Safari 3 browser windows refuse to close
Posted: November 19th, 2007 | Author: Panagiotis Karageorgakis | Filed under: Apple, Mac OS X, Technology |Usually when you click on the red “X” button on the top left of a window, it closes. Or, when you press Command-W on the keyboard, which is my preferred choice. But since I updated my Powerbook to 10.4.11, which upgraded Safari to 3.0.4., Safari windows won’t close. No matter what.
My first reaction was “thanks Apple”, but then it turned out the culprit was not our beloved Mac maker company. After checking the ~/Library/InputManagers directory, I found only one folder in there named SIMBL. What was this, I didn’t know, but after deleting it and restarting Safari, I am now able to close it’s windows again!
It turns out that SIMBL is a Smart InputManager Bundle Loader used by some plugins for Safari. It must have gotten there when I installed Taboo, ages ago, which I also deleted now since I don’t need it anymore.
In case you also have the same problem, check out whether any of your Safari plugins is outdated or incompatible with Safari version 3. Take a look at ~/Library/InputManagers for any defective input managers. Also look in ~/Library/ApplicationSupport for the plugins. There are lots of stuff in there, so examine the names and see if you find something strange. Or, open Spotlight and search for “SIMBL”.
All application extensions (APE, SIMBL, or haxies in general) work by misusing certain APIs to allow them to work with specific running applications using internal functions and classes that are not meant for external use. This means any time there’s an update (even a minor one) those internal methods and classes may change arbitrarily, but the extension just assumes that nothing has changed — now anything it does is going to causes breakages. Most often a crash, in other cases just cause bizarre behaviour, like your non-closing window :-/
Oliver, thank you for your insightful comment. I think it would be a good idea if Safari utilized an extension management similar to that of Firefox, so users are able to see what plugins they have installed, whether they need to be upgraded and also to uninstall them at will.
This could also boost the developer community around Safari which could provide handy extensions. It’s a shame to have to use Firefox instead of Safari just for that one extension you find useful. Safari is still my choice of preference.
I was experiencing the same problem after the update. You fix solved my issue.
A HUGE THANKS!!!
Btw, In my websearch. I came across another user who was experiencing the same problem. I’ll pass on the fix.
-Randy