I have installed Safari 5.1.2 and continue to get a gray screen when a link is a pdf. What do I do to get them to display in Safari again?
powerbook G4, original iphone
Quit Safari if it's open.
Go to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins
Move the PDF Browser plugin to the Trash.
Relaunch Safari. Try a link for a PDF file.
I do not have any pdf plug-ins. NONE.
Which Mac OS X ?
OS10.6.8, MacBook Pro mid-2009 model. Signing on as guest makes it work. I have tried deleting com.apple.Safari.plist and com.apple.Safari.RSS.plist and restarting. That didn't help either.
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software -- potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions -- they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.
These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.
Below are four lines of text in monospaced type, which are UNIX shell commands. They’re harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of running these commands, search this site for other discussions in which they’ve been used without any report of ill effects.
Some of the commands will line-wrap in your browser, but each one is really just a single long line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.
Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.
To begin, launch the Terminal application; e.g., by entering the first few letters of its name in a Spotlight search.
Step 1
Copy or drag -- do not type -- the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:
kextstat -kl | awk ' !/apple/ { print $6 $7 } '
Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered (the text, please, not a screenshot.)
Step 2
Repeat with this line:
sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|com\.vix|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
This time, you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning.
Step 3
launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
Step 4
ls -1A {,/}Library/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Sta}* 2> /dev/null
Important: If you synchronize with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, change it to something like “user@me.com” before posting.
Remember, this is all drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste, whichever you prefer -- no typing, except your password.
You can then quit Terminal.
/Library/Components:
/Library/Extensions:
/Library/Frameworks:
NyxAudioAnalysis.framework
PluginManager.framework
TSLicense.framework
/Library/Input Methods:
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:
.DS_Store
Flash Player.plugin
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.webplugin
JavaAppletPlugin.plugin
Quartz Composer.webplugin
QuickTime Plugin.plugin
Silverlight.plugin
flashplayer.xpt
iPhotoPhotocast.plugin
/Library/LaunchAgents:
/Library/LaunchDaemons:
com.roxio.UpdateRetrospect.plist
com.roxio.launchd.retroengine.plist
/Library/PreferencePanes:
DejaVu.prefPane
Flash Player.prefPane
Flip4Mac WMV.prefPane
Retrospect.prefPane
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:
/Library/QuickLook:
GBQLGenerator.qlgenerator
iWork.qlgenerator
/Library/QuickTime:
AppleIntermediateCodec.component
AppleMPEG2Codec.component
DivX 6 Decoder.component
Flip4Mac WMV Advanced.component
Flip4Mac WMV Export.component
Flip4Mac WMV Import.component
/Library/StartupItems:
RetroRun
Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:
Library/Frameworks:
EWSMac.framework
SGMP101MP750.framework
StuffIt.framework
Library/Indexes:
FindByContent
Library/Internet Plug-Ins:
.DS_Store
Java Applet Plugin Enabler
Java Applet.plugin
Move-Media-Player.plugin
Quartz Composer.webplugin
QuickTime Plugin.plugin
QuickTime Plugin.webplugin
VerifiedDownloadPlugin.plugin
nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt
Library/LaunchAgents:
com.apple.FTMonitor.plist
com.apple.imagent.plist
com.apple.marcoagent.plist
com.google.keystone.agent.plist
Library/PreferencePanes:
.DS_Store
DejaVu.prefPane
Opera Preferences
Library/QuickTime:
DivX 6 Decoder.component
Flip4Mac WMV Advanced.component
Flip4Mac WMV Export.component
Flip4Mac WMV Import.component
Janet-Wainwrights-Computer-2:~ janetwainwright$
That's step 4. Was there any output from steps 1-3? There should have been.
Here is everything from terminal:
Last login: Wed Nov 30 19:01:20 on console
Janet-Wainwrights-Computer-2:~ janetwainwright$ kextstat -kl | awk ' !/apple/ { print $6 $7 } '
Janet-Wainwrights-Computer-2:~ janetwainwright$ sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|com\.vix|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss
or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your
typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.
To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.
Password:
com.roxio.updateretrospect
com.roxio.RetroEngine
Janet-Wainwrights-Computer-2:~ janetwainwright$ launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
com.google.keystone.user.agent
Janet-Wainwrights-Computer-2:~ janetwainwright$ ls -1A {,/}Library/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Sta}* 2> /dev/null
/Library/Components:
/Library/Extensions:
/Library/Frameworks:
NyxAudioAnalysis.framework
PluginManager.framework
TSLicense.framework
/Library/Input Methods:
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:
.DS_Store
Flash Player.plugin
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.webplugin
JavaAppletPlugin.plugin
Quartz Composer.webplugin
QuickTime Plugin.plugin
Silverlight.plugin
flashplayer.xpt
iPhotoPhotocast.plugin
/Library/LaunchAgents:
/Library/LaunchDaemons:
com.roxio.UpdateRetrospect.plist
com.roxio.launchd.retroengine.plist
/Library/PreferencePanes:
DejaVu.prefPane
Flash Player.prefPane
Flip4Mac WMV.prefPane
Retrospect.prefPane
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:
/Library/QuickLook:
GBQLGenerator.qlgenerator
iWork.qlgenerator
/Library/QuickTime:
AppleIntermediateCodec.component
AppleMPEG2Codec.component
DivX 6 Decoder.component
Flip4Mac WMV Advanced.component
Flip4Mac WMV Export.component
Flip4Mac WMV Import.component
/Library/StartupItems:
RetroRun
Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:
Library/Frameworks:
EWSMac.framework
SGMP101MP750.framework
StuffIt.framework
Library/Indexes:
FindByContent
Library/Internet Plug-Ins:
.DS_Store
Java Applet Plugin Enabler
Java Applet.plugin
Move-Media-Player.plugin
Quartz Composer.webplugin
QuickTime Plugin.plugin
QuickTime Plugin.webplugin
VerifiedDownloadPlugin.plugin
nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt
Library/LaunchAgents:
com.apple.FTMonitor.plist
com.apple.imagent.plist
com.apple.marcoagent.plist
com.google.keystone.agent.plist
Library/PreferencePanes:
.DS_Store
DejaVu.prefPane
Opera Preferences
Library/QuickTime:
DivX 6 Decoder.component
Flip4Mac WMV Advanced.component
Flip4Mac WMV Export.component
Flip4Mac WMV Import.component
Janet-Wainwrights-Computer-2:~ janetwainwright$
Delete the following items from your home folder (not from the Library folder at the top level of the startup volume):
Everything in Library/Internet Plug-Ins
Everything in Library/QuickTime
Log out and log back in, then test.
Thanks, yes, they work now, though using QuickTime, which seems weird to me. They used to use Preview. This does not allow me to Control-Click and then open them in preview. It now wants to save files as a QuickTime movie, not so useful as the old way.
Quit Safari. Delete the following item from your home folder:
Library/Preferences/com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist
Relaunch Safari and test.
Still uses QuickTime.
Quit Safari. Launch the Terminal application; e.g., by entering the first few letters of its name in a Spotlight search. Copy or drag -- do not type -- the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:
Relaunch Safari and test.
Linc, I appreciate all your help, but it is still opening pdf in QuickTime.
Ok, looking at some other discussions led me to remove the Quictime plug-in from the computer completely. Now PDFs open as I want. If I find internet clips that need the plug-in, I will have to work that out later. The sites I tried that claimed to be QuickTime trailers worked just fine. Again, thanks for your help, it kept me going until I got things working in Safari.
Safari 5.1.2 continuing lack of pdf display
