Closed Bug 504861 Opened 15 years ago Closed 15 years ago

Firefox process doesn't exit (zombie process) when clicking restart for application update

Categories

(Toolkit :: Application Update, defect)

Product:
Toolkit
Component:
Application Update
Version:
1.9.1 Branch
Platform:
x86
Windows XP
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED WORKSFORME

People

(Reporter: Ryuji, Unassigned)

Details

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090624 Firefox/3.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090624 Firefox/3.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

After downloading the 3.5.1, I decided to restart Firefox later. 
Upon clicking Restart Firefox now, Firefox Closes instead of restarting. 



Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Download latest firefox update using Search for latest Version in the Help Menu
2.Restart Firefox later.(continue with your work or anything)
3.Restart Firefox now. 
(i am sorry if the bug is actually the product of my misusing of Firefox 3.5 . 
Actual Results:  
After the third step is done, Firefox actually closes, rather than restarting. 


Expected Results:  
Firefox restarts.
Hmmm... I think This may be due to my theme. 

After My computer restarts, upon clicking Firefox 3.5, it automatically installs Version 3.5.1. Then I discovered that my theme Vista Nature, is not supported in 3.5.1. Is it possible that my theme is actually preventing Firefox 3.5 from restarting?
Summary: Firefox act weird after fail attempt to install the downloaded update → Firefox 3.5 do not restart act weird after fail attempt to install the downloaded update
Summary: Firefox 3.5 do not restart act weird after fail attempt to install the downloaded update → Firefox 3.5 do not restart when ordered after restart later option is selected after downloading update.
I met the same issue when I was updating from 3.5 to 3.5.1.

I downloaded the update using Search for latest Version in the Help
Menu and Firefox asked me to restart the browser.

I clicked on 'OK' but Firefox has never restarted automatically to launch the updater pop-up and apply the update.

I saw firefox.exe was still running in Vista Task Manager. When I tried to restart manually Firefox, it was always version 3.5 (no update).

I killed firefox.exe, then I restarted it and 3.5.1 update has been applied.

OS: Vista Home Premium SP2.
Seems to affect Windows Vista also.
Component: General → Installer
Summary: Firefox 3.5 do not restart when ordered after restart later option is selected after downloading update. → Firefox 3.5 do not restart (when ordered to/after restart later option is selected) after downloading update.
Version: unspecified → 3.5 Branch
Summary: Firefox 3.5 do not restart (when ordered to/after restart later option is selected) after downloading update. → Firefox do not restart normally when ordered to after downloading updates.
Did you try to downgrade to 3.5 and attempt to search and apply 3.5.1 update to see if updater doesn't pop up?
now It seems to work properly already.
QA Contact: general → installer
Component: Installer → Application Update
Product: Firefox → Toolkit
QA Contact: installer → application.update
Version: 3.5 Branch → unspecified
However, upon updating from 3.5.2 to 3.5.3 the same issue has occurred again.

I have no idea why this happened. 

Please change the status back to New. 

I believe that Firefox process refuses to end even if user choose restart now to update to a newer version.
Version: unspecified → 1.9.1 Branch
Step that can show this bug:

1. 
After downloading the update, restart Firefox. 

Expected : New Version of Firefox get Installed(Firefox Updated)

Actual:
After downloading update(like from 3.5.2 to 3.5.3), Firefox did not restart and install the new version. Instead the Firefox closes. It was found that the Firefox process did not end in the Task Manager. 

2
Reopen Firefox now. You will find Firefox showing you your homepage in a tab  in a window, it did not restore the previous tabs/windows that you saved upon the restart of Firefox. 

3
After reopening Firefox in step 2, Open a few tabs, Go to some websites Like bbc, CNN, Bugzilla, Wikipedia, Gmail, etc. Next, try to close Firefox. 

Expected: Firefox ask you to whether to "Save & Quit, Quit or Cancel"

Actual:Firefox ask you "You are about to close X tabs. Are you sure you want to continue?"


This bug may not occur to you. I have no idea how I got this bug.
Summary: Firefox do not restart normally when ordered to after downloading updates. → Firefox process doesn't exit (zombie process) when clicking restart for application update
What happens when you install an add-on and click restart in the add-ons manager? Does Firefox restart and does the add-on manager display showing the newly installed add-on?
I know this is a trivial question but how long are you waiting between steps 1 and 2?  Firefox can take a long time to shut down especially after a really extensive browsing session or if you have lots of extensions.
(In reply to comment #8)
> What happens when you install an add-on and click restart in the add-ons
> manager? Does Firefox restart and does the add-on manager display showing the
> newly installed add-on?

Firefox restarts normally. 

(In reply to comment #9)
> I know this is a trivial question but how long are you waiting between steps 1
> and 2?  Firefox can take a long time to shut down especially after a really
> extensive browsing session or if you have lots of extensions.

I think this is not a problem about how long firefox take to shut down. Usually when I restart firefox, it will take few seconds to few minutes to restart. 

When I first saw this bug, I waited for hours for Firefox process to exit. 
and it did not exit normally, because I had to exit it manually by shutting down my computer. (As I have no idea that the process need to be ended for a successful installation of a new version of Firefox when this bug occurred.) 


I hope this help you identify what is wrong with Firefox.
The add-ons manager and app update use the same code to perform a restart. Can you download the previous release and try to reproduce again? Thanks
http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.5.2/win32/en-GB/Firefox%20Setup%203.5.2.exe
I have upgraded from 3.5.2 to 3.5.3 and I didn't meet this issue again, just one time as I wrote in comment #2.
I cannot reproduce it. I have no idea why it happen. There were time when Firefox process refuses to close and when I try to open Firefox again, I get this message "Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system."
(In reply to comment #13)
> I cannot reproduce it. I have no idea why it happen. There were time when
> Firefox process refuses to close and when I try to open Firefox again, I get
> this message "Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new
> window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your
> system."

Hello Jason. Maybe there is a program (hostile?) injected into firefox.exe when you're trying to update it.

Can you post Process Explorer log when Firefox is running and updating (better if you do that when Firefox isn't responding).
It's powerfull to see which DLL is injected into a program.

http://technet.microsoft.com/fr-fr/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/ProcessExplorer.zip

Usage :
Run, click File menu, Save As...  Save the file to a place you can find it, open up with a Notepad or any text editor/viewer you like. Copy the contents and paste it here (or use http://pastebin.com/).
Make sure the DLL list (Ctrl+d) for the firefox.exe process is included.
This bug never happen again(as of now). Hmm... This is weird.
I think I'm experiencing this right now:

I'm on 3.5.3 on Windows 7 RTM x86.

I go "Check for Updates", it tells me about 3.5.4, I let it download it. After a while I notice that it has finished, so I press "Restart Firefox Now".

My Firefox window closes.

I see that the process Firefox.exe is still running.

I start Firefox from my main taskbar shortcut, and it opens a new session (with my homepage).

The help menu still shows "Apply downloaded updates now".

I try that and exactly the same thing happens.

I'm going to keep using firefox in it's current state in case anyone has any steps I can take to help debug this.
Can you try installing or disabling an extension, clicking the Restart Firefox... button at the top of the add-ons manager, and report back if the extension successfully installed or was disabled?
I tried what you suggested but on a different OS. I tried install Flagfox into Firefox 3.5.4 in new Windows 7(64 bit) Laptop. The same bug happened. I am going to try it later on Windows XP. 

Step that can show this bug in Firefox 3.5:

1. 
After downloading the update/install add-on(s), Firefox 3.5 restarts. 

Expected : New Version of Firefox get Installed(Firefox Updated) or new add-on get installed.

Actual:
After downloading update(like from 3.5.2 to 3.5.3) or installing a new add-on(like flagfox or foxtab), Firefox did not restart and
install the new version/new add-on. Instead the Firefox only closes. It was found that the Firefox process did not end in the Task Manager. 


2
Reopen Firefox now. You will find Firefox showing you your homepage in a tab in a window(mean new session), it did not restore the previous tabs/windows that you saved upon the restart of Firefox. 

Expected: Firefox restore your old saved session. 

Actual: Firefox starts a new session. 


3
After reopening Firefox in step 2, Open a few tabs, Go to some websites Like
bbc, CNN, Bugzilla, Wikipedia, Gmail, etc. Next, try to close Firefox. 

Expected: Firefox ask you to whether to "Save & Quit, Quit or Cancel"

Actual(in Windows xP): Firefox ask you "You are about to close X tabs. Are you sure you want to continue?" 

Actual(in Windows 7) : Firefox simply close without asking you anything.

Will comment further if I find something new.
I am unable to reproduce using those steps.

Please also checks what happens when you use File -> Exit and then launch Firefox.
Suddenly I cannot reproduce the bug again. 

Is this bug caused by add-ons? 

Add-ons prevent firefox from restarting and causes it to become a zombie process?
It is possible. If you can track down which add-on or 3rd party app that is causing this would be very helpful with figuring this out in order to try to fix / workaround this.
This happened again for me the 3.5.4->3.5.5 update. Presed restart now in the update wizard just closed all my Firefox windows and left a running firefox.exe process.

I opened a new window by starting it from it's shortcut.

The restart button in the Addons dialog just closed all of Firefox's window.

I stopped it by right clicking on the firefox process (after creating the new window) and going Window -> Close.

When it came back it had the "Well, this is embarrassing." with my tabs from the first time I pressed restart listed, as well as http://en-gb.www.mozilla.com/en-GB/firefox/3.5.5/whatsnew/ open in tabs.

Installed addons:
Adblock Plus 1.1.1
Better GReader 0.8
CyberSearch 1.0.7
English (Australian) Dictionary 2.1.1
Firebug 1.4.5    < --- this disabled when it happened last time
Fission 1.0.9
FxIF 0.3.1
Greasemonkey 0.8.20090920.2
Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant 1.1
Net Usage Item 1.2.241
Nightly Tester Tools 2.0.2
Show Go! 1.0.3
Supersized Net Usage 1.1.0
Tab Mix Plus 0.3.8.2
James, please file a new bug in case the root cause is different than Jason's root cause. Also, when you experience this next please try installing or disabling an extension, clicking the Restart Firefox... button at the top of the add-ons manager, and report in the new bug if the extension successfully installed or was disabled.
(In reply to comment #23)
> James, please file a new bug in case the root cause is different than Jason's
> root cause.

Will do.

> Also, when you experience this next please try installing or
> disabling an extension, clicking the Restart Firefox... button at the top of
> the add-ons manager, and report in the new bug if the extension successfully
> installed or was disabled.

I did this (updated an extension). After I killed Firefox and started it again, everything was updated.
(In reply to comment #24)
> (In reply to comment #23)
> > James, please file a new bug in case the root cause is different than Jason's
> > root cause.
> 
> Will do.
> 
> > Also, when you experience this next please try installing or
> > disabling an extension, clicking the Restart Firefox... button at the top of
> > the add-ons manager, and report in the new bug if the extension successfully
> > installed or was disabled.
> 
> I did this (updated an extension). After I killed Firefox and started it again,
> everything was updated.
Please try doing this while in the state where restarting doesn't restart. They both use the same method and I highly suspect this is a more general bug with either a zombie process which is out of app update's control or the restart code.
(In reply to comment #25)
> Please try doing this while in the state where restarting doesn't restart.

I'm sorry, I didn't make myself clear.

After pressing "Restart Now" from the update wizard, and all Firefox windows going away, I opened a new window and updated a add-on, then I pressed the restart button in the add-ons dialog. All of Firefox's windows closed again, but the process remained.

I closed Firefox using process explorer's "window->close" feature, which is believe is like task manager's "end task" (not end process).

Firefox's process terminated, then I manually started it again. The update of both Firefox and the add-ons continued normally from then.

From that point (and presumably until I accept the next update) the "restart Firefox" button in the add-on manager works correctly.
(In reply to comment #20)
> Suddenly I cannot reproduce the bug again. 
> 
> Is this bug caused by add-ons? 
> 
> Add-ons prevent firefox from restarting and causes it to become a zombie
> process?

In comment #2, I said I met this bug too.
My addons were:
1/ ABP+
https://addons.mozilla.org/fr/firefox/addon/1865
2/ DTA!
https://addons.mozilla.org/fr/firefox/addon/201
3/ Screengrab
https://addons.mozilla.org/fr/firefox/addon/1146

So the only addon that I have in common with James is ABP+.
I highly doubt it is due to ABP+. It has a very large user base and this bug doesn't happen to that many people. Not sure what else could be causing it but it could be due to a component dropped into the components directory or possibly a 3rd party app.
Are all these normal?

http://pastebin.com/f3264c6b4

Next time this happens (assuming it does at 3.5.6, and that there is a 3.5.6), is there anything I can do to figure out where in the shutdown/restart process it's screwing up? Procmon logs, error console?
I received this via email from someone I was discussing this same issue on one of the mail lists... looks like the same problem.

To start with, there is one firefox.exe process.
The update is downloaded and the dialog box with "Restart Later" and
"Restart Now" appears.
1. When I click "Restart Now", two firefox.exe processes appear - one
of them utilizing some CPU while the other one remains at same CPU &
Mem utilization.
2. This new firefox.exe process stays only momentarily ~2-3 seconds
and disappears. The browser too shuts down, but the original
firefox.exe process stays in the task manager forever and firefox does
not restart.
3. Now, if I start firefox afresh, there are two processes in the task
manager - the older one and the new one. Both of them fail to start
the browser. I have to manually kill both of them and restart firefox
again. This time firefox starts up and complains about the failure to
update the browser with 3.5.5
4. Now, in step 3, if I kill the spurious firefox process left hanging
in step 2 and restart firefox afresh, there is just one firefox.exe
process in the task manager. But, this too fails to start the browser
window. I have to kill this new one and then start firefox again
5. If, in step 1, I say "Restart Later", I land at step 4
Jason or anyone else experiencing this, did you or do you have google desktop installed?
Never.
(In reply to comment #30)

That's slightly different to what I get. I never have more than one Firefox process for more than a few seconds.
I didn't install Google desktop. I never have more than one firefox process in my task manager. Therefore, your problem with firefox might be a different bug or it might be the same bug with different effect.
James, since Jason is no longer able to reproduce per comment #13 comment, #15, etc. I am closing this bug as wfm. Please file a bug with your specific details and we'll try to figure it out there.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 15 years ago
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME
Robert... will you open this if I can reproduce this again?
Of course and you can always file a new bug referencing this bug as well. I do prefer to have other people's bugs in their own bugs though since they are often unrelated though they do appear to be the same bug.
Robert. If I get the bug with a different OS should I post another bug or post it here?
It is going to be New Year Day for your time... HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FIREFOX DEVELOPER in advance.

Actually, the bug itself came back on my other computer. It is a Windows xp Home Edition Service Pack 3. The bug came when Firefox 3.5.5 is updated to Firefox 3.5.6. After manually downloading the update, I allowed Firefox to restart to allow the install of firefox 3.5.6 to take place. After restart, nothing happened and I saw Firefox zombie process in the task manager. 

This bug is rare and difficult to solve.
There isn't anyting that app update can do to fix Firefox or other app zombie process... the code responsible for exiting and restarting is outside of app update. There is bug 525860 for a general Firefox zombie process but I doubt that covers all of the causes.
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