503857 - no automatic dialup of internet connection with firefox 3.5

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[Wilf Moss]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; de; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090624 Firefox/3.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; de; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090624 Firefox/3.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

When opening Firefox 3.5, there is no automatic connection to the internet and browser shows a "server not found" message. (In contrast to 3.0.11 and IE8 where aAutomatic dialup works fine). Have worked thru all the obvious routes such as firewall settings and internet settings without success. NB: once an internet connection has been setup (e.g. by starting IE8), Firefox 3.5 works fine. The problem is purely the lack of automatic dialup function at launch.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open Firefox 3.5 without an active internet connection.
2. No automatic dialup of internet connection. 
3. "Server not found" message.
Actual Results:  
The browser fails to automatically connect with the internet so opens a page with a "Server not found" message. I have to setup an internet connection by other means (e.g. opening IE8). Then browser works.

Expected Results:  
When starting Firefox 3.5, it should automatically initiate a dialup process (like on Firefox 3.0.11 and IE8) that connects to the internet without any further manual intervention and brings up the correct start page.

The problem is purely the lack of automatic connection at the beginning. Once a connection has been established some other way, browser works fine. Have tried deactivating Windows firewall as suggested on Mozilla support page: no progress. Have checked internet settings and made changes: no progress. Many experienced users are reporting this bug where I live in Germany and nobody has found a solution yet.

Comment 1

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Firefox+cannot+load+websites+but+other+programs+can
and
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/How+to+make+Firefox+automatically+dial+up
should help.

Comment 2

[John]

I can confirm this issue.

I would also like to add another, probable related issue.

After manually booting the dialer and going to a web page, and then refreshing a page while in FF 3.5.1, another dialer window appears, and no progress is made towards the page refresh, until the dialer box is "X" 'd off or canceled.

Comment 3

[kai.unger]

I can confirm this one, too. (Windows XP SP 3)

The articles mentioned in Tyler Downers comment did not solve the problem.

My Solution: Stick to FF 3.0

Comment 4

[Martin F.]

confirmed, links didn't help.

Used to work in Seamonkey 1.1.x, doesn't work in SM2.0.x (which is pretty much the same as FF3.5 backend)

Comment 5

[Francesco Lodolo [:flod]]

There are a couple of people reporting this problem also on the Italian support forum.

One of them has the problem on both Windows XP and Windows 7, already tried all suggestions from SUMO (see comment#1), also tried on a fresh installed machine without active firewall and antivirus: IE displays the dial-up window, Firefox 3 does too, Firefox 3.5 and Firefox 3.6 don't.

Comment 6

[axel-krueger]

I can confirm this problem too. It arised after an update from Firefox (using winXP and now version 3.6).
When firefox is opened the dfü-dial-up-window should automatically pop up as it was in former versions. But now this doesn't happen anymore. Instead of this there comes the formerly described error-message (server not found). So an internet connection is only available if one starts the internet connection before opening firefox by opening the dfü-dial-up-window manually.
By the way, the connection in this case is not done with a router but with a modem using a dsl-connection. And it is no konfiguration-problem because all was working fine before the update took place. Also the IE8 is still working as it should be.

Comment 7

[Bernhard Übelacker]

Confirming this behaviour with version 3.6.10 and 4.0 beta 6 on Vista Home
Premium. The system connects by PPPoE to an ADSL-modem.

One thing I observed is that with the network cable unplugged the dial up
dialog appears.
Also working is if the IP-Protocols are disabled for this interface and the
cable is plugged in.

The problem probably lie in the function nsNativeConnectionHelper::OnConnectionFailed
in file nsNativeConnectionHelper.cpp:55.
If there the IsLinkUp returns true the dialog in question is never opened.
In my configuration windows assigns an automatic ip to this interface.

The IsLinkUp function returns true if there is an ip assigned other than 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1.

(Should this check probably better check for an default gateway set? Or could
it be an about:config option if the link status is queried?)

For my case I leave the IP-Protocols disabled as it's a direct connection between the pc and the modem.

Comment 8

[Bernhard Übelacker]

Attachment: Check for a default gateway instead of ip address only

- tested with a windows 7 virtual machine
- successful shows connection dialog with windows self assigned ip 169.x.x.x and therefore no gateway set
- does not show connection dialog when gateway is set by dhcp server
- according to msdn GAA_FLAG_INCLUDE_GATEWAYS is only supported by vista and later
- patch uses *_LH structures because NTDDI_VERSION is not far enough defined (pre vista?)

Comment 9

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

Reporter, are you still seeing this issue with Firefox 4.0.1 or later in safe mode or a fresh profile? If not, please close. These links can help you in your testing.
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles

Comment 10

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

No reply, INCOMPLETE. Please retest with Firefox 4 or later and a new profile (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles). Also, ensure you have the most up to date graphics drivers, operating system updates, and plugin versions (flash, java, etc). If you continue to see this issue with the newest Firefox and a new profile, then please comment on this bug.

Comment 11

[kai.unger]

Problem was solved for me (FF 3.6 and 4.0.1 on Windows XP) by activating the windows service RASAUTO.

Comment 12

[Blutin]

Problem not reproduced for me (FF 4.0.1 - Windows XP Home Edition - SP3): internet connection is automatically launched when I run Firefox.

May be it is OK from FF 3.6; but since this bug, I had got used to launch manually the connection before FF.

Comment 13

[Bernhard Übelacker]

Still happening with Firefox 5.0 on Windows 7.

Steps to reproduce:
- disconnect the ethernet network cable
- configure in "Internet Settings" a dialup connection (PPPoE)

- start firefox
-> it does not open the dialog "Connect ISP connection" instead
   error message server not found

- starting internet explorer
-> first a dialog is shown if you want to go to online mode
-> then the required dialog "Connect ISP connection" to dial up is shown.

The only problem with this bug is that this dial up dialog is not shown.