Google maps does not work

Without getting too technical, LaunhAgents are similar to login items. They will cause launching of some (background, requiring no user interaction) process. There's the ones (if any) in your ~/Library/LaunchAgents (i.e., in your home directory) which are processed as you log into your account. There's also a /Library/LaunchAgents (and /Library/LaunchDaemons and /Library/StartupItems) that are handled to launch associated processes when you boot up before you log in. These things are in the form of .plist's (like you would see in your Preferences) but they are not preference files. Instead they specify conditions on which to run their process and a command and arguments to launch the process.

On the technical side, here's some developer documentation on the topic.

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@X423424 - thanks for the explanation. I read the article on your link and think I broadly understand. What I dont understand though are the consequences of removing these items from LaunchAgent. What are they please?

You said when you used a different account your maps worked. There are basically own two sets of things that differ in that outer account. The first is data, i.e., preferences and other stuff used by running apps. The second are the running apps themselves. In order to try to figure out which set of items may be causing your problem you have to see what happens when one of the sets is eliminated.

Trying to figure out what data might be causing the problem is a bit more tedious than suppressing the running of these apps or processes. Hopefully that can be avoided. Thus the simpler suggestion to remove all the login items and launch agents (if any) that are local to your account.

What's the consequence? Well maybe those apps in you login items will not longer work or work properly. Similarly the apps that might be assoicated with the launch agents. That's the whole point here. To keep that stuff from running to see if one of them is the cause of your problem.

You can always restore this stuff later if you just save it away somewhere (lauchagents) or keep a list of your login items to recreate later. Alternatively if you create a backup of your system (which you should have anyhow) you could recreate it by restoring from the backup.

By the way, your car analogy does not strictly apply here. You buy a car, yes, you don't care what's under the hood. But do you add your own additions to that car's engine? Probably not. But you elected to add stuff to your computer and there is no guarantee that added stuff doesn't have unwanted side effects. You can take your car to a mechanic to get it fixed. Similarly you can take your computer to get it fixed too (hardware or software). But if you don't and ask for help here all we can do is make suggestions to help you diagnose and fix it yourself remotely.

X423424X wrote:

You can always restore this stuff later if you just save it away somewhere (lauchagents) or keep a list of your login items to recreate later.

While this is in general true, I suggest that Cobalt19 should not remove the Canon IJ Network Scanner from the user account's login items unless removing the other items does not help. This is because the Canon software is a bit finicky & the only way I know to reliably get it all to work is to go through the complete reinstall process (which will require attaching the Canon scanner/printer to the Mac with an Ethernet cable even if it normally connects wirelessly).

In fact, the problem may be with some browser add-on & not with any of the login or ~/Library/LaunchAgents items. (We know the problem is not in the other LaunchAgent folders because they would affect the Guest account, too.)

As you said, Cobalt19 is responsible for any third party additions to the system. If he has kept track of everything he has added & can tell us what they all are, we have a much better chance of helping him figure out what is causing this issue.

While this is in general true, I suggest that Cobalt19 should not remove the Canon IJ Network Scanner from the user account's login items unless removing the other items does not help. This is because the Canon software is a bit finicky & the only way I know to reliably get it all to work is to go through the complete reinstall process (which will require attaching the Canon scanner/printer to the Mac with an Ethernet cable even if it normally connects wirelessly).

Who cares if the Canon stuff works or doesn't work during this diagnosis? The only goal here is to find out if any of these things are interfering with his browsers. It is trivial to put back the login item later. The stuff isn't going to "break" permanently.

In fact, the problem may be with some browser add-on & not with any of the login or ~/Library/LaunchAgents items. (We know the problem is not in the other LaunchAgent folders because they would affect the Guest account, too.)

I ruled out a browser add-on/extensions when the OP said the problem existed across all browsers he tried and rulled out plug-ins when he said there is no problem in other accounts. I am assuming he didn't add he same set of plug-ins across all the browsers tried.

We do not as yet know if the problem is due to any local launchagents in his actual account.

X423424X wrote:

Who cares if the Canon stuff works or doesn't work during this diagnosis? The only goal here is to find out if any of these things are interfering with his browsers. It is trivial to put back the login item later. The stuff isn't going to "break" permanently.

At least on my systems, it isn't trivial to get the Canon IJ Network Scanner working once the login item is removed. As I said, to get it working reliably, it is necessary to reinstall the entire Canon printer package, which involves connecting the device by Ethernet cable (whether or not it is normally used wirelessly), a fair amount of configuration, & running some tests you can't opt out of if you want to use it wirelessly.

I've complained to Canon about this but they gave me some not entirely credible explanation about wireless security as the main reason.

Cobalt19 wrote:

I guess you are in conflict about a way forwards here for me so perhaps i will back off now and see if the Apple store so-called Genius-Bar people can solve it.

We aren't really in conflict about how to troubleshoot this issue, with the single exception that I'm suggesting that you not remove the Canon IJ Network Scanner from your startup items unless nothing else works.

Regarding how you feel about Macs in general, please understand that Apple has no control over what items you add to the system from other software makers. Most software for OS X is well written & won't cause any problems, but some of it violates Apple's developer guidelines (often to implement something users find useful that Apple says should be done differently or not at all). A few things are just written poorly to begin with, or require updates to eliminate obscure bugs.

Tracking down whatever causes obscure issues can be difficult but doing things like logging into the guest or a brand new user account can help you decide if the problem is at the system (issue doesn't change) or user level (issue disappears). We have made some progress in that respect but as I said, it is a good idea to keep track of everything you add to your Mac that doesn't come from Apple.

+1 on what R C-R said.

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As for the quoting you can use sections of a post in two ways. Clicking the "quote" tool in the posting tool bar gives you the entire post you are replying to. So you can edit it down to just the part you want to reply to. And you can repeat this process to reply to different sections of the reply. Or you can edit it down into sections and copy paste portions in the reply and whatever you select (highlight) will be made into a "quote" again using the quote tool in the posting toolbar.

What do you mean when you say that Safari is the only browser "there" when you are logged into the Guest account? If Firefox is available when logged into your main account, it should be available to the Guest account as well. Both apps should be in the top level Applications folder.

Also, please list what is in the /Library/Internet Plug-Ins folder & in the ~/Library/Internet Plugins folder. ("~" is a UNIX convention that stands for the home folder of the user account you are logged into.)

The bar thing is called the Dock. It has multiple functions, one of which is to display commonly used applications. Just because an app isn't on the Dock doesn't mean it is not available. Please read Mac 101: The Dock to familiarize yourself with it.

And please list the items mentioned in the second paragraph.