OS and Safari are not working correctly.
I desperately need help. Yesterday a.m., my iMac went nuts. The Finder ‘Go’ doesn’t function at all. The sidebar won’t open so I can’t get to Applications, Computer, Home, or anything else under Finder ‘Go’. The Menu Bar goes gray when I try to use 'Go'.
Since I can't get to the sidebar 'Computer', I can't access an external back up HDD.
Safari has disappeared from the dock; however, Activity Monitor shows many, many ‘Safari Web Content’ items and is taking up huge amounts of memory. When I try to get to the Internet, it adds another ’Safari Web Content’ item to the Activity Monitor but doesn’t access the URL, so I’m thinking that Safari may be part or all of the problem. I’m using FireFox to send this to AI.
I’m assuming the problem is on the iMac as my MBP is working fine.
I re-installed Mavericks but that didn’t help.
Time Machine is worthless as it won’t do or show anything no matter how far back I look. As a back-up, Time Machine is crap. It just doesn’t work when it's needed the most. I’ll never rely on it again.
I’ve rebooted several times but that doesn’t help. I’ve relaunched Finders over and over but that doesn’t help either.
I’m still getting mail and folders will open. Most of the problems have to do with the Internet.
I've 'Repaired Disk Permissions'. No help. How can I do ‘Repair Disk’ without an external source of the OS? Can that be done from the App Store?
I’ll be eternally grateful for any help or suggestions.
Comments
I’m fairly certain that the problem stems from Safari. It gobbles up huge amounts of memory but doesn’t access URL’s. I’m using Firefox which is okay but would prefer to use a ‘workable’ Safari.
I’ve tried to find a Mavericks Safari to download but have been unsuccessful. I tried downloading a previous Safari but my computer won’t recognize it. I’ve downloaded Mavericks again but that Safari won’t work either.
Is there a way to download a current Safari by itself? Suggestions, please.
What ver. of OSX are you running? And what ver. of Safari are you running?
Mavericks and the Safari version that came with it.
Have you updated to 10.9.1? Safari received an update in that.
Have you updated to 10.9.1? Safari received an update in that.
Twice. No joy. Safari just doesn't work other than sucking up memory.
Tried deleting Safari first and then downloaded Mavericks again. That didn't work either. When Safari is opened, Activity Monitor and Memory Cleaner show memory rapidly drain away until it's just a few K. Scary.
Activity Monitor shows Safari and many, many instances of Safari Web Content and continues adding them until memory is about gone.
Clicking on the Safari icon indicates many 'open' pages; however, they must be hidden. I don't see them anywhere.
Quit Safari and memory comes back again in seconds.
FireFox using 1.32 GB of memory although FireFox icon indicates that no pages are open.
All suggestions gratefully accepted
Tried deleting Safari first and then downloaded Mavericks again. That didn't work either. When Safari is opened, Activity Monitor and Memory Cleaner show memory rapidly drain away until it's just a few K. Scary.
Activity Monitor shows Safari and many, many instances of Safari Web Content and continues adding them until memory is about gone.
Clicking on the Safari icon indicates many 'open' pages; however, they must be hidden. I don't see them anywhere.
Quit Safari and memory comes back again in seconds.
FireFox using 1.32 GB of memory although FireFox icon indicates that no pages are open.
All suggestions gratefully accepted
Yes - again, as recommended multiple times, you really need to start from scratch, with a clean installation on a clean, formatted disk. Then reinstall the applications that you need - don't just reimport all the baggage and preferences from your old system, one or more of which are probably causing these problems. This has been going on for way too long.
"Then reinstall the applications that you need - don't just reimport all the baggage and preferences from your old system, one or more of which are probably causing these problems."
I appreciate the advice. The problem is that I don't know what the "baggage and preferences" are that are causing the problem. Won't all previous preferences be automatically reimported with a backup? I don't know how to separate the wheat from the chaff - which is why I haven't done a clean install before.
I have read this article: How to Do a Clean Install of OS X Mavericks at: http://mashable.com/2013/10/23/clean-install-os-x-mavericks/
That doesn't tell me how to re-import 'safe' apps and such. There is too much on the HDD, 1.16 TB, to start over from scratch. Furthermore, if I would start over, one of the apps I use could be the cause of the problem. I'd never know until it raised it's ugly head again. I'm loathe to go to that much time and effort to end up with the same problem. So, I keep trying to find a less time consuming fix.
If you have answers to my dilemma, I'd be happy to listen to them.
"Then reinstall the applications that you need - don't just reimport all the baggage and preferences from your old system, one or more of which are probably causing these problems."
I appreciate the advice. The problem is that I don't know what the "baggage and preferences" are that are causing the problem. Won't all previous preferences be automatically reimported with a backup? I don't know how to separate the wheat from the chaff - which is why I haven't done a clean install before.
I have read this article: How to Do a Clean Install of OS X Mavericks at: http://mashable.com/2013/10/23/clean-install-os-x-mavericks/
That doesn't tell me how to re-import 'safe' apps and such. There is too much on the HDD, almost a TB, to start over from scratch. Furthermore, if I would start over, one of the apps I use could be the cause of the problem. I'd never know until it raised it's ugly head again. I'm loathe to go to that much time and effort to end up with the same problem. So, I keep trying to find a less time consuming fix.
If you have answers to my dilemma, I'd be happy to listen to them.
The whole point is that you don't know what is causing the problem, so you can't restore from a backup (except for your documents, music, photos, emails etc. - migration assistant gives you the choice). Applications and other code, such as 3rd party preference panes, menubar additions, font managers, all those convenient little helper utilities etc. need to be manually reinstalled. On the plus side, it will probably get rid of a lot of other legacy junk that is cluttering up the machine, even if it is not causing this problem. Pay attention to what you reinstall, check that it is up to date and compatible with Mavericks, and watch to see if it breaks anything. It's not that hard. The bulk of your 1 TB will be documents and media anyway, which won't be the problem. How many applications would you really need to reinstall?
Safe mode didn't fix it. I don't recall - what happened when you logged in to a different account? Not that it makes much difference at this point, but might have indicated whether the problem is in your account files or more global.
Okay. I've backed up the HDD and made a bootable copy. I'm ready to do a Disk Utility erase; however, Erase is grayed out. It tells me "This is the startup partition. You can't erase it."
What do I do now?
Boot from the copy.
It's been said that as a last resort, read the f_______ manual or in my case, read the f________ instructions.
"Red faced, he rebooted to the external HDD, opened Disk Utility, and pressed Erase (for the internal HDD)." Lo and behold, it began erasing the HDD. Next step is to install Mavericks 9.1 and possibly, with fingers crossed and breath held in, it will work, and troubles will vanish. Or is that too much to ask for?
Thanks Muppetry and AI insider. What in the world would I do without your guidance? I should have taken courses in Computer Science or gotten certified in all things Mac. (Maybe, just using common sense and thinking things through.) Since I haven't, my only recourse is to plead for help from incredibly knowledgable AI members.
Thanks again, guys. You're my heroes.
So far; so good. Safari is working and goes to the URL. It isn't draining memory quite as much as before. However, every time a URL is accessed, it takes up about 120 MB which doesn't quit when the site is left. Each one shows up in the Activity Monitor as an individual 'Safari Web Content' and continues to add up memory usage. I have to quit Safari to get rid of them. Does that happen in anyone else's system? Is there a way to avoid that?
Belay that last request. Safari seems to be behaving - for the nonce.
I have a whole slew of new problems since doing a clean install of Mavericks. The most pressing is that the internal HDD doesn't show up in the Finder. I was able to mount the externals with Disk Utility, but the internal HDD 'Mount' is grayed out. Finder 'Devices' shows external HDD's but not the internal.
Others have had the same problem, and there's a work-around online but it requires going to the library and deleting a .plist; however, that's a catch-22. How do I get to library if Finder isn't showing it? All my (puny) efforts to find the internal HDD have failed. I know I must be doing something wrong, but I don't know enough to figure out what. Spotlight is clueless about finding it, as am I.
I can access Terminal but can't type in my password. Nothing shows when I try to type it.
I can only guess what hair-pulling frustration that newbies must have. This is stupid on Apples part not to include the current drive, but I feel even more stupid not being able to locate it.
I wish to hell I had never heard of Mavericks.
Finder --> Preferences --> Sidebar
Look at "Devices" and make sure that "Hard disks" is checked.
Thanks. That worked. How do you learn things like this? When I bought my first PC in the early 80's, it came with a stack of manuals about 8" high. Now, Help, Searchlight, etc. gives many answers to questions that weren't asked, but nothing about what is needed. Where do you go, besides AppleInsider, to find answers? I've asked so many questions on this forum that I'm afraid that I'll wear out my welcome.
Thanks again, you saved my sanity.
It that is helpful makes a situation more pleasant or more easy
Thanks. That worked. How do you learn things like this? When I bought my first PC in the early 80's, it came with a stack of manuals about 8" high. Now, Help, Searchlight, etc. gives many answers to questions that weren't asked, but nothing about what is needed. Where do you go, besides AppleInsider, to find answers? I've asked so many questions on this forum that I'm afraid that I'll wear out my welcome.
Thanks again, you saved my sanity.
A simple Google search (or equivalent) finds answers like these if you don't want to read the detailed documentation.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/23525754#23525754
Next problem:
How do I import Contacts from a backup? I found this:
Import contacts from an archive file
Importing an archive file replaces your current contact information.
When I go directly to user/Library/Application Support/AddressBook folder, either on a backup HDD or Time Machine HDD, the file is fine; however, when I try Contact/File/Import/ the file is grayed out as is Open, of course. How do I 'ungray' the file, or if that isn't possible, what else can I try?
I also found this:
Import contacts from a vCard file
Do one of the following:
(Tried changing vCard format from 3.0 to 2.1 and back again. No help.)
What am I missing? It looks like I'm in for a long siege if everything I try to copy gives me this much trouble.