Odd looking screen

[casperes1996]

so the second volume should be only for catalina?

You can put whatever on Earth you want on there, mate. All I want you to do is make a fresh install of the OS. Whether you wipe the current volume and do it on there or on a new volume, doesn't matter. Whether you put a billion new files on the volume also doesn't matter. As long as you install the OS anew, you'll most likely be rid of this issue and any other issues that may be caused by the same underlying problem

 

[Herman G]

Does this happen in all browsers - Chrome, Firefox, Safari?

just safari and just some sites.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Have you tried creating a new clean user account as suggested in post #20? See if the issue happens from a new clean user account.

 

[Herman G]

Hardware issues don't cause "sync" and "wheel" to show up on a web browser!

Have you even tried creating a new user account just to test?

i just made a guest account. youtube is clear! no odd-looking screen. why???
i'll just look for any other instances of that screen.
if it's 'all clear', why?

 

[Herman G]

sorry, i checked it with chrome. it's still there in safari.

 

[Herman G]

Have you tried creating a new clean user account as suggested in post #20? See if the issue happens from a new clean user account.

i checked it with chrome. its still there with safari. my mistake.

 

[Herman G]

Does this happen in all browsers - Chrome, Firefox, Safari?

i just decided to use "safari technology preview'. it's clear so far. could be an early version of safari for big sur(?).
Looks good so far but i can't do everything i could with the original safari.
here are its numbers:
Release 114 (Safari 14.1, WebKit 15611.1.1.3)
i got 'webkit' from the develop menu, i think.
the troublesome one was 14.0

 

[Herman G]

Does this happen in all browsers - Chrome, Firefox, Safari?

i tried 'safari technology preview' works fine so far.

 

[Herman G]

Does this happen in all browsers - Chrome, Firefox, Safari?

Safari Technology Preview works. No odd-lookig screns(so far). If thats what did the trick,
this could be why:
Release 114 (Safari 14.1, WebKit 15611.1.1.3)

 

[Herman G]

I found Safari Technology Preview and so far it works fine, except it doesn't do all the older one does.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Actually, what your original problem brings to mind is some sort of "style sheet" issue…which still could be a malware issue.

Even though the preview version of Safari isn't displaying the issue you were having with the official release I'd have to say you haven't pinpointed the cause and further to that, haven't fixed it.

So…if indeed the issue is malware of some sort that isn't affecting the preview Safari I'd be concerned about what is lurking.

 

[Taz Mangus]

i checked it with chrome. its still there with safari. my mistake.

From a new clean user account?

 

[Herman G]

Actually, what your original problem brings to mind is some sort of "style sheet" issue…which still could be a malware issue.

Even though the preview version of Safari isn't displaying the issue you were having with the official release I'd have to say you haven't pinpointed the cause and further to that, haven't fixed it.

So…if indeed the issue is malware of some sort that isn't affecting the preview Safari I'd be concerned about what is lurking.

how do i find that out? malwarebytes says nothing about that. etrecheck reports many old 32-bit files. maybe one could be a stylesheet. or maybe the preview safari gets around it somehow; says it's bad and doesnt use it, or something like that. the official safari did run with mojave, so it liked the 32-bit files, i guess. but catalina doesnt like them, and there are many, as etreccheck shows.

 

[casperes1996]

how do i find that out? malwarebytes says nothing about that. etrecheck reports many old 32-bit files. maybe one could be a stylesheet. or maybe the preview safari gets around it somehow; says it's bad and doesnt use it, or something like that. the official safari did run with mojave, so it liked the 32-bit files, i guess. but catalina doesnt like them, and there are many, as etreccheck shows.

As I've explained to you before this has nothing to do with Catalina's removal of 32-bit support All that means is that 32-bit binaries will no longer run.
Safari Technology Preview comes packaged with its own WebKit and does not rely on the system provided frameworks like Safari does. If you do have malware that digs a bit under the surface, it's not just regular Safari that may be affected, but any app on the system using either the Safari Services, WK or perhaps other frameworks on the system as well, could be compromised. It most likely isn't that serious and just acts like a script or stylesheet injection system, but there isn't really a way of knowing for certain. Which is why I've advised you to reinstall macOS. It's the only way of (nearly) guaranteeing a trustable system. Until then I would not trust the machine with anything important. Unlikely to be critically compromised, but we can't know for certain.

Also when there was talk of a stylesheet - Stylesheets are CSS documents that are part of websites that describe how they look. It has nothing to do with being 32-bit or 64-bit; It's string-represented data. When the person you're replying to mentioned stylesheets, it's not that there is a stylesheet on your computer, but that the stylesheets associated with websites you were visiting were being manipulated before displaying - so we'd more likely be looking at JavaScript or other executable code that would dynamically modify the CSS of websites injecting undesired elements.

Again, point of all this - just reinstall macOS

 

[Herman G]

As I've explained to you before this has nothing to do with Catalina's removal of 32-bit support All that means is that 32-bit binaries will no longer run.
Safari Technology Preview comes packaged with its own WebKit and does not rely on the system provided frameworks like Safari does. If you do have malware that digs a bit under the surface, it's not just regular Safari that may be affected, but any app on the system using either the Safari Services, WK or perhaps other frameworks on the system as well, could be compromised. It most likely isn't that serious and just acts like a script or stylesheet injection system, but there isn't really a way of knowing for certain. Which is why I've advised you to reinstall macOS. It's the only way of (nearly) guaranteeing a trustable system. Until then I would not trust the machine with anything important. Unlikely to be critically compromised, but we can't know for certain.

Also when there was talk of a stylesheet - Stylesheets are CSS documents that are part of websites that describe how they look. It has nothing to do with being 32-bit or 64-bit; It's string-represented data. When the person you're replying to mentioned stylesheets, it's not that there is a stylesheet on your computer, but that the stylesheets associated with websites you were visiting were being manipulated before displaying - so we'd more likely be looking at JavaScript or other executable code that would dynamically modify the CSS of websites injecting undesired elements.

Again, point of all this - just reinstall macOS

If this means anything(sent to Apple Support Communities):


Oct 16, 2020 6:34 AM in response to herman the duck


You list at least 30 files; any one of them could be the culprit. From several different libraries. Some system, some user. Suppose I take them all away and put them in a clean Trash folder. Then I would maybe have to remember which file goes where, and if I goof I may have to do a whole Internet Recovery( erase the HDD, Time Machine everything back, a new OS,etc.) Then, maybe, I would have to start all over again, cause Time Machine would return the 'bad guy'! No?


This is what makes for headaches.


Safari Preview has Safari 14.1. When I run that all the suspect pages look good; no 'sync' and 'wheel' all over them.


Hey, do you suppose 'sync' and 'wheel' have anything to do with it? Those terms relate to file permissions; who can read and write to them.

 

[Herman G]

If this means anything(sent to Apple Support Communities):


Oct 16, 2020 6:34 AM in response to herman the duck


You list at least 30 files; any one of them could be the culprit. From several different libraries. Some system, some user. Suppose I take them all away and put them in a clean Trash folder. Then I would maybe have to remember which file goes where, and if I goof I may have to do a whole Internet Recovery( erase the HDD, Time Machine everything back, a new OS,etc.) Then, maybe, I would have to start all over again, cause Time Machine would return the 'bad guy'! No?


This is what makes for headaches.


Safari Preview has Safari 14.1. When I run that all the suspect pages look good; no 'sync' and 'wheel' all over them.


Hey, do you suppose 'sync' and 'wheel' have anything to do with it? Those terms relate to file permissions; who can read and write to them.

I reinstalled macOS earlier today. No difference.
Would Internet Recovery First Aid)IRFA) affect what's on it(my boot disk)? Mac First Aid can't do everything that IRFA can do. You can't fully repair your boot disk.
But with the boot disk First Aid I get so many 'MT mapping' errors they aren't all listed. Hardware or software errors?

 

[BrianBaughn]

I reinstalled macOS earlier today. No difference.
Would Internet Recovery First Aid)IRFA) affect what's on it(my boot disk)? Mac First Aid can't do everything that IRFA can do. You can't fully repair your boot disk.
But with the boot disk First Aid I get so many 'MT mapping' errors they aren't all listed. Hardware or software errors?

Did you just reinstall macOS over what was your current system or did you erase your drive and start fresh? The latter method, it would seem to me, would be the likely way to eliminate your issue.

 

[Herman G]

Did you just reinstall macOS over what was your current system or did you erase your drive and start fresh? The latter method, it would seem to me, would be the likely way to eliminate your issue.

just putting back all the old stuff that might be the culprit probably wouldn't help, unless I'm wrong.

 

[BrianBaughn]

just putting back all the old stuff that might be the culprit probably wouldn't help, unless I'm wrong.

Likely correct if you use Time Machine to restore your files and settings.

You don't seem to have the knowledge on how to fix your specific issue and we here can only speculate as to what's going on (and haven't succeeded). "Nuking", which for you would mean backing up to an external drive, erasing your system drive, reinstalling macOS, checking to see if the problem persists, reinstalling the third-party apps you use, re-configuring all of your internet accounts, restoring your files from the backup and so on would be the path I'd suggest.

Otherwise, you could hire someone to take a look at it in person. No guarantee that will work, either.

You haven't tried the best next step that has been suggested here...installing a fresh version of Catalina on a new volume…internal or external. If booting from that clears things up then I think you have to decide between the two options above in orange.

 

[Herman G]

Likely correct if you use Time Machine to restore your files and settings.

You don't seem to have the knowledge on how to fix your specific issue and we here can only speculate as to what's going on (and haven't succeeded). "Nuking", which for you would mean backing up to an external drive, erasing your system drive, reinstalling macOS, checking to see if the problem persists, reinstalling the third-party apps you use, re-configuring all of your internet accounts, restoring your files from the backup and so on would be the path I'd suggest.

Otherwise, you could hire someone to take a look at it in person. No guarantee that will work, either.

You haven't tried the best next step that has been suggested here...installing a fresh version of Catalina on a new volume…internal or external. If booting from that clears things up then I think you have to decide between the two options above in orange.

you mean a clean install? i did that some time ago with mojave, but apparently the disk was so fragmented, what with all tha disk activity for a few years. maybe internet recovery can tell me more about the HD, if thats the problem. i took out all the internet plugins and other files i could find in the Library folders; no luck.
this only happens with only some pages in safari. otherwise, it looks pretty good.
but etrecheck shows some 'orphan' files that shouldn't be there. i deleted some; removed 'osx fuse' and a few others. nothing.
there could be a file somewhere that does something. was it you who mentioned frameworks? i don't know what they are, but doesn't safari 14.1 use its own frameworks(or something?)

 

[BrianBaughn]

Sorry…I have nothing to add.

 

[Herman G]

Sorry…I have nothing to add.

the local geek doesn't know either. oh well. the thing still works well, tho.

 

[Herman G]

so the second volume should be only for catalina?

I am doing a clean install of everything
Looks like it will take a whole day

 

[Herman G]

you mean a clean install? i did that some time ago with mojave, but apparently the disk was so fragmented, what with all tha disk activity for a few years. maybe internet recovery can tell me more about the HD, if thats the problem. i took out all the internet plugins and other files i could find in the Library folders; no luck.
this only happens with only some pages in safari. otherwise, it looks pretty good.
but etrecheck shows some 'orphan' files that shouldn't be there. i deleted some; removed 'osx fuse' and a few others. nothing.
there could be a file somewhere that does something. was it you who mentioned frameworks? i don't know what they are, but doesn't safari 14.1 use its own frameworks(or something?)

i did a clean install today. nothing.

 

[Ruggy]

I don't suppose this is anything to do with light and dark mode? That can produce some really odd colours sometimes.
A long shot but maybe worth checking out?
Go into system preferences> general and you'll see light and dark mode and the various colour settings for that.
My hope is it's somehow picked up some odd setting when updating. That would also explain why it's slightly different from site to site
Good luck