932925 - Spellcheck keeps changing to other languages

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Core :: Spelling checker, defect)

Description

[ericongerth]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:25.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/25.0 (Beta/Release)
Build ID: 20131028112446

Steps to reproduce:

Fresh install of Ubuntu 13.10, 64-bit.  Comes with Firefox.  This issue affects both the Firefox version that came with it, and version 25.0 that it updated to a few days later.  But I have also had this problem with all Firefox versions on Ubuntu for at least 6 months.

At some point during Firefox use, spellcheck language reverts to UK or Canadian English even though I set it to en-US.  I have set it with the right-click (context) menu, and I have set it by going to about:config and setting the spellchecker.dictionary setting to en-US.  The problem still comes back.


Actual results:

Spellcheck language spontaneously changes itself to English (United Kingdom) or English (Canada).  This happens very frequently, usually several times a week.  Sometimes I have seen it happen more than once in 24 hours.

I use the right-click context menu in any spellchecked text entry box to change it back to English (United States), and the first time, my setting fails to be set.  I use the right-click context menu a second time and see that it didn't "stick" the first time so I set it to English (United States) again and now the setting works and I no longer see incorrect spellings detected for US vs. UK or CA spellings of English words.

But the setting does not stay!  It always works for the duration of my current session.  But some time later, anywhere from the same day to a week later, I find that the spellcheck language has returned to en-UK or en-CA once again.

This is very frustrating and has been going on for a long time.  I reset my profile and that didn't change anything.  Is it possible that Sync is keeping me stuck with the problem even after I reset?

The fact that this happens with a fresh install of Firefox included with a fresh install of Ubuntu makes me think it's a bug and not just a problem with my prefs or profile.  But the possibility of Sync affecting this makes me uncertain.


Expected results:

The setting should stay set properly and it should never change unless the user explicitly changes it.  Nothing else should be able to override the user's choice of spellcheck language.  Especially not repeatedly and with no warning.

Comment 1

[ericongerth]

Troubleshooting info cut and paste:
You will see that I have some addons, but I have disabled them except for the Ubuntu integration stuff.

Application Basics
------------------

Name: Firefox
Version: 25.0
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:25.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/25.0

Extensions
----------

Name: Ubuntu Firefox Modifications
Version: 2.8
Enabled: true
ID: [e-mail]

Name: Ubuntu Online Accounts
Version: 0.5
Enabled: true
ID: [e-mail]

Name: Unity Desktop Integration
Version: 2.4.8
Enabled: true
ID: [e-mail]

Name: Unity Websites integration
Version: 2013.09.20.beta
Enabled: true
ID: {2e1445b0-2682-11e1-bfc2-0800200c9a66}

Name: Firebug
Version: 1.12.4
Enabled: false
ID: [e-mail]

Name: Stylish
Version: 1.3.3
Enabled: false
ID: {46551EC9-40F0-4e47-8E18-8E5CF550CFB8}

Name: Web Developer
Version: 1.2.5
Enabled: false
ID: {c45c406e-ab73-11d8-be73-000a95be3b12}

Important Modified Preferences
------------------------------

accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0
browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400
browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400
browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false
browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false
browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 4
browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20131028112446
browser.startup.homepage: about:home
browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20131028112446
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 25.0
extensions.lastAppVersion: 25.0
font.default.x-western: sans-serif
font.minimum-size.x-western: 12
font.name.monospace.x-western: Inconsolata
font.name.sans-serif.x-western: DejaVu Sans
font.name.serif.x-western: DejaVu Serif
network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true
places.database.lastMaintenance: 1383074715
places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858
plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf
plugin.importedState: true
privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true
storage.vacuum.last.index: 1
storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1382412413

Graphics
--------

Adapter Description: X.Org -- Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV770
Device ID: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV770
Driver Version: 3.0 Mesa 9.2.1
GPU Accelerated Windows: 0/1 Basic
Vendor ID: X.Org
WebGL Renderer: X.Org -- Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV770
windowLayerManagerRemote: false
AzureCanvasBackend: cairo
AzureContentBackend: none
AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: none
AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

JavaScript
----------

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility
-------------

Activated: false
Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions
----------------

NSPR
Expected minimum version: 4.10.1
Version in use: 4.10.1

NSS
Expected minimum version: 3.15.2 Basic ECC
Version in use: 3.15.2 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME
Expected minimum version: 3.15.2 Basic ECC
Version in use: 3.15.2 Basic ECC

NSSSSL
Expected minimum version: 3.15.2 Basic ECC
Version in use: 3.15.2 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL
Expected minimum version: 3.15.2
Version in use: 3.15.2

Comment 2

[[:Aleksej]]

Similar to bug 858666.

Comment 3

[Matt Price]

This is happening to me as well; it seems to be related to enteing text on Facebook.  See this archived thread:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/965624

I am using aurora on Arch Linux but had similar problems on various FF versions on my old computer, which ran Ubuntu 12.04, 12.10, and 13.04 preleases.  FF versions went from about 24 to 27; currently using aurora just a few days old.

Comment 4

[Matt Price]

some other possible dupes:  

bug 853970 (almost certainly)
bug 717433 (possibly)
bug 728069 (maybe)
bug 858666 (also referenced above)

Comment 5

[Jorg K (CEST = GMT+2)]

Closing this bug as per bug 1073827, comment #33.
If you want to reopen it, please present a reproducible test case.