SM 2.36 will not start on Mac

[Anonymosity]

I decided to try SeaMonkey 2.36 on my Mac from Tinderbox builds on the Moz FTP site, and it would not start. I compared the contents of the app package of 2.36 with 2.35 and found that in the MacOS folder, libmozalloc.dylib is missing in SM 2.36. When I copied that file from SM 2.35 to 2.36, it would start. Why is that file missing from a build which is available from a download site? Why include a build that will not start up because something is missing?

[barbaz]

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1176599

[rsx11m]

I decided to try SeaMonkey 2.36 on my Mac from Tinderbox builds on the Moz FTP site, ... Why include a build that will not start up because something is missing?

It's a tinderbox build - by definition, it's an automated build triggered by any change made to the repository, as long as it compiles, whether the automated tests proceed or not. Thus, like nightly builds, they may be completely broken.

Always make sure that you know which build you are using, and figure out if it's the right one for you...

[Anonymosity]

Why could they not just add in libmozalloc.dylib if it is missing? I did that, and 2.36 did start up. The SeaMonkey menu had only "Quit SeaMonkey" in it, however. What would cause that? All the other files were present.

[barbaz]

Why could they not just add in libmozalloc.dylib if it is missing?

I'm not certain, but maybe something like because this is dangerous and highly likely to lead to linking errors if the build isn't designed (at build time) to work with that specific libmozalloc.dylib?

I did that, and 2.36 did start up. The SeaMonkey menu had only "Quit SeaMonkey" in it, however. What would cause that?

No idea... maybe bad linking caused by it being the "wrong" libmozalloc.dylib? That menu is normal for me in a self build...

I would suggest that if you are going to copy a libmozalloc.dylib, that rather than copying libmozalloc.dylib from SeaMonkey 2.35, try copying it from Firefox 39.0 release. That may not work either but it is probably closer to what you would get in a self build.

(Disclaimer: I self built the 2.36 I'm using so haven't tried any of this stuff, so I have no idea if, or how, it will work. I wouldn't be comfortable copying a libmozalloc into a different Firefox/SeaMonkey/other Gecko application and running the result on my main machine. Do this at your own risk, and preferably in a disposable environment or otherwise where everything is backed up.)

[rsx11m]

Why could they not just add in libmozalloc.dylib if it is missing? I did that, and 2.36 did start up. The SeaMonkey menu had only "Quit SeaMonkey" in it, however. What would cause that? All the other files were present.

That's what the patch in the bug report is doing (among a few other things referencing that library, which may be the reason that it only "kind of" worked for you).

The patch just has been approved to land for 2.36, but hasn't done so yet (tree status in SeaMonkey is a bit fuzzy due to the infrastructure issues). There was some discussion whether or not Thunderbird needs it as well, but they don't, given that they skipped their 39.0 beta.

[rsx11m]

Patch checked in, the next comm-release 2.36 tinderbox build should have the fix.
http://hg.mozilla.org/releases/comm-release/graph/e4c53c8c6395

[Anonymosity]

I tried getting libmozalloc.dylib from Firefox 39 and putting that into SM 2.36 and it worked better. The SeaMonkey menu looked normal. Thanks for the suggestion. I am still using 2.35, since it works well enough. I was going to wait for the final release, but if that does not happen, I will have to switch to 2.36 and hope eventually there will be an official release.

[rsx11m]

SeaMonkey 2.35 is work in progress, 2.36 should follow shortly thereafter.