Some web sites displayed with text only, no graphics
April 2, 2016 6:59 AM   Subscribe

I recently performed some updates on my computer, and now some web pages are displayed in "text only mode", without their normal graphics.

I had a potential malware issue, and was directed to make some changes - mostly to Java and tweaks to Firefox (see below).

A little research into the "text mode only" issue showed that it might be java script related. One of the updates I made was from Java 7 to Java 8. But the installation went flawlessly, and I even made sure to reboot, as directed. And additional reboots haven't fixed the problem either.

Also, I had reset default Firefox browsing settings, and also cleared the Firefox cache.

I had seen this "text only" problem only once before, and had assumed it was a problem on the web site's side - for the offending site, when I went back to it after several weeks/months, the problem had gone away. But now, it seems to happen on several sites (reddit, youtube, to name a few), and with no discernible pattern.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)
 
Response by poster: UPDATE: Went to amazon.com, and the site loaded with correct graphics. But after I signed in, it was back to "text only mode".
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 7:33 AM on April 2, 2016


Java and JavaScript are unrelated, so the Java update isn't likely the cause. Check your Firefox extensions; it might be an ad blocker acting out of spec. Do other browsers do the same thing?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:37 AM on April 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I and my mom have been having this problem over the past few days, too. Disabling Ghostery seems to fix it. Are you running Ghostery? I think it updated and there's a bug in the update.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:42 AM on April 2, 2016


Response by poster: I had Ghostery. But it seems to have gone missing. Should I re-install it?
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 9:53 AM on April 2, 2016


Response by poster: Johnny: The only extensions I have in Firefox are; DigitalPersona Extension and HP Smart Web Printing. Will check Chrome and IE later & update.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 9:54 AM on April 2, 2016


It might be a mixed content issue. Firefox has recently got much stricter about serving pages that have some elements coming over https and others over plain old insecure http.
posted by scruss at 9:55 AM on April 2, 2016


If it "went missing" instead of you actually uninstalled it, I would look in your add-ons and see if it's still there. Disable temporarily and see if that helps. If you can't find it, it might be worth reinstalling just so you can uninstall it.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:54 PM on April 2, 2016


Response by poster: Tried installing Ghostery (so I could uninstall it), but when I did, I got the message, "There was an error downloading Ghostery. Try again." Tried again, no dice.

A little history... I've been getting some "insecure connection" alerts for certain sites. Most of the time, I've been able to "add exception". But occasionally, that's not an option. I assume this is part of the "mixed content" scruss mentioned.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 4:17 AM on April 3, 2016


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