Sophos 'Unable to connect to Primary Server 'and threats detected!

These two are likely not linked... that's a Windows-based exploit, which likely triggered due to the file not being complete (that's a partial download of a Word document).  By the time the next bits of the file were downloaded by Firefox, the detection should vanish.

Access Denied is likely due to the server being under heavy load when you attempted to update.  I suppose it's also possible it was due to attempting to update while a detection was in progress.  Have you been able to update since?  Does disabling on-access and then updating work?

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for this. Tried turning Sophos update off and on and rebooting computer and still won't connect - hasn't for 2 days despite numerous attempts ... 

Hmm... maybe one of the other suggestions on here will help?  The date/time issue seems to be the most common.

I have the same problem of not been able to connect to primary server. How do you disable on-access? 

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cicoria wrote:

I have the same problem of not been able to connect to primary server. How do you disable on-access? 

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From the Shield menu in the menu bar, select "Open Preferences..." and click the "On-access Scanning" button.  Click the "click the lock to make changes" lock in the bottom left, authenticate with an admin user/pass, and then click the "Stop Scanning" button.

I just installed Sophos anti-virus for Mac (10.4.11, PPC).  Everything installed as it should, as far as I can tell.  I also get 'could not contact primary server' message in AutoUpdate status window.

What is the actual fix . . . . ?

I have the same problem.... install went great, and initially the crest/icon was active, and first scan was successful, yet now I get an 'X' and 'Could not contact primary server.'

Background:

• OS Version: OSX 10.7.4
• Recently, i turned on "FileVault" to encrypt my my hard-drive documents.
• I also have mac's Firewall on, yet in the 'Firewall options,' I have set an exception to "allow Sophos AntiVirus to accept incoming connections."  There is no option/choice for outgoing..

Please help, or I will need to uninstall and use a different product!

Thank you,

Scott

I am another unfortunate with this error message. I try to scan; I am then informed that the software needs to be updated to deal with new threats; I attempt to update and receive the error message - for more than a week now, at different times of day and night.

I rang the helpline to report the problem and was referred back here (where I had already been). The assumption being made is that this a local difficulty and will be quickly resolved. But since this error message was reported here in November 2011, it seems that there is something more than a quick fix (by me and other users) required. My suggestion that this was the case was "noted".

What a shame; Sophos is usually so reliable.

I'd suggest running Sophos Remove and re-running the installer -- your copy has failed to update to version 8.0.5, and is no longer performing detection updates  It's possible that the download got interrupted and the updater is now in a state where it can't complete the update.

The error message itself was first reported almost immediately after product launch because there are many specific things that can cause your computer to be unable to connect to the primary server; all it is saying is that requests to connect to the update server are failing.  For some people's connection problems, there is indeed a quick fix, for others, the problem can be more convoluted (such as disabling WiFi, connecting once direct through Ethernet, clicking on the date/time in the menu bar, rebooting, changing router firewall settings, etc.).

The helpline, as it is for a different product, is not available to Home Edition customers, but they do note things and add them to incident logs.

I have upgraded to 8.0.6c and it is still not updating. Still Could not contact primary server. What should I try now?