Why does Safari hang in OS X Lion?

Hi clipperace,

This completely resolved the issue I was having on both MBPs.

Guys,

I don't know if you found the solution already, but i came across this when is was looking for the same problem:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3199056?start=0&tstart=0

Worked for me so far!

My problems started when I upgraded to 10.7.1 so it looked like it was a software issue. I tried everything suggested in this thread to fix it but it never went away. Called up Applecare finally, and after going through some more software fixes, mainly uninstalling a few background apps, I had only one option left -erase and install. Took me about 2 weeks to backup and prepare for that. (things like recording all my software activation nos., passwords, etc.)

Turned out, even with a bare bones install of Lion, I still encountered the crashes and freezes. which meant a hardware issue. So it was off to the genius bar hoping i won't need a new logic board. To my relief, I just needed a new graphics card. $170 + tax, includes labor.

I asked the techie was it just an unfortunately misleading coincidence that the problems started immediately after I upgraded to 10.7.1 and he said it could be, but sometimes an OS upgrade may put more demands on a hardware component and reveal and worsen an existing weakness or defect.

Anyway, so far, happy sailing on my iMac.

BTW, when I searched for Mac parts, some vendors were selling the graphics card for $385 and the logic board for $1600. I saw a couple of vendors selling the logic board for $550 though. The genius bar said a logic board repair would cost about $750. Repair costs, including labor, are surprisingly reasonable! Even compared to DIY where you don't get a 90 day warranty and a free do over if the repair doesn't work.

I cannot fingd the path you mentioned on my iMac which has the same problem with SAFARI

I'm having this problem now with my iMac (mid 2008). Since installing Lion - initially all ok, but now when the iMac goes to sleep, on wakeup Safari hangs and the only way to turn it off is to actually hold the power button down.

I find with my MacBook Pro (late 2008) if I Force Quit Safari on the dock it seems to solve the problem

Just got a brand new LaCie external hard drive with Thunderbolt (not SSD); installed Mountain Lion OS X and immediately upgraded it to 10.8.2, the latest from Apple servers.

Launched Safari (also the latest) and this is what's happening the last few days. Sudden freezes lasting sometimes a couple of minutes and then the cursor would be back as if nothing had happened. Quite annoying. Once or twice the freeze lasted too long for me and I had to reboot by holding down power button for the mandatory 10 seconds. Is it Safari or other stuff: MagicPrefs (for mouse), iStatMenus, ... the two third-party add-ons?

Disable all your Safari extensions and add-ons. They usually are the culprit when they conflict with Safari. If you want them, put them back one by one after you disabled them, so you will know which extension is causing you the freeze. A lot of Safari extensions are poorly written, and cause crash and freeze it.

Thanks for the suggestion, Nicoladie. I don't have any third-party extension installed; just straight Apple Safari. Neve had any need for add-on's as all I do with Safari is Web surfing and Gmail.

Safari is great, but bloats itself over time. As a matter of course, have the Activity Monitor running and get a feel of how much memory it is commanding. Once you're approaching the GB level, you'll need to restart Safari. This has been the only way I have found to tame it.

Just want to say that I have read a lot of your answers in this thread and you are very condesending to everyone.

There is a problem with Sarari and Mail. It is not a hardware issue, it is a software issue. I love my Mac and I love OSX but I have watched since Lion as both Safari and Mail have become increasingly dificult to work with. Searches in Mail are not as good as they used to be. For example I can search for something in mail that I am looking at and it will not find it or the other emails that contain it. Now as for the problem, I get the "spinning pizza wheel" all the time when I have either Mail or Safari running. I have to wait for it to stop spinning before I can do anything with my computer most of the time. Safari seems to need to reload my pages all the time. Mail also take forever to do anything now and will also cause other programs to stop working.

Now to answer the questions you are going to ask...

I have been programming and fixing computer since I was 12 and that was 31 years ago. I have my own company and I do web design and computer consulting/troubleshooting. I know enough to eliminate other potential causes. When I am not running Mail or Safari I don't have to sit and wait for the "spinning pizza wheel" to go away so I can use my computer. When I have either Mail or Safari running I spend a lot of my time waiting for the "spinning pizza wheel" to stop so I can keep working.

There are software issues in Safari and Mail.

Also when I use Firefox I don't have these problems.

IT WORKED! Thank you!

so simple...