Closed Bug 577221 Opened 14 years ago Closed 12 years ago

Firefox doesn't remember "submit crash report" check box

Categories

(Toolkit :: Crash Reporting, defect)

Product:
Toolkit
Component:
Crash Reporting
Platform:
x86
Windows 7
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED FIXED
Milestone:
mozilla16

People

(Reporter: rajsudhakaran, Assigned: brandon.cheng)

References

Details

(Keywords: privacy)

Attachments

(2 files, 1 obsolete file)

Submit crash report unchecked screenshot
79.63 KB, image/jpeg
Details
Create the proper registry keys before writing the SubmitCrashReporter value (indents fixed)
1.86 KB, patch
ted
: review+
Details | Diff | Splinter Review 
User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:2.0b1) Gecko/20100630 Firefox/4.0b1
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:2.0b1) Gecko/20100630 Firefox/4.0b1

step 1. go to firefox drop down menu> Options> Advanced>General> 
Last menu is "submit crash reports" 

Step 2. Check the box and press ok

Step 3: repeat step 1, the check box is unchecked at "submit crash report"

Firefox doesn't remember the setting 



Reproducible: Always

Actual Results:  
Firefox doesn't remember the setting 

Expected Results:  
"submit crash report" should be checked and Firefox should remember the setting

"submit crash report" check box is not yet checked
Component: General → Preferences
QA Contact: general → preferences
What I have seen is that Firefox does not remember/check this setting when it is running in private browsing mode. I think in that case it should indicate that private browsing has an influence on this option.
Confirmed in 

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:2.0b6) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0b6

also in Safe Mode and without "Private Browsing Mode"
Component: Preferences → Breakpad Integration
Product: Firefox → Toolkit
QA Contact: preferences → breakpad.integration
This is probably a duplicate of bug 558561
I just downloaded Firefox 3.6.12, and it's still doing it. From what I read on the help file it says "The submit report will always be checked"

Does this mean you still have a chance to refuse sending these?
Yes, this check box only toggles the default of the "Tell Mozilla about this crash
so they can fix it" check box in the crash reporter dialog (upon crash). You can always manually uncheck it when a crash happens. See bug 580592 for a full discussion (and the registry keys to fix this default).
Bug successfully replicated in Firefox 3.6.12.
Can you list the steps you used to replicate the bug? Can you also list the values of the registry keys mentioned in bug 558561 comment 3?
One way this could happen if the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla\Firefox\Crash Reporter doesn't exist at all. In this case, the default value of true is always used.

See also https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/743045
Ah, interesting, thanks for the info! This registry key was originally written to only be used by the crash reporter client, which properly handles the missing key (it will write a new value to the registry upon exit depending on the state of the checkbox). It sounds like when this started being used by the browser UI that things no longer work correctly.
STILL EXISTS
Confirmed with a new Windows user account. The registry key used for persisting this preference won't exist in that case.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:6.0a1) Gecko/20110507 Firefox/6.0a1

STR: 
1. Create a new Windows user account
2. In the new account, open Firefox.
3. Options -> Advanced -> uncheck "Submit Crash Reports" and press OK.
4. Re-open Options -> Advanced pane.

Actual Results:
Submit Crash Reports option checked.

Expected Results:
Submit Crash Reports option unchecked.

Though I can't claim to know much about the C++ code involved here, looking at https://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/toolkit/crashreporter/nsExceptionHandler.cpp#1274 shows use of nsIWindowsRegKey.open(), which fails if the key does not exist: https://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/xpcom/ds/nsIWindowsRegKey.idl#126

Maybe the answer is to use nsIWindowsRegKey.create() instead? https://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/xpcom/ds/nsIWindowsRegKey.idl#144
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/743045
quote 
I believe the problem is the installer is not creating a registry key, and the browser automatically sets the value to true if the registry key does not exist (thanks rjohnson19).

I fixed this problem by manually adding a registry key by making and executing the following file:

fix.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla\Firefox]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla\Firefox\Crash Reporter] "Email"="" "IncludeURL"=dword:00000001 "EmailMe"=dword:00000000 "SubmitCrashReport"=dword:00000000
end quote

i did this. added a registry entry and it did NOT fix it. 

BUG NOT FIXXED

PROPOSED SOLUTION.     *REMOVE IT COMPLETELY* until you figure out how to make it work.or stay default OFF.  remove ALL components related to the "submit crash report" . go in to the source code and remove everything  pertaining to."submit crash report" NO back doors NO hidden ****. NO crash report anything. NO registry entries related to "submit crash report" for future use. 

at least with firefox 3.6 it stayed OFF until the program was reloaded.
with firefox 5.0 options  tools uncheck "submit crash report" reopen tools and it is BACK ON.
I'm sorry, sometimes we ship software with bugs. We don't have the manpower to fix every last bug. There's nothing malicious about this, it's just a bug. The effort to remove all of this code would be much greater than the effort needed to fix this bug (and doing what you suggest would render us incapable of actually shipping Firefox).

raises "**** flag"

quote
  [Bug 577221] Firefox doesn't remember "submit crash report" check box
Reply to the current message	Reply to all recipients of the current message	Forward the current message	Print the current message 		
From:  bugzilla-daemon@mozilla.org Add contact
To:  fixtv@hushmail.com
Date:  Thu, 23 Jun 2011 08:07:47 -0700
This message is not encrypted, and is not digitally signed.
Do not reply to this email.  You can add comments to this bug at
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=577221

--- Comment #19 from Ted Mielczarek [:ted, :luser] <ted.mielczarek@gmail.com> 2011-06-23 08:07:47 PDT ---
I'm sorry, sometimes we ship software with bugs. We don't have the manpower to
fix every last bug. There's nothing malicious about this, it's just a bug. The
effort to remove all of this code would be much greater than the effort needed
to fix this bug (and doing what you suggest would render us incapable of
actually shipping Firefox).

-- 
Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
You are on the CC list for the bug.
end quote

"and doing what you suggest would render us incapable of
actually shipping Firefox"  it would only take you 10 minutes. i looked at the source code for download it would take 5 hours to download from the ftp site on dialup. someone that already has the source code it would only take ten minutes. IN FIREFOX 5.0  IT IS EVEN WORSE it comes back on instantently. at least with 3.6 it stayed off until you restarted firefox.
Insulting developers is not going to help your case. Please try to remain civil.

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html
i do not think you are aware of how much stress a bug like this can cause. because it has the default set to "submit crash report" it is a serous security concern real or perceived. because it comes back right away the stress is more for us that do not want any information to leave our systems without our permission. for those suffering from ptsd the stress is 100 times greater. by returning to submit report it is acting like spyware. a little cursing is an expression of frustration. i can think several ways how this could be used to exploit personal security as it is. several more with modification. you have known about this bug for several versions and years. this crash reporter seriously needs to be removed. because this bug in particular has the potential to transmit personal information about your system   malicious or not should be treated it high regard and higher priority. you boast most secure browser and yet you leave a back door in. you have been caught with automatic updates. you think giving a less than a factual answer just might be insulting ?
In all honesty; what's the point of Mozilla trying to portray itself as the "do-gooder" alternative to "evil, privacy-invading" Chrome, when the developers give such flippant responses to a bug that does not allow the user to opt out of potentially transmitting private info?
This problem appears to have gone away in the latest Nightly.

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:8.0a1) Gecko/20110730 Firefox/8.0a1
I have the same problem.

It happens when I am in Private Browsing Mode.

I check the box "Submit Crash Reports", click OK.

Then I go back to the settings and it is unchecked.

Firefox 6.
Wow, people complaining because they do NOT want to submit crash reports?

I DO want to submit it, because hopefully it may make the future versions of Firefox even better.

Currently, Private Browsing Mode disables this function.
Registry?? What's that ;)  
Well it's also an issue in Linux, FF3.6.18, Ubuntu, Canonical 1.0

AFAIK, a selection option should be permanent unless indicated otherwise.

A potential workaround is to remove completely the URL for reporting these reports from the  appropriate areas in about:config.
(In reply to solcroft from comment #25)
> This problem appears to have gone away in the latest Nightly.
> 
> Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:8.0a1) Gecko/20110730 Firefox/8.0a1

Can someone confirm this?
This bug still exists in Fx 9.0.1.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:9.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/9.0.1
LOL Mozilla can't (maybe don't want) fix this bug since 2010-07-07. Maybe Mozilla team want to eliminate more bugs, so they don't want to fix this. Anyway this is semi fix:

"It seems that I have discovered the answer. When I asked Firefox to Never remember history, the Submit crash report option will always become unchecked after closing and reopening. However when I changed it to Remember history, the Submit crash report option can finally remain checked.

This is possibly due to the fact that no crash report can be submitted if no history is stored according to the current way the browser is set. In fact, the same thing happens using Firefox in Windows."

http://askubuntu.com/questions/19357/cannot-enable-firefox-submit-crash-report-option
Keywords: privacy
Issue still ongoing with FF 10.0.2 even with "Remember history" selected. However, it does remain unchecked if you manually add the setting in the registry:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mozilla\Firefox\Crash Reporter]
"SubmitCrashReport"=dword:00000000
I'll be working on this bug with a patch coming up as soon as possible. This seems to affect users of Firefox Portable the most, as they do not install through the "Firefox installer".

        Attachment #634270 -
        Flags: review?(ted.mielczarek)

    
    

    
  
Comment on attachment 634270 [details] [diff] [review]
Create the proper registry keys before writing the SubmitCrashReporter value

Review of attachment 634270 [details] [diff] [review]:
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Ted's review should be fine here, since he did it when I added this code in bug 540532 :)

::: toolkit/crashreporter/nsExceptionHandler.cpp
@@ +1469,5 @@
> +    regPath.Append(appVendor);
> +	regKey->Create(nsIWindowsRegKey::ROOT_KEY_CURRENT_USER,
> +                   NS_ConvertUTF8toUTF16(regPath),
> +                   nsIWindowsRegKey::ACCESS_SET_VALUE);
> +	regPath.AppendLiteral("\\");

Nit: these 2 new statements are indented 2 spaces too far.

@@ +1488,1 @@
>  

Should SetStringKey() do this too (in crashreporter_win.cpp)? Not sure if we'll always run through PrefSubmitReports() before the crash reporter comes up.

    
    

    
  
Thanks for catching the indents. SetStringKey() seems fine as it is, since it is calling MFC's RegCreateKey() instead, which properly creates the keys.

To be sure, I've tested toggling the "Tell Mozilla about this crash so they can fix it" in the Crash Reporter, and it works as it should.

    
    

    
  


  

        Attachment #634270 -
        Attachment is obsolete: true

        Attachment #634270 -
        Flags: review?(ted.mielczarek)

    
  

        Attachment #635166 -
        Flags: review?(ted.mielczarek)

    
    

    
  
Problem still exists in Firefox 13.0.1 (x86, 32bit, Windows 7 SP1 EN).

    
    

    
  
(In reply to mchallss from comment #40)
> Problem still exists in Firefox 13.0.1 (x86, 32bit, Windows 7 SP1 EN).

Right, the patch is going under review from the module owner. Assuming the patch goes to the tree before July 16th, it should be in Firefox 16.

    
    

    
  
Comment on attachment 635166 [details] [diff] [review]
Create the proper registry keys before writing the SubmitCrashReporter value (indents fixed)

Review of attachment 635166 [details] [diff] [review]:
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Seems reasonable, thanks!

        Attachment #635166 -
        Flags: review?(ted.mielczarek) → review+
Assignee: nobody → bcheng.gt

    
    

    
  
Hmm, seems this still needs landed?
Keywords: checkin-needed

    
    

    
  
(In reply to Justin Dolske [:Dolske] from comment #43)
> Hmm, seems this still needs landed?

Appears so.

Justin and Ted, thanks for looking over this! :)

    
    

    
  
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/mozilla-inbound/rev/acf3ae205d8c

Thanks for the patch, Brandon! To make life easier for those checking in on your behalf, please be sure to follow the directions below for any future patches you submit. Thanks!
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Creating_a_patch_that_can_be_checked_in
Flags: in-testsuite-
Keywords: checkin-needed

    
    

    
  
https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/acf3ae205d8c
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 12 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED
Target Milestone: --- → mozilla16

    
    

    
  
Still, "Submit crash reports" box is by default unchecked and auto-unchecks, when using browser in private mode. Will this be changed or bug get's postponed?

    
    

    
  
(In reply to kriterss from comment #48)
> Still, "Submit crash reports" box is by default unchecked and auto-unchecks,
> when using browser in private mode. Will this be changed or bug get's
> postponed?

If it's only in Private Browsing mode, file a different bug for that. This is for Firefox using non-existent registry keys.

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