300651 - FireFox 1.0.5 installs FireFox in an unusable state

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Firefox :: Installer, defect)

Description

[Moiz Dohadwala]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.2; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
Build Identifier: 

I am running Win2k3 SP1.
I uninstalled FireFox 1.0.4 and installed FireFox 1.0.5. The installer did not 
successfully install the uninstaller ( there was an error about being unable to 
unzip the uninstaller from teh temp intall folder.

Then after I clicked ok and started FireFox, it came up in an un-responsive 
window. None of the toplevel menus respond. I cannot type in a url. The only 
toolbar button that responds is the Green Up arrow button that checks for 
upgrades.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Uninstall 1.0.4
2. Install 1.0.5
3.

Actual Results:  
Firefox is installed in an unsable state. I have tried un-installing 1.0.5 and 
rebooting and re-installing 1.0.5 without success.

Comment 1

[Moiz Dohadwala]

Attachment: the firefox 1.0.5 window after install

This is a snapshot of the firefox window after installing 1.0.5. I previously
had 1.0.4 which I uninstalled prior to installing 1.0.5

Comment 2

[Jaime Mitchell (use [e-mail] for email)]

Does it occur if you start firefox in safemode: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode

Comment 3

[Moiz Dohadwala]

Actully, the server I was installing on is a Win2k3 without any service packs.

Comment 4

[Moiz Dohadwala]

Safe mode did not change anything.

I figured out a workaround. I renamed the extensions folder under my profiles 
directory and firefox started up normally. It re-created the extensions folder 
with a single file: extensions.rdf.

I will upload the original extenstions folder, in case it can prove helpful.

Comment 5

[Moiz Dohadwala]

Attachment: extensions folder zipped up

extenstions folder in a zip file

Comment 6

[Adam Guthrie]

The reporter has fixed this problem, and learned that it is attributed to a bad
extension that he had installed. This issue should be taken up with the
extension developer.

INVALID.

Comment 7

[Moiz Dohadwala]

(In reply to comment #6)
> The reporter has fixed this problem, and learned that it is attributed to a bad
> extension that he had installed. This issue should be taken up with the
> extension developer.
> 
> INVALID.

I am not sure I agree with the resolution of this bug. Granted, that a bad
extension caused the issue, but: 
a) The safe mode failed to work.
b) The install should warn the user that some extensions may fail to work and
provide options to remove them.
c) A bad extension should not cripple the browser like it did. The browser
should have a firewall around extensions and warn the user about bad extensions
or invalid extension operations.

Comment 8

[Benjamin Smedberg]

The handling of safe mode has been much improved in 1.1.  We are not planning
any sort of "firewall" around extensions: the ability to extend the browser and
the ability to break it are pretty much one and the same.