Mac OS X 10.3.5 (#9): Two more freeze culprits; HP printing and multiple users; Safari cursor disappearing; more

Two more freeze culprits We previously noted that some kernel panics cropping after the Mac OS X 10.3.5 update have been resolved by removing all traces of Norton AntiVirus from the Startup Items tab of the Accounts Pane in System Preferences.

Several readers have now reported other issues caused by Norton AntiVirus when used in conjunction with Mac OS X 10.3.5, including system-wide freezes that are solved simply by turning auto-protection off:

MacFixIt reader Hermie writes "I think I finally figured out the culprit for causing hard freezes on my machine (10.3.5). The freezes were of a nature where nothing could be done, no force quitting or anything else. The only solution being pressing the power button on my monitor for more than five seconds, wait a while and startup all over again. It usually happened while doing something in Safari or Mail.app.

"Anyway, since I switched Norton Autoprotect off (NAV 9.0.2) the freezes have vanished."

Another MacFixIt reader, Kiran, notes that Mac OS X 10.3.5 freezes have appeared on his system only during periods of heavy network activity:

"I've had a problem with hard freezes (the cursor moves, but you can't ping the machine nor SSH into it) since I installed 10.3.5. They seem to be related to network activity--in particular, I've had three freezes while using BitTorrent to download large files (using both Tomato Torrent and Azureus) and another one a few minutes ago while moving some large files from a Windows box using SMB. In all cases, these freezes have happened while using AirPort. In case it matters, I have a PB G4 667/DVI, and I'm using classic AirPort to connect to a linksys wireless router."

If you similarly are noticing freezes during periods of heavy network activity, please let us know.

Problems printing to Epson C84 In addition to the wide range of other printer issues reported with Mac OS X 10.3.5, one reader reports he is no longer able to print to his Epson Stylus C84:

"Since installing the update 10.3.5 I haven't been able to print with the Stylus C84. It said there was no driver which was there before the download. I downloaded the driver again and it doesn't recognize one as being there when I go to Printer Setup Utility. I can still print with my Stylus 740."

Safari Cursor disappearing We've received a number of reports confirming disappearance of the Mac OS X cursor during routine operation in Safari, though several readers now note that the issue was occurring before Mac OS X 10.3.5.

MacFixIt reader John writes "The issue of the Safari cursor disappearing is not new to 10.3.5 as I have had this issue with various versions of the OS. The cursor is invisible, (typically only when in the title bar), but is still functional. If you guess where you want to click correctly, it is accepted. Loading (or reloading) another page brings back the cursor.

"For me, the issue is rather rare. I tent to believe it is site specific, as it typically only happens on the same sites. Two sites I know I have had this issue with are www.chicagotribune.com and www.howstuffworks.com. However, as rare as the problem has been, it would difficult to reproduce.

Another reader, Don, adds "I've had this problem for with Safari quite a while. This include several OS and Safari revisions. It's intermittent, but I think it affects some web sites more than others. I have not, unfortunately, determined a pattern."

We are still attempting to identify a pattern to these disappearances, so if you are experiencing this issue, please drop us a line at late-breakers@macfixit.com.

HP printing problems and multiple users Yesterday we noted messages from readers with HP printers who are unable to print since installing the update.

It now appears that multiple users simultaneously logged in -- and each running a copy of the HP Communication.app -- may be the culprit behind this issue.

One MacFixIt reader writes "I kept getting USB communication failures and garbled output when printing to a Photosmart 1315 printer with the latest HP drivers & OS X 10.3.5. The problem stemmed from having multiple users signed on using fast user switching. Each user had an instance of the HP Communications.app running, causing the conflict. If I manually killed all but the first instance, it worked fine for all users. I'm waiting for a response from HP on how to configure it to prevent multiple instances from starting up."

You can kill the HP Communications app by opening Activity Viewer (located in Applications/Utilities), selecting "HP Communications" from the list and pressing "Quit Process." Repeat this process for all but one user, and check to see if printing functionality is resolved.

For more information on Mac OS X 10.3.5 problems and solutions, see our special report on the update.

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