Unresponsive script error

User Help for Mozilla Firefox
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Lost User 293170
Posts: 0
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 5:00 pm

slightly different script error

Post by Lost User 293170 »

Haven't come across this twist to a script error in the various forums and would appreciate thoughts:

When I log on (using XP) as the user, I have absolutely no trouble launching firefox. When another user attempts to do so, firefox does not open and instead gets the script error box (i.e. stop script or continue). If you stop the script, then firefox opens nicely but the computer totally freezes up erratically during use, and there is no remedy other than rebooting. Trying to launch in safe mode yields the same script error. So far (hours later, of course) I have re-downloaded firefox, verified the latest version of Java, removed all extensions, increasesd the dom_max to 20 in the about:config, cleared the cache, rechecked msconfig to make sure nothing weird found its way into the the startup menu. I can't see anything different in any settings between the user who can launch firefox and the user who can't launch firefox. Everything in Tools:options is identical between the two users. When I check the tools:error console after firefox fails to launch and the script error box appears, there are dozens of new line items: dozens of parsing "warnings" and at least one real "error" which is always "Error: uncaught exception: Permission denied to call method Location.toString". Reinstalling the latest version of Java didn't help at all.

What ought I try next???

thank you!
schapel
Posts: 3483
Joined: November 4th, 2002, 10:47 pm
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Contact:

Post by schapel »

Try creating a new profile for the user that has the problems: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manag ... ew_profile
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dickvl
Posts: 54137
Joined: July 18th, 2005, 3:25 am

Post by dickvl »

Does that other user have the same add-ons (extensions and themes) installed?

You can start Firefox in -safe-mode to check if your problem is caused by an extension or theme (try the default theme).
If starting in Safe-mode works then disable your extensions (Tools > Add-ons > Extensions or use the option in the Safe-mode window) and re-enable them one by one until you find which one is causing it.
Close and restart Firefox after each change.

If that didn't help, see: Standard_Diagnostic_(KB)
(e.g. try a new profile to test if it is caused by your current profile)
pseudonym1
Guest

Re: slightly different script error

Post by pseudonym1 »

still perplexed wrote:When I log on (using XP) as the user, I have absolutely no trouble launching firefox. When another user attempts to do so, firefox does not open and instead gets the script error box (i.e. stop script or continue). If you stop the script, then firefox opens nicely ... Trying to launch in safe mode yields the same script error. So far (hours later, of course) I have re-downloaded firefox, verified the latest version of Java, removed all extensions

I observed the exact problem. Following the latest suggestion here, I created a clean profile for the affected user. That appears to have solved the problem.
davidbean
Guest

Unresponsive script problem in Firefox

Post by davidbean »

We had this problem a long time. My IT helper had the following solution:

We went into Internet Explorer / Tools / Internet Options / Advanced /Browsing and put a tick in "Disable script debugging (Other)". This solved the problem in Firefox.

Don't know how long this solution will stick, though.

Hope this helps.

David Bean
(email removed)

[edit]email removed. no mail support here but harvesting robots. trolly (moderator)[/edit]
hgpdave1
Guest

Post by hgpdave1 »

Based on the post by davidbean, I opened ie and the "Disable script debugging (Other)" box was already checked. So that didn't help me.

I don't have the problem when FF starts. I notice a slowdown in the browsing speed, then close FF and then get the Stop Script / Continue message. Restarting FF without rebooting solves the problem, at least temporarily.
Lost User 294728
Posts: 0
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 5:00 pm

Post by Lost User 294728 »

Sorry, I had not logged in before sending the previous post.
schapel
Posts: 3483
Joined: November 4th, 2002, 10:47 pm
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Contact:

Post by schapel »

yesmann
Guest

thanks!

Post by yesmann »

schapel wrote:Great! I've added the suggestion of creating a new profile to http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unresponsive_Script_Warning


i've had this happen to me befor but i couldnt remember how i fixed it, finally i found this site that helped out alot b/c i had the same problem opening up my fixfox and getting a script error. thanks alot guy!
Joe Random User
Guest

Cookie-related?

Post by Joe Random User »

schapel wrote:Try creating a new profile for the user that has the problems: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manag ... ew_profile


My wife's machine started this behavior, first with NYTimes.com, then later with Paypal (and NYTimes stopped doing it!).

At that point it went from irritating to obnoxious, so I took a look at it. I read this forum and several others, and tried disabling all add-ons. No joy.

So I created a new profile. That fixed the problem, but of course wasn't "her" Firefox yet. Then I added all the add-ons back in. Still no problem.

I copied the cookies.txt from the old profile to the new -- and the problem came back. Hmm, says I, this is very interesting.

So I went back to the old profile and deleted all Paypal cookies -- and that seems to have fixed it.

Clearly this doesn't mean "Cookies are broken" or "This will fix it for any site", but it really seemed to do it in this case. Will post if it returns.
schapel
Posts: 3483
Joined: November 4th, 2002, 10:47 pm
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Contact:

Post by schapel »

As noted in http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unresponsive_Script_Warning getting the warning at specific web sites is usually a problem with the site. It seems that the problems on both the <a href="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3024102">NY Times site</a> and the Paypal site were due to cookies and could be fixed by deleting the respective sites' cookies. If you see the problem again, complain to the site so they can fix their problem.
Joe Random User
Guest

Yeah, but...

Post by Joe Random User »

schapel wrote:As noted in http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unresponsive_Script_Warning getting the warning at specific web sites is usually a problem with the site. It seems that the problems on both the <a href="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3024102">NY Times site</a> and the Paypal site were due to cookies and could be fixed by deleting the respective sites' cookies. If you see the problem again, complain to the site so they can fix their problem.


Sure, but it's not that obvious -- my other machines all visit those sites fine, including logging in as the same user. So telling the site "It doesn't work" isn't going to help them much, since they'll say "it works for us". And folks who DO have the problem might should try whacking the cookies before going thru the hassle of creating a new profile.

BTW, you have an ID that gets you into the KB so you can update it, apparently -- my forum ID doesn't let me do so, and the "Log in/Create Account" link takes you to a login page with no way to create an ID! I was going to add the "delete cookies" suggestion to that page -- it would have saved me an hour or two of tinkering. Maybe you can add it?

Cheers...
Guest
Guest

Re: Yeah, but...

Post by Guest »

Ah, I just noticed that your post had a link to another thread where the NYT-specific problem was listed, and that folks in THAT thread do suggest whacking cookies. Still, having it in the KB article would save folks time...
schapel
Posts: 3483
Joined: November 4th, 2002, 10:47 pm
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Contact:

Re: Yeah, but...

Post by schapel »

Joe Random User wrote:Sure, but it's not that obvious -- my other machines all visit those sites fine, including logging in as the same user. So telling the site "It doesn't work" isn't going to help them much, since they'll say "it works for us". And folks who DO have the problem might should try whacking the cookies before going thru the hassle of creating a new profile.

Whacking the cookies seems to be only a temporary solution, because it seems to be a problem with the site. If enough people complain, the developers will fix the site. Too many times I've seen people say that complaining to the site won't work, only to have it work a short time later. The clearest example was when the ESPN site wouldn't work one day and I told people in about ten threads to complain to the site. Nearly everyone said that could never work, and one person even said he knew the people who ran the site and claimed they did not respond to user feedback. Of course, the next day the site worked perfectly. When enough people complain to site with problems, they'll fix their problems.
Joe Random User
Guest

Re: Yeah, but...

Post by Joe Random User »

schapel wrote:Whacking the cookies seems to be only a temporary solution, because it seems to be a problem with the site. If enough people complain, the developers will fix the site. Too many times I've seen people say that complaining to the site won't work, only to have it work a short time later. The clearest example was when the ESPN site wouldn't work one day and I told people in about ten threads to complain to the site. Nearly everyone said that could never work, and one person even said he knew the people who ran the site and claimed they did not respond to user feedback. Of course, the next day the site worked perfectly. When enough people complain to site with problems, they'll fix their problems.


Well, I'm sure not trying to pick a fight over this. My point is that it MAY not be anything the site can ever reproduce. I do support/development for a living, and there's a phenomenon I call an "anecdotal" problem report: "This bad thing happened, I have no idea why, I can't cause it at will, but it's worth reporting so that if a pattern emerges, you'll have the breadcrumbs to connect the dots" (to torture a metaphor!).

I suspect that it's possible for this to be caused by a stale cookie that isn't invalid per se, but is instead designed for older versions of the scripting on the page -- that is, the site updates the page (as Paypal has recently) and the new code tries to use the old cookie and winds up off in the weeds. While careful scripting (and, oh yes, testing!!!) would avoid this, it's a transient problem and in the category of ones that are hard to diagnose after the fact, when the developers' machines are surely all updated (and the test machines probably start "clean", and are thus immune to it).

So of course it's worth reporting to the site. My point was that it still seems worth listing as a solution, since the site MAY not respond, and in the meantime, the user needs to get things done in the meantime. And the KB page *doesn't* suggest clearing the cookies, which isn't an obvious answer in any case, so I'd suggest it should. (I see that creating accounts is deliberately disabled "due to spam"; I assume that means morons hacking the pages in stupid ways, which is really sad.)
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