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AAATheFAQ
This page is for frequently asked questions about TenFourFox (or, as we abbreviate it, 10.4Fx). Some of these are also answered on the main site and other places in the Github wiki, but are also provided here for convenience.
Questions answered in the FAQ are generally pertinent only to the most current version of 10.4Fx although notes about earlier versions are also included for reference.
TenFourFox (hereafter 10.4Fx) is a port of Firefox to the Power Macintosh, running either Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5.
Mozilla stopped supporting Power Macintosh and Mac OS X v10.4 with Firefox 4/Mozilla 2.0, both of which remain important and in our humble opinion viable platforms, particularly for people who need to run older software or use Classic. We fall into this category. This is our attempt to rectify the disparity.
10.4Fx is not called Firefox because technically it isn't, and therefore legally it can't be. Mozilla's trademark conditions require that builds named Firefox be based on unmodified source, and 10.4Fx is modified.
10.4Fx contains modified widget code to work with OS X Tiger and the 10.4 SDK, modified font code to use Apple Type Services instead of CoreText, disables OpenGL graphics acceleration and WebGL (which are incompatible with tiger), and includes AltiVec- and PowerPC-specific code for JavaScript acceleration and decoding of WebM, JPEG and HTML. Here is a more or less complete list of changes in TenFourFox.
No. TenFourFox is not an official Mozilla build or product. That said, our project lead is a member of the Mozilla security group, and all our contributors routinely upstream patches we believe of benefit to other PowerPC builds of Firefox, which Mozilla accepts. However, we maintain separate support networks, build systems, and distribution infrastructure which Mozilla has no role in operating; no one working on this port is a Mozilla employee; and the project receives no material support from Mozilla. In short, we are no different to Mozilla than any other 3rd-party "Tier 3" port.
Starting with Firefox 10, Mozilla introduced the Extended Support Release, or ESR. The ESR maintains a consistent version for approximately one year, receiving bugfixes and security updates from Mozilla, but no new Firefox-general features. Roughly every seventh version is an ESR (so 10, 17, 24, 31, 38, and so forth). This is the basis of the stable branch.
The stable branch, despite its name, does receive selected new TenFourFox features and does have "betas" for testing them, but does not receive other feature updates from Mozilla. Although it is not as technologically advanced as the unstable branch, it is based on tested and stable code and receives security updates, and therefore the stable branch is the recommended version for most users.
The unstable branch of TenFourFox is based upon the current release version of Firefox. Note that not every version of Firefox has a corresponding version of TenFourFox; we sometimes skip versions for technical or timing reasons. In addition, because the unstable branch is not release-quality, it frequently has known bugs and therefore is only recommended for developers and advanced users. Nevertheless, we encourage technically proficient users to help us develop and keep the OS X/ppc Firefox port viable. If you are interested in helping to test the unstable branch, please visit the TenFourFox Development blog.
We are no longer aware of other current builders. For a period of time AuroraFox issued a 10.5-only build, but is no longer supported as of Firefox 20. There are also some older Firefox rebuilds for Power Macs made directly from Mozilla's source code, but none of them are still maintained either. The long-running SeaMonkeyPPC (10.5 only) has not received an update in over a year as of this writing, nor has the OS X/ppc version of the Tor Browser Bundle (compatible with 10.4/10.5 and based on 10.4Fx code).
However, for Thunderbird users, there is Tenfourbird which is also based on 10.4Fx code and compatible with 10.4 and 10.5.
We do not officially endorse any alternative build (other than our own, of course), although some of these builders have contributed to this project.
10.4Fx comes in processor-tuned variants to give you the best speed on your particular Macintosh. The G4 and G5 versions include AltiVec code, for example, and the G5 JavaScript accelerator is tuned differently for better performance on the PowerPC 970. If you are using a G3 or a G5, you should use the G3 or G5 version, respectively. If you are using a G4, see our instructions on picking the right processor version for whether you should use the 7400 or 7450 build.
No. OS X 10.3 does not contain the secret CoreText that is necessary for portions of the underlying font code, and because current versions of Firefox depend strongly on Cocoa, the core operating system libraries in general are not advanced enough to support the browser base. There is no easy way to fix this. For Panther, your best bet is probably Camino 1.6.1; you might also consider SeaMonkey 1.1, which will work for Jaguar too. You could also run Classilla in Classic, which is also your best option for 10.0-10.1 if anyone is still running that, and of course the best choice for OS 8.6 and OS 9 if we do say so ourselves.
Yes. We will update the browser with regular security updates, which your browser will automatically prompt you to download when they become available.
New versions of 10.4Fx current with Firefox ESR will also be released until it is no longer possible to compile Mozilla's source code. However, even when it is no longer possible, there will still be feature and security updates for some time afterwards. We use this browser too, you know!
There are several causes for this message:
- The download is corrupt. Verify that it downloaded properly; you can confirm the archive is intact with our list of checksum hashes.
- The folder you are trying to unzip it in has bad permissions. Try moving the downloaded archive somewhere else on your hard disk and unzipping it there instead.
- The tool you used to unzip 10.4Fx does not understand the resource fork. Do not use third-party unzipping tools (such as Zipeg and others) to open the
.zipfile; it may corrupt the application. Use the native OS X archive utility that comes with Tiger and Leopard (it is in/System/Library/CoreServices/BOMArchiveHelper.app, or you can try right-clicking on the.zipfile and selecting it from theOpen With...list).
There are several causes for this message:
- You accidentally downloaded Firefox, not TenFourFox. Firefox is an Intel-only application and will not run on a Power Mac.
- You accidentally downloaded the wrong architecture version. A Power Mac G3 will not run anything but the G3 version; the G4 or G5 versions will either give you this message or not run at all.
- The tool you used to unzip 10.4Fx corrupted it. Do not use third-party unzipping tools (such as Zipeg and others) to open the
.zipfile; it may corrupt the application. Use the native OS X archive utility that comes with Tiger and Leopard (it is in/System/Library/CoreServices/BOMArchiveHelper.app, or you can try right-clicking on the.zipfile and selecting it from theOpen With...list).
A few users have reported this occurs on Leopard systems for reasons that are not entirely clear. Deleting the defective TenFourFox file and unzipping the package a second time seems to fix it.
Please give us the benefit of the doubt here: we do dogfood our own browser. In fact, the FAQ you're reading was written on a G5 using TenFourFox. Serious crippling issues like this are usually due to something local; failure to do basic browsing tasks, let alone even start up, would be rapidly apparent to our testing audience. To diagnose the problem will need a little detective work.
- First, verify you are running the correct processor build. The G5 build will crash on a system that does not have a G5 processor; the G4 build will crash on a G3 processor.
- Next, try to start in safe mode -- hold down the Option key as you start 10.4Fx. This will disable any problematic extensions and themes and certain other browser features. If this fixes the problem, you should attempt to find which add-on or feature is the problem. Some older add-ons may cause serious issues with the browser.
- If that doesn't fix it, you should try starting with a blank profile instead of your earlier Firefox profile. Profiles created by old versions of Firefox or TenFourFox may corrupt or be unreadable to later versions. The instructions will explain how to preserve as much of your profile as possible, such as bookmarks.
- If even that doesn't fix it, certain third-party operating system components may cause conflicts, particularly haxies, system extensions and monitoring software. Consider disabling these temporarily to see if they're the culprits.
Mozilla's Firefox OS X support pages also have other suggestions for fixing startup problems.
Since Firefox 5, Mozilla has required that most of the components of the browser be combined into a large "superlibrary" called XUL; it is no longer possible to run with the pieces separated anymore. XUL contains the bulk of the browser's code, over 70MB in size in current versions, and when the browser starts up this entire library needs to be scanned and components loaded from it. Part of this process happens on startup, but some happens on demand, so the first few pages you load might be slower than they should be. On a fast G5 this might be only a matter of a few seconds, but obviously it takes longer on computers with slower CPUs or slower hard disks.
There is a silver lining, though: once XUL is mostly/fully loaded, much of it remains in memory, and the browser becomes considerably faster. Plus, because the components are kept all in one place, certain types of glue code can be dispensed with, allowing the browser to have even less overhead once it's fully loaded. As long as you keep the browser open and don't quit it (you can sleep your Mac with 10.4Fx running), you won't have to pay this startup penalty again unless you have to restart the browser.
Yes, but: Intel Macintoshes are not supported. Please do not ask for support on Tenderapp. Because Intel is a better-known architecture to attackers than PowerPC, both Intel 10.4 and 10.5 are much more likely to be successfully attacked than PowerPC, even though both technically have the same or similar security holes. You are strongly advised to update to at least Snow Leopard (10.6) and run the regular Firefox, which will give you a more current operating system and still lets you run most OS X PowerPC applications. Apple still sells Snow Leopard, which even the earliest Intel Macs can run and is a necessary prerequisite for later versions of OS X.
That having been said, if you are absolutely unable or unwilling to upgrade your Intel Mac, it is possible to run TenFourFox on it under Rosetta with 10.4-10.6. However, because TenFourFox uses advanced custom code specific to the PowerPC architecture, Rosetta may have compatibility problems running the browser. Follow the steps below:
- First, make sure you are using the G3 version; the others, particularly the G5 version, will not work with Rosetta under any circumstances.
- Second, if the browser crashes when you try to start it, try to restart it in safe mode (hold down the Option key as you start the browser). If this allows the browser to start, you will need to disable the JavaScript compiler permanently. Go to
about:configby typing it in your address bar. Find all the preferences starting withjavascript.options.baselinejitandjavascript.options.ionand make sure they are set tofalseby double-clicking the value. If they are alreadyfalse, leave them alone. Do not change any other options. Restart 10.4Fx and see if this fixes the problem. You can also try this if you experience inexplicable crashes with 10.4Fx on your Intel Mac, even if it appears to start normally.
In general, using Rosetta to run TenFourFox will be noticeably slower on an Intel Mac, even if you are successful in starting it up. The reason is that Rosetta must convert all the PowerPC code in it into Intel machine language on the fly and there is no AltiVec or other acceleration support. As a result, it will appear to be much slower than Firefox 3.6, 10 or 16, all of which have native Intel code. However, it is more up-to-date with security patches and fixes, so you may prefer it if your Intel Mac is sufficiently fast enough.
At one time a TenFourFox 17.0.2 was available for Intel, donated by a contributor, but is no longer being maintained. You should not use this version anymore due to known security vulnerabilities. If you can help with building and maintaining a newer release, please post to the development blog.
Finally, let us say it again: Intel Macintoshes are not supported under any circumstances, period. Power Macs remain the primary focus of support and development; any indulgence of Intel Macs is on a best-effort basis only. Seriously, please do us all a favour and install Snow Leopard and run the real Firefox.
Yes, because as far as your Mac is concerned TenFourFox is Firefox, so it will use your previous profile seamlessly including all of your old bookmarks, all compatible add-ons and all settings. However, you may wish to install versions in between and upgrade through them so that your profile is correctly updated, such as from 2 to 3 to 3.5 to 3.6.
Similarly, if you are updating from a Firefox version prior to 10.0 (such as Firefox 3.6), download and install TenFourFox 10.0.11, run it once, then download and install 17.0.11, run that once, then download and install 24.7.0, run that once, then download and install 31.8.0, run that once, and finally download and install the current version of TenFourFox. If you are unable to do so, consider removing the Library/Application Support/Firefox folder in your home directory to make sure settings are clean and correct, but this will destroy your bookmarks, saved settings, cookies and add-ons. If your Mac has never run Firefox (even if it ran Camino), you don't need to do this.
Again, in some cases, you may have corrupted or buggy settings from older versions that will actually cause problems with 10.4Fx. In that case, you may need to reset your profile; there is usually no way to fix this otherwise.
As a corollary in general, old versions of Firefox that are no longer supported will typically not be able to use profiles from later versions of Firefox, and may even corrupt them. Once you have started using TenFourFox, you cannot go back to Firefox 3.6; you may lose data. Even if you get away with it for awhile, we won't support this, and you will run into trouble sooner or later.
If you must use the old Firefox, or use different add-ons or keep different settings, you will need separate profiles. Mozilla explains how to start the Firefox Profile Manager. These steps will also work for TenFourFox; just substitute the correct application.
Be careful: profile management, if done incorrectly, can cause you to lose your current settings and bookmarks. Follow the directions exactly. This is not recommended if you can avoid it.
Run firefox -P instead of firefox-bin -P.
In future, once you've created a new profile -- let's say you called it newprofile -- you can just type firefox -p newprofile to use that profile and avoid using the GUI Profile Manager altogether if you like.
Yes. In fact, you can even run them at the same time. Even Gecko-based browsers like Camino and SeaMonkey coexist peacefully with TenFourFox. (We recommend OmniWeb over Safari if you want your WebKit fix, btw.)
Again, the exception is Firefox itself. Firefox 3.6 cannot be run simultaneously with TenFourFox, because as we mentioned above, to the Mac TenFourFox is Firefox. Also, do again remember that older versions of Firefox may cease to work after upgrading to TenFourFox due to incompatible profiles. You may wish to use specific profiles for these older Firefox or even old TenFourFox versions if you must run them (but it is strongly advised you do not, as these versions of Firefox likely have security issues).
We do not support alternating between Firefox 3.6 and TenFourFox, as Firefox 3.6 will corrupt TenFourFox profiles and you will lose data!
You will get automatic prompts to update if the browser detects your version is not in sync with the version available. Sometimes this may occur even if you appear to be using the same version (we do not bump the version number between official releases to avoid getting out of sync with Mozilla, but the browser has a different build ID). If you are ever in doubt about the version you have, the TenFourFox Start Page will tell you if you are using the most current release.
Yes (see the main page for a list of languages). More are coming soon!
Is your language not listed? You can help! 10.4Fx has slightly different strings and technical requirements than Firefox, so regular language packs need modification. However, fortunately it's very easy to do. If you'd like to contribute, post to issue 42.
Yes. Starting with version 38, TenFourFox has a nearly complete implementation of the IonMonkey JavaScript compiler with special enhancements for PowerPC. We call it IonPower.
IonPower automatically accelerates both the browser, add-ons and website JavaScript by transparently compiling JavaScript into native PowerPC machine language; see our tech notes. It runs as much as 40 times faster than the interpreter.
As sites become larger and use more complex JavaScript, even with the special acceleration in 10.4Fx, execution will be slow particularly on G3 and early G4 systems. When script runtime exceeds a certain threshold, this error appears. The error is otherwise harmless and you can continue to wait if you know the operation will complete.
If you get this window frequently, there are a few ways you can improve the browser's script performance. Try some or all:
- Remove unnecessary browser add-ons. These sometimes will interfere with some sites.
- Use the NoScript add-on and allow JavaScript only to run on certain necessary sites.
- Disable the unresponsive script warning entirely.
Yes, if they are compatible with the same version of Firefox and do not require an Intel Macintosh. For example, addons such as Adblock Plus, NoScript and OverbiteFF are all compatible. You can get them by going to Tools, Add-ons.
Remember: add-ons and plugins are not the same. Add-ons are supported in 10.4Fx. Plugins aren't. Here's why we don't support plugins.
Tiger users should note that even if an extension works with PowerPC, some may require Leopard.
Users have asked Agile to support TenFourFox in 1Password and Agile has refused to support any non-Intel build of Firefox after 3.6, including TenFourFox. If you are unhappy about this policy, please tell them so (especially if you are a paid user). In the meantime, if you absolutely require 1Password support, you are stuck with Firefox 3.6. There is no way, unfortunately, to force 1Password to work with TenFourFox from our end.
You can enable the Gopher protocol with the OverbiteFF addon.
No. Plugins no longer operate in TenFourFox. 10.4Fx uses older compositing code to remain compatible with OS X Tiger, and the modified graphics stack in Firefox 4 is tuned for CoreAnimation, which Tiger does not support. More to the point, few if any PowerPC-compatible plugins remain updated, and Adobe no longer supports Flash on Power Macintosh.
When you visit a site with plugin content, an informational box may appear on the page where the plugin would normally appear. Sites may also tell you that you have no plugins installed. This is intentional, so that the site can try to present alternate content that does not require a plugin.
Between 6.0 and 17.0.11 an undocumented, unsupported plugin enable setting existed. This option is now completely gone because Mozilla completely removed the older compatibility code. If you turned it on in a previous version of TenFourFox, it will not work in version 19.0 and higher.
We explain this policy in more detail and ways you can access content without plugins.
If a site offers HTML5 H.264 video as an option, you can play many such videos outside of the browser using the optional QuickTime Enabler. Please read that wiki page carefully as some sites cannot be supported yet. You may be able to use one of the Firefox video downloader add-ons for those sites.
WebM video support is built into TenFourFox, including for YouTube. No special software is necessary.
WebM video is generally slower than H.264 video because no Power Mac has hardware acceleration for WebM. 10.4Fx does have AltiVec acceleration for WebM, however, which improves performance on G4 and G5 systems. For this reason, most G5 Power Macs can play standard definition WebM without issue but practically no G3 Macs can, due to the CPU power needed to decode, scale and composite the video in the browser.
As for G4 systems in the middle, many will play video with acceptable stuttering, but Macs slower than 1.25GHz are likely to perform badly. If you are in the upper G4 range, video plays back better if you play the video after it is done downloading and reduce the number of tabs open. Also, because decoded frames can be cached depending on available memory, playing the video a second time often performs considerably better than the first time. Finally, make sure the playback controls are not showing (move your mouse into and back out of the player window if they do not go away on their own), and turn off closed captioning if you don't need it, as compositing graphics over the video image uses additional CPU power.
Although 10.4Fx still supports Theora (VP3) video, much less content is available in this format than in WebM, and for this reason its playback is not as well optimized.
Please note that no Power Mac, not even the quad G5, plays high definition WebM fluidly in the browser, nor full-screen WebM. There just isn't enough CPU bandwidth. Similarly, even though recent versions of 10.4Fx support VP9 video, even partial playback is unwatchable on all but the Quad because of the data rate required.
Improving video performance is an active area of development in TenFourFox.
No. Java applet support is completely disabled. Java on 10.4 requires the Java Embedding Plugin, and as mentioned, plugins are no longer supported either. More to the point, neither 10.4 nor 10.5 receive security updates to the JVM any more, and trojans such as Flashback have been able to escalate their privileges even on Power Macs using flaws in these older Java environments. For these reasons Java is no longer supported by TenFourFox, and we strongly recommend you only run signed Java applets from trusted sources on Power Macintoshes.
10.4Fx does not support CoreText, which is needed to use the typographic information in certain AAT-encoded fonts that come with OS X. Without this information, certain ligatures and glyph reordering rules cannot be utilized, and the font will appear but not quite correctly. The font renderer in 10.4Fx does support Arabic and other international scripts, but requires OpenType fonts for the special language-specific features; see our tech notes.
No. WebGL requires OpenGL 2, which is not supported on Tiger, and Mozilla does not support WebGL on 10.5 either.
However, 10.4Fx does use native CoreGraphics for many portions of the browser, which may be hardware accelerated by the operating system.
In the years after Firefox 3.6, Mozilla introduced many large layout and interface changes. Fixing Mozilla bugs is out of our purview and most of this app is still Mozilla's code. To keep us focused on our mission of keeping Firefox compatible with the Power Mac, we need you to make sure your bug does not also occur in regular Firefox. If it does, it's not our bug.
We realize that the whole point of TenFourFox is to run Firefox on systems that Mozilla no longer supports, so comparisons to any Tier 1 platform are accepted, including Windows, Linux and Mac OS X 10.6+. However, unless your bug report is clearly specific to 10.4Fx, if your bug report does not compare behaviour with stock Firefox, it will be marked invalid. Firefox 3.6 doesn't count! We don't mean to be jerks, but we need to keep our heads above water and not spin our wheels -- or there won't be a TenFourFox in the future.
Please open a support ticket on our TenFourFox Tenderapp and one of our friendly support volunteers will try to help you.
If you wish to talk directly to the developers, feel free to drop by and comment on our TenFourFox Development blog.