658349 - Clicking URL shortcut with browser maximized and with tabs on top yields blank screen

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Firefox :: Tabbed Browser, defect)

Description

[Colin Templeman]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:2.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0.1
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:2.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0.1

When I click on an internet shortcut placed on my desktop, Firefox presents a completely blank screen except for the Window title bar i.e. all tabs and the navigation toolbar itself aren't rendered.  When I restore the window then maximise again, the content is rendered correctly.
NOTE: This behaviour is confirmed in normal and safe mode on two separate Windows XP SP3 machines sporting ATI and Intel graphic chipsets respectively.
Screenshots: http://www.albez.vivaciti.net/Firefox/

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Go to a website e.g. http://armdevices.net/ and drag a URL shortcut to the desktop.

2. Select Firefox options...general... "when Firefox starts: show a blank page"

3. Select toolbar options "tabs on top" & "navigation toolbar" (on) and deselect all other toolbar options (off)

4. Select options...tabs... "open new windows in a new tab instead" and deselect all other tab options

5. Ensure normal browser window size is less than full desktop, then select maximise on the title bar to make browser fill the whole desktop (see http://www.albez.vivaciti.net/Firefox/FF-error-1.jpg)

6. Now select minimise to taskbar so you can see your desktop

7. Double click the URL link on the desktop

Actual Results:  
Firefox renders a blank screen.  The only visible object is the title bar - all content, toolbars and tabs are missing (see http://www.albez.vivaciti.net/Firefox/FF-error-2.jpg).

Expected Results:  
Firefox should display one blank tab in background and a second foreground tab with the selected URL.  All other chrome content should remain the same.

After perfoming the above steps, if you then select the restore button on the browser title bar, the chrome and content is restored to what would normally be expected i.e. one blank tab in background and foreground tab with the selected URL (see http://www.albez.vivaciti.net/Firefox/FF-error-3.jpg)

If the browser window is then maximised, chrome and content is still displayed correctly.  Adding further tabs has no adverse effect.

Comment 1

[Colin Templeman]

It appears that other people have the same issue in the Firefox forums: https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/819693

Comment 2

[Henrik Skupin [:whimboo][⌚️UTC+1]]

Colin, does the same happen for you also with Firefox 3.6?

Comment 3

[Simona Badau, Desktop QA]

I am unable to reproduce this issue on:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:6.0a1) Gecko/20110522 Firefox/6.0a1

Reporter, please can you confirm whether this issue still occurs using Firefox with a clean profile?
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Basic+Troubleshooting#Make_a_new_profile

Comment 4

[Colin Templeman]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Colin, does the same happen for you also with Firefox 3.6?

Sorry I can't say as all my instances of Firefox are now 4.01

Comment 5

[Colin Templeman]

(In reply to comment #3)
> I am unable to reproduce this issue on:
> Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:6.0a1) Gecko/20110522 Firefox/6.0a1

Presumably this this a new nightly build?  Can you please read below to ensure you have the right initial conditions.

> Reporter, please can you confirm whether this issue still occurs using
> Firefox with a clean profile?

Yes this bug is confirmed present using a clean profile.


Whilst the screenshots referenced in my initial report clearly show the state of Firefox before commencing, I might add the following words for clarity to be used between steps 5 and 6:

- ensure you only have ONE blank tab open before conducting step 6.  I suggest adding a new, fresh tab then deleting all other tabs.  Two tabs or more open and this fault does not manifest!

Comment 6

[Simona Badau, Desktop QA]

Confirmed on Firefox 4.0.1 on:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:2.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0.1

But still, I can not reproduce this issue on the latest nighty which means the problem was fixed in the meanwhile. 
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:7.0a1) Gecko/20110531 Firefox/7.0a1

Also, your issue is not reproducible on Firefox Beta 3, so the problem is fixed.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:5.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/5.0