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Firefox opens in wrong location, eventually refuses to open any more webpages

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  • Last reply by David

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When I run Firefox from System Monitor, I get the following errors: Upon startup: glxtest: VA-API test failed: failed to initialize VAAPI connection Upon shutdown: glean_core::metrics::ping Invalid reason code start up for ping background-update, viaduct::backend::ffi Missing HTTP status Firefox opens on the left half of the screen, even though I keep it on the right. The right-click menu also opens on the left. Firefox will eventually stop loading new webpages. Upon shutdown, System Monitor and Nemo both become zombies, along with firefox-bin. I have to restart Linux Mint when this happens. I am running version 21.1, and Firefox 108.0.1. I have a crash ID: bp-19dffdf3-57ff-4dc4-8625-814d70221226

When I run Firefox from System Monitor, I get the following errors: Upon startup: glxtest: VA-API test failed: failed to initialize VAAPI connection Upon shutdown: glean_core::metrics::ping Invalid reason code start up for ping background-update, viaduct::backend::ffi Missing HTTP status Firefox opens on the left half of the screen, even though I keep it on the right. The right-click menu also opens on the left. Firefox will eventually stop loading new webpages. Upon shutdown, System Monitor and Nemo both become zombies, along with firefox-bin. I have to restart Linux Mint when this happens. I am running version 21.1, and Firefox 108.0.1. I have a crash ID: bp-19dffdf3-57ff-4dc4-8625-814d70221226

All Replies (12)

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What happens when you run Firefox from Mozilla? Download, unzip, and run firefox-bin in the folder. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release X11 or Wayland?

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I was able to fix the VA-API issue by following the instructions here: https://electro-dan.co.uk/blog/26/nvidia-firefox-hardware-video-decoding-on-linux-mint-21-%2F-ubuntu-22.04-%28jammy%29-va-api

But that only solved the missing VA-API. I still have all the other issues. I am on X11 (I had to search to find out how to get that info).

I am running Linux Mint 21.1, if that helps.

Another strange issue I discovered: If I have the window on the right half of the screen, I cannot move the Home icon next to the back arrow when customizing the toolbar. I have to move the window back to the left. Also, sometimes when right clicking, the menu appears for a moment, then the web developer tools open. Very weird.

Modified by David

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jonzn4SUSE said

What happens when you run Firefox from Mozilla? Download, unzip, and run firefox-bin in the folder. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release X11 or Wayland?

Unfortunately, running Firefox from Mozilla has all the same issues. I am on X11 (something I am not too familiar with, since I had to search how to find out).

I was able to solve the missing VA-API issue by following the instructions here: https://electro-dan.co.uk/blog/26/nvidia-firefox-hardware-video-decoding-on-linux-mint-21-%2F-ubuntu-22.04-%28jammy%29-va-api

But that did not fix the other issues.

Another very weird one I just discovered. If I have the window on the right, I cannot move the Home icon to the left of the back arrow when customizing the toolbar. And even more weird, sometimes when right-clicking, the menu shows for a moment, then the web developer tools open.

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In the other thread, you asked me to run strace -t -o firefox_debug.txt firefox &

I have the text file available. How do I get it to you? I tried posting the output in a post, but the forum won't allow it.

I have discovered that all of these issues don't appear if I keep Firefox on the left. There is also a half inch gap between the Firefox window, and the left side of the screen, when Firefox opens.

I forgot to point out that I am using Firefox v108.0.1, not what the op was using.

Modified by David

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Your issue does not appear to be a browser issue if both versions failed. I would run a live usb stick or vm, it sounds like an environment issue.

Modified by jonzn4SUSE

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I suppose it could be that. Unfortunately, running Mint from the usb is so slow, it is almost unusable. I haven't tried a vm yet. Firefox works perfectly, with no errors on the command line, from the live USB. Plus, Firefox worked fine until recently. Perhaps an update broke something.

In any case, someone from the Mint community is also helping me with this issue. If she comes up with a solution, I will post it here, to help others.

I forgot to point out that neither the repository install, nor the one from Mozilla, work correctly in safe mode either.

Modified by David

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Note that you in that other thread you managed to post those two strace reports, but those replies ended up in the moderator queue and are hidden. You can post them in this thread and we will approve them or you can create two empty placeholder threads here and I can copy the content over.

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Oh, I see. I didn't think they took, since I didn't see them posted. The next two posts will be empty.

Now it gets really weird. I just discovered that if I run Thunderbird, then Firefox, Firefox behaves properly. But only if I click the menu icon. If I run Firefox from the command line, it misbehaves again.

Thunderbird starts with a half inch gap on the left as well. I imagine both Firefox and Thunderbird have much code in common, since Thunderbird used to belong to Mozilla.

Modified by David

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06:36:43 execve("/usr/bin/firefox", ["firefox"], 0x7ffcc0dc5d08 /* 47 vars */) = 0 06:36:43 brk(NULL) = 0x55adf31fe000 06:36:43 arch_prctl(0x3001 /* ARCH_??? */, 0x7ffccb36aec0) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument) 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f2dd506e000 06:36:43 access("/etc/ld.so.preload", R_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 06:36:43 newfstatat(3, "", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=78903, ...}, AT_EMPTY_PATH) = 0 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 78903, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0x7f2dd505a000 06:36:43 close(3) = 0 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 06:36:43 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\3\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0P\237\2\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 06:36:43 pread64(3, "\6\0\0\0\4\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 784, 64) = 784 06:36:43 pread64(3, "\4\0\0\0 \0\0\0\5\0\0\0GNU\0\2\0\0\300\4\0\0\0\3\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 48, 848) = 48 06:36:43 pread64(3, "\4\0\0\0\24\0\0\0\3\0\0\0GNU\0i8\235HZ\227\223\333\350s\360\352,\223\340."..., 68, 896) = 68 06:36:43 newfstatat(3, "", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=2216304, ...}, AT_EMPTY_PATH) = 0 06:36:43 pread64(3, "\6\0\0\0\4\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 784, 64) = 784 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 2260560, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f2dd4e32000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f2dd4e5a000, 1658880, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x28000) = 0x7f2dd4e5a000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f2dd4fef000, 360448, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1bd000) = 0x7f2dd4fef000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f2dd5047000, 24576, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x214000) = 0x7f2dd5047000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f2dd504d000, 52816, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f2dd504d000 06:36:43 close(3) = 0 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 12288, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f2dd4e2f000 06:36:43 arch_prctl(ARCH_SET_FS, 0x7f2dd4e2f740) = 0 06:36:43 set_tid_address(0x7f2dd4e2fa10) = 34590 06:36:43 set_robust_list(0x7f2dd4e2fa20, 24) = 0 06:36:43 rseq(0x7f2dd4e300e0, 0x20, 0, 0x53053053) = 0 06:36:43 mprotect(0x7f2dd5047000, 16384, PROT_READ) = 0 06:36:43 mprotect(0x55adf1600000, 8192, PROT_READ) = 0 06:36:43 mprotect(0x7f2dd50a8000, 8192, PROT_READ) = 0 06:36:43 prlimit64(0, RLIMIT_STACK, NULL, {rlim_cur=8192*1024, rlim_max=RLIM64_INFINITY}) = 0 06:36:43 munmap(0x7f2dd505a000, 78903) = 0 06:36:43 getuid() = 1000 06:36:43 getgid() = 1000 06:36:43 getpid() = 34590 06:36:43 rt_sigaction(SIGCHLD, {sa_handler=0x55adf15f6aa0, sa_mask=~[RTMIN RT_1], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f2dd4e74520}, NULL, 8) = 0 06:36:43 geteuid() = 1000 06:36:43 getrandom("\x40\x92\x9f\x44\xff\xd6\xd3\xc1", 8, GRND_NONBLOCK) = 8 06:36:43 brk(NULL) = 0x55adf31fe000 06:36:43 brk(0x55adf321f000) = 0x55adf321f000 06:36:43 getppid() = 34587 06:36:43 newfstatat(AT_FDCWD, "/home/david", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0750, st_size=4096, ...}, 0) = 0 06:36:43 newfstatat(AT_FDCWD, ".", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0750, st_size=4096, ...}, 0) = 0 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/bin/firefox", O_RDONLY) = 3 06:36:43 fcntl(3, F_DUPFD, 10) = 10 06:36:43 close(3) = 0 06:36:43 fcntl(10, F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC) = 0 06:36:43 geteuid() = 1000 06:36:43 getegid() = 1000 06:36:43 rt_sigaction(SIGINT, NULL, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=0}, 8) = 0 06:36:43 rt_sigaction(SIGINT, {sa_handler=0x55adf15f6aa0, sa_mask=~[RTMIN RT_1], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f2dd4e74520}, NULL, 8) = 0 06:36:43 rt_sigaction(SIGQUIT, NULL, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=0}, 8) = 0 06:36:43 rt_sigaction(SIGQUIT, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=~[RTMIN RT_1], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f2dd4e74520}, NULL, 8) = 0 06:36:43 rt_sigaction(SIGTERM, NULL, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=0}, 8) = 0 06:36:43 rt_sigaction(SIGTERM, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=~[RTMIN RT_1], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f2dd4e74520}, NULL, 8) = 0 06:36:43 read(10, "#!/bin/sh\n\n# if this isn't in th"..., 8192) = 168 06:36:43 execve("/usr/lib/firefox/firefox", ["/usr/lib/firefox/firefox"], 0x55adf31fec78 /* 48 vars */) = 0 06:36:43 brk(NULL) = 0x1ceb000 06:36:43 arch_prctl(0x3001 /* ARCH_??? */, 0x7ffe2924ab20) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument) 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f713e751000 06:36:43 access("/etc/ld.so.preload", R_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 06:36:43 newfstatat(3, "", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=78903, ...}, AT_EMPTY_PATH) = 0 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 78903, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0x7f713e73d000 06:36:43 close(3) = 0 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 06:36:43 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 06:36:43 newfstatat(3, "", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=21448, ...}, AT_EMPTY_PATH) = 0 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 16424, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f713e738000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e739000, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1000) = 0x7f713e739000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e73a000, 4096, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x2000) = 0x7f713e73a000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e73b000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x2000) = 0x7f713e73b000 06:36:43 close(3) = 0 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 06:36:43 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 06:36:43 newfstatat(3, "", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=14432, ...}, AT_EMPTY_PATH) = 0 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 16424, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f713e733000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e734000, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1000) = 0x7f713e734000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e735000, 4096, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x2000) = 0x7f713e735000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e736000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x2000) = 0x7f713e736000 06:36:43 close(3) = 0 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 06:36:43 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\3\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 06:36:43 newfstatat(3, "", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=2252096, ...}, AT_EMPTY_PATH) = 0 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 2267328, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f713e509000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e5a3000, 1114112, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x9a000) = 0x7f713e5a3000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e6b3000, 454656, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1aa000) = 0x7f713e6b3000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e722000, 57344, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x218000) = 0x7f713e722000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e730000, 10432, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f713e730000 06:36:43 close(3) = 0 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 06:36:43 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\3\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 06:36:43 newfstatat(3, "", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=940560, ...}, AT_EMPTY_PATH) = 0 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 942344, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f713e422000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e430000, 507904, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0xe000) = 0x7f713e430000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e4ac000, 372736, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x8a000) = 0x7f713e4ac000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e507000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0xe4000) = 0x7f713e507000 06:36:43 close(3) = 0 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 06:36:43 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 06:36:43 newfstatat(3, "", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=125488, ...}, AT_EMPTY_PATH) = 0 06:36:43 mmap(NULL, 127720, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f713e402000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e405000, 94208, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x3000) = 0x7f713e405000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e41c000, 16384, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1a000) = 0x7f713e41c000 06:36:43 mmap(0x7f713e420000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1d000) = 0x7f713e420000 06:36:43 close(3) = 0 06:36:43 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 06:36:43 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\3\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0P\237\2\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 06:36:43 pread64(3, "\6\0\0\0\4\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 784, 64) = 784 06:36:43 pread64(3, "\4\0\0\0 \0\0\0\5\0\0\0GNU\0\2\0\0\300\4\0\0\0\3\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 48, 848) = 48 06:36:43 pread64(3, "\4\0\0\0\24\0\0\0\3\0\0\0GNU\0i8\235HZ\227\223\333\350s\360\352,\223\340."..., 68, 896) = 68


copied from /questions/1385821#answer-1555923 - cor-el

Modified by cor-el

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Unfortunately, after running for a day, Firefox did eventually malfunction, while Thunderbird was running.

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Did you delete all the cookies from websites that get your location wrong? Clear the cache and remove cookies only from websites that cause problems. "Clear the Cache": Firefox/Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Cached Web Content: "Clear Now"

Regards, Will

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While Firefox (and the right-click menu) still opens on the left half of my screen, when it is set to open on the right, all the other issues seem to have been fixed, in Firefox 109.0. It even loads pages faster.