Lion buggy, can I go back to Snow Leopard?

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Hi - I am really frustrated about how my system is running since I moved from Leopard to Lion (OS X.7.5) which comes with update to Safari [Version 6.1.4 (7537.76.4)]

I really don't think anything can be done to rectify these issues, and the question becomes: can I go back to Snow Leopard? For sure I want to run the version of Safari I had been running which was virtually bug-free.

Here are my problems with the Lion

1. Right-Click is gone! I Have messed with the settings but it hasn't bought it back! I used that right-click ALL THE TIME to lookup words in the dictionary, to delete files, to copy and paste. I have attempted to do the 'tap 2x with 3 fingers' on a word to look it up and it doesn't work. it doesn't even select the work. Nothing at all happens.

2. Not responding as it should when I click or hit a shortcut key combo. It
isn't intermittent, it is always delayed. I have messed with my system preferences (trackpad) to no avail. IOW - it isn't the settings.

3. In browser window, previously opened pages are gone when I go back and click on the tab to view. It has nothing at all on the page and the address bar has part of the address in dark black, but the last part is grayed out. This hardly ever happened when I was running Leopard X.5 And when it did, I would just click on the little semi-circle on the far right of the address bar and it would reload the page. Not so with this version of Safari, instead I get this warning window pop-up telling me:
'The webpage is not responding, so loading cannot be stopped. Do you want to force reload this page?' If I press 'force reload', Safari begins reloading ALL the pages that are open instead of just the one I am on currently. 'Some webpages are not responding. To visit the selected webpage, 62 webpages in other tabs and windows must be force reloaded. Do you want to visit this page?' Click 'visit page'

4. Where is the Finder download bar? I have no idea if something is downloading or not. Or when it’s finished. Other than checking the downloads folder in Finder.

5. Pages are not loading properly. Sometimes I will have half the browser window split vertically and the content is hidden on the right side.

6. Without the right-click I can't figure out how to delete folders I have saved as bookmarks from the right side bar. Hitting 'delete' doesn't work. And clicking on it to select it begins loading the page.

7. Gray bar at bottom of window no longer shows the status of what Safari is doing. it used to display the url or 'connecting to Netflix' etc. Now nothing displays on that bar and since the pages continue to disappear, if I try and reload them, I don't know if the browser has responded to my click or not without that info in the bottom bar.

8. Windows don't come to front when clicking on one of them in a cascade. I have to go minimize the top one to get the one I want. Or else I have to use mission control to click on the window I want.

9. Finder - can no longer search by filename.


10. Lastly - the icons in the finder sidebar are preset to off-gray and can't be changed. They can't be changed even to change the icon and keep the ugly color. I loved having my own icons for the side-bar because it was easy to see where folders were. Now I have to visually read each item on the sidebar to find what I want. I used to have the option of having it search for some standard preset searches on the bottom of the side-bar but they are gone

The hugest problem of all is that clicking doesn't seem to work.( #2 above) It is really delayed and sometimes only works if I click several times on a link or ap p before it loads. This is universal - all apps and all windows.

My whole system is running poorly. I have a brand new hard-drive and plenty of memory.
 

Slydude

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There are ways to revert to an older OS but it's easiest to do if you have a backup. You can find more about that here among other places.

FWIW here are some thoughts on the other issues.
1. Right click (secondary click) is still present. There wis a drop down menu right below the word secondary click. Make sure that the string is the way you want it. The trackpad may be set to expect a click on the right or left side.

2.Try opening Activity Monitor and noticing whether there is a process using a lot of resources when the slowdown happens.

4. In Safari there is a small gear like circle at the right end of the address bar. Click there and you get a drop down menu similar to the old one. Safari>View Menu>Show Downloads.

6. If you still can't get right click to work with bookmark folders there is an alternative. Single click the folder and hold it down for a moment. You will see a white square like you are truing to rename it. At the end of the box is a small x. Click the x.

10. Those are smart searches and can easily be re-added if they are not there.
 
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Thank you slydude for your thoughtful and considered reply. I haven't tried your work-arounds but will sometime today. I have an additional follow-up question though:
It is Safari I am having the most trouble with… can I just delete the new Lion version and reinstall the one from Leopard?
My biggest problem is the fact that clicking does nothing and I have to click multiple times to work.. I am on a MacBook unibody and plugged a mouse into my USB and the clicking problem went away.. I hate using the mouse though - especially because I am almost always on my laptop whilst sitting on a couch or in bed - so it is on my lap and using the mouse presents a challenge. My thought is that my trackpad is malfunctioning.. do you know of issues with trackpad basically failing or needing to be replaced..
 

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I'm not sure whether the Safari version would run properly or not. I doubt it though. I'll have to check on that when I have a moment.

You noticed that clicking works correctly with the mouse (nice job I didn't think to suggest that). You may be right about there being some issue with the trackpad.You might want to give the following a try.

Solution:
With the laptop open, turn it on to it's side. Repeatedly click the trackpad with a firm, but not excessive amount of force. Put the laptop on the other side and repeat.

I can't explain why this works. Perhaps some amount of debris or dust has built up under there ? I went from not being able to click-drag without an excessive amount of pressure, back to a normal amount of pressure after doing this.
If you like you can find the entire thread here

The other thought which occurred to me may not apply to your Mac. We'd have to know which unibody it is to be sure. On some Mac laptops the battery runs directly under the trackpad assembly. If for some reason the battery is not fitting properly it may prevent the trackpad from moving enough to register the click.

I had the problem you describe. Even though I checked to make sure the battery was seated properly nothing improved things. Shortly afterwards I noticed I was getting shorter than expected battery life. This time I inspected the battery more carefully and noticed it had started to swell. Replacing the battery fixed the trackpad issue.
 
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+1 This above ^ that Slydude mentioned about the battery. I've come across the same experience with several Mac portables.

At least one can test them by removing the battery and use the AC power adapter.
 
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Thanks so much Slydude. I am grateful you and whomever else bothered answering my 'clearly-uneducated-mac-user' concerns. I have tried reading your forum and - embarrassing but true - don't understand almost all of what is being discussed/posted. I know nothing about computer hardware or software. I am one of those who use the internet to check mail and run around the internet and that's about it.

I replaced my battery. Apple wanted $129, but I found it on eBay for $38 + free shipping. My battery needed replacing anyway.. it's life after a full charge was 45min max. Now I have my new battery installed and it is giving me about 3 hours after charging.. Is that about what I should expect? (or should it be giving me even more?)

You were right about the right-click. When I plugged in the mouse, I had right-click menu's galore! I mainly use it to delete things and to look up words in the dictionary.
The "double tap with 3 fingers" was not working at all and now it is. So, I am getting used to the upgrade… But I still do NOT like the way the browser has to reload ALL the pages to get content. The Safari version in Leopard rarely required page reloading but when it did, it would just load that one page. I also do NOT like the absence of progress loading that used to be in the status bar. I can't tell if the browser is not loading properly, is slow, or is finished.

FYI - I have the MacBook, Unibody aluminum (late 2008) Model 5.1 I think it is.

If this isn't the appropriate way to ask a question about something extraneous…. I have been trying all day to get my Mac to read a kindle book in voice-over and can't figure it out. Not a big deal - nobody need to investigate it , just respond if you know how to do that.

Thanks,

Stacy
 
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With your Battery, depending if its a Apple battery or not, and what you are doing on the Mac, will depend on how much time you will get out of it. ie: Cruising in Safari with a lot of Web Content and Flash will drain the Battery quicker than if you were in the same page and use the Reading function.
If its not a Apple battery, I would watch the heat and it not lasting as long as you would expect. Non-Apple batteries are inferior, and you pay for what you get.

With your 2finger right click, have you gone into System Preference by clicking the  Top Left, then TrackPad>Point and Click and make sure the 2 Finger tap is set to Secondary Click ?? if not do do, and you will have the Right Click function back by tapping with 2 fingers.

Another little trick to look up words, is to put your cursor over ANY word, in ANY application, and tap the trackpad with 3 fingers, and that word highlights in a Yellow and brings up the Dictionary Definition, Thesaurus and Wiki Definition for it. Neat little trick I use every day many times.
 
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Thanks!

HI TatMac:

I don't know if it is an Apple battery but I think I would have noticed if it wasn't. It appeared to be exactly the same as my old one. I did set the trackpad on the secondary click how I want it. This whole problem with the clicking not working (right or left or any) has been solved by the thread that Slydude posted about trackpad issues. I read that thread and learned about the little screw under the battery. I adjusted it and Wallah! Problem solved.

I did know about the "tap w/ 3 fingers" dictionary look-up. It wasn't working but now it is because my clicker on the trackpad is working right.

I continue to be disappointed in Safari. Why do tabs appear blank when clicking on them or between browser windows? WHY? Why do I have to keep reloading pages? This is such a horrible experience I might just go back to an earlier version of Safari and see if that will work with Lion.

Oh, your post did supply me with some info I didn't know.. The "reading function". I wondered what that "reader" button was at the end of the address bar. So, it takes less umph from my laptop to use that then to read through webpages as they are? Nice to KNOW.

Stacy
 

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I don't know if it is an Apple battery but I think I would have noticed if it wasn't.

If this was a brand new battery...I seriously doubt you got an original $129 Apple replacement battery for $38. But who knows...maybe you got lucky!:)

It appeared to be exactly the same as my old one.

That's the point of "knock-off" products...to look exactly the same as the original!;)

Now I have my new battery installed and it is giving me about 3 hours after charging.. Is that about what I should expect? (or should it be giving me even more?)

Technically according to Apple...a 2008 Unibody aluminum MacBook is supposed to get 5 hours on a full battery charge. But...there are many factors that go into how long a single full battery charge lasts.

Bottom line...hey...if it's working fine...great! $38 is a lot better than $129!:)

- Nick
 

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HI TatMac:

I continue to be disappointed in Safari. Why do tabs appear blank when clicking on them or between browser windows? WHY? Why do I have to keep reloading pages? This is such a horrible experience I might just go back to an earlier version of Safari and see if that will work with Lion.

Stacy

Can you give me a big more of an example? Do you mean when Safari first opens (first time tabs are loading) or afterward? I surf with multiple tabs all the time. When I click from tab to tab they aren't blank. Is this limited to some sites or all sites? The exceptions are;

1. First load of the day when a page may not have finished loading
2. Days when my connection is slower than usual.
 
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Hi slydude and others - I wanted to let you know this problem is solved. I am not sure why my laptop was slow to add all the new features in Lion but it was. Like over the course of 2 weeks I kept noticing new features that hadn't been there the day before… weird… anyway - thank you to all y'all for all y'all's help.. (hahaha) The next time I come here I am gonna need some serious help on hooking up my macbook to my TV via HDMI in order to view movies… so be forewarned!

Stacy
 

Slydude

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Hi slydude and others - I wanted to let you know this problem is solved. I am not sure why my laptop was slow to add all the new features in Lion but it was. Like over the course of 2 weeks I kept noticing new features that hadn't been there the day before… weird… anyway - thank you to all y'all for all y'all's help.. (hahaha)

Sounds to me, it was taking a awful long time to index, but nice to know its up and going now :)

The next time I come here I am gonna need some serious help on hooking up my macbook to my TV via HDMI in order to view movies… so be forewarned!

Stacy

For $99 get yourself a Apple TV and its all done without wires :) You could well pay $0-$50 for a good HDMI cable anyway so whats a extra $40-$50 ;)
 
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Maybe send the $50.00 that would have been spent on the cable to TattooedMac
for his good advice???? :Smirk:

Even some anti-apple/mac avid PC people we know who are avid movie watchers have said the Apple TV was one of the best devices they've ever purchased. Maybe they'll get even smarter and switch to Macs one day. ;D
 

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