Password generator in Firefox appears with a blank screen
The password generator on my wife's computer (Windows 10 and Firefox, both latest versions) has never worked properly. It appears with a blank screen. The "Password Generator" header appears at the top, but the rest of the window is blank. This problem is in both the browser extension and in the app. How can I fix this?
1Password Version: 7.3.712
Extension Version: 4.7.5.90
OS Version: Windows 10
Sync Type: ?
Comments
-
Here is the screenshot of the password generator window from the browser extension. The app is the same.0 -
This is a driver issue, @jchaban, and unfortunately one that is both far more common than I'd like and not something we can prevent on our own. Most of the time, we'll see a small spurt of these around the time folks are getting Windows updates since driver updates often come at the same time. Thankfully, it tends to be something the following series of steps will fix:
- Right-click Start and select "Device Manager".
- Double-click "Display Adapters" to expand it.
- Right-click the adapter name listed under "Display Adpaters" (usually, it'll be an Intel device) and select "Uninstall". This will make everything on your wife's screen look horrid for a moment, probably. Tell her I'm sorry and this next step should fix it.
- Reboot.
After you've done this, give the password generator another go. Can you see it? Most of the time the answer here will be yes. The reason this happens is because Windows changes something and you're using a driver from the manufacturer of your display adapter. The manufacturer hasn't updated the driver to account for these changes so it fails to display certain data. Windows also provides drivers for many display adapters and updates them alongside Windows to avoid these things. The process that we just went through swapped your wife to that driver and hopefully fixed it.
If it doesn't fix it, the next step is to try an updated driver from the manufacturer of her display adapter, so hop back into device manager as noted in step 1 before and let me know the exact name of the display adapter listed after you complete step 2. That'll help me give you more specific instructions to find the right one. Of course, if you're comfortable installing the latest from Intel or whoever it might be that makes her display adapter, you're free to do so yourself, but I'll be here to help if you need it. :chuffed:
0 -
Hi...well I followed your instructions above and that did not work. So above is an image of the device driver and version. Currently the Intel Graphics HD 520 device driver supports an external monitor attached to my wife's Lenovo laptop.But I don't understand why the problem would be with the display driver. If the problem was with the display driver, wouldn't other 1password windows have an issue? Why does the problem only affect the Password Generator window?
Joel
0 -
One more thing...when I use 1password with Chrome on Pat's computer, the Password Generator window works just fine with the 1password extension for Chrome. So why does this problem only occur with Firefox browser on her computer? This is what makes me wonder shy you think is the display driver that the problem.
Oh, so you might ask why Pat doesn't just use Chrome? That's because she's most impatient with technology, knows how to use Firefox, and would be resistant to learning a new browser.0 -
You'd think it would cause more universal trouble, @jchaban, but usually it's one window. Two at most. This solution is born less of a deep technical understanding of the problem, though, than it is of long experience of this being the issue every single time. As I said, it isn't uncommon and I have a long list of white windows I've gathered all of which have been the result of the display driver. Or, technically, the graphics subsystem having an update that broke compatibility with the display driver, but it's a wash in the end as the driver is the only thing we as users have any control over. All the same, I can at least give you a rundown of what I know.
1Password uses Windows Presentation Foundation to render its UI. WPF relies on your display driver to render that UI and renders different elements differently, so it's not that it is having trouble rendering 1Password generally, it's likely having trouble with one particular element that's part of the password generator. If the issue is with an element that's present on multiple pages – say an icon border or the formatting for a link – then you might see this on more than one page. But for whatever reason, I'll see it with something very specific more often than not. With the password generator, I'd guess the issue is with the sliders shown – those aren't anywhere else – but that's just a guess and unfortunately a guess is the best we can really get in this situation. There's nothing that can tell us exactly what is causing the rendering problem. We have only our own reasoning skills and experience to rely on it.
It is a bit odd the Chrome and Firefox are behaving differently. If you happen to be using two different extensions in the different browsers – 1Password X in Chrome vs. 1Password extension (desktop app required) in Firefox – that could explain the difference easily enough but the password generator is in two very different places in the two extensions so I suspect that's something you'd notice out the gate. All the same, it's worth a check – a right-click on the 1Password icon in each browser will show you the full name of the extension in the context menu. Assuming I'm correct that you're using
1Password extension (desktop app required)in both, I asked one of our development team what might cause the difference and he said that Chrome and Firefox launch 1Password differently. Although this window is native – it's part of the desktop app and not rendered by your browser so should be the same in both – that difference in how that process starts could lead to differing behavior.I'm certainly open to the fact that, specifically in your case, this could be something entirely different. But, given that long experience of this being graphics drivers every time, I want to rule that out first. It's always best to start with the usual suspects before moving on to something not seen before. So, to that end, you can find drivers for that Intel adapter here:
The download links are near the bottom with the Windows 10 driver listed first. This one looks to have been updated on the 18th, so that timing points to some likely issues that arose around the time of the latest batch of Windows updates Intel has recently fixed. I'd like to take that as a good sign, but give it a go and let me know if it helps.
Finally, I totally get the browser loyalties. I'd consider myself patient with technology generally, but we humans have our preferences and we usually have our reasons for choosing as we do. I'm a fiercely loyal Brave gal and my fiancee wouldn't leave Firefox if someone paid him. From extension availability to browser-specific features we come to rely on, your choice of browser really is becoming a personal one. I've had to reluctantly suggest a different browser to folks from time to time, but I definitely do my best not to. We love what we love and that's fine. 1Password is designed to work with multiple browsers and if there's one it's not playing nice with, we need to fix it whenever possible, not make y'all change how you do things. :chuffed:
Let me know how the driver from Intel goes. And, actually, if it doesn't work, could you also try using her laptop screen rather than the external monitor? I've not seen external monitor issues on Windows much, but they are somewhat common on Mac so worth a check. Let me know what you find. :+1:
0 -
Thank you for your detailed and personal response. It is much appreciated. I think I have reached an impasse. I downloaded the Intel Graphics driver update, ran it, and got the following message:
So I ran the update for the Display Driver in Device Manager; I ran all the proprietary Lenovo update software that comes with my computer; I was on the Lenovo website and ran the computer scan and driver detection updates ...all to no avail. What I sent you in my previous comments above is the most recent Intel Graphics driver allowed by the manufacturer, Lenovo. I did find a BIOS update, ran that, then reran the Lenovo software to see if that allowed a more recent Intel Graphics update...again, to no avail.So at this point, unless you have more ideas, I will tell my wife to either switch to another browser or to live with Firefox. Do you know if her Firefox bookmarks are easily transferable to Brave? What's your recommendations for a non-techie to use as a browser?
0 -
Oh, yuck, I hate when manufacturers do that, @jchaban. I have an awkward relationship with Windows because easy customization is the primary reason I love it, but it also can make such a mess when the same darned thing works totally differently because it was built by Company A instead of Company B. My kingdom for a bit of balance. :lol:
It's been a spell since I had to transfer bookmarks, but I took a quick peek in Brave and they do have an import option for Firefox. I don't recall it prompting me to import when I made the switch like Chrome did when I first left the comfort of Internet Explorer many eons ago, but if you click the hamburger menu in the top right of Brave, then select
Bookmarks, there's an import option there that brings up a dropdown with browser options to import from, Firefox included. For whatever it might be worth, I find Brave and Firefox fairly similar. Despite being Chromium-based, Brave looks and feels a bit more Firefox-y than Chrome-y to me. One thing I would do, though, is test out that extension displays properly in Brave before shuffling things around. Again, Chromium-based, but Chrome and Chromium aren't quite the same and the browsers could still have some fundamental differences that matter. I'm still not certain why Chrome is working fine for her so I don't want to make assumptions that whatever it is will transfer to Brave for certain.Alternatively, if you think it may be less disruptive, you could have her try 1Password X in Firefox:
https://support.1password.com/getting-started-1password-x/
This would be changing her filling experience rather than her browser, which might be a bit icky at first, but as a rule I think 1Password X is friendlier for non-techies so she may even prefer it. My dad, for example, has this weird relationship with technology where he loves gizmos but has no idea how they work outside the basics and no desire to learn. Anything that doesn't just make sense out the gate is quickly discarded. It took me ages to get him using 1Password and 1Password X is what finally got him hooked. I'd likely take it for a spin yourself first (it's cross-platform so works everywhere) just so you know what you're getting into, but it would be another option.
Finally, depending on how often she needs to generate passwords, we do have a web-based password generator here:
https://1password.com/password-generator/
These driver issues do tend to get resolved with an update from the proper party given time so her extension should be happy eventually. If she doesn't need to generate passwords too often, temporarily using the web-based generator until drivers update might be a good bet. One caution would be that this generator won't save password items for her when she copies a generated password since it isn't part of 1Password itself. It would be best if she kept it open with the generated password displayed until 1Password prompts her to save or update the Login she's working with. That happens pretty reliably and I suppose password resets aren't the most annoying thing in the world, but definitely better to avoid them and better safe than sorry.
Hopefully one of these helps, though I'm really sorry the drivers didn't. Usually one of the two does so it stinks to find a case where we got unlucky. I'll keep my fingers crossed she gets an update soon. And, of course, if you have questions as you decide what to do for now, just let me know. :chuffed:
0
