rather idiosyncratic ways. Anyone experiencing this too, and anyone know what might be going on?
Don't know what's going on, but in the last month there have been a few times when I would send an email and it would never arrive, and vice versa. Sometimes they would be delivered 9 days later; sometimes they would be delivered instantly but dated 9 days earlier. Spooky.
posted by Beardman at 10:48 AM on April 9, 2009
posted by Beardman at 10:48 AM on April 9, 2009
It's been happening to me as well. I have to click on "Load Basic HTML" in the bottom right corner when it's doing this or else the "loading" page will stay for hours.
posted by Ugh at 10:49 AM on April 9, 2009
posted by Ugh at 10:49 AM on April 9, 2009
Try dumping all your Gmail cookies; mine got corrupted somehow a while ago which led to all kinds of bizarre behavior.
posted by dolface at 10:50 AM on April 9, 2009
posted by dolface at 10:50 AM on April 9, 2009
Response by poster: It's been happening to me as well. I have to click on "Load Basic HTML" in the bottom right corner when it's doing this or else the "loading" page will stay for hours.
That's exactly what's happening to me. Keeps me out of Google Chat, and I still can't get back into the normal interface from there.
posted by setanor at 10:50 AM on April 9, 2009
That's exactly what's happening to me. Keeps me out of Google Chat, and I still can't get back into the normal interface from there.
posted by setanor at 10:50 AM on April 9, 2009
Response by poster: Try dumping all your Gmail cookies; mine got corrupted somehow a while ago which led to all kinds of bizarre behavior.
Removed all Google cookies, no change.
posted by setanor at 10:52 AM on April 9, 2009
Removed all Google cookies, no change.
posted by setanor at 10:52 AM on April 9, 2009
I'm running the exact same specs (OS/browser+version) as you with no problems.
Maybe try disabling all of your extensions to see if that fixes it? If it does, turn each on one-by-one to test which one is causing problems.
posted by nitsuj at 10:52 AM on April 9, 2009
Maybe try disabling all of your extensions to see if that fixes it? If it does, turn each on one-by-one to test which one is causing problems.
posted by nitsuj at 10:52 AM on April 9, 2009
Response by poster: Also: try it in Safari. Does it work there?
Yes, it works in Safari. That's kind of a pain, though. It was working in Firefox both times until my browser crashed.
posted by setanor at 10:55 AM on April 9, 2009
Yes, it works in Safari. That's kind of a pain, though. It was working in Firefox both times until my browser crashed.
posted by setanor at 10:55 AM on April 9, 2009
Response by poster: Reinstall Firefox.
I will. I guess I'm still more curious as to what is going on as a whole, many people seem to be encountering this same problem, and only within the last couple of days.
posted by setanor at 10:58 AM on April 9, 2009
I will. I guess I'm still more curious as to what is going on as a whole, many people seem to be encountering this same problem, and only within the last couple of days.
posted by setanor at 10:58 AM on April 9, 2009
It's been happening to me as well. I have to click on "Load Basic HTML" in the bottom right corner when it's doing this or else the "loading" page will stay for hours.
Yep, this happens to me quite often, on three different systems (Windows and Linux), all running some version of Firefox 3. I'd say reinstalls don't fix it, but then again, I install the same (rather minimal, but still...) set of extensions soon after install.
Do you perhaps run Firebug? Not sure if that's the problem, but it wouldn't be all that surprising.
posted by wrok at 11:05 AM on April 9, 2009
Yep, this happens to me quite often, on three different systems (Windows and Linux), all running some version of Firefox 3. I'd say reinstalls don't fix it, but then again, I install the same (rather minimal, but still...) set of extensions soon after install.
Do you perhaps run Firebug? Not sure if that's the problem, but it wouldn't be all that surprising.
posted by wrok at 11:05 AM on April 9, 2009
It's happening to me too, and also started a couple of days ago. I'm running Ubuntu 8.04 / Firefox 3.0.7. I've found that if I hit the "load basic html" link, then click the "load standard gmail" link at the top of the page after it loads, it will wait again and then give me a "try again" option that works to get me to the regular page. Don't know what's causing it though.
posted by aka burlap at 11:06 AM on April 9, 2009
posted by aka burlap at 11:06 AM on April 9, 2009
I find that gmail on Firefox crashes fairly regularly, while on Internet Explorer, Safari and Chrome I never have a problem. I can be logged into my Google account on Firefox and use it just fine for everything but mail. Sometimes it just freezes up while I'm chatting. XP/3.0.8 (I believe -- I'm on a different computer right now.)
posted by jeather at 11:21 AM on April 9, 2009
posted by jeather at 11:21 AM on April 9, 2009
I've noticed all kinds of weird Gmail things lately, including loading issues, delivery lag and an off-the-charts increase in spam.
I don't know what's going on, but currently, I'm loading Gmail only in Chrome, and forwarding mail to (of all things) Hotmail.
posted by sageleaf at 11:22 AM on April 9, 2009
I don't know what's going on, but currently, I'm loading Gmail only in Chrome, and forwarding mail to (of all things) Hotmail.
posted by sageleaf at 11:22 AM on April 9, 2009
It's been happening to me as well. I have to click on "Load Basic HTML" in the bottom right corner when it's doing this or else the "loading" page will stay for hours.
Was doing that for me the last couple of weeks. Just started acting normally in the last coupla daze.
posted by torquemaniac at 11:25 AM on April 9, 2009
Was doing that for me the last couple of weeks. Just started acting normally in the last coupla daze.
posted by torquemaniac at 11:25 AM on April 9, 2009
This is happening to me too, FireFox 3.0.8 on XP. I have Firebug installed, but it's disabled. Switching to basic mode and back usually (but not always) fixes it.
posted by TungstenChef at 11:34 AM on April 9, 2009
posted by TungstenChef at 11:34 AM on April 9, 2009
This was happening to me and I cleared my cache (I am using Firefox 3.0.8). That seemed to work.
May not work for you, though.
posted by darksong at 11:43 AM on April 9, 2009
May not work for you, though.
posted by darksong at 11:43 AM on April 9, 2009
I'm kind of having a weird new issue but I thought it was work related. Gmail is blocked here, but iGoogle is OK. So I have the gmail gadget on my iGoogle page, and it shows me my emails - sort of. I can see senders and subject line. I can't read them, but I'm OK with that.
But for the last 2 days, it says "information is temporarily unavailable." This is on IE, and it works at home on Firefox.
Anyone else having this? I figured work started blocking it but maybe I'm wrong.
posted by peep at 11:44 AM on April 9, 2009
But for the last 2 days, it says "information is temporarily unavailable." This is on IE, and it works at home on Firefox.
Anyone else having this? I figured work started blocking it but maybe I'm wrong.
posted by peep at 11:44 AM on April 9, 2009
ever since i activated the Offline Gmail Labs feature, firefox has been crashing a lot when going to gmail, but that's probably because Labs features are experimental. So, it's probably best to know if you have any labs features enabled.
posted by azarbayejani at 11:47 AM on April 9, 2009
posted by azarbayejani at 11:47 AM on April 9, 2009
Reinstalling Firefox won't fix anything. Clear your cache and cookies instead.
posted by zsazsa at 11:48 AM on April 9, 2009
posted by zsazsa at 11:48 AM on April 9, 2009
Reinstalling Firefox won't fix anything. Clear your cache and cookies instead.
See here.
posted by nitsuj at 11:51 AM on April 9, 2009
See here.
posted by nitsuj at 11:51 AM on April 9, 2009
No information to add but that it's Firefox, not Mac since I have the same problem the last week or so in Windows XP as well.
It's intermittent though. Maybe 1 in 5 times. Not sure what to add but I do have Firebug installed, as do many others who have posted in this thread.
(And yeah, Gears makes Firefox the crashy, but that seems pretty standard.)
posted by Ookseer at 11:59 AM on April 9, 2009
It's intermittent though. Maybe 1 in 5 times. Not sure what to add but I do have Firebug installed, as do many others who have posted in this thread.
(And yeah, Gears makes Firefox the crashy, but that seems pretty standard.)
posted by Ookseer at 11:59 AM on April 9, 2009
I have this problem all the time for one of my Gmail accounts (but never the other), regardless of cache/cookies status. Doing the troubleshooting via their website helps a lot, particularly at the end when they direct you to sign in via their secured site . Definitely try the secured site login.
posted by Maarika at 12:00 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by Maarika at 12:00 PM on April 9, 2009
This exactly problem has been happening to me too with Safari 3.2.1/OS X 10.5.6, so I doubt it's Firefox.
posted by rustcellar at 12:06 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by rustcellar at 12:06 PM on April 9, 2009
For what it's worth, it's sporadic for me as well, and I do not have Firebug or any labs enabled.
posted by Ugh at 12:09 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by Ugh at 12:09 PM on April 9, 2009
I don't know what's going on, but currently, I'm loading Gmail only in Chrome, and forwarding mail to (of all things) Hotmail.
I'm seeing a number of strange Gmail quirks in, of all places, Chrome, while other browsers work fine.
posted by Krrrlson at 12:12 PM on April 9, 2009
I'm seeing a number of strange Gmail quirks in, of all places, Chrome, while other browsers work fine.
posted by Krrrlson at 12:12 PM on April 9, 2009
Definitely try the secured site login.
I always use the secured login and have still been getting this intermittently.
Hmm. Didn't this start happening about the time the 3.0.8 update hit?
posted by Ookseer at 12:25 PM on April 9, 2009
I always use the secured login and have still been getting this intermittently.
Hmm. Didn't this start happening about the time the 3.0.8 update hit?
posted by Ookseer at 12:25 PM on April 9, 2009
1) Do you have Firefox add-ons installed that could be wreaking havoc? Disable them and see what happens.
2) Are you using Gmail Labs features? (including Offline support) If so, disable them and see what happens.
posted by chrisamiller at 12:49 PM on April 9, 2009
2) Are you using Gmail Labs features? (including Offline support) If so, disable them and see what happens.
posted by chrisamiller at 12:49 PM on April 9, 2009
I routinely have this problem with IE, and only recently started running into it with Firefox. I have different accounts with different labs/no labs installed, and it doesn't seem to make a difference. With IE I repeatedly close and open my browser and eventually it starts working (usually 6+ restarts). Haven't found a similar fix for Firefox yet.
posted by messylissa at 12:56 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by messylissa at 12:56 PM on April 9, 2009
Well, it's still in beta so we can only expect so much.
I got nuthin'
posted by ambient2 at 12:59 PM on April 9, 2009
I got nuthin'
posted by ambient2 at 12:59 PM on April 9, 2009
It happens every so often with me. Not lately. It has always cleared up on it's own.
Alternatively, you can try accessing gmail through a proxy (I know, not the best idea, but I suspect that there's a weird stuck redirect somewhere).
posted by porpoise at 1:24 PM on April 9, 2009
Alternatively, you can try accessing gmail through a proxy (I know, not the best idea, but I suspect that there's a weird stuck redirect somewhere).
posted by porpoise at 1:24 PM on April 9, 2009
Disable labs. I just did that and I think it worked.
http://mail.google.com/mail/?labs=0#inbox
posted by aka burlap at 1:47 PM on April 9, 2009
http://mail.google.com/mail/?labs=0#inbox
posted by aka burlap at 1:47 PM on April 9, 2009
So to sum up what everyone has said above and add a little of my own experience:
* The "bug" occurs in any browser (IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome).
* Thus, the "bug" must not be related to extensions or plugins.
* Logging into the secure version https://www.gmail.com/ will make the problem go away, but is not a permanent fix.
* Disabling "labs" has no positive effect.
* Clearing cache and cookies has no effect.
* Gmail on the iGoogle page will show messages and allow read and compose.
* This happens with multiple Gmail accounts, not just one.
* Disabling anti-virus and anti-spyware software has no effect (ESET Nod32/ Ad Aware).
* It is not a DNS issue - two different DNS (my work DNS and OpenDNS) both have same problem.
* It is not an ISP issue, my work ISP and my home ISP and both have the same result.
I am going to do some testing with firebug to see if any Javascript is messing up.
posted by farmersckn at 2:06 PM on April 9, 2009
* The "bug" occurs in any browser (IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome).
* Thus, the "bug" must not be related to extensions or plugins.
* Logging into the secure version https://www.gmail.com/ will make the problem go away, but is not a permanent fix.
* Disabling "labs" has no positive effect.
* Clearing cache and cookies has no effect.
* Gmail on the iGoogle page will show messages and allow read and compose.
* This happens with multiple Gmail accounts, not just one.
* Disabling anti-virus and anti-spyware software has no effect (ESET Nod32/ Ad Aware).
* It is not a DNS issue - two different DNS (my work DNS and OpenDNS) both have same problem.
* It is not an ISP issue, my work ISP and my home ISP and both have the same result.
I am going to do some testing with firebug to see if any Javascript is messing up.
posted by farmersckn at 2:06 PM on April 9, 2009
that's probably because Labs features are experimental.
As opposed to GMail itself, which is merely beta?
GMail's been flaky as hell for me all week, too, so just nthing "it's not you."
posted by rokusan at 3:14 PM on April 9, 2009
As opposed to GMail itself, which is merely beta?
GMail's been flaky as hell for me all week, too, so just nthing "it's not you."
posted by rokusan at 3:14 PM on April 9, 2009
We (The Woman™ and I) recently had problems with the gmail SMTP server settings working through Frontiernet and mail.app. Email was not being delivered to anyone in the northeast (including test to me). England, France, mid-west…all fine. We've since changed our account settings back to use our ISP's SMTP server. The problem appeared a few weeks ago; I've not checked it since.
posted by Dick Paris at 4:22 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by Dick Paris at 4:22 PM on April 9, 2009
Setanor, as you are smart enough to be on a Mac, you may want to consider Mailplane. I had problems with Gmail and switched to Mailplane and the problems disappeared. It is also great for managing multiple GMail accounts and other stuff. Yes, it costs money but well spent. And, no, I have no connection whatsoever with the company.
posted by TheRaven at 5:13 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by TheRaven at 5:13 PM on April 9, 2009
I was having this problem yesterday and the night before (using Safari 3.2.1 and OS X 10.5.6), and going to the secure site (https instead of http) resolved it for me completely.
posted by so_gracefully at 7:35 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by so_gracefully at 7:35 PM on April 9, 2009
Doesn't http://www.gmail.com resolve to the secure site anyway?
posted by sageleaf at 9:12 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by sageleaf at 9:12 PM on April 9, 2009
This just (like, this morning) started happening to me too -- hangs on load for while then tells me to disable labs, then when I click the provided link to do so, resolves as normal. It happens on multiple browsers/OSes for me: my spanking new macbook at home with the latest firefox and gears as well as the clunky old XP computers at my department with god-only-knows what old version of firefox and no gears or extensions.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the gmail page for iphones has had some very radical changes recently. I suspect google is just screwing around with things.
posted by paultopia at 12:45 AM on April 10, 2009
Perhaps not coincidentally, the gmail page for iphones has had some very radical changes recently. I suspect google is just screwing around with things.
posted by paultopia at 12:45 AM on April 10, 2009
Its working now. Must've been a "Google" thing because I haven't changed anything that fixed it.
posted by farmersckn at 10:33 PM on April 13, 2009
posted by farmersckn at 10:33 PM on April 13, 2009
It's a little late, but I found this info: http://bbayles.googlepages.com/antivundo.html
posted by Ugh at 8:12 PM on April 30, 2009
posted by Ugh at 8:12 PM on April 30, 2009
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What OS/browser+version are you using?
posted by nitsuj at 10:48 AM on April 9, 2009