SUMO community discussions

Java update 10 for Mac OS X 10.5 no longer supports the Java Plugin2 [Fixed in Firefox 5.0.1]

  • 10 Replies
  • Last reply by AliceWyman
  1. cor-el
    cor-el 1439 posts
    more options

    Apple recently released a Java update for OS X 10.5 (Update 10) and OS X 10.6 (Update 5).

    That update has removed support for the Java plugin2 for the OS X 10.5 version, so Firefox 4 and later and other browsers like Google Chrome no longer have a Java plugin on Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Intel).

    • /questions/844734 FF5 for Mac-java stopped working and can't find plugin after recent Java for Leopard update
    With this release, we have greatly enhanced the functionality of Plugin2 on Mac OS X 10.6, but this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X 10.5, due to the lack of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0. We are looking forward to making Plugin2 the default applet plug-in in the near future, so please let us know if there are show stopping issues that prevent your applets from running inside it.

    Our best regards,
    Mike Swingler
    Java Runtime Engineer
    Apple Inc.
    >> With this release, we have greatly enhanced the functionality of Plugin2
    > on Mac OS X 10.6,
    >> but this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X
    > 10.5, due to the lack
    >> of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0.
    >
    > So, does this mean the security update is breaking support for Java on
    > Firefox and Google Chrome with MacOS X 10.5 ?
    > Regular users would certainly not understand that when reading the
    > detailed information for the update...

    Firefox and Chrome users are currently unsupported on PPC since the current versions of those browsers are = Intel-only. Anyone with an Intel Mac should upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to continue to receive any updates at all.

    Plugin2 in it's current state was barely usable when run under J2SE 5.0 anyway, so in the end, anyone who was relying on applets on Leopard was probably already using Safari anyway.

    I hope this helps clarify why we discontinued Plugin2 on 10.5,

    Mike Swingler
    Java Engineering
    Apple Inc.
    Apple recently released a Java update for OS X 10.5 (Update 10) and OS X 10.6 (Update 5). *http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1360 - Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 5 *http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1359 - Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 That update has removed support for the Java plugin2 for the OS X 10.5 version, so Firefox 4 and later and other browsers like Google Chrome no longer have a Java plugin on Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Intel). ----- *[/questions/844734] FF5 for Mac-java stopped working and can't find plugin after recent Java for Leopard update ---- *http://lists.apple.com/archives/java-dev/2011/Jun/msg00115.html <blockquote>With this release, we have greatly enhanced the functionality of Plugin2 on Mac OS X 10.6, but this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X 10.5, due to the lack of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0. We are looking forward to making Plugin2 the default applet plug-in in the near future, so please let us know if there are show stopping issues that prevent your applets from running inside it.<br /> <br /> Our best regards,<br /> Mike Swingler<br /> Java Runtime Engineer<br /> Apple Inc. </blockquote> *http://lists.apple.com/archives/java-dev/2011/Jun/msg00147.html <blockquote>>> With this release, we have greatly enhanced the functionality of Plugin2<br /> > on Mac OS X 10.6,<br /> >> but this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X<br /> > 10.5, due to the lack<br /> >> of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0.<br /> > <br /> > So, does this mean the security update is breaking support for Java on<br /> > Firefox and Google Chrome with MacOS X 10.5 ?<br /> > Regular users would certainly not understand that when reading the<br /> > detailed information for the update...<br /> <br /> Firefox and Chrome users are currently unsupported on PPC since the current versions of those browsers are = Intel-only. Anyone with an Intel Mac should upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to continue to receive any updates at all.<br /> <br /> Plugin2 in it's current state was barely usable when run under J2SE 5.0 anyway, so in the end, anyone who was relying on applets on Leopard was probably already using Safari anyway.<br /> <br /> I hope this helps clarify why we discontinued Plugin2 on 10.5,<br /> <br /> Mike Swingler<br /> Java Engineering<br /> Apple Inc. </blockquote>
  2. AliceWyman
    AliceWyman 6154 posts
    more options

    Here's the related bug report:

    Bug 668639 - Apple's Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 breaks Java in FF 4 and up

    Here's the related bug report: [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=668639 Bug 668639 - Apple's Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 breaks Java in FF 4 and up]
  3. cor-el
    cor-el 1439 posts
    more options

    Do we need a note in the Java support article to inform people with Mac OS X 10.5 about this issue?

    If that Java Plugin2 has evolved in such a way that it is no longer possible to use it under OS X 10.5.8 then I do not think that it will be reverted by Apple.

    Do we need a note in the Java support article to inform people with Mac OS X 10.5 about this issue? If that Java Plugin2 has evolved in such a way that it is no longer possible to use it under OS X 10.5.8 then I do not think that it will be reverted by Apple.<br />
  4. scoobidiver
    scoobidiver 1275 posts
    more options

    cor-el said

    Do we need a note in the Java support article to inform people with Mac OS X 10.5 about this issue?

    See /en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Java%20plugin.../1578.

    ''cor-el [[#post-40607|said]]'' <blockquote> Do we need a note in the Java support article to inform people with Mac OS X 10.5 about this issue? </blockquote> See [/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Java%20plugin%20with%20Firefox/discuss/1578].
  5. scoobidiver
    scoobidiver 1275 posts
    more options

    Can someone with a Mac take a look at the proposed workaround for the article update?
    Will it be reversible later if Apple releases a patch?
    What will the behavior be if the user updates to Mac OS X 10.6 or higher while this workaround is active?
    See the article draft.

    Can someone with a Mac take a look at the proposed workaround for the article update?<br> Will it be reversible later if Apple releases a patch?<br> What will the behavior be if the user updates to Mac OS X 10.6 or higher while this workaround is active?<br> See the [/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Java%20plugin%20with%20Firefox/revision/15503 article draft].
  6. AliceWyman
    AliceWyman 6154 posts
    more options

    Your draft says (after the step to close Firefox):

    2. Navigate to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/. Open the Terminal application.
    3. In the Terminal application, enter the following:
    sudo ln -s /System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPlugin2_NPAPI.plugin
    4. Press Return.

    Step 2 may be confusing to some Mac users since there are actually two Library/Internet Plug-Ins folders. One in the root directory ("/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/") and another in the user's home directory ("~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/"). See this discussion for more on those two directories.

    I think it would be better to use the workaround as it was written in the related bug report comment:

    Just do the following at a Terminal prompt. For it to work, you'll need to be logged in using an account with administrator privileges. 

    $ cd "/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/"
$ sudo ln -s /System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPlugin2_NPAPI.plugin
    Your draft says (after the step to close Firefox): 2. Navigate to '' /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/''. Open the '''Terminal''' application.<br> 3. In the Terminal application, enter the following:<br/><code>sudo ln -s /System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPlugin2_NPAPI.plugin</code><br> 4. Press Return. Step 2 may be confusing to some Mac users since there are actually two Library/Internet Plug-Ins folders. One in the root directory ("/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/") and another in the user's home directory ("~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/"). See [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=10370903#p10370903 this discussion] for more on those two directories. I think it would be better to use the workaround as it was written in the [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=668639#c4 related bug report comment]: ------ Just do the following at a Terminal prompt. For it to work, you'll need to be logged in using an account with administrator privileges. $ cd "/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/" $ sudo ln -s /System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPlugin2_NPAPI.plugin

    Modified by AliceWyman on

  7. cor-el
    cor-el 1439 posts
    more options

    This text doesn't look good to me:

    Since Java Update 10, Apple has removed support for the Java plugin2 for the OS X 10.5 version, which prevents any non Apple browsers from running Java applets. As a workaround, do the following:

    Users with OS X 10.6 did get a Java Update 5.
    You need to start that sentence with a specification to which OS X version this applies (Mac OS X 10.5.x with a 64 bit Intel CPU) to prevent any confusion.
    We do not have confirmation that a solution for 32 bit 10.5 is possible.

    Something like this looks better to me:

    Apple has removed support for the Java Plugin2 since the Java Update 10 for Mac OS X 10.5, which prevents any non Apple browsers from running Java applets.
    If you have Mac OS X 10.5 with a 64 bit Intel CPU then you can do the following as a workaround to restore the Java Plugin2:

    You also need to make sure that the user enters that command as one line in the terminal window.

    This text doesn't look good to me: <blockquote>Since '''Java Update 10''', Apple has removed support for the Java plugin2 for the '''OS X 10.5''' version, which prevents any non Apple browsers from running Java applets. As a workaround, do the following:</blockquote> Users with OS X 10.6 did get a Java Update 5.<br /> You need to start that sentence with a specification to which OS X version this applies (Mac OS X 10.5.x with a 64 bit Intel CPU) to prevent any confusion.<br /> We do not have confirmation that a solution for 32 bit 10.5 is possible. Something like this looks better to me: <blockquote>Apple has removed support for the Java Plugin2 since the Java Update 10 for '''Mac OS X 10.5''', which prevents any non Apple browsers from running Java applets.<br /> If you have '''Mac OS X 10.5''' with a 64 bit Intel CPU then you can do the following as a workaround to restore the Java Plugin2: </blockquote> You also need to make sure that the user enters that command as one line in the terminal window.

    Modified by cor-el on

  8. AliceWyman
    AliceWyman 6154 posts
    more options

    cor-el said

    Apple has removed support for the Java Plugin2 since the Java Update 10 for Mac OS X 10.5, which prevents any non Apple browsers from running Java applets.
    If you have Mac OS X 10.5 with a 64 bit Intel CPU then you can do the following as a workaround to restore the Java Plugin2:

    Copied from /questions/844734#answer-210162

    cor-el, The quote you mentioned, this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X 10.5, due to the lack of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0. seems to refer to the Java 5.0 portion of the update, which includes PPC Mac OS 10.5 which isn't supported on Firefox 4 and above. I not sure but, best I can figure, it could be that some Intel Mac OS X 10.5 systems (those that are not 64-bit capable) got only the J2SE 5.0 update.

    So, to me, that suggests that the Terminal workaround given in the bug report will work on 64-bit Intel-based Macs.
    EDIT: see bug 668639 comment 13 dated 07-05-2011 <snip>.

    Posted by Steven Michaud today in bug 668639 comment 13:

    > http://lists.apple.com/archives/java-dev/2011/Jun/msg00115.html

    This message, referenced above, claims that Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 removes Java Plugin2. Very fortunately this isn't true.

    The installer does remove the soft link to Java Plugin2 from /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/. But it doesn't remove Java Plugin2 itself (the target of the soft link), and in fact appears to update it -- JavaForMacOSX10.5Update10.pkg includes the JavaPlugin2_NPAPI.pluginbundle.

    This is getting very confusing but it looks like you can remove the reference to "64-bit".

    ''cor-el [[#post-40613|said]]'' <blockquote>Apple has removed support for the Java Plugin2 since the Java Update 10 for '''Mac OS X 10.5''', which prevents any non Apple browsers from running Java applets.<br /> If you have '''Mac OS X 10.5''' with a 64 bit Intel CPU then you can do the following as a workaround to restore the Java Plugin2: </blockquote> Copied from [/questions/844734#answer-210162] ----- '''cor-el,''' The quote you mentioned, ''this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X 10.5, due to the lack of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0.'' seems to refer to the Java 5.0 portion of the update, which includes PPC Mac OS 10.5 which isn't supported on Firefox 4 and above. I not sure but, best I can figure, it could be that some Intel Mac OS X 10.5 systems (those that are not 64-bit capable) got only the J2SE 5.0 update. <del>So, to me, that suggests that the Terminal workaround given in the bug report will work on 64-bit Intel-based Macs. </del><br> '''EDIT: ''' see [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=668639#c13 bug 668639 comment 13 dated 07-05-2011] <snip>. ----- Posted by Steven Michaud today in [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=668639#c13 bug 668639 comment 13]: ''> http://lists.apple.com/archives/java-dev/2011/Jun/msg00115.html'' ''This message, referenced above, claims that Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 removes Java Plugin2. Very fortunately this isn't true.'' ''The installer does remove the soft link to Java Plugin2 from /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/. But it doesn't remove Java Plugin2 itself (the target of the soft link), and in fact appears to update it -- JavaForMacOSX10.5Update10.pkg includes the JavaPlugin2_NPAPI.pluginbundle.'' ----- This is getting very confusing but it looks like you can remove the reference to "64-bit".
  9. scoobidiver
    scoobidiver 1275 posts
    more options

    It'll be fixed in Firefox 6.

    It'll be fixed in Firefox 6.
  10. AliceWyman
    AliceWyman 6154 posts
    more options

    scoobidiver said

    It'll be fixed in Firefox 6.

    Or sooner, since the patch is intended to become part of a 5.0.1 chemspill according to bug 668639 comment 29.

    ''scoobidiver [[#post-40693|said]]'' <blockquote> It'll be fixed in Firefox 6. </blockquote> Or sooner, since the patch is ''intended to become part of a 5.0.1 chemspill'' according to [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=668639#c29 bug 668639 comment 29].
  11. AliceWyman
    AliceWyman 6154 posts
    more options

    Here's a blog post explaining the Firefox 5.0.1 minor update (for Mac OS only):

    http://blog.mozilla.com/products/2011/07/08/firefox-5-minor-update-for-mac-coming-soon/

    Here's a blog post explaining the Firefox 5.0.1 minor update (for Mac OS only): http://blog.mozilla.com/products/2011/07/08/firefox-5-minor-update-for-mac-coming-soon/