Unable to download dmg files after BigSur 11.6.7 update ... and worse.

TomR55

Registered
I recently purchased this refurbished Mac. I restored its state from a TimeMachine backup, following the "standard procedures" for doing this. The previous machine had peacefully co-existed with these software packages (which are 64-bit, etc.) that I had downloaded and installed in the usual manner. Anyway, at least two "legacy" applications, DrRacket (a Scheme programming IDE), and CyberView (support for a Pacific Imaging film scanner) had been installed and running on the new machine until I performed the latest update (which is reflected in the Thread title) and two things happened:
  • These two applications vanished, leaving only question marks on the Dock; and,
  • Attempting to download the DMG files fails. By that,
    • I open Safari,
    • navigate to the respective sites,
    • choose the appropriate DMG files. Sometimes I get a quick, fleeting flash of the Download icon that appears in the upper right hand corner of Safari, often not.
And NOTHING happens. No DMG files appear in the Downloads subdirectory ... crickets.

I assume that something in the latest update has changed something on this machine to disallow downloads from non Apple vendors (?). Worse, it appears to have removed applications without my permission.
 
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Check your system preferences - Security & Privacy - General. You may need to click on the padlock to unlock the panel to make changes. Look at the bottom of that general screen under Allow apps downloaded from: You want App store and identified developers selected. The default is the App store only.
 
Thanks but I checked that ... days ago. As an experiment, I went to GForce (music software) and attempted to download a ZIP file that I had previously downloaded on the old machine. Guess what ... the dialogue goes through the motions, opens the Downloads directory in my account, but writes NOTHING there ... .

In case it wasn't clear from the original message:
Because this machine can no longer download ANY software updates or new acquisitions from numerous vendors (not in Apple's Storefront), it's essentially "locked out" of any pending improvements to softwares purchased or acquisition of new softwares needed by me.​
If this isn't bad enough, some process, assuming that it was the security update referenced in the original message, REMOVED at least two applications without my knowledge or consent. These were NOT 32-bit applications; they had been running just fine in the current OS before the update.​
I know this last assertion is true because I had to resort to "restoring" these applications from TimeMachine that had happily backed them up before the latest software updates were installed and these applications coincidentally vanished.

Oh, and before someone asks: I have tried to save DMG files, etc., to "external disks" thinking that this was perhaps some kind of permissions problem, but to no avail. The process that is attempting to save the data from Safari to ANY file system (or so it appears) simply winks .... by that I mean does nothing

Maybe I'm "old school" but I cannot envision any use-case where a Security Update removes software that it didn't install without alerting the client.

I'm sure that someone will recommend dumping BigSur and installing Monterey instead. That might work ... for a while ... but it's somewhat of a detour, and I'm not particularly confident based upon what I've seen.
 
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Check your system preferences - Security & Privacy - General. You may need to click on the padlock to unlock the panel to make changes. Look at the bottom of that general screen under Allow apps downloaded from: You want App store and identified developers selected. The default is the App store only.
Don't know if you've looked at this thread in a while ... I'd already checked the system preferences -Security & Privacy and no those settings were as I'd always had them: "App store and identified developers".

IIRC, this problem arose after installing the last updates which, I believe, were Safari focused. So, I looked through the Log files to see if it might be that the latest updates to Safari are responsible for what is happening here. I see that the Logs give me:
------begin extract
Jun 21, 2022 at 7:35:18 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: Path not allowed in target domain: type = pid, path = /Library/Apple/System/Library/StagedFrameworks/Safari/SafariFoundation.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/CredentialProviderExtensionHelper.xpc error = 147: The specified service did not ship in the requestor's bundle, origin = /Library/Apple/System/Library/StagedFrameworks/Safari/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.xpc


Jun 21, 2022 at 7:35:23 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: Service exited due to SIGKILL | sent by mds[101]


Jun 21, 2022 at 7:35:23 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: Service exited due to SIGKILL | sent by mds[101]


Jun 21, 2022 at 7:35:23 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: Service exited due to SIGKILL | sent by mds[101]


Jun 21, 2022 at 7:35:23 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: Service exited due to SIGKILL | sent by mds[101]


Jun 21, 2022 at 7:35:23 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: Service exited due to SIGKILL | sent by mds[101]


Jun 21, 2022 at 7:35:23 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: Service exited due to SIGKILL | sent by mds[101]
-------end extract

Too bad we don't have "apt-get" and friends. That makes it difficult to test that hypothesis without downloading another browser, such as Mozilla, and performing some downloads, etc. Fortunately, I do have a laptop running Ubuntu so I can download the appropriate DMG files onto a flash drive, transfer that to this machine and install Mozilla or some such thing. Then I can attempt to download DMG or ZIP files from known/trusted sites that I normally use. If that works, then obviously Safari is the problem. If not? Then I have some difficult decisions to make.
 
You sparked a memory. The last Safari update I did, did indeed mess with my Safari extensions. It took a couple of hours messing with it to get it working to my satisfaction.
In Safari menu>Develop> Experimental Features scroll down to the very bottom to Reset All to Default. That may help.

In as much as I hate it, I do have Chrome installed on my machine just for those web sites that do not behave with Safari. That could be an option for you.

p.s. - >
Here's how to enable the hidden Develop menu in Safari:
  1. Pull down the “Safari” menu and choose “Preferences”
  2. Click on the “Advanced” tab.
  3. Check the box next to “Show Develop menu in menu bar”
  4. Close Preferences, the Develop menu will now be visible between Bookmarks and Window menus.
 
Followed your instructions, resetting all to "default." I closed and re-opened Safari. Then, I attempted to download Chrome, for example. Essentially I see the same behavior. Nothing appears in the Downloads folder.
 
You sparked a memory. The last Safari update I did, did indeed mess with my Safari extensions. It took a couple of hours messing with it to get it working to my satisfaction.
In Safari menu>Develop> Experimental Features scroll down to the very bottom to Reset All to Default. That may help.

In as much as I hate it, I do have Chrome installed on my machine just for those web sites that do not behave with Safari. That could be an option for you.

p.s. - >
Here's how to enable the hidden Develop menu in Safari:
  1. Pull down the “Safari” menu and choose “Preferences”
  2. Click on the “Advanced” tab.
  3. Check the box next to “Show Develop menu in menu bar”
  4. Close Preferences, the Develop menu will now be visible between Bookmarks and Window menus.
Tried this, but to no avail. If I have time this evening, I'll download a dmg to install Chrome and perhaps use it? If you think of anything else to try please let me know. Fortunately, I don't see many big updates from my client software packages this week ... let's hope that I'm able to reconcile this sooner than later.

Again, thanks for your helpful suggestions.
 
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