Can't access/login to equipment in my factory automation network
Hello, I have a factory automation network with PLCs with various firmware locked with usernames and passwords that could be accessed/logged-in fine until the last Firefox update (?), now I get this screen and a blocked access to the equipment(s). Any suggestions besides replacing all equipment with newer generations/firmware (newer firmware issued since a couple of years ago for similar equipment do not have this issue)? Obviously I cannot update the firmware for many specific equipment so I need a workaround, please help to get control back. Thank you. Regards, Stefan
All Replies (8)
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Hi Stefan, unfortunately the "connection interrupted" error page doesn't provide very much information about the nature of the problem. For example, was there an "optional" change that could be reversed by modifying a setting, or was there a permanent change that cannot be worked around.
What was the last version of Firefox that worked with that server?
Do other browsers connect successfully to that server?
Hi, thanks for the support, what do you mean by optional or permanent change? Setting where? Into the browser or into the server? I tried with Internet Explorer 11 (latest updates) and I have a similar issue but apparently IE 11 adopted the same security politics as the other browsers so it looks like normal behavior from the browser side. I guess Firefox 56 worked fine as far as I remember so I will probably reinstall that one or any other older version that will bring the online control back to the equipment. Thanks again. Regards,
Stefan
Hi Stefan, sometimes a change in Firefox is irreversible, and sometimes there is a setting to reverse it. But since we don't have enough information to know why a connection isn't formed, I don't have any suggestions on what to try.
I tried today with Firefox 59.0.3, no success, same error page, then tried Firefox 58.0.2 and voila, brought back my control (and the pages allowing me to add the security exception, see attachments). So something was "upgraded" beginning with Firefox 59.x.x that does not allow anymore to add security exceptions. Thanks again. Best regards, Stefan
What's funny is that I just discovered that on one of my colleagues laptop with Windows 7 Pro x32 with Firefox 60.0.1 works, on my Windows 7 Pro x64 Firefox 60.0.1 does not work. His laptop is 10 years old with MBR, mine is less than 2 years old with UEFI. We use Windows 7 Pro because some of the industrial applications are validated up to Win 7 only. Regards, Stefan
Hi, you may want to test Firefox 52.8.0esr (Extended Release Version) https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/ It also has a 60.0.1 version
You also may want to check into and start testing : https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/enterprise/
It is not a matter of compatibility with the OS and by the way, it does not work with the esr version by default BUT I manually installed Firefox 60.0.1 over Firefox 58.0.2 WITHOUT allowing Firefox to make changes to my computer and the result is that this way 60.0.1 works fine. My conclusion is that during installation Firefox messes up with some security settings that makes the browser incompatible with my (older) web servers. Will try to identify any changes in the browser configuration by accessing its configuration page typing about:config in the address bar. Regards, Stefan