Home Forums Networks & Cross-Platform Networking Safari 4.0.3 on Tiger

Ever since the last 2 Safari updates, I have seen Safari take extended periods of time loading web sites, even if I've recently been to the site.

Some sites (Macworld.com being one) cause Safari to sometimes (not always) freeze-up while loading, and then I have to Force Quit.

My Safari prefs have no exotic settings, and I do clear the Cache after this incidences. But, these various issues will continue, particularly the extended loading time.

Any thoughts?

A guess...

If you've installed any plug-ins, Saft comes to mind as a frequent offender, you may have to update them to regain compatibility with the newer version of Safari you're now running.

I have no plug-ins, nor Saft, nor any Safari hack apps installed.

I do have Flash (as well as Shockwave) installed - using most current Flash version, whatever version that is - but this issue has occurred both before and after my most recent, Flash update.

I also notice, even when a site does not lock-up, that I sometimes get one or several "errors" upon completion of loading.

I ran the Safari 4 beta for quick awhile, and it was less error / crash prone than what I periodically experience now as well as having experienced with the prior Safari version.

So, I feel a bit stumped on what to try next.

As painful as it is to do, In Safari > Reset Safari remove as much as you can bear of the various items that accumulate over time. I would start with the webpage preview images and website icons. The next big slowdowns could be caused by the size of your autofill files including saved names and passwords. You can edit those in Safari > Preferences > Autofill or you can flush them wholesale in Reset Safari. The final slowdown culprit I can think of is cookies which you can edit individually in Safari > Preferences > Security > Show Cookies or here again delete them all in Reset Safari.

I hadn't thought about using the Reset. I've started by deleting the webpage previews, along with Cache & History (which I delete periodically anyway).

I don't use AutoFill (I use 1Password); so nothing to delete there.

I downsized the Database storage to 5 mb (from 10), but I don't have any db that shows up in that window. (Is there one somewhere?)

Web site icons are only elements I haven't yet deleted. (I admit to liking them.) But, if these slow-downs, and periodic lock-ups, continue, then I'll delete them & let them re-establish.

I am curious about why I also get errors during the loading. [example - Loaded 127 of 129 pages (2 errors) ] What causes that to happen?

Also see this article about Safari problems. Some of the solutions are mentioned above, but there is also information on why and how to use public DNS (domain name servers).

Does anything in Slow Browsing with Safari? Recent odd behavior? help?

Guys, thank you for the link. I had not seen this particular report, although I have been aware of the DNS issue. But, I'll definitely try some of the suggestions and report back.

I will update once I gain a sense of whether improvement has occurred.

Let me follow-up with another question, related to this slowdown issue -

Most times when a site is loading, and the loading visual (not sure what to precisely call it) is a dark gray color, this visual will go light silver and will continue working (on some sites) for a bit more time.

Is this normal, or should most sites do the initial loading (dark gray visual) and complete the loading? Or, a bit of both - depending on the site?

[Recent Loading Example - last access to Macworld.com: Safari started, however, with the visual as light silver and partially loaded page. Loading continued for several minutes (maybe, 5 or so) and ended with Status bar showing "...107 of 109 items loaded (1 error)"]

...I'm trying to get an accurate sense of how those 2 Safari loading visuals provide feedback either 1) about loading speed (relating to the actual download speed) or 2) how Safari is managing the download of the site's page elements.

(When Safari was locking-up, on some sites, it has typically been during the period where the dark gray visual was working (at least, I can't remember it happening when the light gray visual was working) & just stopped. Force Quit would then report Safari "not responding.")

As far as I can tell, the progress indicator's background color changes from dark gray to silver at about the same time that the page elements actually start being displayed in the Safari window or tab.

This makes me think that the trigger for the color change is the point at which the page's HTML source code has been fully loaded, though I haven't yet confirmed this either by experimentation or research.

I have added those Open DNS server addresses to my Network setting in System Prefs. I added them both, in front of the 2 my ISP provides (via DHCP). ...I'm curious if adding the Open DNS addresses before or after, or even deleting the ISP provided DNS server address, makes a difference?

I have been getting speedier loading, now that I'm principally testing from my home which uses a cable-speed connection (where I get about 8 Mbps Up & 19 Mbps Down). [When I'm using this PB in my office, I have a LAN connection to the internet via a DSL connection that drops speeds down by about 70%.]

I have also Reset Safari several times, principally deleting most except the webpage icons & cookies. I have also manually deleted, from the Safari folder within my User Library folder, all but the webpage icons db, bookmarks, & Top Sites.

After doing the above, I have seen some speed improvement, but I have had several site lock-up Safari - and then, having to Force Quit.

So, I am not sure if I have found any solution, particularly to the Safari crashing.

What about doing a reinstall of Safari 4.0.3 right over the top of the current install? (I'm wondering if having used the Safari 4 Beta, there's some "bad stuff" left over from its use.) ...If it's a reasonable step, where can one find the Safari 4.0.3 install download?

The Safari 4 Beta came with an uninstaller. Did you run it before installing the finished version?

No, I did not. ...I guess, that an oops.

Suggestions...

As a bit of follow-up, it's now primarily the Safari crashing issue that is prevalent. 2 of my Top Sites (Macworld.com & Washington Post) are currently the principal (but, not sole) culprits. Even after completing a Safari Reset, Safari might lock-up (but, may not) when in the middle of loading a site. (So far, this has not happened when loading FTM.)

I've now just re-installed Safari 4.0.3. (Didn't see any way to do an uninstall prior to re-installing.) So, I will see how it goes.

Regarding webpage icons, is there a way to open and edit the webpageIcons.db file?

Any thought on the question?



After several days since the re-install, Safari crashing has only occurred when either of the 2 (referenced above) Top Sites' web previews were selected from the Top Sites window. If either of those 2 sites were selected from their respective menu bookmark, the site will fully load without problem. So, there may be something, within Safari 4.0.3, that my PB G4 (using Tiger) does not handle well.

Over the weekend, while I was internet-connected via Comcast, Safari was speedy. Slowdowns while in my office, I think are directly attributable to the DSL connection.

While I think completing resets can enliven Safari when sluggishness occurs, I think the re-install helped as well.

I am unclear about why certain sites, when activated from Top Sites, will crash. But as it appears I can avoid crashing by selecting sites from their respective, bookmark menus, I think it an easy workaround.

This PB G4 is just about 6 years old, and Safari may demonstrate the limit for certain software updates on the 10.4.11 OS. Until I acquire a new MacBook Pro, which I will do within 6 months, I will simply maintain my installed software at current versions.

I welcome any follow-up thoughts.