Max Kaganov

Q: Java does not work on certain websites, even if allowed

I am a frequent user of the US Patent & Trademark Office's web applications. Many of these require authentication via a digital certificate that is stored on the local filesystem. Unfortunately, the USPTO uses Java to implement this function.

 

In previous OS X versions, I was able to allow Java to run in "Unsafe" mode on certain USPTO subdomains, allowing it to view the filesystem to select the digital certificate. With the update to macOS Sierra and latest Safari, however, even with Java allowed, the authentication page takes a long time to load (or does not load at all), and clicking on the button to select certificate does nothing.

 

You can try it for yourself at https://ppair.uspto.gov/TruePassSample/AuthenticateUserLocalEPF.html and see what happens.

 

Is there any workaround to restore the old functionality, perhaps some hidden preferences that can be changed via command line? Having this feature "broken" has become a serious impediment to my workflow.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Sep 29, 2016 7:34 AM

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Q: Java does not work on certain websites, even if allowed

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 29, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Max Kaganov
    Level 9 (73,376 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 29, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Max Kaganov

    Safari/Preferences/Security - is Enable Javascript checked? Is Block pop up windows unchecked?

  • by Max Kaganov,

    Max Kaganov Max Kaganov Sep 29, 2016 8:14 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 2 (193 points)
    Safari
    Sep 29, 2016 8:14 AM in response to Eric Root

    Yes they are. This is a Java issue, and no popup windows are used. The page at the URL above isn't even loading at this point.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 29, 2016 11:34 AM in response to Max Kaganov
    Level 9 (73,376 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 29, 2016 11:34 AM in response to Max Kaganov

    I just accessed the link with no problems and I don't have Java installed.

     

    Try running this program in your normal account , then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor.  Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.
      

    Etrecheck – System Information

  • by Max Kaganov,

    Max Kaganov Max Kaganov Sep 30, 2016 8:05 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 2 (193 points)
    Safari
    Sep 30, 2016 8:05 AM in response to Eric Root

    Thank you for your reply. While I can access the site most of the time, the "Browse" button does not bring up a file system browser as it used to, before the update. Does the browse button function on your end? Also, if I reload that URL after successfully accessing it, the page hangs. And while I do have AdBlock and Ghostery installed, turning them off has no effect, nor were they an issue before the update.

     

    Etrecheck report is below.

    1

    EtreCheck version: 3.0.6 (315)

    Report generated 2016-09-30 10:59:36

    Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

    Runtime 2:10

    Performance: Excellent

     

    Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

    Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

     

    Problem: Other problem

     

    Hardware Information:

        MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)

        [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

        MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro12,1

        1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

        8 GB RAM Not upgradeable

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

        Wireless:  en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

        Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 119

     

    Video Information:

        Intel Iris Graphics 6100

            Color LCD 2560 x 1600

     

    System Software:

        macOS Sierra  10.12 (16A323) - Time since boot: about 10 days

     

    Disk Information:

        APPLE SSD SM0256G disk0 : (251 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB

            Macintosh HD (disk1) /  [Startup]: 249.78 GB (105.02 GB free)

                Core Storage: disk0s2 250.14 GB Online

     

    USB Information:

        Apple Card Reader

        Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

     

    Thunderbolt Information:

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

     

    Configuration files:

        /etc/hosts - Count: 146

     

    Gatekeeper:

        Anywhere

     

    Kernel Extensions:

            /System/Library/Extensions

        [not loaded]    com.wacom.kext.pentablet (Pen Tablet 5.3.6-6 - SDK 10.9 - 2016-09-22) [Support]

     

    System Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    150 Apple tasks

        [running]    105 Apple tasks

        [killed]    9 Apple tasks

        9 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

     

    System Launch Daemons:

        [not loaded]    44 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    150 Apple tasks

        [running]    95 Apple tasks

        [killed]    14 Apple tasks

        14 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

     

    Launch Agents:

        [running]    com.brother.LOGINserver.plist (2015-04-06) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-12) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2015-12-14) [Support]

        [running]    com.wacom.pentablet.plist (2014-12-23) [Support]

     

    Launch Daemons:

     

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-09-02) [Support]

     

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2015-12-14) [Support]

     

    User Launch Agents:

        [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist (2016-09-20) [Support]

     

    User Login Items:

        Flux    Application  (/Applications/Flux.app)

        iTunesHelper    Application  (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

        Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

        Spotify    Application Hidden (/Applications/Spotify.app)

     

    Internet Plug-ins:

        AdobeAAMDetect: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-09-19) [Support]

        FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-17) [Support]

        QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-09-13)

        AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.017.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2016-09-19) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewer: 15.017.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2016-09-19) [Support]

        Flash Player: 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-17) [Support]

        o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-16) [Support]

        googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-11) [Support]

        JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 101 build 13 (2016-08-19) Check version

     

    User internet Plug-ins:

        CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (2013-04-25) [Support]

     

    Safari Extensions:

        Adblock Plus - Eyeo GmbH - https://adblockplus.org/ (2016-09-27)

        Reddit Enhancement Suite - Steve Sobel - http://redditenhancementsuite.com/ (2015-12-05)

        HoverSee - SideTree.com - Apps for Mac - http://SideTree.com/extensions.html#HoverSee (2016-06-11)

        Ghostery - GHOSTERY, Inc. - https://www.ghostery.com/ (2016-06-11)

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes:

        Flash Player (2016-08-29) [Support]

        Java (2016-08-19) [Support]

     

    Time Machine:

        Skip System Files: NO

        Mobile backups: OFF

        Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

        Volumes being backed up:

            Macintosh HD: Disk size: 249.78 GB Disk used: 144.76 GB

        Destinations:

            Media [Local]

            Total size: 2.00 TB

            Total number of backups: 1

            Oldest backup: 6/7/16, 11:48 AM

            Last backup: 6/7/16, 11:48 AM

            Size of backup disk: Excellent

                Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk size 249.78 GB X 3)

     

    Top Processes by CPU:

            34%    VTDecoderXPCService

            32%    Safari

            22%    Messages

            14%    WindowServer

            11%    trustd(3)

     

    Top Processes by Memory:

        992 MB    kernel_task

        803 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(12)

        311 MB    Safari

        270 MB    Mail

        188 MB    mdworker(12)

     

    Virtual Memory Information:

        90 MB    Free RAM

        7.91 GB    Used RAM (1.13 GB Cached)

        1.56 GB    Swap Used

     

    Diagnostics Information:

        Sep 29, 2016, 12:30:10 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/CommCenter_2016-09-29-123010_[redacted].crash

            /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreTelephony.framework/Support/CommCenter

        Sep 27, 2016, 10:48:39 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/CommCenter_2016-09-27-224839_[redacted].crash

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 30, 2016 11:28 AM in response to Max Kaganov
    Level 9 (73,376 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 30, 2016 11:28 AM in response to Max Kaganov

    Safari/Preferences/Extensions - try disabling AdBlock Plus.

  • by Max Kaganov,

    Max Kaganov Max Kaganov Sep 30, 2016 11:32 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 2 (193 points)
    Safari
    Sep 30, 2016 11:32 AM in response to Eric Root

    It's been disabled. As I stated above, that's not the cause of the issue. The site worked fine—with AdBlock enabled—before the latest Safari update that changed the way the browser handles Java. Now, it is incapable of launching the file browser as it is supposed to. I was hoping for a way to return to the old behavior, perhaps through the command line (similar to Gatekeeper, for example).

  • by Max Kaganov,Solvedanswer

    Max Kaganov Max Kaganov Oct 2, 2016 2:03 PM in response to Max Kaganov
    Level 2 (193 points)
    Safari
    Oct 2, 2016 2:03 PM in response to Max Kaganov

    The solution to the problem is in this post: MacOS Sierra Safari Java running unsafe not working anymore

     

    Option-clicking the On/Off/Ask menu in the Java Plugin Settings preference panel will allow one to turn off the "Run in Safe Mode" option. This solves the issue.