WARNING - don't install 10.4.11 - includes new, buggy Safari

[hills david]

I just downloaded the latest Security upgrade which took me up to 10.4.11

Bundled in the upgrade is a new version of Safari (3.04). There is no warning anywhere that I could see that this was part of the package.

The result is that I am now frozen out of accessing my proprietary business software, which was developed by a third party for Safari 2.04. My developer, whom I trust, says it could cost $10,000 and several weeks to rebuild our business software so it will work with 3.04.

Can anyone tell me how to find & reinstall Safari 2.04 (without having to reinstall my whole system) and uninstall 3.04?

Mac - PLEASE put a prominent warning on the 10.4.11 upgrade that this contains a major change to Safari which may have compatibility problems with other software.

I actually knew Safari 3.04 was a problem (I have a new Mac running Leopard) so I have been avoiding the upgrade until I can sort it out. If I had known Safari 3.04 was bundled in the upgrade, I would never have downloaded it.

Please tell me how to reinstall Safari 2.04 without a total system reinstall. I can't find a download of 2.04 anywhere on the MAC site.

What a nightmare.


David

 

[Worldwalker]

i just downloaded the security update.

And i am having the same problem.

Now safari crashes along with my colloquy IRC client.

i actually think that there was some info that safari was included in the update. i just thought that it was a security update for the browser and not an updated version. i had downloaded the update before a few weeks ago, and it did the same, but in the stand alone version there was a uninstall file that restored my system.

and now apple.com have removed the file itself from the server.

i really hope someone here knows what to do to restore it.

 

[hills david]

I found an old version of safari 2.04 and replaced the new safari with it.

This has fixed many, but not all of the problems - I think some of the compatability issues must have to do with the security upgrade itself.

We can do some work on-line, but we can't send invoices and there are aspects which are flakey.

Our contract tech is working on it ($90 per hour - thanks Apple...) but the advice so far is that we should move to Windows to ensure stability.

You heard me write - Windows is the stable platform, Mac is flakey. I am bootcamping a Mac so that I can shift over to Windows.

Back to the drawing board, I reckon.

 

[Worldwalker]

could you maybe provide a link to where you found the 2.04 version.

since its the same errors i get as when i first downloaded the 3.0 version a few weeks ago. im pretty sure it would help me as well.

thanks

 

[simbalala]

Some of us have been using Safari 3 for a long, long, time - since it was first beta released. I've had no major problems with it and I think this "real" release fixed a small problem I did have. I also run the WebKit nightlies.

I hope this thread does not needlessly frighten people.

The upgrade did clearly state that Safari 3 was included, both on the Apple info page and in the update procedure.

 

[hills david]

Worldwalker:

I couldn't find Safari 2.04 on the internet (maybe is out there somewhere). Our local mac shop also could not suggest where I could get a copy.

However, I did find it on an old computer, so I copied that.

The more I look into this, the more I think there are two problems - one with Safari 3.04 (which seems to be a major change from 2.04) and another with 10.4.11 (or one inter-related problem, since the two upgrades seem to connected).

Sambala:

I am not aiming to frighten people - I posted my original message very soon after the upgrade came out, because I wanted to warn people that there might be problems, and to think before they pushed the button.

On reflection, my personal advice would still be NOT to download the new 10.4.11 security upgrade until you are sure you have no third party software which might be affected (I accept it has probably been fully tested for Mac software). I am not sure how general the problem is, but particularly if you are using the browser to interact with a remote data base, tread very carefully with Safari 3.04.

I have also checked, and you are both right - the upgrade does say in the smaller print that Safari 3 is included. I didn't see it - just thought is was the normal regular patch for the OS.

In my view Mac should have made the Safari upgrade a separate item, or at least alerted it in some way.

Maybe my problems are unique to the way I use the browser and my particular set up. But this one security upgrade has already cost my business a lot of money and a day's work for everyone, and the techs are still working.

This sort of thing is not supposed to happen with Mac - that's why we pay all the extra $.

Cheers


David

 

[jbarley]

could you maybe provide a link to where you found the 2.04 version.

since its the same errors i get as when i first downloaded the 3.0 version a few weeks ago. im pretty sure it would help me as well.

thanks

You should be able to istall an earlier version of Safari from your original Tiger install Disks.
Pacifist is an easy tool for doing this.

jb.

 

[Giaguara]

If you end up extracting Safari from the install discs, that may be Safari that came with 10.4.0, 10.4.3, 10.4.6 etc... the frameworks that it uses have changed since. So some parts of it may not work fully until the frameworks would be updated (to 10.4.10...)

 

[Giaguara]

Actually, the update in Software Update has this:

The 10.4.11 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Tiger and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac. This update also includes Safari 3, the latest version of Apple's web browser.

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306297.
For detailed information on security updates, please visit this website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798.

 

[Worldwalker]

Thank you so much for your help.

i installed safari using pacifist.

( and forgot to copy my bookmarks. Doh )

it solved some of the problems i was having.
( the old safari version, not deleting my bookmarks

I went to see if a reinstall of Colloquy would solve the crash problem i have had with this app since the update. But clicking the download link crashes safari. guess it is something with opening new windows that makes safari crash.

Also i cant add bookmarks in safari. so im not sure i am better off.

i used firefox to download colloquy and reinstalled it. it now works fine.

so im down one problem. But i would still like to be able to add bookmarks to my safari.

Anyone has any ideas on what i could do ?

Thanks
Martin

 

[videoflyer]

I've also been experiencing Safari problems since installing 10.4.11/Safari 3.0.4. Although I don't need to access anything mission critical using Safari, the browser has been a LOT buggier. It crashes a lot more than it did and, most peculiarly, it won't let me close windows. Click the upper left red jewel - nothing. Command+W?...nothing. File>Close Window? No dice. Whichever method I try, the interface acts as though it's registering (that is, menus highlight whether I'm using them directly or trying the keyboard shortcut) but the window will stubbornly refuse to close. The only way I've found to get rid of all the windows that I accrue is to quit and reopen Safari. Very annoying.

If anyone DOES turn up a link to the previous version of Safari I'd love to get it...

 

[videoflyer]

I should specify - Command+W does work if I have multiple tabs open (the currently selected tab will close) but it won't close the parent window ever.

 

[Mikuro]

Worldwalker: Try removing Safari's current bookmarks file. Maybe the problem is that it's corrupt, or now in a format the older version of Safari doesn't recognize. It's located at ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist ("~" means your Home folder in Unix lingo, in case you don't know). Quit Safari, drag that file to the desktop, then reload Safari and see if it works.

 

[zytgiest]

I should specify - Command+W does work if I have multiple tabs open (the currently selected tab will close) but it won't close the parent window ever.

I am having the exact same issue!
No method I try will close ANY window!
Tabs, yes, Windows-not on your life!
My dock gets loaded with minimized windows until I get to a point where I can quit Safari.
this is not acceptable!

 

[ksv]

I can't really understand how a web application written for an earlier version of Safari is broken in Safari 3. They must be quite incompetent if they need to rewrite significant portions of the software ($10 000 answers to quite a lot of work) to make it compatible with a newer browser. It should be needless to mention, but it's definitely your provider's software and not Safari that is broken.

 

[ksv]

I am having the exact same issue!
No method I try will close ANY window!
Tabs, yes, Windows-not on your life!
My dock gets loaded with minimized windows until I get to a point where I can quit Safari.
this is not acceptable!

I haven't personally come across this problem which certainly sounds annoying - but why don't you just continue using the same window rather than creating a new window for every page you visit? ^^

 

[Curiosity]

Safari seems a bit slow loading, but it gave me no problems with accessing websites. I applied the combo update to 10.4.11 rather than the normal update. Maybe that is why I have fewer problems than others have had?

 

[jitterbugboy]

I just installed the update and now I cannot start safari at all. It crashes as soon as it is launched.

 

[Whitehill]

I installed the update and Safari works for me pretty much as before - with one big exception. When I try to open a PDF in a Safari window, it shows as all black.

 

[fryke]

The result is that I am now frozen out of accessing my proprietary business software, which was developed by a third party for Safari 2.04. My developer, whom I trust, says it could cost $10,000 and several weeks to rebuild our business software so it will work with 3.04.

Wow, those guys *really* don't know how to code, then. Developing a web-app that *only* and specifically works on a moving target? Charging about 10'000$ for a little updating? Heck I'd fire those guys instantly. Either way: If updating the software costs 10'000$, then simply reinstall 10.4.10, get your data back from your backup and continue using Safari 2.0.4 until that "software developer", if one can call it that, grows up.