Safari 4: fixing Growl-related crashes; Hotmail workarounds; more

Other WebKit applications (Mail.app, etc.) crashing; related to Growl Several users have reported an issue in which various WebKit-based applications crash or exhibit other issues after installing the Safari 4 beta. In some cases, tehse issues are caused by the system add-on Growl.

One reader writes:

"I downloaded and installed safari 4 beta on my mac pro os x 10.5.6, restarted as required, mail immediately failed to start at login and could not be restarted. Removed beta, mails works properly."

A developer on the Growl team explains the issue:

"Mail uses WebKit to display messages, and one of the changes in Safari 4's new WebKit is stricter enforcement of which thread you call it on. We call a method named attributedString in Mail; it calls WebKit's method; WebKit's method raises an exception because we (indirectly) called it from a secondary thread. I have already created a fix and proven that it works. I've sent the patches to the other developers for review; if I hear nothing bad about them by tomorrow, I'll put them into the repository as part of 1.1.5."

In the meantime, you can workaround this issue by putting Growl into summary mode. This can be accomplished by entering the following command in the Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.mail GMSummaryMode -int 2

Hotmail inaccessible The issue with Safari 4 and Hotmail is universal. Sure you can look at emails by changing your user agent but try replying to one. I have had any problems with anything else (including Gmail) and I have no addons.

You can resolve some issues with Hotmail by changing the Safari user agent. First enable the Develop menu (if you haven't already) via this process: Launch Safari, then navigate to Preferences>Advanced and choose to show Develop in the menu bar.

Next, login to Hotmail, then go to the Develop menu and choose User Agent>Firefox.

Unforunately, a number of users are still experiencing issues sending mails after switching the user agent.

Text entry problems Some users have reported problems entering text in specific forms or javascript-powered Web apps after the update.

One reader writes:

"I use Blackboard, an academic web program used for classroom teaching. I habitually post homework assignments. Usually, when opening up an assignment page to edit, the first textbox is automatically highlighted, and I can immediately start typing in it without doing anything else. Now under Safari 4, the textbox is highlighted with a blinking cursor, but if I start to type, nothing happens. I have to mouse-click once in the box, which then still appears the same, but now responds to my typing. (I use OS 10.5.6 on a 2008 13-inch Macbook.)"

Similar issue? Please let us know.

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