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tutenstein

macrumors member
Original poster
I just updated to 10.4.4 and after I rebooted and repaired permissions, I noticed in the dock where Firefox was, there was a question mark, but it said Firefox.

I clicked it to open it, but nothing happened.

I don't use Firefox anymore, I just had it there to see which browser I liked best.

I just thought this was odd, that's all.
 
Weird

That's weird. I don't think Apple would do it on purpose. They wouldn't diss Firefox like that. Steve mentioned Firefox in his keynote at Macworld.
 
are you sure you didn't delete firefox from your applications or move it from the folder in which you had it before when you used it? seems to me that this is the only way this could happen.
 
I just checked and Firefox is no longer in my Applications. But I didn't check before I ran the update.

But it was in my Dock on the left side and on the right, next to the Trash Can.

Like I said, it is no big deal. I love Safari and haven't used Firefox much at all, I just thought it was weird.

Thanks for the replies.
 
The update probably just rebuilt some files and noticed that Firefox wasn't where it was supposed to be so it put a question mark there. That's my theory.
 
Mechcozmo said:
The update probably just rebuilt some files and noticed that Firefox wasn't where it was supposed to be so it put a question mark there. That's my theory.

i like that theory
 
tutenstein said:
I just updated to 10.4.4 and after I rebooted and repaired permissions, I noticed in the dock where Firefox was, there was a question mark, but it said Firefox.

I clicked it to open it, but nothing happened.

I don't use Firefox anymore, I just had it there to see which browser I liked best.

I just thought this was odd, that's all.
Neither full MacOS X point releases such 10.3 to 10.4 nor maintenance updates like 10.4.4 remove third-party applications from the Dock. Certainly, there is no way that your update caused Firefox to disappear from your system. Whether or not you understand what happened, a lot more happened here than you are letting on.
 
MisterMe said:
Neither full MacOS X point releases such 10.3 to 10.4 nor maintenance updates like 10.4.4 remove third-party applications from the Dock. Certainly, there is no way that your update caused Firefox to disappear from your system. Whether or not you understand what happened, a lot more happened here than you are letting on.

Well, I definitely don't understand what happened.

And as far as "letting on", I can only tell you what happened, and I did.
Before I ran the update, I verified permissions, ran the update, and verified permissions again. That's it.
 
PlaceofDis said:
are you sure you didn't delete firefox from your applications or move it from the folder in which you had it before when you used it? seems to me that this is the only way this could happen.

That's probable. I've had application icons in the Dock which have no application present and when you click them, they change to a question mark. It doesn't happen because of an update.
 
I've had the same thing happen for Onyx (it was a problem before I updated to 10.4.4 though). I put it back in the dock several times before I just gave up.

Well maybe I'll try one more time, since I'm talking about it...
 
bousozoku said:
That's probable. I've had application icons in the Dock which have no application present and when you click them, they change to a question mark. It doesn't happen because of an update.

I think that is what happened. I thought the Question Mark was odd, just appearing there, but if it happened to you, then, it does make sense.

I dragged Firefox out of Applications to the Dock, so that would make sense.

i still have not mastered putting an App in the dock. I just tried making an ALias of SuperDuper, and dragging the Alias to the dock, but the same thing happened with the question mark.

I just tried this, that is why I had no idea what the whole Question Mark thing was about.

Thanks for the replies.
 
tutenstein said:
I think that is what happened. I thought the Question Mark was odd, just appearing there, but if it happened to you, then, it does make sense.

I dragged Firefox out of Applications to the Dock, so that would make sense.

i still have not mastered putting an App in the dock. I just tried making an ALias of SuperDuper, and dragging the Alias to the dock, but the same thing happened with the question mark.

I just tried this, that is why I had no idea what the whole Question Mark thing was about.

Thanks for the replies.

You shouldn't have to drag an alias, just the application itself (it won't move it).

And Onyx did it to me again, I stayed in my dock till I restarted; now it's gone. Any suggestions? 😕
 
tutenstein said:
I think that is what happened. I thought the Question Mark was odd, just appearing there, but if it happened to you, then, it does make sense.

I dragged Firefox out of Applications to the Dock, so that would make sense.

i still have not mastered putting an App in the dock. I just tried making an ALias of SuperDuper, and dragging the Alias to the dock, but the same thing happened with the question mark.

I just tried this, that is why I had no idea what the whole Question Mark thing was about.

Thanks for the replies.

As just mentioned, you don't need to create an alias for the Dock, it will create its own from the drag-and-drop operation.

If you deleted the alias of SuperDuper afterwards, you would get the question mark. Right-clicking on the icon in the Dock and selecting "Show in Finder" should not produce any results unless the original you dragged is still there.
 
I had the same thing happen. Firefox disappeared. When I went to the application and dragged it into the dock once more it hung in the dock for a few moments and then diappeared again...and so on...and so on.

I actually placed firefox in the dock and kept the dock activated and watched it disappear.
 
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