Gmail standard view fails to load in IE8 from favorite

[joema]

Periodically I have problems loading the Gmail inbox from an IE8 favorite, if using Gmail "standard view". Gmail "basic HTML" view doesn't have the problem. Likewise Firefox 3.5.5 nor Chrome 3.0.195.33 have the problem in either Gmail standard of basic view. IE8 version: 8.0.7600.16385. Happens with both 32-bit and 64-bit IE8.

Problem only happens if loading from an IE8 favorite, not if manually going to Gmail and logging in.

Typically the problem manifests as an indefinite wait while loading Gmail. However sometimes one of the following two errors happen:

""We're sorry. It seems there is a problem. Please try using Gmail with a supported browser. If you're encountering this error while using a supported browser, we suggest alerting your Internet Service Provider (ISP) that a proxy is failing to accept cookies on HTTP redirects."

OR error loading page (yellow icon on IE8 status bar), where error details are:

User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; SLCC2; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0;
Tablet PC 2.0)
Timestamp: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 19:30:20 UTC

Message: 'b()[...]' is null or not an object
Line: 466
Char: 147
Code: 0
URI: http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&v...ec9iPCj39i5BXHC0fIucsP8-ca4xltahQvEtWFEYfFrew

Other details:

Deleted all cookies, passwords and cache -- problem still happens. Happens with IE8 protected mode either on or off.

At one point this URL would cause the problem:
http://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&tab=wm#inbox

Whereas this URL would not:
http://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&shva=1#

Unfortunately the problem is not consistently reproducible. However these are the approximate steps:

(1) In IE8, go to www.gmail.com and log in.
(2) Select Gmail option "stay logged in"
(3) When viewing inbox, press IE8 "Add to Favorites Bar" icon.
(4) If IE8 prompts to remember password, say yes.
(4) Exit and restart IE8
(5) Select above created Gmail favorite from IE8 favorites bar
(6) Problem may happen

Workaround: delete IE8 Gmail favorite, log into Gmail manually and re-create IE8 favorite.

Configuration: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. See profile for other details.

 

[joema]

Got this new error message when trying to sign into Gmail using IE8. However after making the recommended change to https only, problem still happens. Don't know if it's related.

Oops 103

You're encountering a known issue with Gmail that our engineers are actively investigating. In the meantime, please try signing in to Gmail through our secured interface, available via https://mail.google.com. We also recommend enabling the 'Always use https' setting in Gmail by following these steps:

Sign in to Gmail.
Click Settings at the top of any Gmail page.
Set 'Browser Connection:' to 'Always use https.'
Click Save Changes.
Reload Gmail.