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safari Updates on Mountain Lion?

I have Safari 6.0.3 on my Mountain Lion and it tends to stall or freeze up quite a lot. Keep having to Force quit and many times I cannot even do that, so I would have to press the button behind my iMac computer until a menu pops up that allows me to restart the computer. This has to be done so many times during the day, in fact while I was typing this message the beach ball popped-up and froze Safari for about a minute before I could continue to finish typing this message.


After force quitting or restarting the computer Safari will behave much better a lot of times but not all the time.


I have not seen any Safari updates in a long time and wonder if it needs to be done?


Is Safari the real problem here or could it be Mountain Lion? I have no idea, but Safari is what I use 90% on my computer.


Thank you,

Keith

iPad 2, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Apr 5, 2013 4:58 AM

Reply
11 replies

Apr 5, 2013 5:54 AM in response to keith181

A few things you could try, if you haven't already.


Are you running the latest version of MLion, 10.8.3? 6.0.3 is the latest version of Safari.


Turn off all Safari Extensions, if you have any installed. If Safari starts behaving properly turn them on one-at-a-time and test to see if one of those is the cause.


Reset Safari: from the Safari Menu>Reset Safari.


Restart in 'safe mode'. Restart holding down the shift key until you see the grey progress bar. Once booted restart as normal from the Apple menu.


Have you tried another browser, maybe Chrome or Firefox, to see if the issue is Safari only?

Apr 5, 2013 6:10 AM in response to keith181

The issue might simply be your system has an inadequate amount of RAM. Please carefully read and use Apple's Activity Monitor to read System Memory and determine how much RAM is being used and tell us how much Free RAM is available. If it's less than 500MB then your system is most likely starved for RAM. The solution is easy, upgrade the RAM to max out your system. You did not complete your profile so we have no idea which iMac you have or how it's configured so it's tough to help. Another thing you can do is not run as many tabs in Safari, while inconvenient Web Browsers (about all of them) are RAM hogs so the more tabs you have open or the longer you have your browser open the more RAM it uses. Again the solution is pretty simple, upgrade the amount of RAM.

Apr 5, 2013 6:49 AM in response to keith181

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 guest users” (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?


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, or by a peripheral device.


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:


  • Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.
  • When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.
  • If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.


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 next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.


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, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode.


Test while in safe mode. Same problem?


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.

Apr 29, 2013 4:59 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc,


Thank you so much for this useful set of tests. They have helped me to progress 2 separate problems I have been having; but I still don't have a solution yet.


I carried out step 1 above and both of the problems were NOT present in the guest account which would appear to confirm that they are restricted to my user account.

(With hindsight I can't believe that I didn't think about trying this myself but as a sysadmin account I presumed this wouldn't be a factor; you know what they say about assumption! 🙂)


The problems are:

  1. Safari freezes within seconds of launching, with the blue progress bar freezing part-way across before loading a single page (the home page). The same problem as reported in this thread here.
    The only way to proceed was to Force Quit Safari. I couldn't use it at all and had to switch to Chrome which was working normally, except for problem 2 below.
  2. Unable to use attachments using Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) (I know; it's for a client's internal email and I don't have a choice.) I could press the add attachment button but then you're given a 'Choose File' button; on pressing this, nothing was happening, at all. It should come up with a finder window to allow you to select a file/files.


In the guest account, both problems disappear and I can use the functionality as normal.


Given the above diagnosis; can you please offer any advice about how I could go about finding out what the problem is? Is it a conflicting application or perhaps a config issue of some sort?


I'm using OSX 10.8.3 (Mountain Lion), Safari 6.0.4.


Many thanks in advance!

Apr 29, 2013 7:16 AM in response to Linc Davis

I tried Step 2 and got the same behaviour; i.e. in safe mode both problems are gone.


I did have some odd problems with the display refresh though, but I put those down to being in safe mode. (When in Safari, the 'Top Sites' page kept re-drawing continually and really slowly, as if it were retrieving hugh graphics for each thumbnail over and over again. This locked Safari for 1-2 minutes. On other pages it was absolutely fine; just the 'Top Sites' page.)


One other thing to mention is that Problem 2 (above) also occurs when using Chrome. This problem is NOT fixed in either the guest account or in safe mode. I've read somewhere else that this might be a Webkit compatibility problem, especially if you have more than one version of Webkit installed. Not sure it's relevant but I thought I would mention it just in case.

Apr 29, 2013 8:09 AM in response to Vidal S

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 instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects.


Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single 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 copy 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.


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 icon grid.


When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.


Step 1


Triple-click the line of text below to select it:

kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}'

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Then click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered. You can do that by copying and pasting as well. Omit the final line ending in “$”. No typing is involved in this step.

Step 2


Repeat with this line:

sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix)|edu\.mit|org\.(amavis|apache|cups|isc|ntp|postfix|x)/{print $3}'

This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which you do have to type. It won't be displayed when you type it. Type it carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. Heed that warning, but don't post it. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.


Note: If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before taking this step. If that’s not possible, skip to the next step.


Step 3

launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|edu\.mit|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'

Step 4

ls -1A /e*/mach* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts 2> /dev/null

Important: If you formerly synchronized with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.


Step 5

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item' 2> /dev/null

Remember, steps 1-5 are all copy-and-paste — no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.


You can then quit Terminal.

Apr 29, 2013 9:14 AM in response to Linc Davis

Responses below. Incidentally, TextWrangler (which shows up in the output below) has also stopped working. All of this started happening recently (roughly end of March?)


Step 1

com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.74)

com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.1)

foo.tap (1.0)


Step 2

com.agilebits.onepassword-osx-thumbs

com.symantec.symdaemon

com.symantec.sharedsettings

com.rim.BBDaemon

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

com.google.keystone.daemon

com.edb.launchd.postgresql-9.0

com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.TASK_ID

com.bombich.ccc

com.barebones.textwrangler

com.adobe.fpsaud


Step 3

com.evernote.EvernoteHelper

com.agilebits.onepassword-osx-helper

com.symantec.uiagent.application

com.rim.BBLaunchAgent

com.rim.RimAlbumArtDaemon

com.hp.messagecenter.launcher

com.hp.devicemonitor

com.google.keystone.system.agent

com.epson.epw.agent

com.epson.Epusp

com.bombich.ccc-user-agent

com.bitcasa.BitcasaUI


Step 4

/Library/Components:



/Library/Extensions:



/Library/Frameworks:

AEProfiling.framework

AERegistration.framework

Adobe AIR.framework

AudioMixEngine.framework

MacFUSE.framework

NyxAudioAnalysis.framework

OSXFUSE.framework

PluginManager.framework

RIM_VSP.framework

RimBlackBerryUSB.framework

iTunesLibrary.framework



/Library/Input Methods:



/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin1016264.plugin

DirectorShockwave.plugin

FirefoxAPI.bundle

Flash Player.plugin

GarminGpsControl.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

Quartz Composer.webplugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin

flashplayer.xpt

googletalkbrowserplugin.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

npgtpo3dautoplugin.plugin

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt

o1dbrowserplugin.plugin



/Library/Keyboard Layouts:



/Library/LaunchAgents:

.DS_Store

com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

com.epson.Epusp.plist

com.epson.epw.agent.plist

com.google.keystone.agent.plist

com.hp.devicemonitor.plist

com.hp.messagecenter.launcher.plist

com.rim.BBAlbumArtCacher.plist

com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist

com.symantec.uiagent.application.plist



/Library/LaunchDaemons:

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.barebones.textwrangler.plist

com.bombich.ccc.plist

com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.SCHEDULED_TASK_CODE.plist

com.edb.launchd.postgresql-9.0.plist

com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

com.rim.BBDaemon.plist

com.symantec.sharedsettings.plist

com.symantec.symdaemon.plist



/Library/PreferencePanes:

Flash Player.prefPane

Growl.prefPane

SymantecQuickMenu.prefPane



/Library/PrivateFrameworks:

SymAppKitAdditions.framework

SymBase.framework

SymDaemon.framework

SymIR.framework

SymSharedSettings.framework

SymUIAgent.framework

SymUIAgentUI.framework

SymWebKitUtils.framework



/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:

com.barebones.textwrangler

com.bombich.ccc

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper



/Library/QuickLook:

GBQLGenerator.qlgenerator

ParallelsQL.qlgenerator

iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator

iWork.qlgenerator



/Library/QuickTime:

AppleIntermediateCodec.component

AppleMPEG2Codec.component



/Library/ScriptingAdditions:

SymWebKitUtilsSL.osax

TotalFinder.osax



/Library/Services:

BitcasaBackup.workflow

BitcasaInfinify.workflow

BitcasaSendThis.workflow

BitcasaSync.workflow



/Library/Spotlight:

GBSpotlightImporter.mdimporter

Microsoft Office.mdimporter

ParallelsMD.mdimporter

iBooksAuthor.mdimporter

iWork.mdimporter



/Library/StartupItems:

ParallelsDesktopTransporter



/etc/mach_init.d:



/etc/mach_init_per_login_session.d:



/etc/mach_init_per_user.d:



Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:

SkypeABDialer.bundle

SkypeABSMS.bundle



Library/Fonts:



Library/Input Methods:

.localized



Library/Internet Plug-Ins:



Library/Keyboard Layouts:



Library/LaunchAgents:

com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.PLIST_CODE.plist

com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-SOME.ADDRESS@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

com.bitcasa.BitcasaUI.plist

com.bombich.ccc-user-agent.plist



Library/PreferencePanes:

AppTrap.prefPane



Library/Services:

ToastIt.service



Step 5

GrowlMenu, GrowlHelperApp, iTunesHelper, Alfred, EvernoteHelper, Dropbox, TotalFinder, BlackBerry Device Manager, WDQuickView

Apr 29, 2013 9:45 AM in response to Linc Davis

Wow. Sorry, but I don't think that response was necessary. Especially since the OP hasn't replied for 3 weeks!


I wasn't trying to hijack the discussion, just add to it. Since I was having exactly the same problem as the OP I thought it was relevent and better to add it here rather than start a new thread.


Sorry if I've broken some forum etiquette, entirely unintended. I thought this was a support forum rather than a service ticket. I'll go away.

May 25, 2013 6:36 PM in response to keith181

Keith,


Just in case you're still having the same problem, I had a very similar issue to you and subsequently discovered the cause in my case and a permanent fix.


Safari was crashing if I opened it when I already had another browser open that was using webkit; namely Chrome. If I had Chrome open and then tried to run Safari, this would create the exact problem you describe.


I originally fixed it by following a fix posted by Yuengdog1983 over here. This was also affecting another app I was using that was calling browser functions via Webkit (Text Wrangler).


After experimenting with a system util app for an entirely different purpose (Onyx; for general tuning and customisation options) I discovered that my system disk had a [minor] error and needed to be repaired. The count for one of the catalog files was out by '1' !


I followed the instructions here (basically; boot into single-user mode, run a version of the Apple disk utility to fix the error, then re-boot) and voila that was it; I re-tested and could run all the webkit apps that I wanted - at the same time!


Posting here incase this fix works for anybody else.

Hope it helps.

safari Updates on Mountain Lion?

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