The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
I have been using Firefox for years. Suddenly today I can no longer access Pay Pal via any site (Ebay, Vitacost, etc) to make online payments through PayPal. I loaded in Google Chrome and I CAN access Pay Pal so it appears to be a Firefox issue. The 'warn me when websites try to redirect' in UN-checked, so this is not the issue from what I can see. There seems to be some redirect issue. I tried going directly to www.paypal.com and received the same message (see below). Firefox is preventing a redirect to PayPal. Please advise and provide detailed steps to correcting this issue. Thanks. :-)
This is the message I am receiving: Internal Server Error The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@paypal.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error. More information about this error may be available in the server error log.
Chosen solution
Since the error message is generated from the server, Firefox may be sending an inappropriate or corrupted cookie, or some aspect of a typical web request (such as the URL of the referring site) might be blocked.
To address that first one: Remove your paypal cookies -- save any pending work first. While viewing a page on the site, try either:
- right-click and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
- (menu bar) Tools > Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
- click the padlock or globe icon in the address bar > More Information > "View Cookies"
In the dialog that opens, you can remove the site's cookies individually.
Then try reloading the page. Does that help?
The second issue is trickier because you need to see what kind of request Firefox is sending. But first you might check this setting:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.
(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste refer and pause while the list is filtered
(3) If the network.http.sendRefererHeader preference is bolded and "user set" to a value other than 2, right-click > Reset the preference so that Firefox sends the Referer header in all relevant cases
If you changed that, does it make a difference in using PayPal?
Read this answer in context 👍 4All Replies (3)
Chosen Solution
Since the error message is generated from the server, Firefox may be sending an inappropriate or corrupted cookie, or some aspect of a typical web request (such as the URL of the referring site) might be blocked.
To address that first one: Remove your paypal cookies -- save any pending work first. While viewing a page on the site, try either:
- right-click and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
- (menu bar) Tools > Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
- click the padlock or globe icon in the address bar > More Information > "View Cookies"
In the dialog that opens, you can remove the site's cookies individually.
Then try reloading the page. Does that help?
The second issue is trickier because you need to see what kind of request Firefox is sending. But first you might check this setting:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.
(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste refer and pause while the list is filtered
(3) If the network.http.sendRefererHeader preference is bolded and "user set" to a value other than 2, right-click > Reset the preference so that Firefox sends the Referer header in all relevant cases
If you changed that, does it make a difference in using PayPal?
If the above didn't help then also check for issues caused by extensions.
You can inspect and manage permissions for the domain in the currently selected tab via these steps:
- Click the "Site Identity Button" (globe/padlock) on the location/address bar
- Click "More Information" to open "Tools > Page Info" with the Security tab selected
- Go to the Permissions tab (Tools > Page Info > Permissions) to check the permissions for the domain in the currently selected tab
You can allow third-party cookies only from visited domains.
- Tools > Options > Privacy > Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history"
Clear the cache and remove cookies only from websites that cause problems.
"Clear the Cache":
- Firefox/Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Cached Web Content: "Clear Now"
"Remove Cookies" from sites causing problems:
- Firefox/Tools > Options > Privacy > "Use custom settings for history" > Cookies: "Show Cookies"
Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.
- Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
- Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window
Jeanine7 said
I have been using Firefox for years. Suddenly today I can no longer access Pay Pal via any site (Ebay, Vitacost, etc) to make online payments through PayPal. I loaded in Google Chrome and I CAN access Pay Pal so it appears to be a Firefox issue. The 'warn me when websites try to redirect' in UN-checked, so this is not the issue from what I can see. There seems to be some redirect issue. I tried going directly to www.paypal.com and received the same message (see below). Firefox is preventing a redirect to PayPal. Please advise and provide detailed steps to correcting this issue. Thanks. :-) This is the message I am receiving: Internal Server Error The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@paypal.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error. More information about this error may be available in the server error log.
You are amazing!!!! The issue is solved and I am grateful for your insight and direction. :-)