Safari won't launch 10.5.4

[Oldedit]

All of a sudden Safari won't start on my iMac G5, 10.5.4. Everything is updated.

I did permissions repair. I tried removing Internet Plug Ins. No Safari.

Do I have to reinstall Safari from the 10.5 disk? Will I lose all of my book marks? I've got a bunch synced to .Mac/Mobile Me, but my idisk isn't loading.

tia

[JeremyBuff]

Hello Oldedit,

My name is Jeremy and I will be assisting you today. I actually had a friend with the exact same problem. Let me show you how to fix this:

1) Back up your bookmarks to a safe location. Your Safari bookmarks are in Your Home/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist. Copy the Bookmarks.plish file to a flash drive, or somewhere safe.

2) Download Safari from http://www.apple.com/safari/download/ and save it where you saved your bookmarks backup. Once again, I suggest a flash drive.

3) Download an application deletion software, such as AppCleaner or AppZapper. A simple Google search will provide you with download locations.

4) Once you have installed the application deletion software, run it to delete Safari. The application *should* find and delete all files related to your Safari install. This is why it is important to save your safari download package and your bookmarks backup to a flash drive off of your system. If you did not do this, make sure to uncheck these files from the deletion list.

5) Restart your computer and install Safari once again. Once you have installed it, you should copy your bookmarks file to the new Safari's location. It will be located at "Your Home/Library/Safari/". If their is already a Bookmarks.plist in the Safari folder, then replace it with the backup.

I hope that this solves your problem. Please let me know if it does not.


Regards,

Jeremy
Tech Support Agent

[ElDiabloConCaca]

I think that a complete reinstall of Safari is a bit much to start off with. Let's start with something easier and quicker to diagnose the problem:

- Create a new user account on your machine.
- Log in under that new user account.
- Try to launch Safari.

If Safari launches under the new user account, then it's likely a preference file or some Safari add-on (do you use PithHelmet or Saft or anything? Any "Application Enhancers"?) that's running under your original account that's preventing it from launching. In this case, reinstalling Safari is not needed as we can track down the file or files that are preventing it from launching.

If Safari does not start under the new user account the same way it doesn't under your original account, then something else is awry.

What happens when you try to launch Safari? Do you get an "Application Unexpectedly Terminated" message or any kind of error message on the screen? Or does Safari just bounce a few times in the Dock, and then never launch? Did you move Safari from its default location in /Applications?

[JeremyBuff]

The reason that I suggested to back up and re-install is because I have had Safari's internal settings screw up on me a few times before. For me, no matter what I have done it seems as though the application files itself sometimes go corrupt. If Safari does not work when reinstalled, then I would have suggested some networking diagnostics. I speak for personal experience. ElDiabloConCaca, I am sorry that you feel my suggestions are too much.


Jeremy

[ElDiabloConCaca]

I'm not saying that the suggestions are too much; I'm saying that wiping Safari completely out and reinstalling may be a bit drastic for the first step in troubleshooting. This problem could likely be fixed with something quicker and simpler, negating the need to back anything up or download anything. I'm just suggesting we don't use a sledgehammer to crack our nuts -- something less hefty and more easily wielded may be able to fix the problem first.

While your experience with Safari has been less than optimal, my experience with it has been very stable and reliable, and when a problem has arisen, the fix was simple and quick without having to wipe my system clean of Safari (which is more time consuming and involved than deleting a preference file or clearing the cache)... so while your problems may have required a reinstall of Safari, that doesn't mean that a reinstall should be the first step in any problem with Safari.

No offense intended at all, but if every problem that was posed here was answered with, "Just reinstall [Adobe CS3 / Safari / Mac OS X / insert name of program here]" then I don't think we would gain a greater understanding of what caused the problem in the first place so that we could take care to avoid it in the future.

[FG1984]

Hi, I have the same problem. I did what you both wrote, and apparently Safari runs under another account but not mine. The problem is when I lauch Safari. The icon just bounces a couple of time and then Safari simply never launch. I don't have any "Application Enhancers" with the name of PithHelmet or Saft. However, I don't remember if I installed anything else. How can I know? How can I resolve my problem?

Thanks,
FG

I have a MacBook 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/ Leopard 10.5.4

[FG1984]

Okay, thanks, problem solved.

FG