698324 - When switching to a different architecture (x86_64 to i386 on OSX f.e.) we re-enable all plugins

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Core Graveyard :: Plug-ins, defect)

Description

[Pascal Finette [:pfinette]]

Attachment: Add-Ons Manager > Plugins

Every time Firefox has to restart in 32 Bit Mode (which in my case is required to use the Garmin Communicator Plug-In) it forgets all enable/disable settings in Add-Ons Manager > Plugins. This permutes back to 64 Bit Mode after another Firefox restart.

Attached screenshot shows my settings before restarting into 32 Bit Mode. After the restart all Plugins become enabled (both in 32 Bit Mode and 64 Bit Mode).

Comment 1

[Pascal Finette [:pfinette]]

System Information:
- Firefox 7.0.1 on Mac OS X 10.7.2 (system is up-to-date).
- Installed Add-Ons: Adblock Plus, Last Pass, Priv3, Read It Later, Readability (all through AMO)
- Happens both on an old as well as a completely fresh profile

Comment 2

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

Maybe Add-ons Manager Component...

Comment 3

[Virgil Dicu [:virgil] [QA]]

Pascal, could you provide a webpage which requested a restart in 32 bit mode and the corresponding plug-in?

Comment 4

[Pascal Finette [:pfinette]]

(In reply to Virgil Dicu [QA] from comment #3)
> Pascal, could you provide a webpage which requested a restart in 32 bit mode
> and the corresponding plug-in?

Sure - http://strava.com with the Garmin Communicator Plugin (http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/products/communicator) which is used to upload data wireless from a Garmin GPS sports watch using the Garmin ANT USB Stick.

You can try this out without this setup on the Garmin site itself (you need to install the Garmin Communicator Plugin though):
http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/products/communicator

(see attached screenshot)

Comment 5

[Pascal Finette [:pfinette]]

Attachment: Screenshot from Garmin Communicator Website, asking for restart in 32 Bit Mode

Comment 6

[Pascal Finette [:pfinette]]

Also - there seems to be something else going on: Every time I restart Firefox into 32 Bit Mode (and subsequently into 64 Bit Mode) I get the first run experience from the Priv3 add-on (it opens a tab with some information about the add-on).

Looks like Firefox resets some prefs/settings when restarting into a different bit mode.

Comment 7

[Dave Townsend [:mossop]]

Can you attach copies of pluginreg.dat and prefs.js before and after the restart so we can compare them.

Comment 8

[Pascal Finette [:pfinette]]

Attachment: pluginreg.dat and prefs.js before restart

Comment 9

[Pascal Finette [:pfinette]]

Attachment: pluginreg.dat and prefs.js after restart

Comment 10

[Pascal Finette [:pfinette]]

(In reply to Dave Townsend (:Mossop) from comment #7)
> Can you attach copies of pluginreg.dat and prefs.js before and after the
> restart so we can compare them.

Sure thing - done.

Comment 11

[Dave Townsend [:mossop]]

The plugin part of this will have been caused by bug 616271 which throws away the plugin registry (which includes which plugins are disabled) when switching architectures.

Not sure why the pref reset is happening, it seems to be just one pref related to that extension so might just be an extension problem.

Comment 13

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

Also seen on Windows, see comment #12.

Comment 15

[Georg Fritzsche [:gfritzsche]]

Note that for use cases like in comment 0 you could use a different profile for the 32bit instance as a workaround.

Comment 16

[Benjamin Smedberg]

Resolving old bugs which are likely not relevant any more, since NPAPI plugins are deprecated.