Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Safari/Mojave problems 2/7/23

Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
Feb 20, 2009
29,709
13,824
This late afternoon, Safari (the version that runs in Mojave, may also affect earlier versions) has started acting flaky.

My equipment:
2018 Mac Mini 16gb/512gb
OS Mojave

Symptoms:
Safari is inactive, icon in dock.
Click on dock icon to launch Safari (under normal conditions launches quickly to an empty page [my setting])
But... nothing happens (no window appears).
There may (or may not) be a spinning beachball.
If I go to the Safari icon in the dock, and right-click on it, it shows a "force quit" option (which shouldn't be there if it were running normally).
After a good delay (20-30 seconds) Safari may (or may not) display a window.
Finally, it seems to come alive, and then works normally after that.

But this isn't how it's supposed to behave in normal conditions. Something is preventing Safari from launching normally.

I thought this might be a problem localized to my internal drive or the copy of Safari (or related files) that was on it.

So... I broke out TWO bootable clones (backups of my boot drive)
Same problem with both.
Whatever's going on, seems to be "outside" my Mini (i.e., not a problem with the software on the internal drive).

Next, I attached a USB3 SSD which has an experimental copy of Ventura on it. No problems, Safari's fine.

I'm typing this on my 2021 MacBook Pro 14" running Monterey. No problems -- again Safari's fine.

But ANY drive connected with Mojave -- Safari is choking at startup.
I booted up my old 2012 Mini on the back table, which (I think) is running 10.12 Sierra. Safari was wonky on that, too.

Is anyone else seeing this?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: McScooby
Yep, same behaviour here. Safari 14.1.2 on OS 10.14.6. I wonder what's causing it!

Edit: I've logged a bug. Or, at least in theory I have. It's been sitting on "sending attachments" for 20 minutes now... (it got there in the end).
 
Last edited:
I emailed a friend about this (also on Mojave).
He's about 45 miles from me.
Having the same problems.

Earlier, I looked in the Console app.
It seemed Safari was choking on something that goes on at startup... kept repeating over and over.
I'll investigate further if the problem persists by tomorrow.
 
This isn't with other "apps", but specific to Safari -- running on Mojave and perhaps some older versions of the OS as well.

Safari works as expected on Monterey (MacBook Pro 14") and on Ventura (2018 Mini).

But it "chokes" at launch on Mojave (and earlier?).
 
Same issue happening for me. I'm on Ventura 13.2/M1 Pro MBP and it only started happening a few hours ago.
 
Due to recently published WebKit vulnerabilities, CVE-2022-42856, Apple might have put more checks on Safari, especially on the versions that are no longer receiving updates.

As we know, sometimes Apple servers have issues resulting in delayed opening of apps https://www.macrumors.com/2020/11/12/mac-apps-not-opening/

As far as I can tell, Apple has not silently updated the last versions of Safari for Sierra, High Sierra and Mojave. The links are
Code: 
https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/16/061-45358/p8lr2qx138kf7ipu4ijh95n4la85jlycb9/Safari12.1.2Sierra.pkg
https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/33/34/061-96797-A_PBSVGZX5CC/dt6bdxuqhtv0ck6n0ukx62xry7p6svl9bp/Safari13.1.2HighSierraAuto.pkg
https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/28/16/071-89247-A_FL3O60MWEW/t9239srrs8ctufwxntefzkmvjhdqzvllb2/Safari14.1.2MojaveAuto.pkg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Fishrrman
I was seeing this behavior last night on an M1 Mac mini running 13.2 and Safari 16.3. The problem has resolved itself this morning, without having restarted the computer or even putting it to sleep. No software, security or otherwise, has updated on the computer in that time period either so it's likely that there was an issue with Apple OSSP server again, or at least something similar to that.
 
Safari is better this morning, still not "back to where it was" yesterday morning.
Still a slight "lag" when opened.
Once up-and-running, it's fine.

Other browsers work fine (and did yesterday) -- including Orion, which I believe is using Apple's "webkit", as well. Just checked Orion it says "WebKit 615.1.11.7".
It was acting up yesterday (same as Safari), but back to normal now.

Thanks to all those who replied to this post!
 
Just tried it on my cMP, opens instantly....🤔
Amazon opens straight away also.

Maybe it's a localised issue to USA....?
 
Re Generdude's post above:

On Monterey and Ventura -- no problems, yesterday or today.
Apparently it's ok on Big Sur, also.

The opening "lag" seems to affect versions of Safari running on Mojave and earlier.
 
Fishrrman said:
The opening "lag" seems to affect versions of Safari running on Mojave and earlier.
Click to expand...
It's not happening for me, which is bizarre.
I am not using any extensions or add-ons.

Plus I am on Ethernet, if that makes any difference.
 
MarkC426 said:
Plus I am on Ethernet, if that makes any difference.
Click to expand...
Hmm! I've just tried Thunderbolt Ethernet (was previously using Wi-Fi) and it's a lot faster. There's still a short delay, but since I don't usually quit and relaunch Safari I can't say whether it's abnormally long.

Fishrrman said:
Safari is better this morning, still not "back to where it was" yesterday morning.
Click to expand...
Yeah, even over Wi-Fi it's definitely quicker today than it was yesterday. Bizarre...
 
No problems with Safari 14.1.2 and MacOS 10.14.6 either yesterday or today on a lowly 2014 1.4ghz/4gb Mini, hardwired on gigabit ethernet with 400/400 FIOS.

Also no problems on my 2018 Mini with Monterey.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MarkC426
I scanned through some post here and I was feeling a lag with Mojave in November
on a MacBook Pro 2012 and mini.
my evaluation I that designers like HBO Peacock stopped support for this beloved OS last last year 2021
while others are following suit.
to get Mojave and safari running well is fadein away these months.
ElCapitan and safari has issues this year while safari is useless with Mountain lion as well.
this is just an evaluation of process and tech and sad.
 
In the past week or so this has started happening on my wife's 2017 MBP still running on Mohave (we have just never updated it) - except on other Apple apps as well like Keynote and Pages.
 
Again not here (UK).....🤔
Safari opens within 1 sec, website in 1 sec.

My MacPro never shuts down, only ever sleeps.
Maybe it's the cache helping me...?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back