Baffling problem w/ IE 5!

K

katrina

Registered
This is message board #5 for this question. I haven't had a single suggestion as to how to fix my problem...if anyone here can help, I'd be thrilled!

Okay, back in October I started having problems with IE 5; it would crash right at the opening "about" screen...it went from never doing it to crashing every single time. I tried Netscape 6, but that started doing the same thing as well. Basically, every browser I used would start crashing soon after installation, which definitely worries me! So, I gave up on OS X for a while, but I missed it and now I'm back, and I want to figure out what's wrong! I just installed IE 5.1, and it was fine for a couple uses, but started crashing once again. This time it gave me an error message:

An error occured loading the "MS internet library (PPC)" library.

It also suggested I reinstall IE 5.1, but it happened again anyway. So what's going on? This problem happened under 10, and still happened under 10.1. If it makes any difference, I ran Agax about a week ago to see if there was a virus (ran under 9.2, checking X), and it said that IE 5 may have the CODE9811 virus, but it couldn't open the file to fix it. From what I could find out about this virus, my "symptoms" didn't seem to fit. On the other hand, I can't figure out what could be affecting all my browsers only under X (they're all fine under 9.2.1...and mail works fine under both OSs). Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Katherine
 
I'm not sure, but that sounds like something that happened to me a while back. I'd set the en0 interface (build in ethernet) on my iBook to be localhost, that is IP 127.0.0.1. When doing this, IE would consistently crash on start up. Didn't try any other browsers though.

What I had to do was to set the en0 interface to something else like 169.254.0.254 (subnet 255.255.0.0) and everything worked hunky dorey again. This was repeatable on my machine.

I'm now using 10.1.2 and have a diff. prob though. If I don't have the en0 set to 127.0.0.1 and am not connected to the relevant network, then IE refuses to find localhost. It also uses some old proxy settings that are configured for a different network locations. This problem is discussed on a different message board, however, and aparently other browsers do not suffer the same problem.


Anyway, hope that helps you ;-)

C
 
Would it matter that I am not using built-in ethernet? I'm not exactly a pro at troubleshooting my Mac, so I'm not sure how to apply your solution to my problem. I did poke around the modem and network settings, but couldn't find anything strange. I don't know, this seems like something actually wrong with the browsers. Thanks for being the first to suggest a solution to my problem!

Does anyone get any use from the Console's crash log? Coming from someone who doesn't know a lot of the technical stuff, it seems as though it WOULD be useful IF I knew what I was looking at. Would it help to post the first couple lines in the crash log from when Netscape crashes? Just curious...

Katherine
 
I have installed extra ram, I installed it over two months before this problem started. That's the only hardware change I've made. Here's my current set-up:

I-Mac G3
384 RAM
Using internal 56k modem (regular dial-up connection)

I just downloaded the beta for Norton Utilities, but that was just a couple of days ago. I actually downloaded it to see if it could give me any info on my problem. No dice.
I opened up the terminal and made Netscape crash, but I'm really not familiar with that stuff so I can't really make out anything odd from it. I saved it, so if you'd like me to post it, I can.
I really haven't made any major changes as far as system files or anything.

Of course it could also be some software problem (settings, corruption of User preferences, etc).
Click to expand...
How can I find out? It must be some internet prefs or something that OS X uses only for browsers, because every single browser I use crashes, but Mail works fine. And there is absolutely no problems running under 9.2.1 (The very same IE 5.1 that crashes under X works fine under 9).
Thanks so much! I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere with this problem...

Katherine
 
... just though - which version of OS X 10.1 are you running? The vanilla, the 10.1.1 or the 10.1.2?

I only experienced mine under the vanilla (if memory serves).

C

PS: If you switch to the tab "Sharing" in the system settings do you have an IP address listed at the bottom of the screen?
 
I had the same problem and so far after 2 days I haven't had it happen anymore. Go into USR(your username)/Libary/Preferences/. Find the file named "com.apple.internetconfig.plist" and delete it. Remember to make sure you have your browser closed. This stores some of your internet preferences and probably has become corrupt. You will probably have reset some preferences.

Good Luck! I hope this helps.

Shawn
 
Okay, it looks like testuser's suggestion of deleting some of those prefs may have worked. I'm not entirely sure, but I'll know after work today...I don't have much time to mess around right now.
When I did the "fsck -y" thing, (which is really cool, by the way), it did find a couple of things wrong..."incorrect leaf count", and some sort of "orphaned node". But it looks like that stuff was fixed.
The odd thing is...is when I did type exit, and the system seemed to be loading up, it froze (had to manually restart). Here's the last line it displayed before freezing...
the line started with today's date and time, then:

SystemStarter: Trying plugin /System/Library/Core Services/SystemStarter/ QuartzDisplay bundle/ Quartz Display...

and that was it.

Oh, and when I say crash, I mean just the app itself quits. The computer rarely freezes up on me. There's a crash, and there's a freeze. For me, anyway.

Here's what the terminal shows when Netscape crashes (the last few lines, anyway)
Jan 30 00:01:17 localhost lookupd[199]: Caught SIGHUP - reset
Jan 30 00:01:17 localhost configd[124]: executing /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/Kicker.bundle/Resources/restart-automount
Jan 30 00:01:17 localhost configd[124]: executing /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/Kicker.bundle/Resources/restart-lookupd
Jan 30 00:01:17 localhost lookupd[199]: Caught SIGHUP - reset
Jan 30 00:01:18 localhost configd[124]: executing /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/Kicker.bundle/Resources/restart-automount
Jan 30 00:01:18 localhost configd[124]: executing /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/Kicker.bundle/Resources/set-hostname
Jan 30 00:08:00 localhost /usr/libexec/CrashReporter: Succeeded writing

I omitted the very last line because it looked like it was just saying it was writing and saving the crash report on the console.

Re: LordCoven: I'm using 10.1 (I guess original is called Vanilla?). I know...I have to upgrade. 35 meg on a 56k modem takes some planning.

Thanks all so much for your help.

Katherine
 
Okay, I finally got the 10.1.2 update. Isn't Software Update supposed to now show me an update for IE? It doesn't.

Netscape still crashes under X...and IE 5.1 now automatically opens under Classic.

I ran fsck -y several times until it stopped showing stuff to fix. The problem was, it kept freezing when exiting...I had to manually restart 3 or 4 times, and running the checks all over again before it actually worked. Is that a really bad sign or does that happen occasionally?

Katherine
 
Hey,

Just a thought on the freezing:
If you mean to say that your terminal window doesn't close after having run fsck, try manually closing it with command-w or hitting the red close button. I've seen it before where the terminal window doesn't close - I think there's a pref setting somewhere in the term app to change this behaviour.

Personally, I don't think it sounds like a HW problem, as I would expect that NOT to be isolated to one particular type of application, but rather to be accross the board (or at least the same for all applications that use lots of RAM, for example) ...

I did my update to 10.1.2 via the combo update. May be worth you trying to install the udpate again via that - up to you.

One thing you'll probably have to do after installing the 10.1.2 update is to re-create all of the NW settings. Try it first without changing them. But not having done this, my system hung. Its an easy enough thing to do - you just have to write down all your settings before deleting them ;-)))

C
 
Well, I removed the suspected offending stick of RAM...but I'm not sure if my problem is solved. I booted up into...what's it called? Console root? Anyway, I fsck-ed, and it was the first time it didn't find any errors right off the bat. So, that's promising. On the bad side, Netscape still crashes regularly. I updated to 6.2.1, but it didn't seem to help. So, since IE 5.1.3 automatically opens it 9 now, how can I get it to open under X? I think that would be a good test.

To get extra RAM that was more dependable, would I have to get "official" Apple RAM? If that was actually the problem, why did it take so long to affect my system? And why only browsers? It's quite possible that web browsers are the biggest programs I use...at least the ones that require the most RAM, anyway.

Katherine
 
I notice that after running fsck, katrina types in "exit." I was told to type "reboot" (and always do).
Could that be the cause of the freeze?
 
Thanks for the OmniWeb link. But, why doesn't IE 5.1.3 open under X anymore? It only opens under Classic. It's the very same program that was crashing under X before...very strange. I'll try OmniWeb for now.

Katherine
 
katrina - is this app or any other that should be launching in osx but isn't, in your applications folder? and not your applications (os9) folder? you may need to make sure that the only copy is in applications and that any aliases and preferences in intenet are directed to it.
 
Well, I moved IE 5 into my OS X apps folder. Classic and X are on different partitions, so it's pretty easy to keep stuff separate.
I'm using OmniWeb right now, and it hasn't crashed once. When I first started having this browser problem back in October, it didn't work well for me at all (I had downloaded every X browser out there!). Anyway, at least I can go online in X. As for IE 5...maybe I'll just have to wait for the next big X update!

Katherine
 
speaking of updates katrina, do you regularly use software update to keep everything current? there have been at least a couple of updates for ie thru that source as well as other little things you need to operate optimally.

and my $.02 worth - avoid reformatting unless absolutly neccesary. there is almost always another solution.:)
 
Yeah, I do use software update regularly, even though I've only got a dial-up modem and it's usually updates I'll never use...

So, if I decide to re-install X, is it just going to go through the regular install process like when it was first installed?

Thanks for all your help, everyone!

Katherine
 
"...IE 5.1 now automatically opens under Classic."

Just curious about this statement. How exactly are you opening IE? Are you using an icon from the Dock, or are you opening the Applications folder on your Mac OS X partition and launching IE from that folder?

If I'm not mistaken, all of the previous advice assumes the problems you are having are with the X version of IE 5.1. Despite the fact that one is able to use both the X version and the Classic version in X, preferences for the two versions are stored in completely different locations. The advice I saw earlier in this thread applies only to preferences for the X version of IE.

If you are launching IE from the dock, make sure that icon in the dock launches the X version by doing this: Drag the current IE icon off the dock so it disappears in a puff of smoke. Then click on the Dock's Finder icon and navigate to your Applications folder (the Mac OS X one, not the 'Applications (Mac OS 9)' one). Find IE there, control-click on it, select Show Info, and make sure it's version 5.1. If so, close the Show Info window and double-click on the IE icon to launch it. After it launches and the IE icon appears in the Dock, click and hold on the icon and select Keep in Dock to keep it there so you can launch the X version in the future.

I admire your tenacity in seeking a solution to your problem.
 
I double-checked that IE 5 was only in my OS X apps folder, and that the version in my 9 apps folder is an older one. Both as they should be; the app that is opening under classic resides in my OS X apps folder, and ONLY there, it's the newest version (5.1.3), and I even stuck it in my dock. Still opens under Classic only.

Oh, well. At least I can get on the internet under X without crashing. Thanks!

Katherine
 
Hi Katrina,

If you control-click on your OS X version of Internet Explorer and choose Show Info, there's a checkbox that lets you launch applications in Classic instead of OS X. That may have gotten checked somehow.

I'm not sure, but it sounded like you were keeping your OS X IE somewhere besides the Applications folder. Software Update is stupid if you do that and you can end up with a program that's only partially updated. That may have happened to you, in which case, you need to reinstall IE (check out Pacifist).

If you're IE is okay, then my guess is also that it's your RAM. You should never freeze after fsck'ing unless you've got bad hardware or a seriously tweaked operating system.
 
I didn't see any option to check how IE opens under "Show Info".

Also, I'm not sure what to do with Pacifist. The idea is to use it to just take out whatever app/ update/etc. I want from a larger package, right? What am I supposed to be looking at with it?
Wouldn't IE 5.1.3 have to be okay/complete if it runs under Classic without a problem?
This version of IE 5 did, at one point, at least try to open under X. But it would get to the "about" screen, and crash. So, it *almost* opened under X before, but not now. Apparently, it just forgot how to do so.

Katherine
 
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