327381 - Offline/online: WPAD doesn't refresh when changing networks (Mac OS X)

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Core :: Networking, defect)

Description

[Andy Lyttle]

If I switch to a different network while Firefox is open, Firefox won't check for a new WPAD server and PAC file.  Since the old PAC file isn't likely to work on the new network, everything breaks (I get errors that Firefox is configured to use a proxy server that can't be found).

Going to Preferences, changing the proxy setting to Direct, then changing it back to Automatic solves the problem.

It's my understanding that whenever a network connection changes (e.g. an ethernet cable is unplugged or plugged in, or you connect/disconnect to/from an AirPort network) the OS sends a signal to all applications informing them that there's been a change.  Firefox needs to respond to this by looking for a WPAD server on the new network.  Sorry, I don't know the technical details.  And, I don't know if this is a platform-specific bug or not.

Comment 1

[benc]

Does going offline and online work?

Comment 2

[Andy Lyttle]

No, going offline (I'm assuming you mean the "Work Offline" option) and back online does not fix it.

Comment 3

[benc]

Yeah, Mac OS X would need platform specific code for this...

I think this is related to the feature development in offline-online, so I'm "improving" the summary.

Comment 4

[benc]

NOTE: I was reading the PAC code last week, and offline-online does appear to call  PAC when you go online. This may not have been in place in 2006...

So anyone else affected, give that a try. There are a couple other related-sounding bug reports that say this is working now.