760743 - 3.6.* gets prompted with an empty Software Update dialog on release channel

Status: VERIFIED WONTFIX

(Release Engineering :: Release Requests, defect)

Description

[u279076]

Attachment: Screenshot

Saw this empty dialog today. Clicking cancel or finish does nothing, clicking X closes the window. Closing the window, it reprompts soon after.

Steps:
1) Install Firefox 3.6.* (tested with 3.6.13 en-US)
2) In about config, set the following prefs:
* app.update.download.backgroundInterval = 0
* app.update.idletime = 0
* app.update.interval = 10
* app.update.timer = 10000
* app.update.log = true
3) Restart Firefox and wait

Result:
Empty software update prompt

Sample AUS URL:
https://aus3.mozilla.org/update/3/Firefox/3.6.13/20101203075014/WINNT_x86-msvc/en-US/release/Windows_NT%206.1/default/default/update.xml

Comment 1

[u279076]

Just retested with 3.6.25 en-US and I got a prompt with content. So I'm not sure if this is intermittent or a connectivity issue.

Comment 2

[u279076]

Reproduce with Firefox 3.6.13 en-US, so it my be version specific.

Comment 3

[Alex Keybl [:akeybl]]

(In reply to Anthony Hughes, Mozilla QA (irc: ashughes) from comment #2)
> Reproduce with Firefox 3.6.13 en-US, so it my be version specific.

Is it reproducible every team with 3.6.13?

Comment 4

[u279076]

Yeah, tried it a few times starting with a new profile and I got the empty dialog every time.

Comment 5

[Alex Keybl [:akeybl]]

Including joduinn/catlee on this bug so that we can get somebody to check the snippets and make sure there isn't a mistake in the URL. Also including rstrong to see if this is a known issue with some versions of 3.6.

Comment 6

[u279076]

Just in case you are wondering, when we pushed this a couple weeks ago, 3.6.13 was one of the versions I spotchecked and I did not encounter this bug at that time. I'm not sure what would cause it to be happening allofasudden.

FYI, I will be available tomorrow to test this further if necessary, as I will be working on 13RC and 10.0.5esr throughout the weekend.

Comment 7

[Nick Thomas [:nthomas] (UTC+12)]

(In reply to Anthony Hughes, Mozilla QA (irc: ashughes) from comment #0)
> Sample AUS URL:
> https://aus3.mozilla.org/update/3/Firefox/3.6.13/20101203075014/WINNT_x86-
> msvc/en-US/release/Windows_NT%206.1/default/default/update.xml

I get consistent content from AUS on this. The equivalent URL for 3.6.25 is 
 https://aus3.mozilla.org/update/3/Firefox/3.6.25/20111212142243/WINNT_x86-msvc/en-US/release/Windows_NT%206.1/default/default/update.xml
The xml content is identical, so this looks like a mozilla.org or client bug. Please try again with your profile's cache emptied, or a new profile.

You could also try backing off on those prefs a bit, eg 
* app.update.download.backgroundInterval = 0
* app.update.idletime = 5
* app.update.interval = 120
* app.update.timer = 30000
* app.update.log = true
We've had problems with 3.6 in the past when testing with sub-optimal pref values.

Comment 8

[u279076]

Okay, thanks Nick. I'll test along those lines tomorrow.

Comment 9

[u279076]

Nick, I just retested this, Firefox 3.6.13 en-US on release channel with your preferences in comment 7 and I got the empty dialog on the first try. Here is the URL:

https://aus2.mozilla.org/update/3/Firefox/3.6.13/20101203075014/WINNT_x86-msvc/en-US/release/Windows_NT%205.1/default/default/update.xml

Comment 10

[u279076]

Reproducible with 3.6.13, 3.6.14, 3.6.15, 3.6.16. 

3.6.17-28 seem to be unaffected.

Comment 11

[Nick Thomas [:nthomas] (UTC+12)]

I think this is bug 646054, which was fixed in 3.6.17.

Comment 12

[Nick Thomas [:nthomas] (UTC+12)]

My pref values are a bit off compared to the one discussed there, but it looks like that didn't matter in the end.

Comment 13

[u279076]

Probably. Though it's curious why this is happening now and was not happening when we did the first push some weeks ago.

Comment 14

[u279076]

At any rate, probably not something that can be fixed. Also, checking for updates via Help menu finds and installs the update.

Comment 15

[u279076]

(In reply to Anthony Hughes, Mozilla QA (irc: ashughes) from comment #14)
> At any rate, probably not something that can be fixed. Also, checking for
> updates via Help menu finds and installs the update.

In other words, this is not an end-game for these users if it isn't fixed. They still have a way to update.

Comment 16

[[e-mail] (:bhearsum)]

RESO CANTFIX?

Comment 17

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

Can we update 3.6.x users to 3.6.17 before offering them an update to newer versions?

Comment 18

[[e-mail] (:bhearsum)]

Those users have had updates to all the newer versions of 3.6.x in the past and haven't updated to them over the course of many months.

Comment 19

[u279076]

Agreed. The likelihood that they would accept an update is pretty low, and probably not worth our effort. Besides, these users are not completely stranded by way of this bug. They can still update by going through the Help menu > Check For Updates, and they can always just download the latest release.