Safari 3.0 beta (#3): More serious issues and fixes

[Published Wednesday, June 13th]

As we continue to report on some serious issues affecting the Safari 3.0 beta, it is important to remember that (as stated yesterday), this package modifies many significant components other than the Safari application itself, perhaps most importantly the WebKit framework (version 522.10.1 is included with Safari 3 beta), relied upon by numerous Mac OS X applications to render HTML and perform other functions. Keep the included uninstaller (Safari3BetaUninstall.pkg) handy.

Reinstallation of Mac OS X may be necessary for serious issues Some users who installed Safari 3.0 beta users are experiencing serious issues with both Safari 2.0.4 and other applications even after uninstalling Safari 3.0 beta.

MacFixIt reader Paul Burke, for instance, writes:

"Ever since I attempted to upgrade to Safari 3 Beta I have had nothing but problems. I noticed these issues immediately because the most obvious issue is that, with a full connection, and other computers loading the pages successfully in the house, Safari (and surprisingly Firefox) could not connect to the servers of many, many pages. (including Myspace, Facebook, Youtube, basically most of the pages I visit.) I am having the same issues, running Safari 2.0.4 (419.3). Loading the pages is not the only issue. Sometimes they load, but only partially (leaving out images, CSS, javascript, you name it. [...] Nothing is helping. I have tried uninstalling Safari, then reinstalling,then uninstalling WebKit, reinstalling Safari, then uninstalling again."

In these extreme (and rare) cases, you may want to consider re-installing Mac OS X, which has proven successful for some. As described by one reader:

"I 'successfully' updated from Safari 2.0.4 and found that I couldn't open Safari anymore.  After 1 1/2 hrs. on the phone with Apple, I finally had to reinstall OS X with Archive and Install."

Widget problems (cont.) -- some already updated We previously reported that because Safari 3.0 beta modifies the WebKit framework and other files, some Widgets may not work properly after installation. One of the Widgets mentioned yesterday -- for accessing Wikipedia -- as already been updated with a Safari 3 beta-compatible release.

The developer of the Wikipedia widget, Sean Billig, provided MacFixIt with these details regarding the fix:

"The widget issues seem to be caused by a search history bug. When a widget contains this, it works fine (doesn't save search history):

• (left bracket)input size="21" type="search" autosave="myHistory" results /(right bracket)

"But when it's changed to this:

• (left bracket)input size="21" type="search" autosave="myHistory" results="10" /(right bracket)

"it won't launch. Both variations work fine in Safari, however. I've fixed the Wikipedia widget for Safari 3 users by greping for the Safari version number. Ugly hack, but it was late."

Uninstaller not working -- fixes We've received reports from some readers indicating that the included Safari beta 3 uninstaller does not work, giving the message that no copy of Safari eligible for uninstallation can be found.

MacFixIt reader Ray Constantine writes:

"After trying out Safari 3 beta, I decided it was not ready for my Desktop. However, when I went to use the uninstaller, none of the drive partitions (including the one I installed it on) were accessible for an uninstall. The message said that the partition did not have a Safari beta version that could be uninstalled. Fortunately for me, and I highly recommend this for anyone who like to dabble with betas, I had installed the Safari beta on a clone produced using SuperDuper!"

In some cases, performing one or more of the following may allow the uninstaller to work:

• Restart in safe mode (hold the shift key while starting up)
• Disconnect all USB/FireWire peripherals except for the mouse

Another option is to simply reinstall Mac OS X, as aforementioned.

Growl interference: "Candybars" empty The "Candybars" display type used by the Growl notification system displays no text after installing Safari 3.0. Other themes show notification text properly.

You can change the display theme by going to the Growl pane in System Preferences, clicking the Display Options tab and selecting from the left-hand pane. All themes except "Candybar" appear to function properly after Safari 3.0 installation.

Colloquy broken It appears that the Colloquy chat client is not compatible with the new WebKit version included with Safari 3, with no display of text in the chat window.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Previous coverage:

• Safari 3.0 public beta (#2): What gets installed; Widgets not working; Input managers can cause problems; more
• Safari 3.0 public beta for Mac OS X released

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