Updated Safari, and now it "opens" but never opens a window

[moriazuriel]

I put off doing the software update on Safari... I just HAD a feeling something would go wrong and I didn't have time to mess with it if it did.

So today I ran and update. And it messed up.

Now Safari will "open"... it looks like it is open and I have access to all the menus. But a Safari window will not open.

I am surprised that I haven't seen others with this problem. I have tried deleting the cache and deleting the preferences file. Neither seem to have made ANY difference.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. And I am feeling like I'm missing a body part. I need my Safari back! HELP!

 

[advres]

I think it is the OS update. I use firefox and recently noticing the same thing. Before I would Apple+tab to switch to firefox and if it was in the dock minimized it would pop out. Now I have to apple+tab and then apple+n to get a new window. I thought the old way sucked until it started acting like this and now I miss the old behavior!

 

[moriazuriel]

Does anybody have any wisdom? I really miss Safari... and since I tried deleting it and reinstalling... I lost my bookmarks... learned to save them the hard way.

This is SOOOO frustrating. I have touted mac and its awesomeness for 2.5 years... but I am NOT liking this issue. At all.

I deleted all my 3rd party plugins... no difference.

 

[snberk103]

Do a search on the forums for "Safari 5" and you will get a few threads starting the day the update was first released. In my case, the easy fix was to get rid of CosmoPod (though I could have just updated CosmoPod). Many people have found that it was an input manager (i.e. a 3rd party plugin).

Others also tweaked their DNS settings, but I think this was a minority opinion. Follow the instructions on temporarily removing your 3rd party plugins and I think you will be fine.

Good Luck

 

[moriazuriel]

Thanks for the suggestion to search for Safari 5! I searched safari but it brought up a thousand threads.


I see it is possible to restore using TIme Machine. I'd like to revert to what it was before... Does it just restore the one program or EVERYTHING?


And how on earth do I go about restoring from my time machine backup?

 

[snberk103]

OK, I can see the problem with searching. There is something called MRoogle that may help in the future. [whisper] Shhhh - I've never actually used it... [/whisper] but it comes highly recommended.

Try this link which will take you to the specific thread. In my opinion its better to clear the input managers before trying to revert. The consensus seems to be that once you get Safari 5 running, it runs better than Safari 4. I certainly like some of the new features. Clearing the plugins is not that difficult. I think it will be a lot easier than dealing with any unintended consequences of trying to revert to a previous version and introducing other incompatibilities.

Let us know how you are making out.

 

[moriazuriel]

I REALLY appreciate you helping me out. Somehow in my search, I missed this thread...

Though.. I have deleted the input managers. I deleted all the 3rd party plugins. I have reinstalled the program. I THOUGHT I reinstalled Safari 4... but when I hit About, it says safari 5.

I am so frustrated....

I have never heard of cosmopod... so I didn't even have that in the first place.

 

[snberk103]

OK, just a little detail.... tell us what you did to delete the input managers.

Safari 4? I think it's better to stay with Safari 5. That was the point of deleting the input managers.

I can't help much with Time Machine, I use a different back up solution. But if you can get back to the situation you were in immediately after updating to Safari 5 then the solution is probably just the easy clearing of input managers (CosmoPod was just one of the common ones - not everybody has it).

A lot of what OS X does depends on something called WebKit, which is the engine that runs Safari. By reverting back to Safari 4 you are potentially introducing incompatibilities to WebKit that can lead to weird problems elsewhere. That's why I am recommending we get you running Safari 5 at this point.

Wait one minute.... I'll be right back.

 

[moriazuriel]

okay. my memory is deficient ,at best. My 2 and 3 year olds have sucked out all of my memory.

Hard drive > Library > Input Mangers....

I THOUGHT I deleted everything. RIght now there is a "CT Loader" folder in there...

Should I drag that to the desktop and try again?

 

[snberk103]

okay. my memory is deficient ,at best. My 2 and 3 year olds have sucked out all of my memory.

Hard drive > Library > Input Mangers....

I THOUGHT I deleted everything. RIght now there is a "CT Loader" folder in there...

Should I drag that to the desktop and try again?

Yes, remove the CT Loader folder. Other people have reported that was an issue too. Also, look for a folder in the Library called SIMBL. Just drag the potentially offending folders to the desktop, and restart Safari. If the issue goes away, then you have the culprit. If you have several folders you have moved to the desktop, you can try dragging them back to the original locations and restarting Safari. When the issue reappears, you have found an incompatible plug in - pull it out and try the next one.

Others have reported (and I noticed it too) that when you start using Safari 5 it will appear to be slower. This passes in a day or two as it rebuilds some indexes and caches.

Hopefully the CT Loader will clear the problem for you.

 

[moriazuriel]

I do NOT know where you are... but you deserve a great big HUG!!!

Problem solved... AND I still have my bookmarks!!!!

What the heck IS that CT Loader thing???

ahhhh, what a relief!!!!

 

[snberk103]

Glad it worked out!! I have no idea what a CT Loader is, I don't have it.... but try looking it up on MRoogle (hee hee).

My wife says she'll give me a hug instead....

Welcome to Mac Rumours..... One hint. At least try a search before asking a question (and yes, I know you can get overwhelmed with possible threads).... but there a few people who's first answer is always to ask if you have searched. So, just get that step out of the way...

Now I'm out to pull thistles....

Cheers

 

[moriazuriel]

I very much appreciate all your help.

I DID very much try searching the threads before posting. I am a veteran forum user and am, too, annoyed by people posting threads over and over when the information exists. I related with your irritation.

I apologize for apparently not searching the right things. I honestly can't remember what I did or didn't decide to do, I've looked at so many things in the last 24 hours... but I thinK I was scared to delete the CT Loader because I don't know what it is... I needed someone's affirmation that it wouldn't blow up if I did so...

As someone who has deleted something that I didn't know what it was, and required someone else's computer to have to be reformatted... I'm a little leery of these things.

 

[snberk103]

Ahh, I saw that you had registered at MacRumours in only the last few days... so I assumed you were new to forums... my apologies.

I know the joys of searching on a term on common as "Safari 5". I only found the thread I wanted because I searched on my name, and that was only because I knew I had commented in that thread.

I may not have been clear.... Search first, so you can start your question when you post with "I tried searching, but I couldn't find the answer...." This will thin down considerably the number of people who have the time to tell you to search first, but apparently don't have the time to answer your question. How diligently you search is, of course, open to interpretations .

The nice thing about the plugins is that by moving them to the Desktop they are essentially deleted, as far is Safari is concerned. But if you need to put them back, they are still close at hand.

Anyway... glad to help. Cheers.