Restored 'about:newtab' not working

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tdrs
Posts: 53
Joined: September 19th, 2010, 6:59 am

Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by tdrs »

I tested and verified this behavior on a freshly set up profile (no extensions, no themes, no plugins except 3 standard ones).
Version: Firefox 51.0.1 32-bit (I think I have this problem since 50.0 but I am not sure)

My only options set on this profile:
When Firefox starts: Show my windows and tabs from last time
Homepage: about:newtab

My only options in about:config :
browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab;false

Prerequisites:
Window is open -> Close all tabs (what remains is one tab with the about:newtab-page)
Close the window (no firefox.exe in taskmanager anymore)
Open Firefox (no commandline parameters)
The window opens and shows 1 tab in which about:newtab has loaded.

The problem:
The FIRST TAB itself will not load websites.
When I use the left mouse-button anywhere on the new-tab-page it will not load the site (eg. one of my pinned sites), it will just stay on the new-tab-page and stay responsive (hoovering, site-pinning etc.)
Using the third mouse-button will open my pinned sites in new tabs without problems.
The addressbar reacts also, if i type 'test' in it it will change its content to 'https://duckduckgo.com/?q=test' BUT will not load the page.

Can somebody reproduce this behavior?
Win7x64, GTX 1060
User avatar
therube
Posts: 21703
Joined: March 10th, 2004, 9:59 pm
Location: Maryland USA

Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by therube »

> no plugins except 3 standard ones

Which are?

Anyhow, assuming I've followed your steps correctly, looks to work as expected for me.
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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tdrs
Posts: 53
Joined: September 19th, 2010, 6:59 am

Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by tdrs »

-OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco Systems, Inc.
-Primetime Content Decryption Module provided by Adobe Systems, Incorporated
-Widevine Content Decryption Module provided by Google Inc.
(and there is a yellow text above each one '<modulename> will be installed shortly. ')

But since they are not in my normal-day profile I do not think they make problems in this case.
Win7x64, GTX 1060
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tdrs
Posts: 53
Joined: September 19th, 2010, 6:59 am

Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by tdrs »

therube wrote:Anyhow, assuming I've followed your steps correctly, looks to work as expected for me.
May I assume you tested this on another client than the one which you are posting from?
Because the footer of your post tells me you use Firefox/49.0 which worked fine for me too 8-)
Win7x64, GTX 1060
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therube
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Location: Maryland USA

Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by therube »

> May I assume you tested this on another client than the one which you are posting from?

Yes, FF 51.0.1.
Though the version I tested with does not include either -Primetime or -Widevine.
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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therube
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Location: Maryland USA

Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by therube »

Oh, that's weird. Two things actually.

So I deleted the (what was a newly created) Profile.
Started FF.
For whatever reason, I did NOT get the prompt asking for it to be my default browser.
(Ordinarily it would.)

And with that, I can confirm your STR.
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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therube
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Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by therube »

I'm not seeing where closing all tabs except for about:newtab is a prerequisite.
Nor, browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab;false.

Though about:newtab does have to be the first tab.


So it looks like all that is need is:

browser.startup.homepage;about:newtab
browser.startup.page;3 (load prior session on startup)
about:newtab has to be the first tab



(Ah, I might have been on FF 50 when I looked yesterday... ?)
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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therube
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Location: Maryland USA

Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by therube »

Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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therube
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Location: Maryland USA

Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by therube »

If when testing, if you do not start with a new Profile, & you jump from FF 50 to 51 & then back & forth..., once in FF 51, you may need to test (open, close [FF 51]) at least 3 times before the bug manifests (in FF 51) consistently.
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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tdrs
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Joined: September 19th, 2010, 6:59 am

Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by tdrs »

therube wrote:Oh, that's weird. Two things actually.

So I deleted the (what was a newly created) Profile.
Started FF.
For whatever reason, I did NOT get the prompt asking for it to be my default browser.
(Ordinarily it would.)

And with that, I can confirm your STR.
Oh, thank you thank you thank you. I already was afraid it is only me and my imagination :)
And thank you for creating the bug of course :)

PS: what is STR?
Win7x64, GTX 1060
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therube
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Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by therube »

Steps To Reproduce.
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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tdrs
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Joined: September 19th, 2010, 6:59 am

Re: Restored 'about:newtab' not working

Post by tdrs »

I seem to have the same problem again in 54.0.1
@therube: Can you reproduce this behavior again too?
Win7x64, GTX 1060
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