Technical question: I can't get on Discord with Firefox anymore

Factual Questions
1

I was on the site, and refreshed because it looked too slow. Next thing I know I’m getting a weird error message:

Secure Connection Failed

An error occurred during a connection to discord.com. PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR

Error code: PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR

I know very little about computers. What’s going on?

2

Did this used to work fine and all of a sudden stopped working?

That message means Firefox cannot make a secure connection.

Four ways to fix it:

#1. Disable Any Third-Party Security Software (Temporarily)
#2. Disable Your Browser’s Proxy Server
#3. Reset Firefox SSL Settings (Refresh Firefox browser)
#4. Disable VPN (temporarily) - SOURCE

3

Yeah, I just refreshed the Discord and whammo. And now it’s popped up on a couple of other sites.

4

As a test try a different browser.

If those work I’d suggest copying your bookmarks to a file and then deleting Firefox and re-installing it (and copying your bookmarks back).

And, for giggles, run a virus scan.

5

Tried it on Edge-no luck. I will try the full scan. One suggestion I’ve seen is to reset my “SSL settings.” Will that do anything drastic?

6

I’ve never “reset SSL” but it doesn’t seem a drastic thing.

Before that I would completely power off your PC (not a restart…shut it down…if a laptop consider pulling the battery for a minute and then putting it back in if you can do so easily).

Then, unplug your internet router (the thing your cable company plugs into). Leave it unplugged for at least 15-seconds. Then, plug it back in and wait three minutes for it to get itself back together. Start your PC and see if the problem continues.

7

I shall try that tomorrow ASAP and report back. Our WiFi has been annoyingly hinky so this may be another part of it.

8

Does the desktop Discord app work?

9

I don’t have it. Is it worth it?

10

Does this even exist? Or is this just the PWA “app” (which is just the same browser pretending to be an app)?

11

I think so? https://discord.com/download

Even if it’s a webview written in Electron or such, it’s not really a “PWA” in the technical sense, because it’s not tied to your browser settings, cookies, etc. They might both be written in web languages, but for you as a user, it will usually mean they have a separate store of settings on your computer, which can help isolate bugs.

Discord does (also) have a PWA that you can install from https://discord.com/channels/@me, but the downloadable apps are standalone executables detached from your browser, even if they wrap the same codebase.

For a SSL issue especially, it might help debug if it’s a system-level certificate store issue vs something that broke the browsers (maybe malware? some evil extension from Adobe/MS/etc?).

12

This I tried. No success.

13

Sorry, just saw this. Both of these links bring up the same error.

14

Can you try installing the desktop app from another source, like the Windows Store? Discord - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store

I hate that app, personally, but it can help you troubleshoot this error. If the standalone app works and the browser version doesn’t, it reinforces the idea that there is some weird SSL error happening on your computer.

Usual causes for that are things like your system clock being wrong (dead BIOS battery?), malware, some weird extension in your browser(s), using a VPN or some anti-tracking service that isn’t doing SSL right, some antivirus programs (which can hijack your SSL connections), etc. It’s not the easiest thing to troubleshoot, unfortunately, but you can try:

  • That desktop app (you don’t have to use it forever, just try it and see if it’s any different)
  • Opening incognito/inprivate windows in your browsers
  • Using a browser that you’ve never used before (Brave, Orion, etc.) just for testing
  • Scanning your computer for rogue certificates, often added by malware or antivirus software (which can sometimes act like malware)
15

Thank you. This I tried to no avail. I will try the rest.

16

I haven’t been able to log in for months.
I signed up, then BLAM!
No access, and apparently, no help from Discord.

17

Oof. Same issue?

18

Sorry for all of the posts. I did finally manage to get the app from the google store. When I tried to log in it sent a confirmation email to me. Verified that, and now I can get in. Some of the icons are gone now though. And I can get in with the app, but that looks fine. Weird. Something popped up about Windows Firewall, but that might have been about the app?

19

Are any other sites giving you an error, or just the one? Did you also check using different browsers (e.g., Firefox if you were using something else, or vice versa?)

20

I did try using Edge. Unless that isn’t a browser? Lemme try a few other sites. itch.io gives me the same error. BTW I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions and responses. A lot of good ideas here.