1452718 - Mozilla Firefox 59.0.2: Search field in a browsing Tab does not work with Google search engine. Task bar search filed works.

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: Search, defect, P5)

Description

[George Vlantis]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:59.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/59.0
Build ID: 20180323154952

Steps to reproduce:

I am running Windows 7 on an HP 840GS PC (both corporate standards of my employer).   I installed Firefox 59.0.2.    I selected Google as my default browser in the "Tools" "Options" "Search" tab.   I opened a new tab and enabled the "Search" field by clicking on the "cog" in the upper right corner.   

I entered text into the search field (e.g. "foo") of a new tab and hit "Enter" or click on the right arrow button on the end of the search field.   Initially, it worked but after a day or two it stopped working.   I tried reinstalling 59.0.2 and it doesn't work.   Rebooting doesn't help.


Actual results:

Nothing happens when you enter text in the new tab search field and click on the right arrow button.


Expected results:

The browser should launch google with the search field in the new tab.

I did some exploration, and I enabled the search bar to the right of the "URL bar" in "Tools" "Options" "Search" and it performs correctly.

Comment 1

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Formerly of Ecosystem QA - please needinfo @mcoman for things regarding the team]

Build ID 	20180412001050
User Agent 	Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:61.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/61.0

I wasn't able to reproduce the issue on the latest Firefox Release (59.0.2) and the latest Nightly (61.0a1) on Windows 10 x64 and Windows 7 x64. After setting Google as my default search engine, writing strings in the address bar and clicking the right arrow correctly searches for the written string.

Could you please retest this using a new clean Firefox profile (https://goo.gl/AWo6h8), maybe even safe mode (https://goo.gl/AR5o9d), to eliminate custom settings as a possible cause?

Comment 2

[George Vlantis]

Hi Ciprian,

       Thanks for looking into this.   I tested the Safe Mode (it's easier) and the problem persists.   The browser doesn't launch from the Search filed in a New Tab.

       BTW, before submitting the bug in Bugzilla, I tried the Mozilla community and jscher2000 gave me some ideas to try.   He has the issue with his configuration.    If you know him, you can verify that it's more than just me with this problem.

       As mentioned I even tried re-installing version 59.0.2, and same issue.    Could it be that I enabled 'Send websites a "Do Not Track" signal in the "Tools" "Options" "Privacy & Security" tab?   It's really the only substantive thing that I have changed recently...

Comment 3

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Formerly of Ecosystem QA - please needinfo @mcoman for things regarding the team]

Hi George,

I have that very same setting checked on my regular profile and I haven't encountered this. That's why I'm thinking this is caused by some other pref or option in the profile that is not as easily debugable. 

Trying to reproduce this issue on a new profile, getting the prefs.js file from within and comparing it to the affected profile's prefs.js would get us closer to understanding what's happening.

Could you post both of those files? I'd be happy to take a look at them and try to get to the bottom of this.

Comment 4

[George Vlantis]

Attachment: George Vlantis's default prefs.js file

For diffing vs. working profile to determine why search field in the new tab doesn't work.

Comment 5

[George Vlantis]

Hi Ciprian,

     I don't have time to create a new profile today, but I am uploaded my prefs.js file for you to 'diff' vs. a working Windows 7 PC running FFox v5.90.2.

     If you need another profile, I will do it on Monday.

     I will try to remember to test it without my company's proxy this weekend at home.

     Have a good weekend.

Cheers.

Comment 6

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Formerly of Ecosystem QA - please needinfo @mcoman for things regarding the team]

Hi George,

It's not clear to me what's going on and why the search bar doesn't work for you. I've configured a new profile with the prefs you have enabled and the search bar from a new tab works as expected.

So again we come back to trying a new profile as that will ensure that all settings are back to their defaults. When you have the time, could you please do so and report your results?

Comment 7

[George Vlantis]

Hi Ciprian,

      I created a second profile using the "firefox.exe -P" command.   The New Tab search field works!

      But before celebrating, I'd like to keep my bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history, save template entries, etc.   I'd like to try deleting all the cookies, but I can't find it in the "Tools" "Options" "Privacy & Security" tab.  Is that what you recommend?

      Or is there a way to preserve all the items I mentioned and clear everything else?   i.e. Cookies plus ????

      Thanks.

P.S. I thought it might be mail.yahoo.com (which I normally use) which might be screwing up Firefox, so I spent some time working in it today, hoping to break the new tab search field feature, but I couldn't break it.

P.P.S.  If you remember, I tried re-installing Firefox over itself, and that didn't work.   If I uninstall Firefox, will I lose my profile(s)?

Comment 8

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Formerly of Ecosystem QA - please needinfo @mcoman for things regarding the team]

Hi George,

> But before celebrating, I'd like to keep my bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history, save template entries, etc. 

I suggest creating a Sync account and synchronizing the two profiles (the affected one and the unaffected one) so that your bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history, open tabs, add-ons and options will transfer to the new profile. After that you can simply delete the previous profile.

> I'd like to try deleting all the cookies, but I can't find it in the "Tools" "Options" "Privacy & Security" tab.  Is that what you recommend?

Deleting all cookies can be done by clicking the Firefox menu button -> Library -> History -> Clear Recent History ... (or Ctrl+Shift+Delete), click the dropdown menu and select "Everything", uncheck everything except Cookies and press clear all. 

OR

Go to about:preferences#privacy, scroll down to "Cookies and Site Data", click the "Clear Data..." button, select cookies and click Clear.

>P.P.S.  If you remember, I tried re-installing Firefox over itself, and that didn't work.   If I uninstall Firefox, will I lose my profile(s)?

Uninstalling the browser will not delete your created profiles. 

If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to leave a comment. But considering that the issue is no longer reproducible I will close it as Resolved - Worksforme. If you will encounter this behavior in the future, please feel free to reopen the issue and provide more information.

Comment 9

[George Vlantis]

Hi Ciprian,

         A minor point, I wouldn't close this bug yet, because we're still not out of the woods.   Also, you cannot reproduce it, but it is repeatable.

         So I tried deleting the cache and cookies with the Library->History method, and it had no effect.   New Tab search field doesn't work.   

(1) I tried running Firefox with two profiles, using the "firefox -P" method, but if Firefox is already running, it doesn't allow you to choose the profile,  so how do I "Sync" the two profiles?

(2) I forgot how to dump the profile.   I would like to dump the two profiles to diff them.   I don't think cloning the profile and deleting one of them is a fix.   By that I mean, we wouldn't understand what's going wrong, and so it may happen again.   I'd rather solve the problem by understand what has gone wrong and actually fixing it in the current profile.   The clone method just sounds like a work-around that won't help your developers actually fix the issue.    I'd like to help you to help your developers.   So what was the method to dump the profiles again?

Comment 10

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Formerly of Ecosystem QA - please needinfo @mcoman for things regarding the team]

Hi George,

I understand, I'm reopening and assigning a component to the issue so that the Engineering team can weigh in. 

>(1) I tried running Firefox with two profiles, using the "firefox -P" method, but if Firefox is already running, it doesn't allow you to choose the profile,  so how do I "Sync" the two profiles?

Open affected profile, log into a sync account, wait for the synchronization to happen, log out of sync, close Firefox, reopen with the unaffected profile, log into the same sync account, wait for the synchronization to happen and now all your bookmarks, history, logins, open tabs and addons should be in the unaffected profile.

>(2) So what was the method to dump the profiles again?

I'm not sure what you mean by this, but I'm unsure if we have a method of fully comparing two profiles. The Engineering team could provide more insight here though.

Could you open the Browser Console (Ctrl+Shift+J) and see if any errors appear in the console while reproducing this issue?

Comment 11

[George Vlantis]

(1) I did the "work-around" you described.    I started Sync in the old PC profile, waited until updated, and exited.   Then I ran "firefox.exe -P" and switched to the new PC profile.   I logged into Sync, and it said it connected.   The Firefox Alert put up a little dialog box that that Sync would run momentarily.   Nothing happened.   I tried logging in and out, and got the same message and nothing happened.   I ran the Firefox app on my Android phone, and it synced right away.   I checked that recent changes to my address book on my old PC profile were now present on my cellphone Firefox app.

So, I went back to the PC and noticed that there is a feature in "Tools" called "Sync Now" after I logged into Sync.   Then I pressed "Sync Now" but the bookmarks don't get updated.  In fact, it replaced "Sync Now" with "Reconnect to Sync...".   My guess is that it just logged me out and so I logged in again, and I got the Firefox Alert dialog box that I had logged and would Synch shortly, but again nothing happened.   I tried Tools->Sync Now, and again "Sync Now" is replaced by an entry to log into Synch again.

For some reason your method of cloning the profile, doesn't seem to work.   Have you ever done this before and got it to work?   I was thinking because the old PC profile is not running, the new PC profile would Sync with the cellphone which is in sync with the old PC profile, but the cellphone being connected doesn't help matters.   The new profile just doesn't sync.

(2) When I said "dump" the old and new profile, I meant you instructed me early to dump the new profile somehow.   I uploaded the output file to this bug report.   You can take a look at it.    Anyway, I still would like to dump the old and new profiles and diff the two, using the normal 'diff' or 'windiff.exe", so I can figure out what is causing the old profile not to work.

(3) I will try your suggestion to do Ctrl+Shift+J shortly and replicate the New Tab search issue.   Stay tuned.  It should quick.

Comment 12

[George Vlantis]

(3) I tried Ctrl+Shift+J and tried creating a New Tab and entering the search field with "foo" and clicked on the arrow and nothing happens in the debugger window.  Completely blank.   Nothing appears on the status line at the bottom of the browser window either.   It's not accessing the network.   Sorry.

Comment 13

[George Vlantis]

(2) I misspoke earlier.   How do I get the prefs.js file created.  I want to diff old PC profile with new PC profile.

Comment 14

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Formerly of Ecosystem QA - please needinfo @mcoman for things regarding the team]

(1) Yes, I have done this many times when I've broken my profile. If it doesn't work for you, you should file a bug in Firefox :: Sync.

(2) I'm not sure it's just some pref that makes your profile do this, but the prefs.js file can be found in your profile folder (go to about:support and click the "Open Folder" button).

Comment 15

[George Vlantis]

Attachment: prefs0.js is the old profile that can't do a search in a new tab

Comment 16

[George Vlantis]

Attachment: prefs1.js is the new profile which can't sync with my phone or original profile

Comment 17

[George Vlantis]

Hi Ciprian,

      I uploaded the old profile, prefs0.js, which can't do searches from a new profile, and I uploaded the new profile, prefs1.js, which can't sync with my cellphone or original profile.   I compared the two and they are quite different, but when I focus on the "newtab" records, there are differences, but nothing that I can comprehend seems to be wrong.

      I need to have a profile that can sync my PC browser with my cellphone, so the new profile "work-around" isn't functional for me yet.   If you could tell me how to get the old bookmarks data base from the old profile into the new profile, that wouldn't be acceptable unless I can sync the cellphone in the future.  So let me confirm the procedure:

(1) I used "firefox.exe -P" to sync the old profile.   I checked it with my cellphone and that works.
(2) I used "firefox.exe -P" to run the new profile, and logged into sync (Tools->Options->Firefox Account->Connect...
(3) I have Firefox alerts enable in to the old profile, and when I sync in the new profile, a dialog box appears saying the browser will sync momentarily.  (Old profile is not running.   Cellphone profile is running).   Nothing happens after going to lunch and coming back.   I click on Tools->Sync Now, and the browser disconnects, and replaces "Sync Now" with "Re-connect..."

         What am I doing incorrectly.    I don't want to open another bug report for a "work-around" that can't work, when we haven't address the original problem at all.   If I'm doing something incorrectly, I'll try again.

(4) One thing I noticed while I was getting the "prefs.js" files:   There is now 3 profile directories in:
C:\Users\george vlantis\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\.
         They are:  wdo4idlr.default
                    12frr71s.default-1521788795030
                    s5197w65.Profile2

          
"Profile2" was the new profile that I created with your help.
                    wdo4idlr.default was the old profile, except it stopped updating the bookmarks on 3/28/2018.
                    l2frr7ls.default-1521788795030 is now the live old profile.   The bookmark archive is current.

When you create a new profile do expect to get 3 directories?    I don't know what happened on 3/28/2018, but the bugzilla log began 10 days ago, and so this change happened before I contacted you (although the inability to do a search from a new tab goes back months).   It may have been the date I switched from v58 to v59.   Does it make sense that upgrading from v58 to v59 cause a creation of a new profile directory?

(5)In my opinion, it would be best if we could fix the old profile's new tab feature, since it syncs properly.   Using the new profile isn't a good idea since it can't sync and I have maybe a 1000 bookmarks that I would like to keep.

Can you ask one of the developers what would prevent the search field in a new tab from searching?  I'd be happy to work with a debug version of the code to find out using the Ctrl+Shift+J feature if he wants to print debug strings there.

Comment 18

[George Vlantis]

Hi Ciprian,

       I've been busy, but I'd like to get back to fixing the two issues ((1) no search capability in the search field of a new tab, and (2) the workaround to create a new profile and using Sync to transfer the bookmarks and other data elements doesn't work.

       I didn't get a response from last response.    Any progress from your development team?   Thanks.

Comment 19

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Formerly of Ecosystem QA - please needinfo @mcoman for things regarding the team]

Hey George,

There's not much more I can do at this time, we just need to wait for a dev to take a look at this issue.

As for (2), there's nothing we can do in this bug for that, you should open a new one as we want to keep bugs with only one issue and not multiple.

Comment 20

[George Vlantis]

Hi Ciprian,

       I didn't see item (1) on the list of unresolved bugs for the v60.0 release.    Does that mean they haven't worked on it or does it mean they can't reproduce it?

       On item (2) "Sync" issue between profiles.    Can you give me the instructions again for how to get the "old" profile to "Sync" with the new profile?    That is, I used Sync on the old profile, and verified that it was working by syncing my cellphone which worked. Then I ran the "new" profile, and tried to "Sync" and gave me the message that Synch would start shortly, but never happened.    So, I went into the menu and did a "Sync Now", and the Sync connection was disconnected.    Did I do something wrong?  Is there anything else to try?   I really don't want to debug this "work-around" for (1).    I just want to get my bookmarks into the "new" profile.

       While you are thinking about it I will install v60.0 and retest.   Thanks.

Cheers.

Comment 21

[George Vlantis]

Hi Ciprian,

       I retested with v60.0 and the search field in new tabs still doesn't work.    But they added more URLs in the new tab which is nice.   The URLs are like "cup-holders" in mini-vans.    Must have more URLs than Internet Explorer.

Cheers.

Comment 22

[George Vlantis]

Hi Cyprian,

      I tried testing the "Sync" feature between the old and new profiles, using v60.0.   Now the old profile does what the new profile does:   When I connect to Sync, it connects briefly (it sends an e-mail that I am connected), but then doesn't do any updating and (silently) disconnects.    In the menu where "Sync Now" normally appears it puts in the menu "Re-connect to Sync" when it's disconnected.

      So I think you're correct we should fill out a different bug on this one.   But by upgrading to 6.0, I can no longer Sync with my phone.    This is more serious than the previous issue.

Comment 23

[George Vlantis]

I am running v61.0.1 of Firefox and the problem with not being running to launch google from the search field of a new tab persists.

The problem with the "Sync" function turns out to be a problem with my company's firewall.  Not sure whether what the issue is because when "Sync" disconnects after connecting, there is no error message.   The way I know "Sync" disconnected is that in the "Tools" tab, the "Sync Now" is replaced "Reconnect to Sync..." within a few seconds of clicking on "Sync Now".

Anyway, the search field in a new tab does not even go out to the web.   I know this because the status line at the bottom of the browser does indicate any URL, after pressing "Enter" key.

Comment 24

[Mark Banner (:standard8)]

Unfortunately it looks like we never got to the bottom of this. George, if you are still having issues on the latest Firefox, try asking on https://support.mozilla.org/ or please do file a new bug.