FTP file download problems using safari 9.1

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Level 1

8 points

FTP file download problems using safari 9.1

Using other browsers (chrome and firefox) I can click on a link that will download an FTP file onto my macbook pro. In safari 9.1 however I get an "unknown error" (NSURLErrorDomain:-1). The the link I am using is ftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/genenames/new/tsv/locus_groups/other_alt_loci. txt. I have tested this link on other older macs (safari 6) and the download works. I have also emptied the history, the web data, wiped the plists in ~/Library/Preferences associate to safari (i.e "com.apple.Safari.plist", "com.apple.internetconfigpriv.plist", and "com.apple.internetconfig.plist" )and removed all files under ~/Library/Safari but still no joy.

I am left wondering if there is a bug in some other settings somewhere or wether safari 9.1 just cannot download ftp files anymore.

Kris

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), null

Posted on May 4, 2016 7:57 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Carolyn Samit

Level 10

165,615 points

May 5, 2016 2:24 AM in response to KrisGray

I think you're going to run into problems trying to do this on Safari. Please see this discussion > Cannot download files via FTP

Try it on either Firefoxor Chrome.

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Answer 2

KrisGray Author

Level 1

8 points

May 5, 2016 2:23 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thank you Carolyn for your response. The reason I posted the issue is because I am a web developer that is concerned that our users that use safari may not be able to download the files they need when they click on a link to an FTP file. I personally use chrome as I am used to the developer tools.

By all accounts when a hyperlink is clicked in safari that links to a FTP file rather than a directory the file should download. If it's a directory it should open an FTP client or finder. When I got home yesterday I tested the FTP link in my original post on my personal mac running safari 9.1 (rather than the work laptop) and all seemed well. This leaves me to believe that there is something wrong with the safari on my work machine (even after the steps I took in the original post) or on the work's network (???). Thanks to Carolyn's response I read the linked discussion and tried out the opendns IPs, but still no joy.

Any ideas on how to fix my safari 9.1 (it's looking very suspiciously like a rogue setting somewhere)?

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

May 5, 2016 6:31 AM in response to KrisGray

Safari/Preferences/Advanced - enable the Develop menu, then go there and Empty Caches. Quit/reopen Safari and test. Then try Safari/History/Show History and delete all history items. Quit/reopen Safari and test. You can also try try Safari/Clear History…. The down side is it clears all cookies.Doing this may cause some sites to no longer recognize your computer as one that has visited the web site. Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Select Library./Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db and move it to the trash.

Go to Safari Preferences/Extensions and turn all extensions off. Test. If okay, turn the extensions on one by one until you figure out what extension is causing the problem.

Safari Corruption See post by Linc Davis

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