Solved Cannot access websites on non-standard ports

Pathduck

@MatCat said in Cannot access websites on non-standard ports:

I really don't know what it could possibly be.

Neither would I. But you're the one in front of your system. All I can say is it's not Vivaldi causing this to happen.

Since you're running multiple web services I think I can assume you have some level of technical insight, so you'll need to spend the necessary time to figure this out. If necessary using network tracing and logging and using the relevant tools.

MatCat

@Pathduck you are correct I have good technical insight, which is why after a year of having this problem and not being able to figure it out I am asking here, because Vivaldi is the ONLY browser with the problem, I am at the point that if I cannot figure it out with help from here, I will be dropping Vivaldi as my primary browser. Sad because it has a lot of features I love, but I am at that point. Was really hoping someone would have an idea.

Pathduck

@MatCat I'll just post the standard boilerplate I give all users first:

Please try the troubleshooting steps, including testing in a clean profile and disabling adblocking/extensions:
https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/troubleshoot/troubleshooting-issues/

MatCat

@Pathduck I added a new user profile, and under it it DID work, so now I need to track down what setting or extension I have that is doing it... oh boy

MatCat

@Pathduck Ok first I tried with all extensions turned off, still doesn't work, so where would you recommend I look in settings?

Pathduck

@MatCat There is no setting saying "Don't connect to non-standard ports".

Did you restart the browser after disabling all extensions?

The only culprit I can think of apart from extensions is the setting "Always use secure connection" under Address Bar. If enabled this setting will attempt to connect to the https (443) port if it encounters an "insecure" http port. But it will give a different error message and still allow you to connect.

There is a "Reset settings" button on each settings page, so use that. Reset one page, restart the browser, test, repeat.

Make sure to go through all the steps as well. Including updating your browser. Sometimes just clearing browser data fixes magically fixes stuff as well.

MatCat

@Pathduck restarting with all extensions disabled makes no difference, the setting to always use HTTPS is not enabled

Pathduck

@MatCat Keep going, you'll figure it out

Worst case, you've done something to your profile to "corrupt" it, like downgrading the browser version (bad idea). In such a case it might be better to just start with a clean profile. In my experience though, everything has a solvable reason if you dig deep enough.

Can you connect to these web services using tools like curl, telnet or netcat? I'm guessing you can, since a clean profile works...

For advanced troubleshooting you could try the Network Logger:
vivaldi://net-export

MatCat

@Pathduck looking at the network log, it seems it is somehow finding a cached 307 redirect to https, which doesn't exist for this service on this port! Not quite sure yet how to remove all cache, trying to find that in settings.

MatCat

@Pathduck Ok! cleared cache and its working! Weird, dunno how it got a cached redirect that never existed!

Pathduck

@MatCat Good!

Weird, dunno how it got a cached redirect that never existed!

Computers are just weird sometimes

Now go bookmark that troubleshooting URL. You could've saved yourself a year of head scratching if you'd just done the steps
https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/troubleshoot/troubleshooting-issues/#Delete_Browsing_Data

When doing web development, it's always best practice to clear cache often, and also use Ctrl+F5 to reload pages by bypassing cache. Or have developer tools open with the Disable Cache option set.

Also, you should've noticed that the error page "This site can't be reached" would likely show the https port in the URL. Of course, modern browser stupidly hide the protocol from the address bar. Vivaldi has an option to show the full address (Settings > Address Bar) which will help when troubleshooting, I recommend you turn that on.

DoctorG

@MatCat Check your server/website if it sends a HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) header for a SSL connection on the domain.