Firefox nightly installation sets up unexpected scheduled task under windows for background update and its CMD windows shows up regularly and steals input focus while I am working. Bad.
Categories
(Toolkit :: Application Update, defect)
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(Reporter: ishikawa, Unassigned)
Details
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(4 files)
A CMD window pops up and there were errors even. This STEALS INPUT FOCUS.
For the last few weeks, I noticed that there are periodic invocation of certain programs related to Firefox nightly if my quick capture of what is shown on the screen momentarily is correct.
This is under Windows 10.
Problem is this invocation of programs opens up CMD window as shown in the attached screen capture, and this STEALS INPUT FOCUS while I am working on other things.
This is very BAD. Imagine my indignation when I am recording a video session on the screen and suddenly this big black command window appears and I have to restart video recording again.
Or when I am in the middle of very careful proofreading session and typing correction and suddenly this command window appears and steals my input focus and I have to carefully backtrack WHERE ON EARTH I was correcting the draft.
I finally got fed up with this, and checked the scheduled task on my Windows 10 PC.
I was bothered with a similar issue of CMD window appearing and stealing my input focus.
That scheduled task was made by me. :-)
So I could fix it, but this CMD window by Firefox nightly continued to happen.
I found the following three entries related to mozilla in scheduled task.
- Firefox Default Browser Agent 1EE68DB397094D8A
- Firefox Nightly Background Update 6F193CCC56814779
- Firefox Nightly Default Browser Agent 6F193CCC56814779
The entries, 1 and 3 are to check whether the default browser has changed to other browser and prompt the user to ask if the user wants to restore it or not.
They are OK as far as my observed problem is concerned.
The problem occurs with the entry 2.
Its description is:
The Background Update task checks for updates to Nightly when Nightly is not running. This task is installed automatically by Nightly, and is reinstalled when Nightly runs. To disable this task, update the browser settings or the Nightly enterprise policy setting “BackgroundAppUpdate”.
(It seems that this scheduled task was created on August 20 when the nightly was updated??? The task scheduler says the task has been started on Aug 20 and ever since it was invoked repeatedly every 7 hours.)
I have no idea what this enterprise policy setting is.
For that matter, I wonder how many windows users are brave enough to dive into task scheduler to figure out what is showing this strange CMD window from time to time?
I bet not many browser users are aware of task scheduler, even.
Installing a scheduled task needs to be carefully considered in the first place. (I have seen people got suspicious after NVIDIA driver software installation set up many scheduled tasks for performance monitoring. Yes I count NINE Nvidia tasks on my PC and this is after I disabled one such task which did not seem to run successfully for some reason. )
Well, at least NVIDIA was thoughtful enough NOT TO LET the invasive CMD Window pop up and steal user input focus and mess up the on-going work.
Nightly's scheduled task for background update ought to take the same caution.: It should NOT cause the CMD window to pop up and interrupt user workflow.
One way to do this is to create a batch file to invoke the task called |task-update.bat| and then create a script file called |task-update.vbs|.: Its content should look like this.
Set ws = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
ws.run "cmd /c Drive-name-and-full-path-to-task-update.bat", 0
The "0" at the end of the second line is to disable the popup of CMD window.
Replacing it to "1" causes the CMD window to pop up and we can monitor the progress of scheduled task for debugging.
Then you can install a task to execute
wscript.exe Drive-and-full-path-to-task-update.vbs
Yeah, I had to investigate how to disable CMD window from a couple of scheduled tasks of MY OWN CREATION. They were bothersome enough for many months. Then firefox nightly CMD window added up. It was the last straw.
Thank you in advance for making great browser available under Windows and Linux.
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Reporter | |
Comment 1•5 years ago
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I had to capture the screen and simulate the invocation of the mozilla nightly scheduled task by using task scheduler's "invoke a task" command.
The result is exactly what I see from time to time.
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Comment 2•5 years ago
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Hmm, I am knowledgeable about Background Update, but less knowledgeable about the background task mechanism that it is built on. From the messages logged in that console, it looks like the Background Update isn't even getting invoked properly.
Maybe :nalexander would have a better idea of what might be going on here.
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Reporter | |
Comment 3•5 years ago
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(In reply to Kirk Steuber (he/him) [:bytesized] from comment #2)
Hmm, I am knowledgeable about Background Update, but less knowledgeable about the background task mechanism that it is built on. From the messages logged in that console, it looks like the Background Update isn't even getting invoked properly.
Maybe :nalexander would have a better idea of what might be going on here.
Thank you for your comment.
It is possible that the last update of nightly firefox might have been interrupted due to system restart or maybe I quit the firefox update prematurely, but I am not even sure.
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Comment 4•5 years ago
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Hello, Chiaki! Based on your report, you have an unusual configuration of Firefox. There are at least two things going on:
- In some way, you have an omnijar that doesn't contain
BackgroundTask_backgroundupdate.jsm. That's hard to arrange. - You have a Firefox that, when launched, is opening a Windows console. That's not a release configuration.
So, what can you tell us about the Firefox installation corresponding to "Firefox Nightly Background Update 6F193CCC56814779"? That hash at the end is the update directory hash, IIRC. You could figure out what binary is being executed by looking at the Task Scheduler interface as well. Is this a version you've built yourself? Is it a debug or sanitizing version? 'cuz you shouldn't be able to get a console window on any release channel out of the box.
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Reporter | |
Comment 5•5 years ago
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(In reply to Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him] from comment #4)
Hello, Chiaki! Based on your report, you have an unusual configuration of Firefox. There are at least two things going on:
Thank you for the comment.
- In some way, you have an omnijar that doesn't contain
BackgroundTask_backgroundupdate.jsm. That's hard to arrange.
I see. I am not entirely sure what has happened, then.
- You have a Firefox that, when launched, is opening a Windows console. That's not a release configuration.
So, what can you tell us about the Firefox installation corresponding to "Firefox Nightly Background Update 6F193CCC56814779"? That hash at the end is the update directory hash, IIRC. You could figure out what binary is being executed by looking at the Task Scheduler interface as well.
Let me see. The program being executed with its options is:
C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly\firefox.exe --MOZ_LOG sync,prependheader,timestamp,append,maxsize:1,Dump:5 --MOZ_LOG_FILE C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\6F193CCC56814779\backgroundupdate.moz_log --backgroundtask backgroundupdate
Is this a version you've built yourself? Is it a debug or sanitizing version? 'cuz you shouldn't be able to get a console window on any release channel out of the box.
To be honest, I have no idea. I do testing and building of TB locally UNDER LINUX.
I might have done an occasional debugging of Firefox since obviously errors in M-C portion of TB code need to be investigated
with FF behavior. But please recall I do programming UNDER LINUX and test TB under linux most of the time. (I DO TEST windows TB binaries on treeherder.)
The last time I tested FF of my own creation locally on my PC may have been a few years ago. Again under Linux.
Now the binary invoked by the scheduled task is shown in the following directory listing, etc. Sorry for the Japanese locale.
It may be that I have a broken installation somehow. Please note that the firefox.exe.sig seems to be broken on my PC as of now (since Aug 20, I think.)
I checked the size/modified date/md5sum of files on my PC. Sorry for the Japanese locale. But you will get the gist of the ouptut.
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly>
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly> dir firefox.*
ディレクトリ: C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 549304 firefox.exe <--- Hmm. Very small. the files were timestamped Aug 20.
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 1449 firefox.exe.sig
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 1208320 firefox.pdb
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 557 firefox.VisualElementsManifest.xml
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly> dir *.exe
ディレクトリ: C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 2779064 default-browser-agent.exe
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 549304 firefox.exe
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 4500920 llvm-symbolizer.exe
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 227768 maintenanceservice.exe
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 161808 maintenanceservice_installer.exe
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 207800 pingsender.exe
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 28088 plugin-container.exe
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 446904 updater.exe
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly> gpg --verify firefox.exe.sig <--- The failure of gpg verification suggests that firefox.exe.sig is broken.
gpg: 有効なOpenPGPデータが見つかりません。 <--- it says, it is not a valid OpenPGP data.
gpg: 署名を検証できませんでした。署名ファイル
(.sigや.asc)がコマンド行の最初でなければ
ならないことを念頭においてください。
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly> & 'C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\md5sum.exe' firefox.* <--- So I created md5sum using Git's version
0aa43576f0420593451b10ab3b7582ec *firefox.VisualElementsManifest.xml
95f502cdb02f6ccee0ed0ece1b18fe39 *firefox.exe
c3222acebac0af58fb0614d45917b61e *firefox.exe.sig
c0d76b8701d3a6ea33a2565f25e10d7b *firefox.pdb
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly>
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Timestamp
The files are tall timestamped as Aug 20. This seems to fit the observation that the problematic scheduled task seems to have been created on August 22. (It seems to have been executed since then according to task scheduler.) -
Broken files/installation
firefox.exe.sig file seems to be broken. I cannot use it to verify firefox.exe.
This suggests that whatever happened between August 20 (when the new nightly files were created. Oh well, I am not sure now. Are the time stamps are creation time on local PC or does it carry the timestamp of the original mozilla creation time?) and August 22 (scheduled task was created on my PC, presumably by an invocation of the updater on that date), it did not go as expected and left corrupted files?
I listed md5sum output of firefox.exe.*.
Do they match with expected values of correct installation?
- OMNI.JAR file.
OK, you mentioned omni.jar. This is what I have on my PC.
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly> dir omni*
ディレクトリ: C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 29824882 omni.ja
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly> & 'C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\md5sum.exe' omni*
8fe63174c08bd1a5af3add606734f64e *omni.ja
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly>
Again, I listed md5sum for comparison purposes.
OK, here is the log directory mentioned in the scheduled task.
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly> dir C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\6F193CCC56814779
ディレクトリ: C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\6F193CCC56814779
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d----- 2021/08/21 12:26 backgroundupdate
d----- 2021/09/10 1:26 updates
-a---- 2021/09/05 16:26 1212 active-update.xml
-a---- 2021/09/10 1:26 35334 backgroundupdate.moz_log
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:26 78 update-config.json
-a---- 2021/09/05 2:26 11466 updates.xml
PS C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly> cd C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\6F193CCC56814779
PS C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\6F193CCC56814779> dir
ディレクトリ: C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\6F193CCC56814779
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d----- 2021/08/21 12:26 backgroundupdate
d----- 2021/09/10 1:26 updates
-a---- 2021/09/05 16:26 1212 active-update.xml
-a---- 2021/09/10 1:26 35334 backgroundupdate.moz_log
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:26 78 update-config.json
-a---- 2021/09/05 2:26 11466 updates.xml
PS C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\6F193CCC56814779>
I am attaching backgroundupdate.moz_log file in the next comment.
In it, I see the tell-tale sign of failure.:
2021-08-20 13:26:09.830000 UTC - [(null) 49764: Main Thread]: I/Logger Opening log
2021-08-20 13:26:10.219000 UTC - [Parent 49764: Main Thread]: D/Dump [Backstage.Dump] console.error: BackgroundUpdate:
2021-08-20 13:26:10.227000 UTC - [Parent 49764: Main Thread]: D/Dump [Backstage.Dump] runBackgroundTask: backgroundupdate
2021-08-20 13:26:10.314000 UTC - [Parent 49764: Main Thread]: D/Dump [Backstage.Dump] console.error: BackgroundUpdate:
2021-08-20 13:26:10.317000 UTC - [Parent 49764: Main Thread]: D/Dump [Backstage.Dump] runBackgroundTask: another instance is running
So whatever the reason (quite likely an unexpected rebooting of the PC during maintenance, etc.), the scheduled task on August 20
failed and from then on, it spewed out errors and opening cmd window at the same time whenever it was re-run.
Please let me know if you need more information.
I wonder how I get out of this quagmire.
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Reporter | |
Comment 6•5 years ago
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This is the log file mentioned on the command line for the problematic scheduled task.
C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\6F193CCC56814779\backgroundupdate.moz_log
I see the following lines as the first chunk of messges.
***
2021-08-20 13:26:09.830000 UTC - [(null) 49764: Main Thread]: I/Logger Opening log
2021-08-20 13:26:10.219000 UTC - [Parent 49764: Main Thread]: D/Dump [Backstage.Dump] console.error: BackgroundUpdate:
2021-08-20 13:26:10.227000 UTC - [Parent 49764: Main Thread]: D/Dump [Backstage.Dump] runBackgroundTask: backgroundupdate
2021-08-20 13:26:10.314000 UTC - [Parent 49764: Main Thread]: D/Dump [Backstage.Dump] console.error: BackgroundUpdate:
2021-08-20 13:26:10.317000 UTC - [Parent 49764: Main Thread]: D/Dump [Backstage.Dump] runBackgroundTask: another instance is running
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Reporter | |
Comment 7•5 years ago
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Hmm,
I suspect the lock file (left over due to hiccup of the system? Reboot?, etc.) might have hindered the operation of
background update (Or actually it is the result of failure. I have no idea.).
Maybe I can remove it and see what happens.
But I will wait for some words. I am not even sure if the binary on my PC is not corrupted or whatever.
PS C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\6F193CCC56814779> cd ..
PS C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates> dir
ディレクトリ: C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d----- 2021/09/10 1:23 1EE68DB397094D8A
d----- 2021/09/10 1:26 6F193CCC56814779
d----- 2021/09/09 14:08 8216C80C92C4E828
PS C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates> cd ..
PS C:\ProgramData\Mozilla> dir
ディレクトリ: C:\ProgramData\Mozilla
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d----- 2015/08/15 20:39 logs
d----- 2020/12/24 10:44 updates
-a---- 2020/09/24 13:15 78 profile_count_1EE68DB397094D8A.json
-a---- 2020/11/23 1:13 78 profile_count_6F193CCC56814779.json
-a---- 2021/09/10 5:35 12954 uninstall_ping_1EE68DB397094D8A_62b7c3c4-6db2-45c4-83dd-bb9611820286.
json
-a---- 2021/09/05 2:29 8443 uninstall_ping_6F193CCC56814779_b6a72ac4-d8e5-427f-b95d-36fcadb6cfd5.
json
-a---- 2021/06/05 7:47 0 UpdateLock-1EE68DB397094D8A
-a---- 2021/08/20 15:25 0 UpdateLock-6F193CCC56814779
PS C:\ProgramData\Mozilla>
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Comment 8•5 years ago
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- Right click C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly\firefox.exe on File Explorer.
- Select Properties (プロパティ) menu item.
- Select Digital Signatures (デジタル署名) tab.
- Look at Name of signer: (署名者名:) column.
If the signer name is "Mozilla Corporation", you have installed an official Nightly build (probably a debug build). If it is not, or if you can't find Digital Signatures tab, you have installed an unofficial build for whatever reason. In either case, maybe you have forgotten about that.
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Reporter | |
Comment 9•5 years ago
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Mystery deepens.
I checked the Digital Signature per comment 8 and found that it is indeed signed by Mozilla Corp.
And it is timestamped at Aug 19.
So presumably then latest binary when this strange task was installed to begin at Aug 22.
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Comment 10•5 years ago
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It looks like your Nightly build is a bit out of date. Could you check if you still get this problem on a current version of Nightly?
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Reporter | |
Comment 11•5 years ago
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(In reply to Kirk Steuber (he/him) [:bytesized] from comment #10)
It looks like your Nightly build is a bit out of date. Could you check if you still get this problem on a current version of Nightly?
Thank you for the comment.
I take that my installation of Nightly build got out of date for some reason or the other (maybe an interrupted update due to automatic/manual reboot caused by windows update, etc.).
So I will re-install (by removing the current installation first) and see how it goes.
I suppose getting install/update script rock-solid is very hard in the face of unexpected reboot, interrupt, etc. in the middle of operation.
I will report back.
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Reporter | |
Comment 12•5 years ago
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It turned out I don't have the (de)installer.
So I simply overwrite the installation with a new install.
But before realizing there is no deinstaller, I clicked Firefox nightly icon accidentally, and yes, the binary opens up the command window automatically. It must be a debug version or something.
Anyway, attached is the newly installed scheduled task and I suspect once the scheduled time comes, the task is executed. But this time, the command window won't show up.
I will report how it goes tomorrow.
TIA
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Reporter | |
Comment 13•5 years ago
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I think the issue has been solved by the re-installation.
(Or in other words, C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly\firefox.exe no longer opens up a command window.)
So I am closing it as worksforme.
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Comment 14•5 years ago
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(In reply to ISHIKAWA, Chiaki from comment #13)
I think the issue has been solved by the re-installation.
(Or in other words, C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly\firefox.exe no longer opens up a command window.)So I am closing it as worksforme.
Thanks for the details here! Hopefully you don't get a corrupted installation a second time -- that would be very interesting.
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Comment 15•5 years ago
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(In reply to Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him] from comment #14)
(In reply to ISHIKAWA, Chiaki from comment #13)
I think the issue has been solved by the re-installation.
(Or in other words, C:\Program Files\Firefox Nightly\firefox.exe no longer opens up a command window.)So I am closing it as worksforme.
Thanks for the details here! Hopefully you don't get a corrupted installation a second time -- that would be very interesting.
Thank you for the help.
Well, if I ever get hit the second time, I will surely report it, but hopefully I won't have to.
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