Q: Safari 5.1.4 update breaks SoftwareUpdate on 10.6.8 server IFJS_PropertyListConvertToType() called with type=3

hi Cathy - yup, unfortunately installed Safari 5.1.4 on one of my two 2008 Xserves - no more Software Update, either by GUI or command line.

I'd hoped that the update that came out today, 19 Mar 2012, titled "Apple Software Installer Update 1.0" would fix this issue.  In my case, it did not.  The text on the Apple Support page  (http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1512) for this update was very generic:

About Apple Software Installer Update 1.0

This update addresses an issue that may prevent certain Apple software from installing. This update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X 10.6.8.

I hope there is a working solution soon, that is less work than "install a fresh copy of the system" 

cheers!

Hi,

Thanks for the info, but it doesn't resolve nothing for me on the Xserve.

Apple Software Installer Update 1.0 does not resolve the problem here

Does not solve the problem: same crash, same place:

Thread 6 Crashed:  Dispatch queue: com.apple.root.default-priority

0   com.apple.JavaScriptCore            0x00007fff89030ff1 JSC::JSObject::defaultValue(JSC::JSObject const*, JSC::Exec

State*, JSC::PreferredPrimitiveType) + 3921

1   com.apple.JavaScriptCore            0x00007fff89021d6a JSC::JSCell::toPrimitive(JSC::ExecState*, JSC::PreferredPrimitiveType) const + 42

2   com.apple.JavaScriptCore            0x00007fff88ef1387 cti_op_to_primitive + 55

3   ???                                 0x00002898dfe04573 0 + 446370561570434   com.apple.JavaScriptCore            0x00007fff88e83462 JSC::Interpreter::execute(JSC::ProgramExecutable*, JSC::Exe

cState*, JSC::ScopeChainNode*, JSC::JSObject*) + 2386

5   ???                                 0x000000010078e9e0 0 + 4302891488

xserve (early 2008), according to serialnumber info from

https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do?newid=y

I have the same problem (Xserve2,1 and IFJS_PropertyListConvertToType() problem).

I tried to start the Software Update (GUI) with the i386 instead of x86_64 with

arch -arch i386 /System/Library/CoreServices/Software\ Update.app/Contents/MacOS/Software\ Update

and seems to GUI started.

Hello,

Thanks a lot, it works.

So there is a work around.

Reading others threads I had the intuition that was 32/64 bits problem. It seems clearly to be a hardware specific problem (kernel). I hope they will really fix it cause I dont't if other stuff is broken (JavaScript is rare in applications, but how knows).

Thx to AlphaMachine!

OK another workaround:

In Finder go to /SystemLibrary/CoreServices

select SofwareUpdate.app

press cmd+i

and select in the infowindow "open in 32-bit mode"!

Now the GUI of SoftwareUpdate works at my xserve 2008.

No more crashes until now!

But I'm waiting for the automatic update-task of servermanager tonight... ;-)

Greetings,

Peter.

Thanks AlphaMachine and Peter!

both these solutions worked for me as well.  

this just goes to show - it is always something! 

cheers!

I had been having the same trouble with my two 2008 Xserve's after updates early this morning. This switch to 32-bit worked for me as well. Annoying bug! Guess no one at Apple has any older equipment? ;-)

I had this same problem as well (on an '08 Xserve, 10.6.8 Server) & wasn't able to fix it until I found this thread, so thank you. My fix was very different though. Instead of running Software Update.app in x86 mode, I essentially rolled my system back manually via Time Machine & Xcode, here goes:

Note: Do this at your own risk.

Tools: Cocktail, Disk Utility, Pacifist, Time Machine, Xcode

1. Install Cocktail, Pacifist, & Xcode
2. Download Safari 5.1.4 for Snow Leopard from Apple or MacUpdate.
3. Open Safari5.1.4SnowLeopardManual.pkg via Pacifist.
4. Compare the contents of that package with your latest Time Machine backup prior to the installation of Safari 5.1.4 (look Software Update.prefpane -> Installed Software for the date).
5. Restore the major components (Safari.app, each main Framework, Private Framework, binary, etc.) with ones from that Time Machine backup. It's easier to look @ the contents of Safari5.1.4SnowLeopardManual.pkg from another Mac.
6. Make 2 copies of /Library/Receipts/InstallHistory.plist
7. Open one of the copies in Xcode
8. Search for "5.1.4"
9. Remove that item number entirely
10. Save & close, then copy this copy back to /Library/Receipts/, overwriting the copy that's there.
11. Repair disk permissions in Disk Utility
12. Clear all System/Group/Kernel caches via Cocktail (Files tab -> Caches -> Options).
13. Reboot.

After doing this, Software Update.app behaves exactly as it did prior to the 5.1.4 update, and 5.1.4 is availabe for install. Don't install it of course. Better yet, if you're running the Software Update service, disable it and direct your Xserve towards it. This will of course disable it for clients or other hardware, where the problem doesn't seem to be occurring.

Building off of the solutions from AlphaMachine and Peter, (and this thread http://superuser.com/questions/76730/how-to-launch-applications-in-32-bit-from-t erminal-in-snow-leopard)

...here's how to make the command line softwareupdate work:

arch -i386 softwareupdate -i -a

(or whichever options you need)

I had the same problem as everyone else in this thread (identical hardware and software).  The new Safari 5.1.5 update fixed it.

Actually, I spoke too soon.  The segmentation fault doesn't happen and softwareupdate seems to do its job, but I still get the strange error message:

file:~ peteradm$ softwareupdate -l

Software Update Tool

Copyright 2002-2009 Apple

2012-03-26 21:36:43.493 softwareupdate[1091:5003] IFJS_PropertyListConvertToType() called with type=3

2012-03-26 21:36:43.501 softwareupdate[1091:5003] IFJS_PropertyListConvertToType() called with type=3

No new software available.

I submitted a bug report with a crash log.  My bug report is numbered 11129318.  As I mentioned, after the Safari 5.1.5 update, software update doesn't segfault anymore, but it does spit out the IFJS_PropertyListConvertToType message.