Safari 3 crashes in Mac OS X 10.4.11
November 19th, 2007
If you’re running the newly-released Mac OS X 10.4.11 update & are having lots of crashes in Safari, then the likely culprit is going to be items in your ~/Library/InputManagers/ path. Some popular Input Managers include:
- Application enhancer SIMBL
- Safari enhancer Saft
- X/HTML validator SafariTidy
- TextMate bundle “Edit in TextMate”
- The Safari plugin for the password manager 1Password
SafariTidy was the culprit for me. The developer, Kasper Nauwelaerts, has upgraded this to 0.2.4. I’ve not yet been able to successfully install the update, however—Safari just isn’t recognising its existence.
Input Managers act as a patch to the applications for which they’re intended, and as such are unsupported—even actively discouraged—by Apple, because they can patch applications in dangerous ways. Those of us who rely upon such items—as I am to Safari Tidy, so I can validate my work on-the-fly—are in something of a quandary. As Daring Fireball’s John Gruber implied regarding input managers and unsupported software, this situation isn’t going to get better but worse as time passes.
SafariTidy’s useful validation features: how can it be made a better OS X citizen?
Because the use of the InputManager system is so bad, I’m left wondering what’s the best recourse. Tidy is really useful & there are extensions for Firefox, but none are to my mind as elegant as SafariTidy. I’m left hoping that Kasper will port his plugin to a different architecture…
Update: I just got some tips from Kasper & some very good news:
…You should put [SafariTidy] in the SIMBL plugins folder, which usually resides in ~/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/. Please remove all traces in any InputManagers folder you put the bundle, as this plugin isn't technically an InputManager (anymore).
Three cheers for Kasper! I’ll be donating to him right now.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:49 PM Greetings, I have Safari crashing all of the time, and I don't even have ANY input managers! Any suggestions? Thanks, Mark
December 27th, 2007 at 09:39 AM Hi Mark, If you don't use any input managers, I'd almost bet money that you have a Logitech mouse & that you've installed a driver for it. The problem is that Logitech's drivers installed an input manager called 'APE' from Unsanity. You should be looking in both /Library/InputManagers/ *and* ~/Library/InputManagers/ (that is, both in your home directory & in your Mac's main Library directory). Failing that, try emptying your cache & deleting your cookies. Hope that all helps!
January 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 PM Thank you! Since the update to Safari 3 i have been unable to use Safari, it had become un-useable (is that a word?). Following your advice i took a look in ~/Library/InputManagers/ and i found a single folder.... Speed Download 4. Since this was an app i dont use i deleted it. Sure enough, so far, Safari seems to be working again. Oh how ive missed it! I owe you a drink! Thanks again.
January 3rd, 2008 at 08:32 AM Tom, Great news! I'm really happy to have helped.
January 11th, 2008 at 05:36 PM I'm so happy I almost cry!!!! Guys thank you very much! I missed safari like you have no idea and have given up on it.... Speed Download Enhancer was doing it for me. Now I can finally put Safari on my dock where it belongs
January 11th, 2008 at 07:23 PM Lysa, I'm really happy to hear it worked for you!
January 27th, 2008 at 05:57 AM I am having the same problem as everyone else, but for the life of me I cannot find the file labeled inputmanager. I have looked everywhere. Please help.
January 27th, 2008 at 09:35 AM
Sarah,
There are two places to look:
These are in two different places--the first is in your home directory. Look in your Library folder & you'll find InputManagers. Also, look at the Library folder on your computer (it might still be called 'Macintosh HD')--you'll find them.
Best,
Ray
January 29th, 2008 at 03:09 AM no input managers folder on my computer (no plug-ins) and no logitech accessories, and after the 10.4.11 update, i can't even get safari to open. anybody?!!
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 PM Safari Block and safari plus were the culprits for me. Glad I found your site as apple forums are still unanswered for folks who posted there.
April 10th, 2008 at 02:00 PM Nice one Ray, been struggling with this one for months. BTW It had also started to affect Firefox Cheers Alan.
April 15th, 2008 at 01:52 AM Thanks for the help, just ran into this problem myself. SafariTidy was the culprit for me. I'd love to install SIMBL and run SafariTidy again, but can anyone vouch for SIMBL's stability? I'm nervous about running another input manager.
April 15th, 2008 at 09:05 AM
Dear Krishen,
Check which version of SIMBL & SafariTidy you have running—SIMBL is up to version 0.8.2 & SafariTidy is up to version 0.2.5 (as of 15 April, anyway). When Safari was updated last month, SafariTidy was updated very soon afterwards.
You’ll also want to check other likely suspects—Saft, PithHelmet or even Kensington mouse drivers—that you have on your computer. When Safari was updated that might have put these out of whack, too.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball points out that these items are in an “unsupported” category for Apple—indeed, that Apple wants to rid themselves of problems inherent in the InputManager system. It would certainly make sense to use as few InputManagers as possible. I make due with SafariTidy, 1Password & Edit in TextMate. I wish all of these would opt for more standard plugin architectures, though I’m unfamiliar with what, specifically, that architecture can support.
Good luck,
Ray