Why won't amazon.com load in Firefox?

July 15, 2006 10:47 AM

Why won't amazon.com load in Firefox?

I'm using Firefox 1.5.0.4 on WinXP. Whenever I try to go to amazon.com (or any page within amazon.com) using Firefox, I get a blank page. The exact same URL works fine in IE. I've tried clearing my cache, and I've checked to make sure that Firefox is up to date (it is, as of about 2 minutes ago).

When I view the page source, I only get this snippet of CSS (you'll have to view large if you actually want to read it), so the page is obviously not loading.

So...what gives?

(Also, no snarky comments about AOL running in my taskbar. I've had that email for ages, and my mom would have a heart attack if I cancelled my account. Also, I'm a sucker for the radio :)

posted by AlisonM to computers & internet (17 comments total)

1.5.0.4 on XP here is working fine. is it possible you visited the site in firefox when the site was half down and you're now caching it? F5 hard refreshes, I believe...
posted by twine42 at 10:56 AM on July 15, 2006

twine42, I don't believe that's it - I've refreshed (both "in" the browser and using F5), and I've cleared the cache, both several times.
posted by AlisonM at 11:05 AM on July 15, 2006

I had that problem a few months ago and can't remember how I fixed it -- sorry. It was something stupid simple too (which is probably why I can't remember it).

If you're running the NoScript extension or any adblockers, make sure you allow/whitelist Amazon.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 11:10 AM on July 15, 2006

A Firefox question of my own - there's a few sites I buy photo gear from - http://www.buydig.com for instance - that in FF continually reloads... just doesn't stop. In IE, it works fine. Any clue as to what's going on?

-quad
posted by quadrinary at 11:10 AM on July 15, 2006

Maybe this?
posted by Neiltupper at 11:18 AM on July 15, 2006

Quad, try Refresh Blocker:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/992/
posted by LuckySeven~ at 11:20 AM on July 15, 2006

Refresh Blocker.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 11:21 AM on July 15, 2006

Alison, have you ever saved a custom "chrome" js file to block ads? My mom was having problems with certain websites and it turns out it was an overzealous ad-blocking JS file in her profile directory.

Try looking in /Documents & Settings/your_username/Application Data/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/random_string/chrome/ and see if there are any .js files in there that don't have -example in their name. Note that Application Data is a hidden directory, so you may have to turn them on to see it.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 11:25 AM on July 15, 2006

Neiltupper, that's not it. The only extension I have (and have ever had) is FireFTP, and that hasn't changed since I installed it ages ago. (I did do a search for FasterFox though, just to be sure.) I also have the brushed metal theme going on, but I installed that the other day, and this Amazon issue has been going on for at least a couple weeks.

cyrusdogstar, that's not it either. There are only 2 .js files in there, and they both have -example attached to them.

I think I'm going to try uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox at this point to see what happens. I just have that one extension and a handful of bookmarks, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue to bring back. I was hoping for a simple fix, but who knows what the heck is going on with this thing at this point.
posted by AlisonM at 11:31 AM on July 15, 2006

The exact same thing happens to me. If I click Refresh multiple times within FF, I can usually get the page to load, but I haven't figure out a permanant solution. I know that doesn't help me, but wanted to let you know its not just you.
posted by xsquared-1 at 11:40 AM on July 15, 2006

Hosts file? In %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\ (%SystemRoot% is normally c: but YMMV), open a file called hosts (no extension) in Notepad or some other text editor. If you have a line that reads:

127.0.0.1 www.amazon.com

or anything like that, that means it is being blocked.

Delete the line and save. Be sure to save it as a text file without an extension. Exit and re-enter FF et voilà!
posted by TheRaven at 12:35 PM on July 15, 2006

I had this same problem on a work computer. I could usually get the page to eventually load by chopping off hunks from the end of the URL, but never did figure out what was wrong. It went away when I got a new computer, so you might try removing Firefox completely (scroll down to Uninstalling Firefox) and reinstalling.
posted by donnagirl at 1:07 PM on July 15, 2006

TheRaven - no amazon in the hosts file.

donnagirl - I tried uninstalling, thanks for the link. Its still not working. I've also tried messing with the URLs, but that doesn't work, even when its at its most basic www.amazon.com/gp/product/[insert product id# here]

Those of you that suggested reloading a bunch of times - I've done that (I actually just sat here and reloaded it about 30 times just so I can't say I didn't try), and I still get nothing. Grr! I wouldn't even care so much if I didn't sell my old CDs on there. I am using IE for amazon, but its just annoying when I click on a link and (since Firefox is my default browser), it won't load, and then I have to copy and paste into IE.

But still - what in the world could it be about amazon that Firefox doesn't like?
posted by AlisonM at 1:39 PM on July 15, 2006

Unknown. Check the Tools->PageInfo dialog and see what's coming down.

And it's Ctrl-F5 for a hard-refresh.
posted by baylink at 1:49 PM on July 15, 2006

Uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox won't do you any good, since that just replaces the binary.

The best way to test it is to start Firefox with the -ProfileManager command line option (through a shortcut, command line, or Run). Then create a new, empty profile and start Firefox with that. If Amazon works, then your problem was that your profile was corrupted/messed up somehow. If it still fails, you might want to try installing Firefox 2.0b1 (and start it using another new profile) and see if that works.
posted by skynxnex at 2:03 PM on July 15, 2006

I haven't been to Amazon in a while, but certain sites (NY Times, MSNBC) load crappily or not at all with Firefox. I guess their web developers assume everyone uses IE.

There is a Firefox extension called IE Tab that has become indispensable. It opens a new tab with IE functionality. When I'm having a problem viewing a site, 99% of the time, this thing will open it for me.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 6:25 AM on July 16, 2006

how about logging in as a different user on your box and either running firefox, or installing firefox to another directory?
posted by indigo4963 at 9:11 AM on July 17, 2006