Firefox seems to be resetting the home page every so often (2nd Attempt)

Issues & Assistance Unsupported Software (AUR & Other)
1

Hello.

Post your terminal/konsole in- and output as text (no pictures) from:

System:
Kernel: 5.16.15-zen1-1-zen x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=55e04413-feea-4664-ad99-8e7cd4fab542 rw rootflags=subvol=@
splash quiet intel_pstate=disable rd.udev.log_priority=3
vt.global_cursor_default=0 systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=1 loglevel=3
Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.24.3 tk: Qt 5.15.3 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Predator PH315-51 v: V1.26
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: CFL model: Sienta_CFS v: V1.26 serial: <superuser required>
UEFI: Insyde v: 1.26 date: 03/27/2019
Battery:
ID-1: BAT1 charge: 27.2 Wh (74.3%) condition: 36.6/48.9 Wh (74.8%)
volts: 14.6 min: 15.2 model: LG PABAS0241231 type: Li-ion serial: <filter>
status: Discharging
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i7-8750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Coffee Lake
family: 6 model-id: 0x9E (158) stepping: 0xA (10) microcode: 0xEC
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 1.5 MiB desc: 6x256 KiB
L3: 9 MiB desc: 1x9 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 2005 high: 2200 min/max: 800/2201 boost: disabled
scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 2071 2: 2200
3: 1136 4: 2150 5: 1113 6: 2200 7: 2200 8: 2200 9: 2200 10: 2200 11: 2200
12: 2200 bogomips: 52799
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
Type: l1tf
mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: spec_store_bypass
mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Type: spectre_v1
mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel CoffeeLake-H GT2 [UHD Graphics 630]
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel ports: active: eDP-1
empty: none bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:3e9b class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GP106M [GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile]
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nvidia v: 510.54
alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 16
link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s ports: active: none empty: HDMI-A-1
bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1c20 class-ID: 0300
Device-3: Quanta HD Webcam type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-5:2
chip-ID: 0408:a060 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
loaded: modesetting,nvidia gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2")
s-diag: 582mm (22.9")
Monitor-1: eDP-1-1 mapped: eDP-1 model: AU Optronics built: 2018
res: 1920x1080 hz: 144 dpi: 142 gamma: 1.2 size: 344x193mm (13.5x7.6")
diag: 394mm (15.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060/PCIe/SSE2
v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 510.54 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
chip-ID: 8086:a348 class-ID: 0403
Device-2: NVIDIA GP106 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel pcie: speed: Unknown lanes: 63 link-max: gen: 6 speed: 64 GT/s
bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:10f1 class-ID: 0403
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.16.15-zen1-1-zen running: yes
Sound Server-2: sndio v: N/A running: no
Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
bus-ID: 00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:a370 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 07:00.1 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
class-ID: 0200
IF: enp7s0f1 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP) type: USB
driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-14:3 chip-ID: 8087:0aaa class-ID: e001
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 3 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 2.05 TiB used: 1.71 TiB (83.4%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEKKW256G8
size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B
speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 001C
temp: 31.9 C scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: ST2000LM007-1R8174
size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter> rev: SDM2 scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 238.17 GiB size: 238.17 GiB (100.00%)
used: 58.08 GiB (24.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 576 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-3: /home raw-size: 238.17 GiB size: 238.17 GiB (100.00%)
used: 58.08 GiB (24.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 238.17 GiB size: 238.17 GiB (100.00%)
used: 58.08 GiB (24.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 238.17 GiB size: 238.17 GiB (100.00%)
used: 58.08 GiB (24.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 10 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.47 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 63.0 C pch: 58.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia
temp: 50 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 325 Uptime: 16m wakeups: 8 Memory: 15.47 GiB
used: 3.51 GiB (22.7%) Init: systemd v: 250 tool: systemctl Compilers:
gcc: 11.2.0 clang: 13.0.1 Packages: pacman: 1819 lib: 560 Shell: fish
v: 3.3.1 default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.13
Garuda (2.5.6-2):
System install date:     2021-12-29
Last full system update: 2022-03-19 ↻
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       tlp NetworkManager
Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
Snapshots:               Snapper
Failed units:

Let's try this again.

I've looked for a while for a resolution to this, but have found nothing.
The OS seems to be resetting my homepage in FIrefox to https://start.garudalinux.org/

Can someone please tell me how to stop this from happening? I like this distro, but it has to respect my decisions for me to love it.

What I know:
It happens after I restart my PC almost every time (but not always)
It happens after some updates
I can't pin down the update it happens on, so it may not be that.

I don't have FireDragon on my PC anymore (one of the first things I got rid of), but I don't know if those settings are still saved somewhere.

EDIT: It also turns off my "Use autoscrolling" option.

2

Possibly related bug report. Old and never confirmed anyway...

1 Like
3

It's Garuda doing this. I would be fine with you changing my title if it wasn't a Garuda website that it's being changed to over and over again. I know for a fact that other people are having this issue.

4

This is Garuda PKGBUILD for Firefox.

It just install Firefox and some extensions.
For sure there will be a configuration for the homepage in the common settings maybe, but the concept is that bug could reset the user configuratios with the default one, which have our start page in this case, but could have been anything else

5

If you make such claims, you should be able to prove them clearly.

If you can’t, you should definitely change the operating system. Please.

3 Likes
6

Where are you changing this setting?

Here, in the GUI?

ff_homepage
ff_homepage1270Ă—688 75.8 KB

1 Like
7

Yes, in the GUI

8

What is the output of ls -l ~/.mozilla/firefox/profiles.ini?

9 
.rw-r--r-- 259 USER 17 Mar 17:56 ď…ş /home/USER/.mozilla/firefox/profiles.ini
10

Hmm, that looks right actually (I'm guessing "USER" is your username).

Is USER the owner of the rest of the files in ~/.mozilla and ~/.mozilla/firefox as well?

If your settings are correct, it might be worth working through the steps listed out on the Mozilla help page for this issue:

11

Yes, that USER is the same owner and is my username.

I'll run through that troubleshooting. I'm still not sure why it would reset to https://start.garudalinux.org/ if it is a Firefox problem, though.

1 Like
12

As far as I can see (I'm not a developer), there is a package called "garuda-browser-settings", which includes between others this file, where the homepage is defined:

According to the PKGBUILD of that package, that file is copied into:
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/defaults/preferences/all-companyname.js
and this way this becomes a kind of standard Garuda configuration.
As far as I know, user preferences, such as the homepage, are stored in files inside the home directory (within the profile directory), so this should not be touched by those standard default configs, nor should be overwritten at firefox or garuda-browser-settings updates.
Configurations of course can be somehow "locked", and this is explained here:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox#Settings_storage
but I haven't found traces of those system-wide configurations.
That's why I still believe that a possible firefox bug, resetting (some) user preferences with the system preferences, could take the values from that all-companyname.js above.

2 Likes
13

I attempted to recreate this by installing Firefox, changing the homepage, and rebooting but in my case it preserved the change I made. This leads me to believe you are experiencing a bug, or there is something askew with your configuration.

I can understand where this sentiment comes from. On the surface, it appears that Garuda is overwriting whatever value you have stored in that homepage. The reality is much less sinister; the package ships with default values that are stored in system files, while user-specific settings are stored in dot files in the home folder.

Even when you “change” these settings, the system files are not changed–they are just overwritten by your user-specific values when that user launches the browser. When Firefox is not able to properly retrieve your user-specific settings, the system defaults are used.

There are so many hits doing a search for this issue, on every imaginable OS and over the course of many versions. I’m not sure why this happens to Firefox, but I do not believe this is a Garuda bug.

6 Likes
14

If it was a Garuda bug, we would have multiple reports, since Firefox user base is not just a few users…

4 Likes