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firefox os x 20 tries to restore session at every start up

  • 19 replies
  • 96 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by glaze182

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Im using firefox 20 beta and os x 10.8.2, Ive been on beta channel for a long time but with 20 beta every time I start firefox it says "well this is embrassing..." and tries to restore couple of tabs I visited before..problem just started after first update of beta ,

I tried; reset firefox complete uninstall by deleting profile folder also deleting org.mozilla.firefox.plist file in preferences folder in library

made clean instal but nothing changed. Im sure firefox closes normally as I checked on activity monitor and my homepage is about:newtab. "show tabs from last time" is not selected from preferences.

same problem continues on aurora 21 too, it just started after first update of 20 beta, I used 20 beta without such problem for a week, but since first update of beta its broken even on aurora too.

btw java is disabled and problem occurs when flash is not working..

Im using firefox 20 beta and os x 10.8.2, Ive been on beta channel for a long time but with 20 beta every time I start firefox it says "well this is embrassing..." and tries to restore couple of tabs I visited before..problem just started after first update of beta , I tried; reset firefox complete uninstall by deleting profile folder also deleting org.mozilla.firefox.plist file in preferences folder in library made clean instal but nothing changed. Im sure firefox closes normally as I checked on activity monitor and my homepage is about:newtab. "show tabs from last time" is not selected from preferences. same problem continues on aurora 21 too, it just started after first update of 20 beta, I used 20 beta without such problem for a week, but since first update of beta its broken even on aurora too. btw java is disabled and problem occurs when flash is not working..

All Replies (19)

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and I downgraded to 19 hope this will be fixed until 20 moves to released...

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today I updated from 19 to 20 and problem still continues also checked latest aurora and same problem on aurora too..

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You can check for problems with the sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak files in the Firefox Profile Folder that store session data.

Delete the sessionstore.js file and possible sessionstore-##.js files with a number and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox Profile Folder.

Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost, so you will have to create them again (make a note or bookmark them).

You can check if you have a user.js file in the Firefox profile folder that sets the browser.sessionstore.resume_session_once pref to true.

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I deleted sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak files but nothing changed

I dont have user.js in my profile folder...

I also tried to create new profile. even on brand new profile same problem occurs...

as I said in first post, while 20 was beta I completely uninstalled firefox by deleting profile folder also deleted org.mozilla.firefox.plist file in preferences folder in library but problem persisted. I dont wanna make clean install again Im pretty sure that its nothing related to profile folder, its firefox itself. it started first update of 20 when it was beta and still continues on both release channel and latest aurora...

please developers check which change may cause this problem that made while 20 was beta and it's first update.

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I will leave others to answer this as it relates to a Mac, and you already have contributors providing answers.

I dont wanna make clean install again Im pretty sure that its nothing related to profile folder, its firefox itself

I just wish to remark on the above comment.
If you just wish to try a clean profile you only need to create an additional new clean profile using profile manager, there is no need to re-install Firefox to do that.

Modified by John99

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@john99

I know I did like just you said to create a new profile, but nothing changed.

I said I dont wanna make clean install again for to mention out that I also tried that too while 20 was beta...

anyway I decided to make a clean install again, probably problem will persist, I'll inform you...

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alright Im back with clean install again and problem still continues..

I was sure that problem was gonna persisting with clean install too but just want to make everyone aware that its nothing to do with profile folder or anything inside it. it's just firefox itself, here is what I did in last couple of minutes;

- moved firefox to the trash

- moved profile folder to the trash

- deleted firefox caches in library > caches

- deleted org.mozilla.firefox.plist file in library > prefeences

- deleted couple of folders named mozilla and their subsidiaries found in user library and and os x library - emptied trash

- restarted os x

- fixed disk permissions via disk utility

- restarted os x again

- downloaded latest firefox and dragged it to applications

- launched firefox

- closed it and re-opened it and it asked me again to restore session


closed and re-opened couple of more times and every time it asked me again to restore session

and Im sure firefox quits as expected, checked also on activity monitor it quits normally, tried also quitting from menubar.

anyway with complete clean install and no addons problem continues. java is disabled and while flash is running or not. also show my windows and tabs from last time is not selected on preferences > general.

please fix it. as I said in first post this problem started after first update of 20 beta. I used 20 beta without such problem until it received first update. I dont know what changed with firefox at this date but please check which change causes that implemented on this date. I tried beta, aurora and nightly builds several times since this date and all of them have same problem. now 20 moved to released and and same problem continues. plus within the release of firefox 20 this week , 8 more people flagged this as they have same problem.

btw I have also firefox installed on windows 7 too, have been on beta channel with firefox on windows for a long time but no such problem. dont know others experiencing this problem on windows or not but with me its os x only.

Modified by oxtx

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I have Firefox 20 on OS X 10.6. Since the update it is always trying to restore the last session when I first launch, even tho I have it marked to use about:blank as a start page. I also have it set to restore tabs from last time, which is only supposed to restore if there actually were any tabs form last time; the current behaviour is to try to restore the last closed tab -- which I may not want or need to see again. Mostly it says "This is embarrassing" and can't do it. I've changed nothing except updating to v. 20. Can Mozilla please fix this?

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Yorick,

That sounds like the expected behaviour, but you would be better starting your own question by using /questions/new and following the prompts, including adding troubleshooting information.

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You can check if you have a user.js file in the Firefox profile folder that sets the browser.sessionstore.resume_session_once pref to true.

You can use this button to go to the Firefox profile folder:

  • Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder
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This only seems to happen if I close all my tabs before closing Firefox. I found a workaround -- if you use Tab Mix Plus (not sure if there is an equivalent way to do with with vanilla Firefox). In TMP go to Events » Tab Closing » "When I close last tab replace it with" » Change value from "Blank Page" to "New Tab Page". Then, on the new tab page, click the little button in the top right corner to hide new tab page content. It is almost like having a true blank page.

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has there been any acknowledgement that this is a problem in ff20? i'm finding it to be most annoying.

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You should be able to do this if you set the browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab pref to false.

That will give you a close X on the last (one an only) tab.

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i've tried everything, and still, every time i start FF it does the whole this is Embarrassing thing. does anyone know if a bug is open for this?

thanks.

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hello, it's probably bug #845681 (please don't post in bug reports) & it should be addressed in a later version of firefox. as a workaround in the meanwhile you could try this: enter about:config into the firefox location bar (confirm the info message in case it shows up) & search for the preference named browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash. double-click it and change its value to false.

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I have this problem as well. FF 20. Started after installing the update. I'm on a MAC:OSX 10.7.5.

1. Don't have or want tabs selected in preferences. 2. Everytime I start up FF again, it gets hung up on this page that tells me how embarrassed and sorry it is for not restoring a former session. 3. Have a url selected for the home page. 4. The browser is not crashing to make this happen.

Please FF fix this bug. Thanks!

PS: The way the preferences are worded to NOT have tabs seem not straight forward--a language translation problem perhaps?

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This bug has been Fixed in Firefox 21.

Either wait for that to be released, or upgrade to the Beta version Firefox 21


(I note; from the bug; that in some circumstances Windows may be affected by something similar if not closed from the menu, and that is not yet fixed {bug 853779})

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Thanks!

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go to libraries by pressing option key while clicking on 'go' in the menubar, then application support/firefox /profiles. when you are in your profile drag sessionstore.js to the desktop. replace it in your profile with a folder named sessionstore.js (mac will warn you about adding '.js' to the folder name, but do it anyway) Firefox will not replace a folder with a file and that will keep it from writing sessionstore.js to your profile. it should never offer to restore your previous session again, even with private browsing mode unchecked.