676472 - Firefox5 does not open mailto links in Gmail.

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[stephencook.nz]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:5.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/5.0
Build ID: 20110615151330

Steps to reproduce:

Clicked a mailto link when Gmail is default email. 


Actual results:

Nothing! This used to work with previous versions of FF. Problem is consistent across various websites and repeatable every time. 
I have tested the specified link (https://mail.google.com/mail/?extsrc=mailto&url=%s) manually and it works fine. The same link invoked with FF5 fails and no error message is displayed. I am not aware of any changes that would impact this other than upgrading to FF5.


Expected results:

Gmail compose mail window should have opened.

Comment 1

[Thomas Ahlblom]

Does the issue still occur if you start Firefox in Safe Mode?
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Safe+Mode

How about with a new, empty profile?
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Basic+Troubleshooting#w_8-make-a-new-profile

Comment 2

[Mats Palmgren (inactive)]

As far as I know, Firefox does not have builtin support for redirecting
mailto: links to a gmail web page in the browser.  Maybe you have
installed an add-on that added that functionality?  (check Tools->Add-ons)
If so, I suspect that add-on is incompatible with Firefox 5 and that's
why it stopped working.

Comment 3

[Thomas Ahlblom]

(In reply to comment #2)
> As far as I know, Firefox does not have builtin support for redirecting
> mailto: links to a gmail web page in the browser.

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:5.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/5.0.1

I get an available "Use Gmail" entry in the preferences when creating a new profile in Firefox 5 (and others). And I have no problem to use it.

Comment 4

[stephencook.nz]

(In reply to comment #1)
> Does the issue still occur if you start Firefox in Safe Mode?
> https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Safe+Mode
> 
> How about with a new, empty profile?
> https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Basic+Troubleshooting#w_8-make-a-new-
> profile

Still occurs in safe mode.

With a new profile the behavior changes. Clicking on a mailto link with Gmail set as the mail application now opens the Gmail compose mail window the same tab (replacing the web page containing the link). Previously clicking the mailto link would open Gmail compose mail in a new window (leaving the web page in the browser window).

Any further suggestions. Thank you for your help.

Comment 5

[stephencook.nz]

(In reply to comment #2)
> As far as I know, Firefox does not have builtin support for redirecting
> mailto: links to a gmail web page in the browser.  Maybe you have
> installed an add-on that added that functionality?  (check Tools->Add-ons)
> If so, I suspect that add-on is incompatible with Firefox 5 and that's
> why it stopped working.

I may be misunderstanding your comment but within Options/Applications Gmail is an option for the mailto content type.

Comment 6

[stephencook.nz]

I have narrowed the source of the problem down a little. 

The problem appears to be somewhere in prefs.js. I can copy all other files from my original default profile to the new profile without losing the mailto via Gmail capability but as soon as I copy across prefs.js it fails as previously described.

I am totally new to the internal workings of FF and so I am now out of my depth. Also this does not explain the secondary issue with the new profile whereby a mailto link opens the Gmail compose mail window in the same tab as the web page rather than a new browser window as before.

It seems something got out of whack with the upgrade to FF5. And I'm not alone; for more cases/reports see:
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/846879?s=mailto+link+and+gmail&as=s