How to Resolve "Could not open socket" From reCaptcha

If you met the following error from the browser, it could be a reCaptcha problem.

It seems a DNS problem, you can take the following steps to resolve:

1. Make sure the value of RECAPTCHA_VERIFY_SERVER in recaptchalib.php.
...
define("RECAPTCHA_VERIFY_SERVER", "www.google.com");
...
2. Get A records of the verify server.
[root@localhost ~]# host www.google.com
www.google.com has address 173.194.127.82
www.google.com has address 173.194.127.83
www.google.com has address 173.194.127.84
www.google.com has address 173.194.127.80
www.google.com has address 173.194.127.81
www.google.com has IPv6 address 2404:6800:4005:c00::68
3. Add the A records to you local host file.
[root@localhost ~]# vi /etc/hosts
...
173.194.127.82  www.google.com
173.194.127.83  www.google.com
173.194.127.84  www.google.com
173.194.127.80  www.google.com
173.194.127.81  www.google.com

It should work fine now.

Another way to resolve this is to add reliable name servers like Google public DNS to your network configuration:

Don't forget to restart the primary NIC or network service to take effect.