Is Safari killing me? Please help!

[rapidj]

I realize that Safari is probably not the source of my problem but it was the first casualty. Im running panther 10.3.8 on my emac and evrything was fine until the other morning i couldn't get Safari to start, it just sat in the dock with the triangle. I eventually tried to download safari again and when it went to the install panel, it would hang up and i would then have to force quit. I tried to download iCal and the same thing happened. it downloaded fine and unstuffed, but when it got to the install panel it hung up. I tried to run disk fix, but when i got to the first screen where it shows the hard drive and other drives, same problem, before it would show the buttons to repair disk, it would hang up and i would eventually have to force quit. I started up from Panther Disk and it let me run disk repair and reported no problems

To my knowledge, nothing was installed on the computer before this started happening. It was perfectly fine. Still there are no problems with it other than those, internet is fine, etc.

I went out and bought SystemWorks 3.0,b but i wanted to wait to see if any kind sould could help me figure out this problem before i run it. Any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks
Kory

 

[Gokhan]

ok

right first see if u can go to utilities and disk uti and repair disk permissions

if that does not work then enter open firmware (press o+f and apple key when starting up) and type fsck

if the above dont work then reinstall osx

 

[mkrishnan]

Since you said you tried Disk Utility (sounds like), and it wouldn't load either, try this. Try to start Terminal. If terminal starts successfully, type:

sudo diskutil information disk0 (zero, not "O")
sudo diskutil repairpermissions /

And provide your password if asked. If even that doesn't work, try fsck as suggested, or try booting off the hardware test CD. The first command should provide you an output that looks like the one below. Critical in this is the line that says SMART status verified. If it says anything else, then the cause could be a failing HD.

Device Node: /dev/disk0
Device Identifier: disk0
Mount Point:
Volume Name:

Partition Type: Apple_partition_scheme
Bootable: Not bootable
Media Type: Generic
Protocol: ATA
SMART Status: Verified

Total Size: 37.3 GB
Free Space: 0.0 B

Read Only: No
Ejectable: No
OS 9 Drivers: Yes
Low Level Format: Not Supported

 

[rapidj]

Safari..

excuse my ignorance. but how do you start terminal. Im not familiar with this terminology. also, should i run systemworks first or even at all?

thx

 

[mkrishnan]

excuse my ignorance. but how do you start terminal. Im not familiar with this terminology. also, should i run systemworks first or even at all?

thx

Terminal is in the Utilities folder inside your Applications folder. You start it by double clicking it.

Now *I* have to plead ignorance, because I have no idea what systemworks is. *goes to check* It's a Norton program that's supposed to fix problems on your computer? God, no! Don't run it. In fact, if you get your problems solved, *uninstall it*. Preferably set the discs on fire.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Ooh Ooh! Don't run Systemworks. That is Norton Utilities under their bundle name.

Norton Utilities has destroyed more OSX hard drives that I personally am aware of, than any other single piece of software.

Keep it for OS9 if you must, but keep it the hell away from your OSX hard drives.

 

[mkrishnan]

Keep it for OS9 if you must, but keep it the hell away from your OSX hard drives.

Glad I'm not the only one. Pretty much any company that makes software that's supposed to maintain or protect your computer, and also makes similar software that runs in Windows, has no credibility whatsoever. Which is not to say that things like TTP are not okay, because apparently they are a little better. But just stay away from all the stuff that claims to protect your hard drive or protect you from adware or spyware, and most of the stuff that claims to protect you from viruses...

 

[rapidj]

Safari..

OK, ill ditch the systemworks and try the suggestions posted here and report back.I have to say im a bit nervous about doing this since i never have before. if i don't type in exactly like its posted, is there a chance i could do more harm?

 

[mkrishnan]

OK, ill ditch the systemworks and try the suggestions posted here and report back.I have to say im a bit nervous about doing this since i never have before. if i don't type in exactly like its posted, is there a chance i could do more harm?

Copy and paste. And for the most part, no. If you type it in wrong, you will get an error message. If the second thing runs (if it starts spitting out permissions that its repairing), then go get some coffee or ice cream, and don't do anything with the computer till it's done...same deal as when you run it from the GUI app. It isn't totally necessary, but there's always the off chance that disk access at the wrong time will prevent Disk Utility from repairing a permission. That would just mean you'd have to run it again, though. I don't think you can really hurt your computer with this.

 

[rapidj]

Safari update

I managed to repair permissions but i still can't install anything. I downloaded the combo 10.3.9 update but could not install. i returned Systemworks and got ProTools as per genius bar suggestion, but it would not startup, it hung up during start up. everything else works fine, i just can't install software. Even Apple software updater stalls everytime i click on any of the buttons. My options appear to be wait for Tiger this week and do a archive install and failing that, wipe the drive clean, re-install original software, then Tiger. I could also forgo Tiger and do the same with Tiger. It strikesme as a software issue and not a hardware issue, but im not certain.

 

[mkrishnan]

When you got permissions to repair, did you get a SMART verified from the information version of the command? If so, yes, it does sound like software. That's a good sign!

You said that now, everything works except installing s/w. Is this a change from before, when many programs would refuse to even run? If so, try one more thing (gee, I give a lot of annoying homework, eh? ) ... go into the library folder in your home directory, and delete com.apple.installer.plist in the Preferences folder (you can find it by typing installer in the search bar of the finder window, after highlighting the Library directory). Then see if you can install the software you're trying to install.

If this doesn't work, it's sounding like re-install time....

 

[rapidj]

safari again..

thanks for indulging me on this. I did repair permissions from the Panther disk. The Apple genius bar guy convinced me I could do that from the disk (apparently it differs from Jaguar that way), plus i got cold feet when it came to opening terminal. All applications run fine and ran fine (other than the original problem with Safari) the problem has been restricted to installing software from the install panel. I also discovered this evening when i tried to create a new user (another stab at trying to figure this out), that it hung up when i clicked on accounts in system prefs. I also tried to reinstall Panther but i got the message saying i couldn't because a new version of the software exists. great.

If i end up reinstalling system software from scratch as in wiping the drive and starting over, i realize i need to back evreything up, but can i wipe the drive from Panther disk and re-install the software or do i need to go back to the original machine software, wipe the drive and the reload all factory software and then reload Panther after that? I know its a lot of questions and i appreciate your patience. I will try the other suggestions before moving forward.

 

[Nermal]

If you have enough free space, you can reinstall without wiping everything by choosing Archive and Install (there's a button for it in the OS X Installer, I think it's on the same page as where you select the drive to install to). This will take a backup of your existing system and install a new one alongside it.

You can install Panther directly, you don't need to use the restore CDs that came with your system.

 

[rapidj]

yes, but im currently running 10.3.8 version of panther and when i try to re-install from original Panther disk, it won't let me because it says it won't copy over a more recent version

 

[mkrishnan]

yes, but im currently running 10.3.8 version of panther and when i try to re-install from original Panther disk, it won't let me because it says it won't copy over a more recent version

Kory, are you sure you didn't hit the Upgrade install option? It should let you archive your system...

 

[rapidj]

no, it gets to the select a destination area and i have my hardrive and my external firewire. and both say "you cannot install mac OSX on this volume. A newer version of Mac OS X is installed"

the options button is grayed out and the only button i can choose is"go back"

 

[Nermal]

That's really weird, it should work

 

[rapidj]

Indeed i thought it was odd as well, it will not let me click on the option button. Now when i went from Jaguar to Panther I did not to and archive install (my blunder) i just a straight install so i don't know if that matters or not

 

[Nermal]

Do you know whether your hard drive is journalised? Jaguar didn't support journalling, and Panther recommends it, but I suppose there's a possibility that Tiger requires it.

If you upgraded from Jaguar and didn't journalise the drive yourself, then it probably still isn't.

Edit: Duh, you're trying to install Panther not Tiger, so ignore all that

 

[rapidj]

how would i go about doing that? is that something i can do now and would it make a dif?