Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Technical Help and How To's Can't login onto the boards via laptop

Hey guy's, I'm having a peculiar problem. I can't login via laptop. I'm currently writing on my mobile phone.

Whenever I try to log in, I get the following:

Not acceptable. An appropriate representation of the requested resource could not be found on this server. This error was generated by Mod_Security.

I googled this. Apparently, my IP has been blocked by the host of this site. I tried clearing the cache and the cookies, I tried using another browser. Nothing works.

Could any of you guys help me?

While I'm not an expert on the Security now in place here, I've dealt with it in a past. You have a couple choices regarding banned IP addresses.
Step 1 - first test that it's an IP issue by taking your laptop to some place with WiFi access like a Starbucks or a Wendy's (They both have free WiFi where I am so check them out.) If you can log in from there, it's not something funky with your machine.
Step 2 - if you have access to the MODEM that connects to your local WiFi (I'm talking about the box the cable company or ISP gave you) - reset it. This usually entails turning it off for a bit and turning it back on and waiting for it to get a new address from the ISP.

Other steps, use a 'my IP address' finder to get the IP address your machine is using to access the internet, then do a search of that IP address and see if it gets flagged anywhere. That might lead to to what 'service' has banned the IP your modem is using. If it does, you can try to contact that service and complain.

Thank you for your advice. I'm going to try another Wifi.

I tried using another Wifi, but that doesn't work either. We restarted our modem, but no change. I looked if my IP was blacklisted, but there was no indication of that.

This is getting very frustrating. A mobile phone is not exactly the best way to post stories here.

You actually have two IP addresses associated with your laptop: One private and one public. The private one is the one you will see if you type "ipconfig" into a command window in Windows. (I believe the Apple iOS equivalent is the same as the Linux one: ifconfig.) This is the address used within your own network, and likely starts with 192.168. The other IP address, the public one, is the one known to the rest of the world. If you Google" What is my IP address," you will see your public address. Were you researching your public or your private address?

One other possibility: You mentioned that you cleared out your cookies. Is your browser configured to allow the appropriate cookies? Are you using a "Do Not Track" feature? A quick online search revealed the following on stackoverflow.com, You mentioned that you tried using another browser, but if that browser had similar configurations, it would provide a similar result. Have you tried switching browsers to one that isn't quite as locked down for security?

Have you tried tethering your laptop to your cell phone? As a last resort, it would let you use a real keyboard.

I hope that there was at least one useful nugget in this post.

Good luck,
Lynn

Hey Lynn,

I was searching my public address. That turned up nothing.. I use Firefox on my laptop. My husband uses the same browser in the same Wi-Fi, but it works on his pc.

Curiouser and curiouser. Do you both have Firefox configured the same way? For example, does only one of you have tracking disabled? Did you try Edge or even Internet Explorer? (Note: I normally do NOT recommend using IE because it is so outdated and insecure, but it might be a useful troubleshooting tool.)

If Edge is the standard Windows browser, then yes, I've tried that. I use Windows 10. One morning, everything was working alright and then an hour later it wasn't. I was logged in and had posted some fdk to one story or another. Then I reread a part of Live Another Day to get it ready for posting. I was still logged in, but suddenly the error turned up whenever I tried to post something. Then I was logged off and have been unable to log in ever since.

My laptop is getting an automatic IP whenever I go online. I checked today and the private IP changed after I had switched the flymode (is that correct) on. So did the public IP I searched via whatsmyip

I just don't get what's wrong there.

Hi Bakasi,

Do you mean "airplane mode"? (Although I must admit that "flymode" is a perfect term to use on this particular MB. ) Yes, Edge has replaced IE as Windows' default browser.

I'm sorry. I wish I had a solution for you. I'll keep thinking about the problem and will let you know if I come up with any other ideas.

- Lynn

Yes, airplane mode would probably be the correct term. I didn't look that one up and in German it's "Flugmodus" which would translate to flymode.

Anyway, thanks for your efforts. I appreciate that.

Okay, I found out what the problem was - my Antivirus software (who would have thought that? Certainly not me.) I'm writing this on my laptop.

Yeah!!!




So people, if someone of you is using Bitdefender, be careful!

Thanks again, Lynn for trying to help

Wow. I never would have thought of that myself. The error message you received was the exact opposite of helpful.

Congratulations on figuring out the problem. How did you do it?

Joy,
Lynn

Hey Lynn,

the major clue was that I couldn't log in to my bank account either. It was unlikely that the bank server had me blacklisted as well. I'm guessing that my German bank and the boards wouldn't share the same server.
Besides, my in-laws had a similar problem with logging in with their bank account and they had the same antivirus software. My husband had it nailed down pretty quickly when I told him.of that second problem

Nice troubleshooting! The bank results would definitely be a strong clue; well done that you connected the two.

Joy,
Lynn