about:home search does not function in Linux Mint 15
I installed a fresh copy of Linux Mint 15 (Cinnemon) recently. It comes pre-packaged with Firefox, but after setting the homepage back to the default (about:home), I noticed that the search bar on that page wasn't working. By that I mean the form does not submit neither by pressing Enter or clicking the "Search" button.
I've removed all add-ons, removed and reinstalled Firefox a few times, tried the Reset feature, deleted and recreated profiles, manually reset config options to default, and anything else I could think of. Nothing has helped.
Some users with a similar issue have mentioned that deleted chromeappsstore.sqlite helped, but this file is never even created for me. Additionally, localStorage["search-engine"] is undefined according to the console, yet Google is set as the defaultenginename.
Any ideas on what else to try?
Kiválasztott megoldás
Do you still see all search engines in Manage Search Engines?
You can check if you have the XML files of the default search engines including Google in the browser/searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder.
If not then you need to reinstall Firefox.
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Use the Search Reset add-on to fix that.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/searchreset/
This add-on is very simple: on installation, it backs up and then resets your search preferences and home page to their default values, and then uninstalls itself. This affects the search bar, URL bar searches, and the home page.
Kiválasztott megoldás
Do you still see all search engines in Manage Search Engines?
You can check if you have the XML files of the default search engines including Google in the browser/searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder.
If not then you need to reinstall Firefox.
Looks like the problem was with the searchplugins. Reinstalling (using apt-get purge, then apt-get install) did not seem to re-add the searchplugins. I believe that the Ubuntu repository (which Mint shares) actually does not include the Google searchplugin anyways, so I copied it from another machine. The search bar now works normally.
Also interesting to note, the SearchReset addon doesn't seem to do anything unless the searchplugins are installed and working properly. It only ran after the above fix.
The SearchReset only resets the involved prefs.
If the actual search engines are missing then the extension won't help.
Current Firefox versions use the default search engine (pref: browser.search.defaultenginename) to set the search engine that is used on the about:home page.
- browser.search.defaultenginename
Currently selected search engine:
- browser.search.selectedEngine