macbook late 2008, 4 GB ram, OSX10.8.1, updated.
help segments needing browser return "not available" and "check internet".
using Excede satellite internet (really like it) and am connected. Also tried Verizon 3G on the iPhone hot spot, same.
Any ideas? I've read the X Lab "Troubleshooting Help Viewer", but it seems to stop at Leopard.
I consider myself a Mac newby. Just haven't had much trouble.
Thanks for any suggestions.
MacBook, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Try the action that you're having trouble with again. Post any messages that appear in the Console window – the text, please, not a screenshot.
Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out by search-and-replace in a text editor before posting.
Console had this same line many, m a n y, times
"8/28/12 4:19:50.096 PM HelpViewer[533]: : event.layerX and event.layerY are broken and deprecated in WebKit. They will be removed from the engine in the near future. (line: 0)"
I hope this line makes sense to you, it means little to me. Mean while I checked the iMac my wife uses and its help viewer functions perfectly. (It's still Lion, cause I wanted to figure this out before upgrading)
Thank you so much for the prompt response.
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. For instructions, launch the System Preferences application, select Help from the menu bar, and enter “Set up a guest account” (without the quotes) in the search box. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem(s)?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
*Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, you can’t boot in safe mode.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?
After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of steps 1 and 2.
i'm having the exact same problem. followed your steps one by one: siging in as Guest > no problem; starting up in Safe Mode > no; signing in again the usual way > no problem EXCEPT with Safari! and i am not surprised by that. i mean, it even worked in Word where nothing ever wants to work!!!
So what you suggested helped me. i hope it continues to work.
Safari is the biggest problem that Apple has ever created and though there have been literally thousands of posts in Support about it, they do absolutely nothing about it. i am so sick of Force Reload pages and Pages Not Responding when I'm in the middle of reading or posting something. i even suggested that they take the $1.05 billion dollars from Samsung and use it just to fix Safari > no dice...
Linc,
My tests were run as you requested. (Note that due to this issue I was unable to access the help page about setting up the guest account.)
While in the guest account, I continued to have the problem.
Also, while in safe mode, I continued to have the problem.
Makes me wonder. What if another required app or extension is defective? I've worried at another time about the functioning of JAVA in this system. I also know that it requires this thing called Web Kit and I have no idea what that involves.
Any way, I truly appreciate your perseverence, what's next?
Thank you again,
O yes, the problem still continues in this log on!
Thanks,
New news. Assuming that I had mangled the OSX beyond repair, I reinstalled it using the recovery HD partition. Sad to report that while system is responding better, the help viewer problem remains unchanged. I apologize for proceeding without your instruction. If there is any way you can overlook this misjudgement of mine, I will sincerely appreciate your guidance. If not, I can understand.
Sincerely,
Are you unable to use Help at all, in any application?
Thank you for your response.
Help Viewer seems to have several tiers of data. All those tiers resident in the software packages are present in this machine. Each help menu at one or two tiers deep uses a built in browser to get the information from Apples servers. At that point this machine always returns the admonition;
"The selected topic is currently unavailable
Make sure you’re connected to the Internet. For help connecting, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Network, and click “Assist me.”
If you’re connected to the Internet, and the content still doesn’t appear, try again later."
This has been happening for most of the month that this machine has been on mountain lion turf. I assumed that I had caused the problem by flirting with a couple of APPS that required JAVA, installing them in spite of the Apple security warnings. I have uninstalled them and disabled JAVA 1.6.0_33. As far as I could determine, applescript and javascript were enabled prior to my most recent OSX reinstall.
I am connected to the internet and have tried again and again with no joy.
Thank you for your continuing interest.
If you haven't already done so, please connect to a different network, such as a public hotspot, and test. If you've already done that, was there any difference?
Linc - it's still working for me 24 hours later (lordy, it's even now working in Safari! - i did feel a little light headed when i saw that.)
what if Bobin35 were to download and run a program like Onyx to check the drive, permissions, systems, etc? at the least it will eliminate other types of problems. of course, there is Disk Utility but i've found it not to be as useful as past versions.
just a thought...
Yes, a public wifi location and the 3G hotspot on my wifes iPhone both worked this same way, no different than the Exede satellite internet wifi. Also her iMac with LION OSX does work for all levels or tiers of help using our Exede internet wifi. I would have discussed the problem with Excede otherwise.
I don't know how the built in browser works, but if it had a big dislike for Mountain Lion, it would be getting a lot more attention. It has to be some change or disfunction I caused that led us to that console event layer comment in Web Kit.
Thank you,
Launch the Network Utility application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Network Utility in the page that opens.
Select the Ping tab and enter
a184-86-93-54.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com
in the address field. Press return. Post the output – the text, please, not a screenshot.
Ping has started…
PING a184-86-93-54.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com (184.86.93.54): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=0 ttl=53 time=921.725 ms
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=1 ttl=53 time=841.097 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=2 ttl=53 time=1004.276 ms
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=3 ttl=53 time=989.704 ms
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=4 ttl=53 time=910.401 ms
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=5 ttl=53 time=830.880 ms
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=6 ttl=53 time=751.802 ms
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=7 ttl=53 time=979.059 ms
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=8 ttl=53 time=900.045 ms
64 bytes from 184.86.93.54: icmp_seq=9 ttl=53 time=820.534 ms
--- a184-86-93-54.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 751.802/894.952/1004.276/78.753 ms
Back up all data if you haven’t already done so. Before proceeding, you must be sure you can restore your system to the state it’s in now.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
Drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
rm -r Library/*/com.apple.help*
Try HelpViewer again.
help viewer
