434530 - Web site playing a wav file via javascript steals focus from other tabs

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: Tabbed Browser, defect)

Description

[Bob]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9b5) Gecko/2008032620 Firefox/3.0b5
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9b5) Gecko/2008032620 Firefox/3.0b5

I use a web site called fubar.com often and that sight uses simple wav files to give audible alerts when certain things happen on the site, such as a new shout message or when friends on there take certain actions, these audible alerts are desirable, but they cause problems in firefox. If any other tab is open while fubar.com is running in one tab and an audible happens on fubar.com tab, then you are no longer able to type any further text in any text box on the existing tab you were in, nor can you type any text search text box or the browser address bar. You must switch back to the tab that has fubar.com running in it and then click back to the tab you were originally typing text into before you can resume typing text..... but once another audible alert takes place on Fubar.com, then it will once again lock up the typing in the tab your working in again, and this makes it impossible to work in any other tab or web site when I'm running Fubar.com in one tab. I currently have to either close the Fubar.com tab when I'm working with any other tabs/web sites, or I have to disable the audible alerts on Fubar.com and then I can leave it running in a tab and it no longer interferes with my other open tabs. Besides locking up be from being able to type any text in the current tab/website that I'm at, it will also sometimes start to change the web page that I'm at when I'm simply trying to type text into a text box, it appears it's going back through my browsing history instead of accepting my text in the text box I was trying to type in. This doesn't always happen, so I'm not sure what causing this, but the audible alerts does prevent me from being able to continue to type text into any text box I was typing in prior to the audible alert happening on the Fubar.com tab. Fubar is using JavaScript to play the wav files that are used for the alerts, and I have tried setting the options to use both the Quicktime plug and the Windows Media player plug in and using either one, this same problem is present. So it appears as if when a wav file is played on site from JavaScript, it steals the focus from the current tab/website you are working in and you can not regain focus back on the page/text box you were typing in, until you switch to the tab where the wav file alert was played (in my case Fubar.com) and then clicking back to the tab/website you were originally working at! And at times, this also screws the navigation keys too and continuing to try to type text causes the browser to start going back into the browser history.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. You will have to setup a user profile on Fubar.com. It is free to do and doesn't matter what info you enter in setting up the profile. But once you have made a profile, you must go to "My", "profile setting" in the menu and then set alerts sounds to "on" and shoutbox sounds to "on".... save the settings and then just go to your home page

2. Have Fubar.com open in a tab just sitting on your home page

3. Open any other website that has a text input box in another tab and start typing into that text box

4. Wait for an audible alert on Fubar.com to happen, then typing will lock up on the other tab
Actual Results:  
When an audible alert happens on Fubar, you are no longer able to type any text in the tab you were at prior to the alert happening and you have to click onto the tab that contains Fubar.com web site, and then click back to the original tab you were typing text into in order to be able to resume typing text. It appears the audible alerts steals the focus from the tab you were working in!

Expected Results:  
The focus should remain in the tab and text box you are typing in and the audible alert in the Fubar tab should not effect this!

Comment 1

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

This bug was reported using Firefox 3.0 or older, which is no longer supported. The bug has also not been changed in over 500 days and is still in UNCO.
Reporter, please retest this bug in Firefox 3.6.10 or later using a fresh profile, http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/managing+profiles. If you still see this problem, please update the bug. If you no longer see the bug, please set the resolution to RESOLVED, WORKSFORME.

This is a mass search of unconfirmed bugs that have no activity on them, so if you feel a bug was marked in error, just remove the CLOSEME comment in the whiteboard within the next month.

Comment 2

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

No reply, INCOMPLETE. Please retest with Firefox 3.6.12 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.