404926 - sometimes NO page show up, only a row of QUESTION marks????

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[tja]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.9) Gecko/20071025 Firefox/2.0.0.9
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.9) Gecko/20071025 Firefox/2.0.0.9

when I google a page, click on it, it often only shows a row of questionmarks.
 
this did not happen BEFORE the 'update'. When I paste the link in iexplore, it actually works fine, if I choose to view the page from google cache, it shows up fine.
 
what is WRONG with firefox? showing 
??????????????????????????????????????????
in stead of a page is not making me happy.
 
a friend has the same problem. He swapped back to iexplore, to get rid of this ANNOYING bug...

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. start firefox
2. google shows up as home page
3. type 'test'
4. try some. I tried 'Test je Gedrag' (www.testjegedrag.nl/), which gave me
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
and Speedtest.nl (www.speedtest.nl/), same problem. Some links DO work fine. 
5. Copy the url to iexplore, and watch the page working FINE.
6. try clicking on the googlecachelink: the page shows up FINE.
7. copy the url (www.speedtest.nl for example) into a fresh firefox
Actual Results:  
all it shows me are those useless
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
 


Expected Results:  
the page!

now, it could be some defending software that is breaking things. I have
AVGfree, ZoneAlarm, spybot s&d, and ad-aware.
 
note: all worked fine BEFORE the update.
 
what can i do? THROW AWAY firefox? it does not show the PAGES anymore! just the stupid QUESTION marks!

Comment 1

[Mats Palmgren (inactive)]

Does the problem occur also in Firefox Safe Mode?
(it temporarily disables add-ons and themes, this test will help us narrow
down the cause of the problem) --  See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_Mode

Comment 2

[tja]

tried starting it with
firefox -safe-mode
google as startpage: test
choose http://www.speedtest.nl/
shows only 
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
 
so, i guess its not a addon/theme.. 

Comment 3

[Mats Palmgren (inactive)]

Which encoding does the View->Character Encoding menu indicate is in use
when the problem occurs?

Comment 4

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

This bug was originally reported on Firefox 2.x or older, which is no longer supported and will not be receiving any more updates. I strongly suggest that you update to Firefox 3.6.6 or later, update your plugins (flash, adobe, etc.), and retest in a new profile. If you still see the issue with the updated Firefox, please post here. Otherwise, please close as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
http://www.mozilla.com
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+mode

Comment 5

[Conrad]

Attachment: screenshot of the question marks

it's a screenshot

Comment 6

[Conrad]

same thing is happening to me - fresh install of Firefox 3.6.8 - 

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100723 Ubuntu/9.04 (jaunty) 

happens on maybe 30% of urls - even on a file which is loading from LOCALHOST - the screenshot (sorry I'm new to this process, didn't know how it works) is of that localhost page load

if I copy/paste the url into Google:Chrome it displays the page no problem

Comment 7

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

No reply, INCOMPLETE. Please retest with Firefox 3.6.8 or later and a new profile (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles). If you continue to see this issue with the newest firefox and a new profile, then please comment on this bug.