739157 - search engines are gone after 'upgrading' to Firefox 11

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: Search, defect)

Description

[Lars Hallstrøm Eriksen]

Attachment: Screenshot: list of search engines is blank

What did you do?

(1) 'Upgraded' from Firefox 10 to Firefox 11. 
(2) Entered search string into search field. (My default search engine is Google, but I do not have the Google toolbar since that's not compatible with Firefox 10 or later.)
(3) Hit return key.

What happened?

Nothing.
I also reviewed the list of search engines, but it is blank (see attached screenshot).
I also tried to search for 'more' search engines, but none of the usual ones are found.
The problem seems OS specific. I have Windows 7 Home Premium (X64). The problem does not exist on a different computer running Windows XP Professional X64 after I upgraded Firefox from 10 to 11 there.
	 
What should have happened?

Search with default search engine (Google).

Comment 1

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

Sorry you're having trouble Lars - thanks for filing this bug.

Are you familiar with about:config? Assuming the problem persists after a restart, you can use it to set browser.search.log to true, restart Firefox, and then take a look at the Error Console (Tools->Web Developer) or stdout for search-related log messages. If you can attach a screenshot or log of those messages after a clean startup, it may help pinpoint the trouble.

Comment 2

[Lars Hallstrøm Eriksen]

Attachment: Error log

Is the error related to Chrome? I don't have Chrome installed, but I did get Chrome installed recently by forgetting to untick it when installing something else. I subesequently uninstalled it without even opening it.

Comment 3

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

No, Chrome being installed isn't relevant in this case - we've used the word "chrome" to refer to Firefox internals for a long time, Google deciding to use the name for their browser has led to a bit of confusion :)

Thanks for attaching that screenshot! That log shows some related errors (the "engine is null" ones), but it doesn't include any errors that pinpoint the cause - I think because the relevant messages were pushed out of the error console by other unrelated messages (there is a maximum that the console will display). To get at the root cause, we'll probably need to capture a full log from stdout. If you're not familiar with how to do that, I can guide you through it via email. You can email me directly at [e-mail].

Comment 4

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

I debugged this with Lars over email. It turns out that his installation directory, for some mysterious reason, had lost its "searchplugins" directory. Re-installing Firefox helped. No idea what could have caused that :(