Can't login ... but only from ONE computer

[worx]

From two computers in my office, I can login to my forum without issue. From a third computer I cannot. Hopefully someone here can suggest something that I've not yet tried. I've checked the internet security settings for all three computers and find them to be equal, by the way.

From the misbehaving computer, when I enter my username and password, then click the Login button, the screen changes to a temporary screen that tells me "You have been successfully logged in." In the upper-right corner of that screen it properly provides me with a button that reads "Logout [ username ]". Instead of then taking me to the forum index page, it returns to the login page. However, at the bottom of this new login page it indicates at I am now logged in as a registered user, yet the upper-right button simply reads "Login" (changed from "Logout [ username ]"). After three attempts at logging in, I'm told that I must now enter a confirmation code from a displayed graphic ... which doesn't actually display (there is a red-x graphic placeholder).

Why would one computer misbehave like this while the other two work just fine?

Login Screen


Success Screen


Revert to Login Screen


Confirmation code graphic non-display

[JohninLA]

This happened to me until I discovered I couldn't log in using Firefox any longer. It was weird, but when I tried with an IE Tab, or IE, it worked fine. I thought maybe I had been banned or something, but, if you happen to be using Firefox, try switching, and see if it works.

[worx]

Thanks for the idea. All three computers that I'm using are employing Microsoft IE 6.0. Again, two work, while the other does not. I can, by the way, login to this site using any of the three computers. In fact, I'm currently using the computer that won't let me login to my own forum.

[Brf]

My guess would be that the one computer is blocking cookies.

[worx]

Thanks for the input.
All three computers have the same "Medium" privacy setting (Tools > Options > Privacy tab).
As a test, I temporarilly changed the privacy setting to "Accept All Cookies, then tried to login to my forum. It behaved the same way. No solution.

[worx]

Thinking about cookies, I checked the ACP to see what the forum cookie name is. In the dialog, I see this note:

• Cookie settings
  These details define the data used to send cookies to your users browsers. In most cases the default values for the cookie settings should be sufficient. If you do need to change any, do so with care. Incorrect settings can prevent users from logging in.

I note the default name (phpbb3_g3oyw), then scan through all the cookies on the problem computer (after sorting by cookie 'name', of course). Hmmm ... it's not there. Curious, I do the same with the two computers that DO allow forum login. Hmmm ... no 'phpbb3_g3oyw' cookie there either. It doesn't matter whether or not I'm logged in to the forum.

How might this relate to my forum login problem from the single computer?

[worx]

I deleted all cookies and temporary internet files (on the troublesome computer), then tried to login to my forum (with my Privacy setting at "Accept All Cookies"). The problem persists. What coupld the problem be? What else might I try?

[jcpren]

I experienced the same problem on this forum, today, but not on my own forum. I use Google Chrome. Clearing my cookies did not work, but clearing all my browsing data (including history, cache, etc.) did.

Hope that helps.

[worx]

Thanks for that recommendation. I was holding my breath as I hit the enter key, after entering my username & password. But ... I'm afraid it didn't work. Any more constructive ideas?

[Teralian]

You could try to go to "ACP--->General--->Server configuration--->Cookie settings" and set the cookie domain to your site's full domain name, e.g. http://www.mydomain.com (don't add http:// or anything like that), and after that erase all cookies and temporary internet files. I had the same login problem when using any other browser than the IE 8 beta, but I couldn't login from any computer. This helped for me.