why has the movie widget stopped working?

I’m on OS X 10.11.3, and I fixed my Movies Widget by doing the following:

1. Open terminal
2. cd /Library/Widgets/Movies.wdgt/ (go to the movies widget directory)
3. sudo cp Movies.js Movies.js.bak (create a backup file of the original)
4. sudo vim Movies.js (edit the file)
5. Find line 40 (var gCurrPostalCode = null)
6. Replace null with “YOUR_ZIP_CODE” (with the quotes)
7. Save and close file (:wq)
8. Log out then back in

By opening Movies.html in a web browser and using the built-in debugger, I found that the offending line was 218 in parser.js (http://gws2.maps.yahoo.com…..). From what I read, this is a paid map service. The “&appid=apple_placefinder” part of the URL causes a 404 error, and removing it gets an empty JSON download. This suggests the deal between Apple and Yahoo for this service has expired.

By initializing the zip code, validateLocation() and the Yahoo map service are never called/needed and the Widget runs just fine.

Thanks - this appears to be a solution but it's gibberish to me. Looks like another language. Are you a programmer?

I don't have any widget in my library called Movies.wdgt if I'm supposed to - but which library? Why am I opening terminal? What the heck is "sudo" this & that?

Obviously this is not for the faint of heart - or the technically stupid.

Dang. I just want to know showtimes & what movies are still in theatres.

grossmusic wrote:

Dang. I just want to know showtimes & what movies are still in theatres.

Bookmark this: https://www.yahoo.com/movies/showtimes/

There is also http://www.fandango.com

The Movie Widget is broken on more than just ElCap; I am using ElCap 10.11.2 on my MacMini and using Mavericks 10.9.5 on my Macbook Pro. It is broken on both of these OS versions. So the server where the widget gets its data is somehow broken. Giving it a zip code as described above just might fix it on any OS.

PorscheFanatic,

PorscheFanatic wrote:

I’m on OS X 10.11.3, and I fixed my Movies Widget by doing the following:

1. Open terminal
2. cd /Library/Widgets/Movies.wdgt/ (go to the movies widget directory)
3. sudo cp Movies.js Movies.js.bak (create a backup file of the original)
4. sudo vim Movies.js (edit the file)
5. Find line 40 (var gCurrPostalCode = null)
6. Replace null with “YOUR_ZIP_CODE” (with the quotes)
7. Save and close file (:wq)
8. Log out then back in

I would like to give your Terminal fix a try. And, I'm somewhat familiar with Terminal.

I get stuck on how to edit the line and Save and Close the file.

Also, What's (:wq) mean?

After typing sudo vim Movies.js, I do see the lines and I can arrow over to and replace text.

But how do I save the Movies.js file?

The terminal window that I typed in has other lines in it?

Sorry, but I just don't know how you did step 7.

Could you clarify? Thanks.

Um, thanks. I do know about websites with showtimes. I just want a working movie widget & if there's a technical fix, it needs to be clear what I must DO.

Steps 2–4 in Porsche's list have no verbs - are we to paste those things in Terminal? Not clear. What happens if I paste things not knowing what the heck I'm doing? Does it ruin my computer?

As linda says, please clarify.

Haha yes I'm a programmer, I'm sorry for the "gibberish". I'll post a clearer set of steps. In my original post, you can ignore the text after the numbered steps. That is an explanation of what the steps are solving exactly on for anyone who cares to know.

PorscheFanatic wrote:

Haha yes I'm a programmer, I'm sorry for the "gibberish". I'll post a clearer set of steps. In my original post, you can ignore the text after the numbered steps. That is an explanation of what the steps are solving exactly on for anyone who cares to know.

FWIW, I tried editing the file in vim but for some reason it wouldn't edit. So I ended up just making a copy of Movies.js to my desktop, edited that and replaced the original.

Note:

If you do not have an administrator account/password (like you need to install new software), you will not be able to complete the steps below.

Here's another attempt at a clearer set of steps:

1. Open terminal
2. Go to the movies widget directory (type/copy the below into Terminal)

   cd /Library/Widgets/Movies.wdgt/

3. Create a backup of the Movies.js file (type/copy the below into Terminal)

   sudo cp Movies.js Movies.js.bak

4. Open Movies.js for editing (type/copy the below into Terminal)

   sudo vim Movies.js

5. Find this line (var gCurrPostalCode = null), it should be on line 40

   Scroll/click/use the arrow keys to navigate there

6. Replace null with “YOUR_ZIP_CODE”
   1. Type i to enter vim's insert mode, then use it like a normal text editor (backspace to delete null, then type your zip code)
   2. Make sure you use quotes surrounding the zip code, and replace YOUR_ZIP_CODE with the 5-digit number that is your zip code
7. Save and close file
   1. In vim, push escape to exit insert mode
   2. Then type the following to write (w) and close/quit the file (q)

      :wq

8. Log out then back in

Reference:

1. sudo gives you administrator privileges for the command that follows it
2. vim is a terminal-based text editor. If you want to know more about how to use it, this is a good tutorial (http://www.openvim.com/)

dialabrain wrote:

PorscheFanatic wrote:

Haha yes I'm a programmer, I'm sorry for the "gibberish". I'll post a clearer set of steps. In my original post, you can ignore the text after the numbered steps. That is an explanation of what the steps are solving exactly on for anyone who cares to know.

FWIW, I tried editing the file in vim but for some reason it wouldn't edit. So I ended up just making a copy of Movies.js to my desktop, edited that and replaced the original.

This is a good alternative if you're having trouble using vim. Just be sure to create a backup of the original Movies.js beforehand in case something goes wrong.

PorscheFanatic wrote:

This is a good alternative if you're having trouble using vim. Just be sure to create a backup of the original Movies.js beforehand in case something goes wrong.

I haven't used vim for eons. I wasn't entering insert mode. silly me. 😁

dialabrain wrote:

I haven't used vim for eons. I wasn't entering insert mode. silly me. 😁

Haha that certainly makes editing difficult. Does your movies widget work now?

PorscheFanatic wrote:

Haha that certainly makes editing difficult. Does your movies widget work now?

It certain did make it difficult. 😁

Which is why I used the other method. And yes it works. 😎

FWIW, I never used the Movie widget or Dashboard until this post. Well Dashboard years ago. 😝

Ok, one more try for those of you that hate vim (these instructions don't use it and should be faster/easier 🙂)

1. Open terminal
2. Go to the movies widget directory (type/copy the below into Terminal)

   cd /Library/Widgets/Movies.wdgt/

3. Create a backup of the Movies.js file (type/copy the below into Terminal)

   sudo cp Movies.js Movies.js.bak

4. Replace the line (var gCurrPostalCode = null) with (var gCurrPostalCode = "YOUR_ZIP_CODE")
   1. Type/copy step 3 into Terminal (follow step 2 though!)
   2. Make sure to replace YOUR_ZIP_CODE with the 5-digit number that is your zip code before hitting enter!
   3. sudo sed -i -- 's/var gCurrPostalCode = null/var gCurrPostalCode = "YOUR_ZIP_CODE"/g' Movies.js
5. Log out then back in

Reference:

sed is a find/replace command-line tool

woo-hoo!

thank you!

I'll do a Time Machine backup this afternoon then try all these steps.

Thank you for the clarification & sharing your knowledge, porsche!