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Downgrading from Safari 12

Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken

Suspended
Original poster
Jun 11, 2011
582
610
HELP!

I foolishly upgraded to Safari 12.0, now my extensions are broken! (RES and JS Blocker).

I WANT MY EXTENSIONS.

How do I download old versions of Safari? I don’t want Safari 12. Apple used to host old versions of software all over their website, but in this brave new world of apple this seems to be gone!

Restoring in Time Machine won’t work for reasons that I COMPLETELY DON’T UNDERSTAND!

HELP!
 
I think if you do a full system restore, you'll get the old version back. I'm unsure if apple keeps older versions of safari on the servers - good luck
 
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Hey mayflynn; Thanks for the help.
I was able to find an install package floating around online somewhere, and I restored it using pacifist.

Apple has lost their mind
 
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I downloaded and installed Safari 12 yesterday.
I have the AdBlockPlus and Ghostery extensions installed.

When Safari 12 first opened, it said that it had disabled the extensions because they would "slow down" the performance of the browser.

I went to System Preferences, and re-checked the "unchecked" (i.e., disabled) extensions.
Safari asked something along the line "do you really want to do this", and yes, I did.

The extensions were RE-enabled and they seem to be working fine with Safari 12.

I don't know if this works for other extensions.
But it worked for me.
 
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Fried Chicken said:
Hey mayflynn; Thanks for the help.
I was able to find an install package floating around online somewhere, and I restored it using pacifist.

Apple has lost their mind
Click to expand...

They have indeed FriedChicken. I've never downgraded Safari before, would you mind assisting me on how i can do a clean install of an older Safari with Pacifist? I have the Safari 11 .pkg file.

Before i start, do i need to backup my current bookmarks? And will i lose all my saved tabs too?

Appreciate your assistance.
 
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I also found a Safari 11.1.2 package but installing it didn't seem to have any effect over the installed Safari 12.0. Here's hoping that the get enough complaints to provide an official downgrade package – happened with iTunes as well.
 
Kevin_H said:
They have indeed FriedChicken. I've never downgraded Safari before, would you mind assisting me on how i can do a clean install of an older Safari with Pacifist? I have the Safari 11 .pkg file.

Before i start, do i need to backup my current bookmarks? And will i lose all my saved tabs too?

Appreciate your assistance.
Click to expand...

I would have a Time Machine backup anyway, however I didn’t lose any of my bookmarks, settings, browser history, or any of that.
Just download pacifist and drag/drop the .pkg file. It will replace the existing Safari directly.

I did however get an error about safaribookmarkmanager or something when trying to update my iPhone to iOS 12. I’m not sure if this is related to Safari 12.
[doublepost=1537348860][/doublepost]
Fishrrman said:
I downloaded and installed Safari 12 yesterday.
I have the AdBlockPlus and Ghostery extensions installed.

When Safari 12 first opened, it said that it had disabled the extensions because they would "slow down" the performance of the browser.

I went to System Preferences, and re-checked the "unchecked" (i.e., disabled) extensions.
Safari asked something along the line "do you really want to do this", and yes, I did.

The extensions were RE-enabled and they seem to be working fine with Safari 12.

I don't know if this works for other extensions.
But it worked for me.
Click to expand...
Is this in Mojave or High Sierra? System Settings or Safari Settings?
 
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Fried Chicken said:
I would have a Time Machine backup anyway, however I didn’t lose any of my bookmarks, settings, browser history, or any of that.
Just download pacifist and drag/drop the .pkg file. It will replace the existing Safari directly.

I did however get an error about safaribookmarkmanager or something when trying to update my iPhone to iOS 12. I’m not sure if this is related to Safari 12.
[doublepost=1537348860][/doublepost]
Is this in Mojave or High Sierra? System Settings or Safari Settings?
Click to expand...

Noted Fried Chicken and thanks a lot for the assistance. @Fishrrman's suggestion doesn't work for certain extensions that Safari 12 has completely removed. Possibly works for those that are still listed in the Extensions window i reckon.
 
Kevin_H said:
They have indeed FriedChicken. I've never downgraded Safari before, would you mind assisting me on how i can do a clean install of an older Safari with Pacifist? I have the Safari 11 .pkg file.

Before i start, do i need to backup my current bookmarks? And will i lose all my saved tabs too?

Appreciate your assistance.
Click to expand...

Kevin_H where did you find the 11.pkg file! I need to do the same!!!

Thanks Guys
 
how did you guys update to it? I can't update it because it says spotlight is using it. Thanks
 
To reinstall Safari 11.1.2 over Safari 12 you must first disable SIP (System Integrity Protection) using csrutil in terminal. When SIP is on the system will not let you overwrite any needed system files ... Safari and its other system file are SIP protected files.

Here's how I reinstalled Safari 11.1.2 on High Sierra:

Download Pacifist
Download Safari 11.1.2
Restart your Mac, holding down ⌘-R
Open terminal from the Utilities menu
Type: csrutil disable
Hit return
You'll see a message that SIP is disabled.
Type: reboot
Hit return
Your computer will reboot
Launch Pacifist
Click the Open Package button
Open the Safari 11.1.2 package
You'll see the contents & subfolders listed
Select the line Contents Of Safari 11.1.2 Sierra.pkg
Click the install button.

Once you do, you will get a few dialog boxes. You want to install with admin privileges, and you want it to overwrite anything it asks you to. So check the "do this for all" checkboxes in any of the dialogs that come up. Otherwise you'll be clicking Okay dialogs forever.

Once it says the install is complete quit Pacifist & launch Safari. If you didn't touch your previous extensions, they should all be there and working. If they are not, find old installs of the older extensions and reinstall them. Remember if you select Safari extensions from and old backup, you have to double click the extensions to reinstall them. You may be required to install them from the (old) Apple Extensions Library ... but that's better than having to use the new "App Extensions" Apple is forcing us all to use.

One other thing you need to do is turn off "Automatically check for updates" you have set in the Mac App Store preferences. Otherwise you will get nagged to update to Safari 12 again.

If you want to turn SIP back on to protect your system again:

Restart your Mac, holding down ⌘-R
Open terminal from the Utilities menu
Type: csrutil enable
Hit return
You'll see a message that SIP is enabled.
Type: reboot
Hit return
Your computer will reboot

Done! Enjoy old Safari goodness!

_____

I reinstalled AdBlock and deleted AdBlock Plus. AdBlock Plus now throws up a page saying how everything is changing with Safari 12 blah blah blah. It may be temporary .... BUT IT IS ANNOYING! So I reverted back to and old version of AdBlock (which is different (and use to be better) than AdBlock Plus) I had in a backup. If you do the same & have custom filters you've made in AdBlock Plus be sure to copy them and add them to the custom filter list in AdBlock before you delete AdBlock Plus.

Did a little digging (after posting this) and found the self-hosted version of AdBlock direct from the dev's website. In my book ... it's the best by far! Hopefully they will be able to port many/more of the features to the new "app extension". My fave is the ability to block an element from a website via macOS contextual menu.

I'll be waiting quite a while before I update any of my computers to Mojave. I've already seen extension writers that have no plans to learn how to write an Apple app and have to work within the restrictions Apple is placing on system access.

Okay .... now I'm done.
 
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Unfortunately this has started to come up every minute. Any thoughts on what's causing that? Snap 2018-09-19 at 4.52.38 PM.jpg
 
lyleberman said:
Unfortunately this has started to come up every minute. Any thoughts on what's causing that?View attachment 784092
Click to expand...
Honestly, no. What macOS version are you running? You might try unchecking Safari in the system’s iCloud prefs. Then logging out of iCloud, rebooting your Mac and log into iCloud and recheck Safari.

If that doesn’t work try reinstalling Safari 12 again and see if that fixes the issue. And if you’re brave, & or have the time, try reinstalling Safari 11 again. If the problem comes back, it could be one of your extensions. Try turning them off all at once, quit Safari & see if the sync pop up comes back. Keep turning on one extension at a time quit & relaunch Safari. It’s the way to see if it’s an extension and Safari 11.

If none of that works, reinstall 12 & call it a day.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for your reply! I actually tried a reinstall but that didn't help. I ended up disabling the agent and now I don't get a application crashed notifications every five seconds.

I did that by:
cd /System/Library/CoreServices/SafariSupport.bundle/Contents/MacOS
sudo mv SafariBookmarksSyncAgent SafariBookmarksSyncAgent.disabled​
(with SIP off)

Obviously this will kill the bookmarks sync but you can't have everything... YMMV.
Thx for your assistance again!
 
Yeah ... it's happening to me too now . I'm about ready to do a clean install of High Sierra, and restore to a pre-Safari 12 Time machine backup. I REALLY DON'T want to do that. But ....
 
AsburyParkJoe said:
Yeah ... it's happening to me too now . I'm about ready to do a clean install of High Sierra, and restore to a pre-Safari 12 Time machine backup. I REALLY DON'T want to do that. But ....
Click to expand...
yep thinking I am going to have to do the same as well...........
[doublepost=1537457959][/doublepost]
AsburyParkJoe said:
Yeah ... it's happening to me too now . I'm about ready to do a clean install of High Sierra, and restore to a pre-Safari 12 Time machine backup. I REALLY DON'T want to do that. But ....
Click to expand...
just wondering if a reinstall to high Sierra would work rather than a TM back up as much quicker or would HS install come with Safari 12 now
 
Reinstalled High Sierra and it fixed this issue, took about 30 mins so lot quicker than using a time machine backup
 
I wish apple would stop this war on 3rd party apps for the mac. This goes fundamentally against why we buy computers. Ever since the App Store came out, the software for the mac seems to have taken a nose dive in terms of quality.
 
The OP lamented:
"I wish apple would stop this war on 3rd party apps for the mac..."

Stop it?
They've only just begun...!
 
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I also was fooled by Apple and let it install Safari 12. While it was possible to find the old 11.1.2 pkg installer (ironically named Safari11.1.2Sierra.pkg, suggesting that there would be a standalone HighSierra pkg somewhere) and install it, doing that makes the Safari preferences window inaccessible (does not open anything). I guess I am stuck with Safari 12 :-(
 
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For some reason my favorite icons in the Touch Bar do not display full size for the majority of sites. This happened after I cleared Safari’s cache. I hope Mojave will fix this somehow tomorrow since it’s been driving me crazy all week.
 
I'm liking that Reader has to be on all the time. You also have the option to turn it off on for certain websites. I don't get why Apple changed the Reader option. I like when I went to a website and wanting to just read the text I could just click the Reader icon. There is no way to just add it to the tool bar. It's now tucked inside of Preference with the Extension. smh Safari 12 needs an update fast.
 
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