951360 - (DJ-Leith) plugincheck not working in Aurora 28, ONLY Shockwave Flash 'reported on', others are missed

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 938885

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[DJ-Leith]

Subject: plugincheck not working in Aurora 28

Version Aurora [28.0a2 (2013-12-17)] 

First noticed on 16 Dec 2013.

In

"about:addons"

on the "Plugins" Tab (where you can see the

"Check to see if your plugins are up to date" link)

[Which will take you to e.g.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/plugincheck/
in my - GB - case]

I have four plugins listed:

Adobe Acrobat	(Version: 11.0.5.3)
Google Update	(Version: 1.3.22.3)
Google Earth Plugin	(Version: 7.1.1.1888)
Shockwave Flash	(Version: 11.9.900.170)

On "about:plugins" these four are also listed.

Issue

If I 'click the link' to 'do a plugin check' at
https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/plugincheck/

ONLY "Shockwave Flash 11.9 r900" is 'detected and reported on'.

So, unlike Firefox 26 (where all 4 are 'detected and reported on')
There is apparently 'no test or check' on 3 of the 4 plugins.


Steps done to assess this issue.

1. I made a new profile, which I named "8-Test-Aurora-Temp".
1.1 I made a shortcut to run Aurora using this new Profile

The 'shortcut Target' is similar to:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Aurora\firefox.exe" -profile
"C:\Users\UserNOAdmin\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\AtoZandNumbersRandom.8-Test-Aurora-Temp" -no-remote

See
"Shortcut to a specific profile"
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Shortcut_to_a_specific_profile
for guidance.

2. I started Aurora using the shortcut and I noticed that,
in "about:addons" 3 of the Plugins were set to "Ask to Activate"
BUT "Shockwave Flash Version: 11.9.900.170" was set to "Always Activate".

So, I set the 3 that 'are not being reported on': "Adobe Acrobat", "Google Update" and "Google Earth Plugin"
to "Always Activate".  So now all 4 are "Always Activate". I have closed Aurora and restarted Aurora.

However, this did NOT 'fix the issue'.

Other points:
A. I have NOT installed ANY 'Add-ins' on the "8-Test-Aurora-Temp" Profile.
So, I doubt that NoScript and other Add-ins that are shown in the pictures
in the NoScript Forum (see Link below) are relevant.

B. I also set all four plugins in my 'real Aurora Profile' to "Always Activate".

C. I have also on 17-Dec-2013
C1. Shutdown Windows 7
C2. Started Windows 7 and logged in as an Administrator
C3. Started Aurora and updated to 28.0a2 (2013-12-17)
C4. Closed Aurora and, using the Profile Manager created a new Profile "A4-Aurora-Test".
C5. Closed Aurora and selected the new Profile "A4-Aurora-Test" and have done the tests (as described above) "about:addons" etc.  As expected, all four Plugins are present.
Changed the settings to "Always Activate" on all 4 (as before, ONLY Shockwave Flash was set to "Always Activate"). Closed Aurora.

C6. Started Aurora, using the "A4-Aurora-Test" Profile
"about:addons"
and then 
when I 'click the link' to 'do a plugin check' at
https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/plugincheck/

ONLY "Shockwave Flash 11.9 r900" is 'detected and reported on'.

So, reproduced on a Windows Administrator account,
no 'shortcut to Profile involved'.


Some references:

"Issues related to plugins"
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Issues_related_to_plugins

"Firefox 26+: How to Set a Particular Plugin to "Always Activate" or "Never Activate" State"
http://techdows.com/2013/09/firefox-26-plus-set-a-plugin-to-always-activate-or-never-activate.html


Background about MY specific use of Aurora, Firefox and Profiles
I use several Profiles.
I start Firefox (more than 90% of the time) using specific
shortcuts to start specific profiles.
Again, more than 90% of the time, I am NOT an Administrator.

I use Aurora mainly for web email. I use this as a 'canary in a mine'
to highlight 'changes in Firefox that MIGHT break my web email' to give
me warning (6 to 12 weeks) before there is an issue with my web email.

To 'update Aurora', each day, I 'right click the shortcut to run Aurora
with my Aurora profile' and "Run as administrator" (and I provide a password
to Windows 7 UAC).  I do NOT usually 'browse' as an Administrator.

I start Firefox, using the shortcut - the 'shortcut Target: field' is very similar to:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profile
"C:\Users\UserNOAdmin\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\AtoZandNumbersRandom.ProfileNameHere" -no-remote

For my 'normal Aurora profile' and the fresh 'test Aurora profile' the
FIRST part of the 'shortcut' is changed to

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Aurora\firefox.exe" <== NOT the "Mozilla Firefox" folder.


For more information on my use of Profiles, including pictures, see

"Changes in Firefox "-no-remote" switch and running Fx"
http://forums.informaction.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8626

The issue in the 'specific thread - just above' was never resolved but I 
concluded that the 'underlying casue' was two versions of the "startupCache":
Local vs Remote.


C:\Users\UserNameHere\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\rywfzqk3.ProfileNameHere\startupCache
vs
C:\Users\UserNameHere\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\rywfzqk3.ProfileNameHere\startupCache

The shortcuts always use the latter (the Roaming) while, if I start Firefox VIA the
Profile Manager, I will use the LOCAL version of the "startupCache".