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Safari erroneously adding .dms extension to downloads

Nugget

Nugget

Contributor
Original poster
Nov 24, 2002
2,168
1,468
Tejas Hill Country
kenjamin said:
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but where can I find this bug tracker? Doesn't seem as straight-forward as a simple google.
Click to expand...

It's not a public bug database. It's only available for developers and you can only see the bugs which you have personally submitted. I can't even see the details of the other bug that mine is a duplicate of.

https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/
 
CrissyMerton

CrissyMerton

macrumors newbie
Nov 25, 2018
3
1
Has there been any progress on this thread? I just updated to Mojave and everything that comes through Safari downloads has this extension. I can't simply change to the correct extension because in many cases I don't know what that should be.
 
Techno1952

Techno1952

macrumors newbie
Mar 31, 2016
4
1
Warwickshire, UK
I ultimately reloaded the operating system ( and therefore Safari) whilst also deleting some archived files and programmes used to access MRI scan files. Not sure which action cured the problem, but the next time I downloaded a gpx file it was ok. The dms file is related to some ancient Amiga systems!
[doublepost=1543158234][/doublepost]
Techno1952 said:
I ultimately reloaded the operating system ( and therefore Safari) whilst also deleting some archived files and programmes used to access MRI scan files. Not sure which action cured the problem, but the next time I downloaded a gpx file it was ok. The dms file is related to some ancient Amiga systems!
Click to expand...
For info: Opera browser and Chrome did not have an issue
 
I

IamSharonRW

macrumors newbie
Jan 8, 2019
8
1
CrissyMerton said:
Has there been any progress on this thread? I just updated to Mojave and everything that comes through Safari downloads has this extension. I can't simply change to the correct extension because in many cases I don't know what that should be.
Click to expand...

I am having the same problem. Mojave didn't cause it; it started a few days BEFORE I went to Mojave. Googling the issue only comes up with this thread. When I attach a document, whether using Safari or Chrome, the same thing happens; .dms is automatically added and the attachment can't be opened by my clients. I don't know how to stop this.
[doublepost=1546971076][/doublepost]
Nugget said:
I’m sure everyone is already aware that the .dms extension can be removed to correct the problem. It is, after all, just a file name. The bug is that safari is adding an extension when there should not be one. The correct extension in all these cases is no extension. Safari should not be doing anything here.
Click to expand...
Hi, I don't know how to remove it. Sorry, not a techie. Just a copywriter, writing copy in word docs and trying to send to my client. So frustrated with this. How do I remove the .dms extension when I send a word doc to my client?
 
Techno1952

Techno1952

macrumors newbie
Mar 31, 2016
4
1
Warwickshire, UK
IamSharonRW said:
I am having the same problem. Mojave didn't cause it; it started a few days BEFORE I went to Mojave. Googling the issue only comes up with this thread. When I attach a document, whether using Safari or Chrome, the same thing happens; .dms is automatically added and the attachment can't be opened by my clients. I don't know how to stop this.
[doublepost=1546971076][/doublepost]
Hi, I don't know how to remove it. Sorry, not a techie. Just a copywriter, writing copy in word docs and trying to send to my client. So frustrated with this. How do I remove the .dms extension when I send a word doc to my client?
Click to expand...
Trying to rename or remove extension didn’t work for me. Hence system reinstalled
 
I

IamSharonRW

macrumors newbie
Jan 8, 2019
8
1
Today I purchased/replaced MS Office for Mac, the whole enchilada. Paid, installed, booted up, and...I still get .dms magically appearing when downloading a word doc. There is no way to remove it.

Seriously, is buying a whole new computer the only way to get rid of this demon?
 
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Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
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4,616
New Zealand
Technically Safari is doing what it's told; the MIME database in /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/System lists dms as the default (first) extension for application/octet-stream files.

I don't know how to work around the problem though; hand-editing a system file doesn't sound wise.
 
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Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,284
13,381
My advice remains the same as it was towards the beginning of this thread (and for which the OP put me down):

You need to know WHAT KIND OF FILE the downloaded file is supposed to be.
Then... change the extension yourself, and see if that helps.

Could someone point me towards one of these "problem/downloading" files that downloads with ".dms" at the end?
And if you do, please specify what kind of file it is and what app is normally used to open it...?
 
Nugget

Nugget

Contributor
Original poster
Nov 24, 2002
2,168
1,468
Tejas Hill Country
Fishrrman said:
Could someone point me towards one of these "problem/downloading" files that downloads with ".dms" at the end?
Click to expand...

The file/link in post 1 of this thread still exists if you want to have this conversation all over again. I'm not sure why you'd want to, though, since we've already established that the bug occurs regardless of the file contents. Even a 0 byte file that isn't anything can induce the bug.
 
Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
21,026
4,616
New Zealand
Fishrrman said:
You need to know WHAT KIND OF FILE the downloaded file is supposed to be.
Then... change the extension yourself, and see if that helps.
Click to expand...
application/octet-stream is used for arbitrary binary data. The file should come down with no extension as there's no further information on what type of data is inside the file. The "kind" of file is therefore just "arbitrary data".
 
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V

vdotmatrix

macrumors newbie
Apr 26, 2012
3
0
That is simply impractical with an entire photoshoot.
Fishrrman said:
My advice remains the same as it was towards the beginning of this thread (and for which the OP put me down):

You need to know WHAT KIND OF FILE the downloaded file is supposed to be.
Then... change the extension yourself, and see if that helps.

Could someone point me towards one of these "problem/downloading" files that downloads with ".dms" at the end?
And if you do, please specify what kind of file it is and what app is normally used to open it...?
Click to expand...
 
V

vdotmatrix

macrumors newbie
Apr 26, 2012
3
0
Nugget said:
I’m sure everyone is already aware that the .dms extension can be removed to correct the problem. It is, after all, just a file name. The bug is that safari is adding an extension when there should not be one. The correct extension in all these cases is no extension. Safari should not be doing anything here.
Click to expand...

An interesting thing happened here after reading all this. NUGGET may be right.
I made edit to this image in Photoshop and then saved it to the folder it was in. I dont know what happened in Photoshop but apparently it didnt name it with an extention. So I guess it just tacks on a .dms...

WHY , who knows? I went in and changed the filename and added .jpg and suddenly it is a color image again....

What a PITA. So this has never happened before and I have edited countless images over the years in Photoshop.

I will have to let Scott Kelby know about this.
thanks for you help .
 
Wowfunhappy

Wowfunhappy

macrumors 68000
Mar 12, 2019
1,751
2,091
Nermal said:
Technically Safari is doing what it's told; the MIME database in /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/System lists dms as the default (first) extension for application/octet-stream files.

I don't know how to work around the problem though; hand-editing a system file doesn't sound wise.
Click to expand...

So, um, I'm not afraid to edit system files (and SIP is off). I just make sure to document the change—so I'll always know what I've done—and keep a backup.

But, what would the "correct" value be in this case? What string would I use for "no extension"?
 
Last edited:
Nugget

Nugget

Contributor
Original poster
Nov 24, 2002
2,168
1,468
Tejas Hill Country
Wowfunhappy said:
But, what would the "correct" value be in this case? What string would I use for "no extension"?
Click to expand...

I haven't experimented at all, but it seems like the approach would be to remove the whole block defining application/octet-stream. Just take out these lines entirely:

Code: 
        <key>application/octet-stream</key>
        <array>
            <string>dms</string>
            <string>lha</string>
            <string>lzh</string>
            <string>exe</string>
            <string>class</string>
            <string>so</string>
            <string>dll</string>
            <string>iso</string>
            <string>fla</string>
        </array>
 
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W

Windward25

macrumors newbie
Nov 11, 2010
1
0
I am having the same problem while downloading an upgrade file for a boat GPS (Simrad). The file has a long name and it looks like this: NSE-4.0-46.3.1-9213-r35-Standard-1.upd
but when downloaded with safari looks like this : Unknown.dms
And of course the GPS will not recognize that if I insert the USB with that file. The GPS does recognize the "upd" file and even some other files like pdf etc. I was able to download the file with Chrome that downloaded the file correctly. I was not able to fix Safari to download the correct file name or even with its "upd" extension.

If anybody wants to try it go to Simrad website and download any update for any their multiple boat electronic equipments.

one is this http://downloads.simrad-yachting.com/software/download.html
 
P

pappie

macrumors newbie
Jun 28, 2019
1
0
I'm having a similar issue, but different issue. It's similar because the file name is called 'inner.dms' and it's recognized as Amiga DMS Disk Archive file (Zero byte size). It's different because Safari is downloading it out of the blue, without being prompted. Every so often, I'll notice a file being downloaded, I'll check, and sure enough, its 'inner.dms'. I haven't clicked on it and delete it every time I see it, I delete it. I've run malware and virus scan on my machine and both were clean.

I just tried to download an image file to see if it added the .dms extension and it did not, so it does appear to be a different issue than what's being discussed here. Sorry if I derailed the thread. I'm just struggling to find information on why this could be happening and there's hardly any out there.
 
casperes1996

casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,599
5,771
Horsens, Denmark
Nugget said:
I haven't experimented at all, but it seems like the approach would be to remove the whole block defining application/octet-stream. Just take out these lines entirely:

Code: 
        <key>application/octet-stream</key>
        <array>
            <string>dms</string>
            <string>lha</string>
            <string>lzh</string>
            <string>exe</string>
            <string>class</string>
            <string>so</string>
            <string>dll</string>
            <string>iso</string>
            <string>fla</string>
        </array>
Click to expand...

Kinda weird Apple would have this as the default behaviour in the first place though. I mean, maybe once upon a time it made sense to append DMS to unknown octet-stream data, since it likely was an Amiga Disk Image then, but those days are long, long gone.
 
M

MobiusStrip

macrumors 6502
Dec 11, 2009
466
352
I hadn't read this entire thread until now. Nugget... well-written retorts and FUNNY without being a dick.

And for what it's worth, I filed another report of this with Apple after discovering it. No activity on the report at all.
 
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