iPad Mini Safari incorrect login

[Frobisher]

The Forum I maintain is at version 2.0.11.

I have a User who lives in the USA who has an iPad Mini with the Safari Web Browser installed.
When he attempts to log into the Forum he cannot. Not aware if he gets any error messages.
I can log into his account using my Windows 10 Laptop with the Firefox Web Browser and his
Username/Password.

In the Forum Errorlog it shows that when he attempts to log in there is an incorrect password
for his Username. I temporarily installed Safari for Windows on my Laptop and was able to log
into his Forum account.

Not living close to the User and not having any Apple devices, I cannot attempt to emulate the
problem.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you, Nolly

[Arantor]

Ask him what version of iOS he is on, first of all.

[Frobisher]

Arantor, thanks for your reply.

Guessed someone would ask that question

[Grammy]

He may need to go to Settings, then scroll down to Safari, then click Clear History and Website Data (if he's not tried that, already).  He can also click Passwords (in the Safari settings) and check to see what (if anything) is entered there.   

[Arantor]

It's the key question, since the version of Safari is tied to the version of iOS. The only reliable thing we can say is that it's iOS 7 or later since the first gen Mini came out in 2013 round the time of iOS 7 if memory serves. (At least, I have a first gen Mini, I bought it in 2013 after iOS 7 debuted and they weren't trying to upsell me to a second gen Mini. I know it was after iOS 7 debuted as I'd been beta testing it on my other iPad)

@Grammy: that's not the first thing I'd suggest as it's quite an inconvenience to the user. It's also that different versions of iOS have different Safari bugs. iOS 7 through 7.0.4 had a number of very irritating bugs to deal with, for example.

[Frobisher]

Grammy & Arantor, thanks for your replies.

I am awaiting a reply by Email from the User.

[Frobisher]

While waiting for the User to respond, I decided to check my Web Server's Logfiles. Here is the latest showing the time/date of the failure to login. Not sure how you decode that to show IOS version and Safari version.

***********************
/forum/index.php - 401 643 http://series34.info/ Mozilla/5.0+(iPad;+CPU+OS+9_3_4+like+Mac+OS+X)+AppleWebKit/601.1.46+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Version/9.0+Mobile/13G35+Safari/601.1
www.series34.info 50.188.230.5 capecole 2016-08-15 15:58:22 GET /forum/index.php - 401 643 http://series34.info/ Mozilla/5.0+(iPad;+CPU+OS+9_3_4+like+Mac+OS+X)+AppleWebKit/601.1.46+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Version/9.0+Mobile/13G35+Safari/601.1
***********************

[Frobisher]

Sticking my neck out, I have concluded (could be wrong) that the User has:

IOS version 9.3.2
Safari version 6 point something

[Grammy]

@Grammy: that's not the first thing I'd suggest as it's quite an inconvenience to the user. It's also that different versions of iOS have different Safari bugs. iOS 7 through 7.0.4 had a number of very irritating bugs to deal with, for example.

I concede.   

I've been using Apple (everything) since the 80s and since I never had password issues with Safari after updates, I just opted for the "dump and try again" approach.  I hope the OP is able to let us know what the issue turned out to be; I'm pretty interested to know.

[Kindred]

URL of your site?

What is the user's username? (does it contain any special characters?)

if he tries from firefox or dolphin from the ipad, can he log in? (in other words, is the issue related to Safari or the iPad itself?)

[Frobisher]

Hi Kindred. The Forum login page requires a Username/Password to get to it. There is a different one for each User.
Therefore, if I was to provide you with the URL of the Forum, you would not be able to get to the log-in page without a
Username/Password.

The Forum Password to actually log into the Forum for this User contains Uppercase and Lowercase characters as well as Digits.
There are no special characters in the Password. I am not aware whether or not the User has Demon (not heard of that)
or Firefox installed on his iPad Mini.

[d3vcho]

If I understood well, you provide the password to the user for login, right? So, have you tried to change that password?

My apologies if I misunderstood you.

[Frobisher]

Hi d3vcho. No that is not correct. Let me explain.

The Website has four main directories which contain web pages for three Royal Navy Entries and the fourth is for the Forum.
So, these four directories are at the same level below the root directory. To access any of the Navy Websites or the Forum
Login Page, a User is required to supply a Username/Password which I have supplied to them.

A User will arrive at the Forum Login Page only if he supplies a Username/Password I have provided.

To log-in to the Forum a User must then supply the Username/Password that he provided when Registering for a Forum Account.
It is at this point where this specific User is getting an 'incorrect password' problem as indicated by the image of the Logfile provided.

Hope that helps.

[Kindred]

I wasn't asking about the characters in the password, I was asking about the username...

However, with the directory protection, that adds another level that could be complicating things...

Oh, and the other browser is dolphin, not demon.

[Frobisher]

Hi Kindred. No strange characters in the Username.

Got it, Dolphin it is. That's what happens when you get old

[Frobisher]

I have removed the need for a Username/Password to get to the Forum log-in page.

Got an email back from the User who states the following.

Just checked my emails. I am using iOS9.3.4
I cleared history.
Under password in safari I find, netflix, domain_name/Admin, and domain_name/username.
If I go to the link you posted below, I am asked for a password and user name. When I enter them it says no such password.

Note that in the italics above I have substituted 'domain_name' for the domain name of my Website. Note it is showing a domain name not a complete URL. I have advised the User to delete the two passwords domain_name/Admin, and domain_name/username.

I have not got a clue what a saved Safari password should look like but it does not look right to me. Note the error message no such password.

Help

[Kindred]

Actually, it is sounding like he is getting stuck at your directory protection, not the forum username/password....

[Frobisher]

Hi Kindred,

Directory protection has been removed and was the case when the User last attempted to log-in to the Forum.
Note that there is no entry in the Forum Logfile now but the User sees 'no such password' when he attempts to log in.

This appears to be a Safari problem but I have no knowledge of Apple products or Safari.

[Kindred]

The thing is... I don't recall "no such password" being an actual error message in smf

[Frobisher]

Kindred, I have no doubt you are correct about 'no such password' not being an SMF error.

This is in my view a Safari problem. That said, if you wish to close this thread, then please do so.

Off to find an IOS and/or Safari Forum.

Thank you.

[Arantor]

The message in the OP was that the password was wrong, not "no such password". That part implies there may be an SMF problem behind it. Or the user using the wrong password at the wrong time, maybe.

[Frobisher]

Yes, the problem has changed in that initially the User was producing an 'incorrect password' as shown in the Forum Errorlog but now
he is getting an error message 'no such password'.

I am hoping for more response from the User later today.

[Frobisher]

Just received another email from the User in the USA

I cleared out the Safari passwords and the Cache, re entered your link, used Username and Password and got right in.
I have exited and got back in several times, so we might be on a winner.

Let me just outline some bullet points before I mark this as solved.

• My Forum required a Username/Password to get to the login page - enforced by me
• User was experiencing login problems to the Forum - Forum Logfile showed 'incorrect password'
• Problem changed to 'no such password' as observed by the User but it is not clear why
• I removed the need for Users to have to use a Username/Password to get to the Forum login page
• After User carried out specific operations on Safari such as deleting passwords, clearing cache, etc. User could log in

Conclusion: It is not clear if the need to use a Username/Password to get to the Forum login page was causing a problem.
I could prove the point by making that a requirement again but I am going to quit while I am ahead

My suspicion is that it was the strange looking passwords the Users Safari had saved. As an academic exercise I will ask the
user to check what passwords are now saved in Safari.

Thank you to everyone who responded with their thoughts and suggestions.

[Grammy]

Glad to hear it's sorted.