[RESOLVED] HTML redirects quit working - bizarre

jkurrle

I have run into an odd situation on my home server. HTML redirects, via the <meta http-equiv="refresh"> no longer work. They show up in the web page code, if you choose to view it, but no longer execute.

Strangely enough, I believe the problem was caused by my wife's cat using my server's keyboard as a path to repeatedly get from point a to point b and back again, so replicating how it broke isn't something I can do. I have been sabotaged by the deadly persian cat virus! 🙂

I have restarted the server, but it did not fix the problem. Does anyone have any idea where I might look to try and undo the damage this feline has wreaked upon me? If not, I'll be spending a couple of days rebuilding the server again and cat proofing it this time...

Server is Linux Enterprise 3.0, Apache 2.0 and PHP 4.0. Any assistance would be appreciated (and no, I can't get rid of the cat, as much as I'd like to).

michaewlewis

if the redirect shows up in the code and it has worked before, and on other computers, then it is most likely not a server problem, but a client side problem.
Check your security settings to see if META Refresh is enabled.

jkurrle

Well, I have a test application that exists on my home server and also at work. When running the test application at work, it runs fine. At home, it doesn't. It is the same code and uses the same HTML <meta http-equiv="refresh"> tag. If it were my browser settings, then either it would work both places or it wouldn't work both places. So, I'm still back to wondering where I could look to reenable the meta refresh on my server.

Right now, I'm using PHP's header function to get around it, but I prefer the meta refresh method, as it has fewer limitations. I'll probably end up rebuilding my server, if I can't find an answer and cat-proof the keyboard.

michaewlewis

the <meta> tag, as far as I know, is solely a client-side function, which is ran on whatever computer accesses it. If a computer does not refresh when the appropriate tag is present (and with the correct syntax), it is most likely a security settings problem.
Perhaps I'm still not understanding what you are trying to explain...
Can other computers access your server via http?
Are you trying to access this page locally on your server, or are you trying to access it from another computer.
Does the exact same html-only code work on any other computers if accessed locally and not on your server?
I think I'll need a little more information so I can understand the situation and hopefully come up with a solution without you having to rebuild everything.
Have you looked at your security settings to see if Meta Refresh is enabled? It still sounds like a possible cause.

jkurrle

Let me try to explain more fully.

I have two servers, A and B.
Each server has a copy of the test application code, containing the meta refresh.
Server A (work server) continues to redirect the browser
Server B (home server) no longer redirects the browser
No changes have been made to the browser, in terms of security settings.
Scripts and html pages are accessed via the browser on the same client PC, not on the servers themselves.

If it were a browser settings issue, then both servers A and B would fail to redirect with the meta refresh. Since one server redirects, but the other is writing the meta refresh without executing it, it becomes apparent that it is a server issue.

I have researched this on Google and have found it has occurred for other people, but everyone simply tells people to use the header() function instead. That's what I'm doing, but it's not what I want to do.

Is this more clear?

khendar

This may seem elementary - But are you 100% certain that the file you are redirecting to exists on the local server?

jkurrle

Michael, you were correct after all. I found out that my corporate IS weenies did a security push to my PC, which messed up my browser security settings. Adding my home server back in as a trusted site caused the script to start working again. Of course, that causes me to rethink whether I want to keep using meta refreshes as redirects anymore, or if I should just bite the bullet and use php's header() function from now on.

Thanks, Michael and khendar, you both were helpful.

Davidc316

I'm in an identical situation and can report that I've had the same problem this week.

My investigations so far have found that it is NOT caused by IT geeks tweaking the internal server. I say this because my site has stopped refreshing properly both at work and at home.

For me, this thread is not resolved.

jkurrle

For me, the tipoff was firing up a copy of Netscape, as the corporate standard was IE. Netscape worked without any problems. From there, I went into IE's Tools, Internet Options, Security tab, and clicked on the Sites button. I then added my web server address as a trusted site. Bada Bing, Bada Boom! Redirects started working again.

This brings up an interesting coding thought though. I had preferred meta refreshes, as opposed to PHP's header() function, as I thought it was a more stable redirection. Turns out, meta refreshes are browser based and may be disabled by a user's browser security settings. If you are building generic code to be used by unknown people, you probably ought to use the header() function instead, to avoid browser issues...

Davidc316

I've tried adding to trusted sites and it has had no effect.

This is possibly the weirdest problem I've ever had in all my time as a web developer! I've made some test scripts and tested this offline, both in my house and online on my works website. In each case the result is the same.

I have made the following two very simple scripts/webpages...

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="3; URL=pageb.php">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>
here is page A

...and also...

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="3; URL=pagea.php">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>
here is page B

When I open up IE and view any one of these pages, they bounce off each other quite happily (META refresh working ok). However, as soon as I hit the refresh button on one of the pages they stop refreshing.

I'm totally stumped! 😕

PS: I don't think refreshing via PHP is an option because I want there to be a time delay before the page refreshes.

jkurrle

Have you added any popup blockers? If so, you may need to rewrite the redirect to a nonstandard form. I've found changing the redirect statement from 'CONTENT="3; URL=pagea.php" ' to 'content=3;url="pagea.php" ' has gotten around some of them...

Davidc316

Thanks. I'll give that a try later (I'm at a friend's house just now and can't access my scripts). In the meantime, I have posted my problem onto the main forum in the hope that someone there will be able to shed some light on the matter.

I really hope someone out there can help me to get to the bottom of this one.