cannot access xkcd

[rmcwilli]

i've tried using firefox and google chrome and with both it says that a connection cannot be made with the xkcd server. i am able to connect to every other site i try except xkcd. has anybody had the same issue/how did you fix it?

[_infina_]

Clear your cookies, clear your cache, nslookup and traceroute the server. Check to see if you can communicate with the server at all. Post results of the traceroute and nslookup if you still can't connect.

[crazdgamer]

I also cannot access the main site. Forums and blog come up ok though.

C:\Users\Joe>tracert xkcd.com

Tracing route to xkcd.com [107.6.106.82]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 General failure.

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Joe>nslookup

> xkcd.com

[...]

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: xkcd.com
Addresses: 2001:4830:120:1::2
107.6.106.82

> quit

C:\Users\Joe>

[rmcwilli]

that is the exact same response i get. i can access it perfectly fine over my wireless network on my phone, but not on my laptop.

[Mapar]

I also cannot access the main site. Forums and blog come up ok though.

C:\Users\Joe>tracert xkcd.com

Tracing route to xkcd.com [107.6.106.82]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 General failure.

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Joe>nslookup

> xkcd.com

[...]

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: xkcd.com
Addresses: 2001:4830:120:1::2
107.6.106.82

> quit

C:\Users\Joe>

Same problem here, same output on tracert and ping.


I live in Belgium, FWIW.

[crazdgamer]

Update: works for me now!

[SecondTalon]

C:\Users\Joe>tracert xkcd.com

Tracing route to xkcd.com [107.6.106.82]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 General failure.

Trace complete.

... That makes no sense whatsoever to me. You should at least hit your router, your modem, your ISP's routers.. something.. anything.. before you start to get a failure. And a General Failure? That's usually when the NIC isn't active or the cable's unplugged or some other physical problem.


It does make sense that the forums and blog would work as they're both at the same IP, while the main site is at another IP, but that's all the sense I can make of what you were seeing.

Seeing as you're in Belgium, I'm now curious as to where rmcwilli is located, and why our other Belgian users did not report an issue.

[crazdgamer]

C:\Users\Joe>tracert xkcd.com

Tracing route to xkcd.com [107.6.106.82]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 General failure.

Trace complete.

Seeing as you're in Belgium, I'm now curious as to where rmcwilli is located, and why our other Belgian users did not report an issue.

lolwhat. My apologies, but New York is nowhere near Belgium.

Regardless, I was able to see the main site this morning and a tracert did successfully complete. All's good on my end, but I won't speak for the Belgian users here

[Hammer]

lolwhat. My apologies, but New York is nowhere near Belgium.

Mapar, another poster in this thread who is seeing the same issue, is in Belgium.

[Zarq]

Belgian, no problem here. ISP is Belgacom.

Edit: General Failure can be a Windows Firewall problem. Try disabling your firewall.

[rmcwilli]

i'm in canada, and i just disabled my firewall and was able to access the main page, but when i turn it back on i cannot. its weird that it is only blocking xkcd and none of the otehr webcomics i visit daily.

[SecondTalon]

Belgian, no problem here. ISP is Belgacom.

Edit: General Failure can be a Windows Firewall problem. Try disabling your firewall.

Unless a user specifically added the IP of xkcd.com to a blacklist, a firewall issue preventing access should also prevent access to, among other things, the forum.

The users with the problems are posting here on the same machines that cannot/could not access the site.

Which would, in my mind, speak of an issue further down the pipe. But since the problem existed in New York and Belgium at roughly the same time while not existing in other places (My location, for one) then.. I have no idea. It would also not come back with a General Failure error, which is just... strange. Even a DNS problem reports a different error.

In short - bu-wha?!

[TheGrammarBolshevik]

lolwhat. My apologies, but New York is nowhere near Belgium.

Mapar, another poster in this thread who is seeing the same issue, is in Belgium.

To clarify what's going on here, I think ST hit the wrong quote button in quoting Mapar.

[crazdgamer]

To clarify what's going on here, I think ST hit the wrong quote button in quoting Mapar.

I figured it was something like that. I just wanted to bring it up once, because the thought of New York in Belgium was kinda funny, but I didn't want to seriously derail the thread with miscommunication antics.

Because left unchecked, I would completely derail a thread with miscommunication antics.

[delfeye]

I haven't been able to access the comic through my laptop since last week (wireless on the iPad is fine).

I found the IP in McAfee SecurityCenter | Firewall | Net Guard as a "risky connection." I allowed the connection for all programs and the issue is gone. Wonder what happened last week so that McAfee would start blocking.

[_infina_]

So, those of you with the issue, are you all using McAfee?

[eadthem]

for me imgs.xkcd.com is down.

nether my windows or Linux box can resolve the domain, so it appears this is the issue of the moment.

Possibly hes doing some upgrades and there not done? It did work for me yesterday.


I run nod32 on windows, and unlike McAfee i can disable it at will, it had no effect. All I get is a page without images, forum works ok.

[Zarq]

No problems here. Ping is a bit higher than usual (~100ms), but nothing too extreme.

(Belgium, Linux Mint 13)