1166508 - [Unity Desktop Integration 3.0.2] Some addons.mozilla.org search plugins fail to install with "Sorry, you need a Mozilla-based browser (such as Firefox) to install a search plugin" error message

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox :: Extension Compatibility, defect)

Description

[Nathan Dorfman]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/38.0
Build ID: 20150511103818

Steps to reproduce:

Initially it appeared almost as if *all* plugins failed to install. However it turns out that it's only the ones I actually want. For instance, all of the below three:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/271853/addon-271853-latest.xml?src=search

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/11973/addon-11973-latest.xml?src=search

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/363990/addon-363990-latest.xml?src=search


Actual results:

Instead of the browser's confirmation dialog, I see a JavaScript dialog from the website with the hilarious error message "Sorry, you need a Mozilla-based browser (such as Firefox) to install a search plugin."

I'm assuming it's a JavaScript dialog based solely on the fact that the "Prevent this page from creating additional dialogs" checkbox appears after the second time.

And of course it's hilarious because I am using Firefox without any modifications of my User-Agent string which http://whatsmyuseragent.com/ reports as "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/38.0", as expected.


Expected results:

Any of the below:

1) The plugin should be installed without any fuss

2) Otherwise, an error message that isn't braindead should appear

Comment 1

[Nathan Dorfman]

Oops, looks like the plugin links I pasted don't actually work. These should (as in, they should take you to the plugin page, at which point clicking the 'Add to Firefox' button will reproduce the error):

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/wolfram-alpha-searchextension/?src=search

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/wolframalpha/?src=search

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/wolframalpha-s/?src=search

Comment 2

[Gingerbread Man]

Attachment: works for me.png

Works for me in Linux Mint KDE 17.1.

Any difference in a new profile?
https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles

Comment 3

[Nathan Dorfman]

Sorry, it does indeed work in a new profile. I wonder what could be wrong with mine..

Comment 4

[Nathan Dorfman]

OK, I hope it's correct to reopen this old ticket.. the same issue is now happening for me even with a brand new profile. Firefox is newer this time around, reporting

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:40.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/40.0

I create the new profile and immediately use it to navigate to one of the above addons links, only to receive the "Sorry, you need a Mozilla-based browser (such as Firefox) to install a search plugin" error.

Comment 5

[Mathieu Agopian [:magopian]]

I can't reproduce on a release version of Firefox, nor on the beta version (41).

Comment 6

[Nathan Dorfman]

So, while creating a brand new profile didn't work around the issue, restarting in safe mode does, even when using my original, bloated profile. In fact, I could even add the plugins I wanted in safe mode, then restart unsafe and keep them.

I then started a new profile again, and saved the output of about:plugins. It must be one of these causing the error, right? I still don't quite understand why any of them would cause the mozilla site to think I'm not running firefox, but at least I'm getting somewhere...

Note that some plugins are preinstalled -- not exactly sure which by Mozilla, and which by Ubuntu -- and I added Java and Silverlight myself.

Comment 7

[Nathan Dorfman]

Attachment: Brand New Profile's about:plugins

Comment 8

[Nathan Dorfman]

I recently had a chance to try this on a brand new, untouched installation of Ubuntu 14.04.3 x64. First thing I did was navigate directly to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/wolfram-alpha-searchextension/?src=search only to receive the same error.

As before, "Restart with addons disabled" allows me to finally install the search extension. At this point it seemed obvious to blame one of the Ubuntu-provided plugins, HOWEVER... I then deleting /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/* and restarting firefox. After this, about:plugins shows only the default Mozilla WebRTC thing, and nothing else, but attempting to install a search extension still results in the error.

Comment 9

[Nathan Dorfman]

Created Ubuntu bug here https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/1491969

Comment 10

[Gingerbread Man]

Chris, are you the right person to reach out to, or can you pass this along to the appropriate people?

STR:
1. https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/wolframalpha/
2. Click the “Add to Firefox” button.
3. Click the Cancel button in the “Sorry, you need a Mozilla-based browser (such as Firefox) to install a search plugin” alert box.
4. Add-ons Manager, Extensions category. Disable the Unity Desktop Integration extension.
5. Back in the tab with the search plugin page, click the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.
6. Click the “Add to Firefox” button again. There's now the usual prompt to confirm installing the search engine.

(In reply to Nathan Dorfman from comment #9)
> Created Ubuntu bug here
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/1491969

Duplicate of
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/1252910

Comment 11

[Chris Coulson]

I'm not the right person to talk to about this bug. I reported the issue nearly 3 years ago (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity-firefox-extension/+bug/1069793), but nothing happened

Comment 15

[Gingerbread Man]

Jorge, do you have any Ubuntu contacts you could talk to?

Comment 16

[David Barth]

Hi, this bug seems due to the extension which was helping run web applications in their own container on Ubuntu. This extension is now becoming obsolete and we will unpublish it shortly.

Comment 17

[Nathan Dorfman]

I ended up removing all four addons from my system (since they seem to be unmaintained and/or deprecated); here are the package names:

xul-ext-ubufox - Ubuntu modifications for Firefox
xul-ext-unity - Firefox extension: Unity Integration
xul-ext-webaccounts - Ubuntu Online Accounts extension for firefox
xul-ext-websites-integration - Firefox extension: Website Integration

Thanks everyone!

Comment 18

[Chris Coulson]

(In reply to Nathan Dorfman from comment #17)
> I ended up removing all four addons from my system (since they seem to be
> unmaintained and/or deprecated); here are the package names:
> 
> xul-ext-ubufox - Ubuntu modifications for Firefox
> xul-ext-unity - Firefox extension: Unity Integration
> xul-ext-webaccounts - Ubuntu Online Accounts extension for firefox
> xul-ext-websites-integration - Firefox extension: Website Integration
> 
> Thanks everyone!

The first one definitely isn't unmaintained or deprecated

Comment 19

[el_gallo_azul]

I found the solution in another bug report somewhere, which is to disable the Unity Integration plugin before adding a search engine, and then enabling it again afterwards.

Comment 20

[Chris Coulson]

I've permanently disabled these addons in Ubuntu now - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-2743-3/