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Troubleshooting Safari 3.1: Crashes, won't load pages, utilities broken
[Tuesday, March 18th]
Try standalone download If you've installed Safari 3.1 via Software Update and are experiencing problems, try using the standalone download to reinstall the package before pursuing other troubleshooting procedures.
Crashes Some users are experiencing repeated crashes with Safari 3.1, or crashes that occur on startup. If you are experiencing a similar issue, the first thing you should do is remove any third-party add-ons that could be causing problems.
Input managers might be culpable (PithHelmet, one Input Manager, is broken with this update -- see below). Check the following directories:
- /Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/
- Library/InputManagers
- ~/Library/InputManagers
and remove potentially problematic items. In fact, we recommend that users delete or temporarily remove all Input Managers before attempting to install and use Safari 3.1.
Also, check the plug-ins directories:
- ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins
- /Library/Internet Plug-Ins
for potentially incompatible items that could be causing various problems with Safari 3.1. Quit Safari and temporarily move them to a different location, then launch Safari and check for persistence of the problem. You can then move items back in batches or one by one (repeating the quit and relaunch process each time) to isolate the problematic plug-in.
One reader writes:
"Says its because of the flash player plug. I reinstalled flash and it's still crashing.
Problems restarting Some users are having issues starting up after installing Safari 3.1. MacFixIt reader Rick writes:
"First restart immediately after installation, the process went fine until the desktop came up. The finder did not start though I had my desktop background."
Another reader writes:
"I have just downloaded and installed the update to Safari 3.1. After it told me to reboot my Macbook pro just does not start through anymore. I see the grey Apple icon, it disappears and that's where my screen just stays blank."
If you are experiencing this issue, restart into Safe mode, by holding down the Shift key from the moment you hear the startup tone to the moment the "spinning gear" appears. Expect this startup to take longer than usual. Don't be alarmed if the fans whir loudly during the "spinning gear" display. Eventually you will be presented with the Safe Boot login screen. Log in as the administrator.
You can now try simply restarting normally. Certain cache files and other potential causes of issues are eliminated by simply performing a safe boot.
If you still experience issues, start in safe mode again and follow the procedures in this tutorial.
Java problems Several users have reported problems loading specific Java applets -- like the one on this page -- under Safari 3.1.
Will not load some pages Safari is also failing to render some pages it previously handled. The same pages, in many cases, render perfectly in the latest edition of Firefox for Mac OS X.
1Passwd broken 1Passwd is one of the input managers broken by Safari 3.1.
One reader writes:
"Cannot get the 1Password icon to show in Safari's Toolbar. It works fine with all other browsers: Firefox, Omniweb, Camino, etc. Other than that, Safari 3.1 seems to work great."
PithHelmet broken This input manager is also broken by Safari 3.1.
Saved site passwords missing Unfortunately, some users are reporting that all of their stored site passwords were eliminated after updating -- a problem compounded by the lack of 1Passwd functionality. One reader writes:
"After updating to Safari 3.1 this morning, all my saved site passwords are gone. I use 1Password and it also no longer is available on the menubar of Safari. This is the worst trying to rebuild a complex keychain, and I hate when this happens."
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
Resources
I use these 3rd party items with no loss in performance or stability. MacFixit's continued rants about them are off the mark. If a User isn't aware enough to check for 3rd party compatibility before installing an upgraded Safari version, then they ought not to use these 3rd party items in the first place. However, to rail against the existence of 3rd party Safari items does a disservice to the Mac community and further marginalizes MacFixit as an unreliable source of information.
The problem is that people forget, or don't know, that when they "extend" the features of a product, they may be fundamentally altering how that product does the functions that it does. If the product is changed in its own right (say you get your shoes repaired and the holes you poked are now gone) then the way that "enhancement" ties in to the original product can also change. This is not an example of an updated product being broken, just being a bit different from the way it was before.
Sites like this really ought to refer issues like this to a simple FAQ page which could then explain that Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla, etc... can't design their products around everyone else's hacks. We'd never get updates if they tried to do so. Also, if you use such tools (as I do) not disabling them before an upgrade risks incompatibilities that may be an annoyance, or may be disastrous.
Please, please, please Macfixit, stop reporting that updates "break" utilities when in fact the updates are simply incompatible with the utilities. You are laying blame at the feat of a corporation that has no responsibility for the "breaking" of 3rd party tools. If the 3rd party tools want to be compatible, they need to accept that changes will have to happen over time, and most of the developers do a very good job of making those changes as needed.
People who fundamentally change the features of their computing products need to understand that they also take some responsibility for that action.
Ahhhh . . .
The voice of sanity.
It is up to you, the user of system/application hacks, to verify that the update does not break your hack. You should not install anything until you check to see if the hacks you are using are compatible.
Nobody is forcing you to install updates the second that they are released.
That was supposed to be a reply to Caleb...
Broken, is broken. Laying blame for the break is something else.
And then there is the issue of compatibility. It would help to be clear about what rev of the System we are talking about. Safari 3.1 is available in 2 different flavors: Tiger and Leopard. Different downloads, I can only assume different compatibility issues.
Apple, in it's ordained wisdom has seen fit to provide an OS void of features it's customers are used to having. EG:Labels, Windowshades, Apple Menu, Application Menu, etc. Hence input managers. Apple has also seen fit to make repeated frequent changes in the system calls used by these input managers with no warning to their developers (IE: Last minute changes before release).
THANKS APPLE.
Don't blame the messenger. Blame the Holy Apple instead.
I CAN ONLY THANK MACFIXIT AND PLACES LIKE IT FOR TRYING TO GIVE US A HEAD'S UP WHEN $#@! HAPPENS.
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Caleb
Caleb,
No one is saying that input managers aren't useful. As I said in my initial post I use some of them myself.
What I am saying is that by reporting that XYZ update breaks ABC application people are getting the impression that Apple is intentionally crippling non-Apple products. The result is that Apple gets a bad name for trying to improve their own products! A more reasonable approach would be to report the truth of the matter which is simply that a new version of XYZ has come out and it won't work with ABC until they get back in sync with each other. It's the difference between walking around a blind corner and knocking someone's Starbucks out of their hand versus walking up to them and deliberately shoving it to the ground. One is an unfortunate accident because you need to get from point A to point B and the other is malicious. Safari 3.1 is apparently a huge step forward for the product, I don't believe there was any malice to any other developer intended, but that's how the headline comes off and we are a society of headline skimmers.
When incompatibilities happen they get fixed, usually quickly. it is up to the developer of each application (be it Safari, PithHelmet, whatever) to code on their own schedule.
I don't know why Apple decides to make certain changes at certain times, and I bet most people here don't either. I do know that explaining the difference between "broken" and "incompatible" goes a long way toward moderating mis-directed anger. Frankly, I am tremendously glad to have this new version of Safari. When Leopard came out I was very sad that FruitMenu and WindowShadeX were incompatible, but I didn't blame Apple. I waited for Unsanity to get around to updating the applications. As a paying customer, I am very dissatisfied with Unsanity for the length of time it has taken. I don't blame Apple since these are not Apple products and I can find no evidence to suggest that Apple is hindering them. There was at least one Firefox update which was not compatible with some existing 3rd party FF extensions. People waited for the extensions to be updated, and all was well. I expect we willl see the same thing here.
If nothing changes, then everything stays the same. Apple makes its reputation on innovation and improvement. To expect them to do so at the requirements of other companies is naiive at the very best.
Macfixit is a great resource that I highly recommend and have done so for a long time. What I object to is the idea that not supporting someone else's hack is somehow irresponsible. To me, promoting that impression is irresponsible and my remaining silent this long is also irresponsible.
That said, updates to Safari are not always compelling. The jump from version 2 to version 3 was significant as important new features were added. This latest update, however, is hardly essential. For my part I'm tired of waiting for Saft updates every time Safari changes. However, rather than complain about the problem - or live with it as I have in the past, what I intend to do this time around is simply continue to use the old version of Safari (in Tiger) until a Saft compatible update is available.
Most self-respecting Safari add-ons, including Saft, will disable themselves when they are called up in a new version of the program. Those that don't, however useful they may be, are more problematic. It's true, as was pointed out in another post, that people who install third party hacks and patches should take responsibility for keeping track of what they use - and know what to disable in case of trouble. Unfortunately, not everyone is conscientious about this kind of housekeeping; they are the first to complain when an application update doesn't work properly. Likewise, they are often quick to blame someone else for their problems. Personally, I'm less than sympathetic with their complaints.
On the other hand, I don't mean to disparage those who simply report an issue. They are passing along useful information that can save oodles of trouble for other people. To these folks, I say thanks.
What's the difference between complainers and reporters: in a word, attitude.
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Don't anthropomorphize computers.
They hate that.
MacBook (late 2006), OS X 10.5.2.
Perhaps it's worth trying WebKit 3.1 <http://nightly.webkit.org/>
I've also followed the usual procedure without a single hitch. Thanks, Apple!
Np problems here, but then I NEVER have had any problems with Apple's updates. Safari 3.1 is noticeably faster than previous versions, no benchmarks necessary to tell this.
I just don't understand why so many people have problems with Apple's updates, when I have NEVER experienced even ONE???
Hi,
Okay, so how did you get pith helmet to work under safari ? Did you change the version number in the plist or something else ? For the rest of us it is busted.
S.
From Version Tracker:
"This is what I did, and it worked for me. In the error message when firing up Safari, there is a version number. For me, it was 5525.13. I concluded I would need to tell SIMBL to accept this or a later version number.
Find /Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins
Control-click on PithHelmet.bundle, then Show Package Contents
Open the Info.plist file with TextEdit
Find MaxBundleVersion and change it to 5550.
Save.
Open Resources/Info.plist
Find MaxBundleVersion and change it to 5550.
Save.
Quit Safari and relaunch. "
Worked for me....
This url fails to load ... but if I hit reload it works fine.
if reloading helps, then I wonder if you are having cache related issues? If you close the window, empty cache, and then try to go to the page again will the Java work? I'm wondering if Safari 3.1 is having trouble because it is not pre-loading something. If so, it shouldn't be thus.
I haven't had any such troubles so I can't really test this line of thought.
- by spoonbender... March 19, 2008 5:31 PM PDT
- Hi,
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (21 Comments)For those of you wanting pith helmet to work on the new version of safari here you go. I got this from the forums on version tracker to much thanks to the original poster.
S.
1. Quit Safari.
2. Navigate to /Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/PithHelmet.bundle.
3. Control click to show package contents.
4. Open bundle and go to Contents.
5. Double click info.plist
6. Change MaxBundleVersion to 5525 (or what ever is the current Safari build for your version of the new Safari). It will then look like this:
<key>MaxBundleVersion</key>
<string>5525</string>
7. Save and relaunch Safari.