534586 - browser rendered unresponsive if message/ user input request opens on tab in background, as browser does not permit access to answer.

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(SeaMonkey :: Tabbed Browser, defect)

Description

[David Clayton]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.4) Gecko/20091017 SeaMonkey/2.0
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.4) Gecko/20091017 SeaMonkey/2.0

I was using Google image search to find some images for a new poster. My normal method of working is to have the first tab with the search, and then any results i think might be of interest I will load in a new tab. 

one site i opened in this way had a quick time audio loop, which played without a problem - I could hear it in the background. whilst this was playing I opened a few more tabs 'after' that one.

In loading the quick time player, it must have automatically gone to check for an updated player version and found one (as I discovered later, see below).

even though i was on my first 'Google' tab, all tabs stopped responding. I had two browser windows open on the task bar, and I could switch between those (alt tab), and task manger reported SM to be running.

After repeating the steps several times I came across the quick time update available message. It looks like it could be in java / flash as it grayed out the content of the page behind and the input box (update available, get upgrade now? Y/N) was almost like an applet (I don't think it was flash).


Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. navigate to the site with an older quick time version (i assume set to update automatically) I think it was the site i mentioned anyway!
2. Open new tabs, so that the tab with the quick time content is not active
3. when update available message loads, will not be able to access it, or any other tab.
Actual Results:  
When I say stopped responding I mean that I got the windows 'ding' sound for invalid selection, no matter where I clicked.

There was no way that you could display the tab with the message once you had opened up tabs after it.  - the only option you have it to quit SM (task manger). The crash recovery then very nicely restores your tabs, and if you are lucky you can make sure you are on the tab with the quick time content to take the answer before you get back to being unusable. As soon as you have dismissed the message, full functionality is restored for all tabs.

Expected Results:  
the browser should allow you to navigate between tabs, regardless of the message, and display the message when you clicked on the tab to which it originated.

Using the modern theme.

Comment 1

[Jens Hatlak (:InvisibleSmiley)]

I've come across such situations, too. I cannot remember how I arrived there anymore (mostly timing issues with opening Windows file selectors AFAIR), but I know what I did to fix it (workaround follows!):
1. Open the Task manager (through Ctrl+Alt+Del)
2. Select the Applications tab, and in there, the affected SeaMonkey window
3. Click the "Switch To" button at the bottom.

Unfortunately I don't know how to prevent such situations, or if that can be achieved at all in SeaMonkey. It might in the end be a core issue, i.e. one that affects Firefox and Thunderbird, too. I'm only not confirming this bug for that very reason: It is an issue, but not necessarily one that can be solved in SeaMonkey code (which is the requirement for the NEW status).

Comment 2

[Phoenix]

Is this still reproducible with modern SeaMonkey versions?

Comment 3

[David Clayton]

Hi, I tried (for a few minutes) and could not re-create. I would suggest that we change the status to resolved / closed. David