Mac OS X 10.4.1 (#2): Difference between Software Update and standalone download versions; Mail.app: Bundles now disabled; more
Mac OS X 10.4.1 (#2): Difference between Software Update and standalone download versions; Mail.app: Bundles now disabled; more
Difference between Software Update and standalone download versions There are two versions of Mac OS X 10.4.1 available.
The version that can be obtained through Software Update is machine-specific (i.e. will only work on the Mac model on which it is downloaded) and smaller in size.
The 37 MB version available from Apple's Download site is universal, and can be applied on any system currently running Mac OS X 10.4.0.
So, if you need to install Mac OS X 10.4.1 on a number of different Mac models, use the latter installer.Mail.app: Bundles now disabled; Problems with POP accounts
Bundles now disabled We previously reported on a number of issues under Mac OS X 10.4.0 caused by the presence of Mail.app "bundles" -- add-ons that provide Webmail connectivity, spam protection and more.
It now appears that Apple has disabled support for many of these bundles under Mac OS X 10.4.1 as a workaround for issues that were occurring in Mac OS X 10.4.0.
One reader notes "MarketCircle's DayLite Mail Integration (DMI) plug-in is broken after applying the Mac OS X 10.4.1 updater."
Another reader writes: "Mac OS X 10.4.1 has disabled Mail Enhancer. Now if any of my emails goes to any folder other than Inbox, there is no indication of new mail on the mail icon on the dock."
The popular httpmail plug-in, which provides Hotmail connectivity from within Mail.app, is also non-functional under Mac OS X 10.4.1.
The disabling of these plug-ins is noted in Apple's release notes for Mac OS X 10.4.1, with the statement: "(Mac OS X 10.4.1) resolves a potential issue in which Mail could unexpectedly quit, stop responding, or fail to import your previous emails if third-party software were installed in a ~/Library/Mail/Bundles or /Library/Mail/Bundles?this update prevents previously-installed plug-ins from loading."
The solution, in this case, is to re-install any Mail bundles that were previously present.
Problems with POP accounts Several readers are noting problems accessing stored mail in current POP accounts in Mail.app after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.4.1.
One poster to Apple's Discussion Boards, Albert Cooper, writes:
"Add me to the list of users that are having trouble with mailboxes since updating to Mac OS X 10.4.1. I have tried clicking on Rebuild. I get a spinning wheel beside the mailbox but still cannot view the messages in the mailbox. Messages are displayed in some mailboxes and not others. I can pull up messages by entering a few letters in the search box for the mailbox and open a selected message."
For most users experiencing this problem, mail data is still visible in the Finder in ~/Library/Mail, and messages inaccessible in Mail.app can still be found using Spotlight.
If you are experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.
iChat 3.0 conflict with iCAR MacFixIt reader Jeffrey reports a conflict between iChat 3.0 and the iCAR auto-reply utility, as well as a solution (uninstalling iCAR).
Jeffrey writes:
"With iCAR installed, I could not receive any incoming IM. iChat either unexpectedly quits (the most consistent behavior), or simply doesn?t display the new IM window. At times, the new window can be displayed by going to the Window Menu and selecting the chat invitation form the list, although frequently, even this doesn?t work as the item will not appear under the menu. When choosing iChat Application Menu-->Quit, iChat displays an alert that there are incoming messages which have not been read and offers to review the messages, but even when choosing Review, the window still does not display.
"As well, when the window is able to be accessed (as when its item appears under the Window Menu), it strangely displays with a solid black background, despite no Preference having been set to display any color but white (default).
"We uninstalled iCAR, and iChat 3.0 is now working quite normally."
Distorted prints from Preview.app caused by ColorSync changes MacFixIt reader Stephen reports that print output from Preview.app was distorted after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.4.1 -- an issue solved by changing ColorSync settings.
Stephen writes:
"After updating to Mac OS X 10.4.1, certain PDFs printed from Preview were distorted. Namely, I have some PDFs automatically created from FileMaker and anything with any shading or lines behind the rows printed very dark and illegibly. I confirmed this on two computers I updated to 10.4.1, but my coworkers running straight 10.4 could print the same files just fine. Moreover, Acrobat would also print the files fine.
"As it turns out, I tracked the issue down to ColorSync. In the colorsync settings in the print dialog box, I changed the 'color conversion' setting to 'in printer' and the issue went away."
Keyboard/mouse issues Several readers are reporting keyboard/mouse issues after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.4.1, including sluggish behavior and more.
One reader writes:
"When I wake my iMac 17" G4 the dock is frozen and the mouse is very sluggish; pretty much nonfunctional. If I restart my iMac it seems to be OK until it sleeps again."
Live spell-checking problem, solution For some users, the "spell as you type" functionality included in Mac OS X 10.4.x causes issues with applications unexpectedly quitting, null errors, or garbled text.
MacFixIt reader Walter Johnson notes that this issue may be caused by problems with the Launch Services cache file, located in /Library/Caches.
Walter writes:
"After some additional digging we found the location of the cache files in question in /Library/Caches/. Not the user library, the root level one. There are 2 files that start with 'com.apple.LaunchServices'. Select both, move to trash, _don't_ empty the trash yet, restart. The files will be rebuilt after restarting. For us this fixes the problem and is much quicker than an archive and re-install.
"If you empty the trash before restarting, one of the files will immediately re-appear and the problem won't be gone on restart.
"Other useful settings are stored in these files and will have to be set up again. Custom file associations will be lost for instance. I don't know what else is stored in these files."
Performance improvements? MacFixIt reader Aaron reports some potential speed increases with Mac OS X 10.4.1 based on benchmark results.
Aaron writes:
"I ran XBench three times on my MDD Dual 1.25GHz G4 w/ 1.5GB RAM both before and after applying the 10.4.1 update. Interesting results:
- Mac OS X 10.4.0: 138 average XBench score
- Mac OS X 10.4.1: 159 average XBench score
Third-party applications
Photoshop CS MacFixIt reader Drew Saur reports an issue with Photoshop CS after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.4.1.
Drew writes:
"I updated to Tiger 10.4.1 last night, and this morning, when I command-tab away from Photoshop and back, I occasionally lose the contents of one or more of the palettes (such as the Tools palette, color palette, etc.)
"Restarting Photoshop stops the problem for 10 minutes or so, but then the problems recur. The longer Photoshop is open, the worse it gets! I am not running any unusual system extensions - just USB Overdrive."
If you are having a similar issue, please let us know.
Resolved Issues
Unresolved IssuesSome DHCP problems resolved As noted in Mac OS X 10.4.1's release notes, Apple has worked to resolve some of the more serious DHCP issues that appeared in Mac OS X 10.4.0 -- including AirPort access issues, problems with routers, and more.
One MacFixIt reader notes that a previously reported issue where AirPort connections drop when switching from one Base station to another has been resolved:
"Having suffered under the problem of the loss of DHCP info when transferring from wireless node to wireless node, unless I put my PowerBook back to sleep or renew my lease, I am happy to report that 10.4.1 has fixed that particular problem for me. Now I can roam at will with no loss of connectivity that I can't explain in some other way (loss of signal etc). Not bad really, a week's turnaround on the issue."
Language/Country settings MacFixIt reader Gulliver reports an important fix involving language/country settings in Mac OS X 10.4.1:
"In Mac OS X 10.4.0 the number format was hard-coded with the language/country settings which made it impossible to use e.g. US date formats (mm-dd-yy) with european number formats (#.###,00) or vice versa (dd-mm-yy vs. #,###.00). This was a major problem with Excel spreadsheets that involve macros with formating information (Excels's macro language Visual Basic only 'understands' american number formats while Excel itself does understand international number formats correctly).
"This has been fixed in the way that there is a pop-up now where you can choose between metric and English number formats."
Spotlight still won't find invisible files Spotlight still refuses to properly locate any invisible files.
MacFixIt reader Randy Smith writes:
"Using the find command (Command F) and searching for all invisible items the spotlight based search still returns no results."
iSync iSync still exhibits a number of issues for some readers under Mac OS X 10.4.1, including persistent crashes when attempting to change preferences and more.
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
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