Google login buttons don't work

User Help for Mozilla Firefox
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DanRaisch
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Re: Google login buttons don't work

Post by DanRaisch »

The profile folder includes a settings file through with the user can modify the way Firefox reacts to CSS, site style sheets, and other web page elements, and also some user interface elements. That's why adding an extension can add elements to that interface.
then I don't understand why installing Firefox over the current installation should not fix the problem.
That's because the profile is not located in the same directory as the program files and is not replaced when the program is overwritten. That's intentional so that, among other reasons, the user data is not overwritten during updates.
Is there noone from the dev team reding these posts and trying to find the source of the problem?
Actually, no, there is not. But if there were devs present, they still wouldn't be able to tell you exactly what caused the issue without sitting at your computer to analyze all of the user profile data and even then they might not be able to give a 100% guarantee of an actual and specific problem source.
time2fly
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Joined: August 9th, 2017, 6:24 am

Re: Google login buttons don't work

Post by time2fly »

@ Brummelchen
Right, everything is working on your side, so Firefox must be fine, and I must be too stupid to enable scripts after 30+ years of software & web development :)
Sorry, but your conclusions (nothing to fix by Firefox; must be scripts disabled) are of no help. I was well aware of the temporary "new account" solution (I actually know how to Google), but that was not the reason I came here. I was looking for a permanent fix.

@ DanRaisch
I understand the notion of settings files. So is there a way to reset all settings without having to import all bookmarks into a new account? I have about 3000 bookmarks synced over several PCs, and I'm a little reluctant to mess things up. I've had bookmark loss before, due to sync errors. Firefox syncing is a cool feature, but it has some serious glitches.
gorhill
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Joined: February 10th, 2015, 8:00 am

Re: Google login buttons don't work

Post by gorhill »

time2fly wrote:Maybe it would help to explain why a profile can become corrupted causing errors in random webpages.
You could use about:support of both profiles, "Copy text to clipboard" and make a diff of how the profile which does not work is different from the profile which works. Just something to try.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Google login buttons don't work

Post by DanRaisch »

I've had bookmark loss before, due to sync errors. Firefox syncing is a cool feature, but it has some serious glitches.
I agree completely, which is why I never suggest Firefox Sync to anyone.

You could try backing up your regular profile, then creating a new profile and copying the file prefs.js from that new profile to the old. That should clear all settings but should also make Firefox unaware of any config values changed or added by extensions. If that process does not resolve the issues you've been having you could restore the prefs.js file from the backup. If it does resolve them, you can reinstall any extensions you want to continue to use.
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Frank Lion
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Re: Google login buttons don't work

Post by Frank Lion »

time2fly wrote:So you're suggesting there's no other way than to go through the hassle of transfering all data to a new profile?
Well, the 'hassle' takes less than 10 minutes, which I reckon is less time that it has taken you to write your replies here. Btw I know how long it takes, because I wrote the stuff - http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_ ... ew_profile
I was looking for a permanent fix.
If you already know that a clean profile works, then so long as you are selective in what you transfer (see link above) then it will be a permanent fix.

There is another way and that is to figure out what is wrong in your profile and fix it. Trouble is, you are the only one who can see and access your profile, so you would be the one to do that.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke (attrib.)
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time2fly
Posts: 10
Joined: August 9th, 2017, 6:24 am

Re: Google login buttons don't work

Post by time2fly »

You could try backing up your regular profile, then creating a new profile and copying the file prefs.js from that new profile to the old. That should clear all settings but should also make Firefox unaware of any config values changed or added by extensions. If that process does not resolve the issues you've been having you could restore the prefs.js file from the backup. If it does resolve them, you can reinstall any extensions you want to continue to use.
Sounded promising, tried that, but no success - personal settings have no effect. Also removed all addins and extensions - no success. So I tried the following, in the hope that I can keep my old profile and not break my syncs:

1. Created new profile and copied personal files of broken profile to new profile - success (as stated previously)

2. Overwrote broken profile with ALL original top folder files of new profile: partial success. When I open Paypal, I see the top menu. Then I open Idealo, but no pictures, and in Google the Login buttons don't work. HOWEVER, if I change the opening sequence of these three webpages, always the FIRST webpage works, but the other 2 after that don't.

So I felt lucky and copied all personal files from a backup broken profile to the mixed broken profile in 2, and suddenly everything works!

So, since a new profile has 40 top files, the broken profile has 95 files, and neither extensions, addons, bookmarks, pinned webpages, cache, security databases, private settings or any other personal files seem to have caused the problem, it must be one of those 30 or so other non-personal files that somehow got installed by Firefox over time.

Thanks guys for your help - maybe someone can figure it out...
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