Strange floating 1Password window in Firefox

Hi,

Just updated 1password (to 3.8.20, build 31499), firefox (to 15.0) and the 1password firefox extension (to 3.9.7).

All seems to be working fine EXCEPT there is a small firefox window containing various 1password icons which floats above everything - some checks:
  • It floats above all other application windows (eg finder windows) even when firefox is not the foremost application.
  • It does disappear if I hide firefox
  • it does not appear in the firefox list of windows.
  • If I click on the window it does deselect the active firefox window whilst keeping firefox as the foremost application - however I cannot move the window around the screen

Machine is 27" iMac 2.8GHz core i7, running OSX 10.6.8 - rebooting the computer does not help.

I have attached a partial screen grab showing the offending window.

The fact that it floats above other applications, obscuring their windows, makes it very annoying :@

Any suggestions?

Comments

  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    The issue with the scrambled box of 1Password UI is related to Firefox restoring your windows when you restart it. There is something that we haven't yet been able to track down that causes this problem. It doesn't happen with all websites, but there seem to be some that cause this to happen when the pages are re-opened after quitting Firefox.

    The simplest workaround for now (if you are willing to forego that feature in Firefox) is to switch the "Show my windows and tabs from last time" option to "Show my home page" or "Show a blank page". The issue should not be able to persist in that case.

    We'll continue to work on resolving this, so you can enable that again in the future. If we can be of further assistance in the meantime, please let us know. We are always here to help!
  • It's good to know you are working on the problem!

    Unfortunately, I really use the "Show my windows and tabs from last time" feature a lot and generally have 3 or 4 windows on the go, each with multiple tabs - so switching it off is really not an option.

    I don't know if it is helpful or relevant, but another niggle I have had since upgrading to firefox 15 is that when it restores the previous windows, it doesn't keep track of hidden windows as well as it used to - I'll try and explain:

    Say I have 4 firefox windows open, each with multiple tabs. Two of them may be covering items I want to deal with later - so I hit the yellow button to minimise them down onto the dock (hiding those windows) leaving the other two windows in full view to switch between.

    With firefox 13 and earlier, if I quit and re-started firefox then all 4 windows would restore and the two that were previously "hidden" would also now be "hidden' back to the dock.
    Since updrading to firefox 15 (I missed 14) this behaviour is inconsistent - one of the hidden windows may still be hidden - but the other isn't - and may even be the window in focus (I haven't really restarted enough to notice a real pattern). This is only a very minor niggle since the windows do have all their original tabs and can still be hidden/unhidden as requred.

    I realise this particular niggle is not a 1password issue - but it may give some insight to what has changed in firefox 15 to cause the 1password "window" problem (which wouldn't be so annoying if i could find a way of dismissing the "window")
  • Just to follow up on my previous - the problem definitely seems to be related. I decided the best "fix" for me was to disable the 1password extension in firefox (and, in the interim, to use Safari when I wanted to use 1password).

    Having done this, the 1password "window" problem has disappeared (to be expected) but also the other problem has disapeared and firefox again seems to "remember" which windows are hidden - and keeps them hidden.

    Hope that helps - and I eagerly await you fix - it would be good to be able to switch the 1password extension back on in firefox.
  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    The issue has been around since prior to Firefox 15. It goes back at least one version if not more. I'm not positive that the issue is something we can resolve on our end. So far it appears to be a Firefox bug, but we're looking into getting it resolved as best as possible whether that means we can do it ourselves or try to get Mozilla to resolve it on their end.

    Thanks for your patience!
  • Yes, I'm not sure exactly which update introduced the problem for me - I noticed that my 1password icon had gone from the toolbar and on checking found that the extension had been disabled as not compatable with the version of firefox (13.?)

    So - since an update was obviously required, I also checked for updates for firefox and the 1password application and so ended up upgrading all 3 (firefox, 1password and the firefox extension).

    Hmmm,

    The "window" definitely seems to be driven by the 1password extension.

    If I use the firefox add-ons manager to turn the 1password extension on and off (without re-starting firefox) then the 1password icons disappear and re-appear in the "window"

    Obviously, I have to re-start firefox for the extension to be fully disabled - at which point the "window" actually vanishes.

    However, even without re-starting firefox, just clicking the "disable" button in the firefox add-ons manager:
    • removes the icons from the "window"
    • removes the little "marks" in the top-right and bottom-right corners of the "window"
    • changes the colour of the "window" from white to light grey

    then clicking the "enable" button (again without re-starting firefox) reverses these changes.

    I don't know if that tells you anything :^)
  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    Thanks for the additional information!
  • Hi,

    Just to let you know that my latest Firefox update (15.0.1) seems to have fixed the problem for me :)

    Extension re-enabled. Firefox re-started. 1Password used. Firefox restarted. All has stayed good!
  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    Great news! Thanks for letting me know that everything is working well. :)

    Cheers,
  • Uh-oh - I spoke too soon :@

    After later quitting firefox and putting the machine to sleep - on awakening the machine, and opening firefox, the problem is back.

    1Password extension disabled again. I'll try again after the next upgrade of firefox and/or 1Password.

    BUGGER!! (apologies to Toyota) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1fqqdXxlPk
  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    Bugger! At least you've still got a sense of humor about it. Keep me posted if you uncover anything else. I'll be sure to do the same for you. :)

    At the least, thanks for the video!
  • Seconding neil22's problem report and description of the window behavior. The window will go away at the first restart of Firefox after upgrading either the plugin or Firefox, but will return at the second restart. This is with the preserve tabs option turned on, so apparently upgrading either Firefox or the plugin triggers something that keeps the floating frame from appearing. I've tried disabling all of my plugins except 1Password, with no effect. Since Firefox is my primary browser, not being able to use the Firefox plugin significantly reduces the utility of 1Password for me.

    This is the second major issue I've had with the Firefox plugin, the first being a silent fatal error in the Firefox password import process (
    http://support.agilebits.com/discussions/1password-38-for-mac-from-agilebits-website/14270-problem-with-firefox-password-import). Other plugins that I use don't seem to have this problem, so I'm kind of surprised that this would be recorded as a Firefox bug rather than a plugin engineering issue.
  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    Welcome to the forums, dprice! Sorry that you are having this minor inconvenience. It's possible that the problem is in the 1Password extension, but we are doing everything "by the book" so it would seem that this is a Firefox issue. Also, it only seems to apply to folks who have certain tabs open when quitting Firefox. I'm not sure that anyone on the team here has actually been able to reproduce it — certainly not consistently. Not being able to consistently reproduce an issue means that it can be nearly impossible to resolve on our end (if it is even solvable on our end). If you have a set of consistently reproducible steps that we can follow to reproduce the problem in our labs that would be mighty helpful.

    Otherwise, the issue can be avoided by [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]switching the "Show my windows and tabs from last time" option to "[/font]Show my home page[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]" or "[/font]Show a blank page[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]". The issue should not be able to persist in that case.[/font]

    [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Please let me know what the steps are if you are able to consistently reproduce including the specific tabs you have open. I'd love to pass the details along to the developers to see if there is something we can do on our end to resolve this. It's been going on for a little while in Firefox, but I believe it started happening with a certain Firefox upgrade even though the [/font]1Password extension did not change at all. That's why I'm leaning toward it being a Firefox issue, but please feel free to prove me wrong. We'd love to fix this if we can.
  • khad wrote:

    Sorry that you are having this minor inconvenience.


    I would disagree that it's a minor inconvenience. The window is annoying, takes up screen real estate continually, and makes me wonder about the quality and security of the Firefox extension, especially given other problems I've observed, like briefly displaying the last account information shown after an auto-lockout has happened before displaying the unlock screen again. Firefox is my primary browser, it's open all the time, and it is annoying enough to make me switch to another password management application if it's not fixed.

    Also, I've noticed that now the blank window is appearing even after uninstalling the plugin. Corrupting profiles permanently (even a little bit) is generally Considered Harmful.

    khad wrote:

    It's possible that the problem is in the 1Password extension, but we are doing everything "by the book" so it would seem that this is a Firefox issue. Also, it only seems to apply to folks who have certain tabs open when quitting Firefox. I'm not sure that anyone on the team here has actually been able to reproduce it — certainly not consistently. Not being able to consistently reproduce an issue means that it can be nearly impossible to resolve on our end (if it is even solvable on our end). If you have a set of consistently reproducible steps that we can follow to reproduce the problem in our labs that would be mighty helpful.


    Ultimately, since you advertise your product as having a Firefox extension, it is your responsibility to make sure that the code keeps up with the platform it's being deployed to. I doubt that if a Windows or OS X security update removed an API you're using, you would just blame Microsoft or Apple and refuse to fix your code. The idea that AgileBits would consider this an 'unfixable' problem is more than a little troubling in terms of your long-term commitment to supporting Firefox on OS X.

    Do you have a publicly-viewable issue tracker with this logged as a bug that I can submit system logs and Firefox profile(s) to? Given that you think it's a minor issue and likely a SEP, I'm really not confident that there's enough of a time spent/benefit ratio here for me to spend a lot of time poking through the plugin and developing a test case without having some idea of what the priority of this is.

    Regards,
    David
  • dprice
    edited September 2012
    I may have a possible remedy for this issue. EDIT: Nope, this only works temporarily. After a reboot, the problem re-occured.

    Resetting my Firefox profile (http://support.mozil...x-most-problems) and adding extensions back in one at a time starting with 1Password seems to have gotten rid of the stray window. I have restored 1Password and NoScript, with no issues so far. I'll be adding the following plugins back over the next few days as I need them and will post if the problem re-occurs.

    Firebug
    Greasemonkey
    ScrapBook
    Pinboard.in

    I am still seeing errors from the plugin in the system log when exiting Firefox, but these do not appear to be causing the problem. I was seeing these tracebacks before the profile reset as well.

    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox error: An exception occurred.
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox Traceback (most recent call last):
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox File "resource://onepassword-at-agilebits-dot-com/api-utils/lib/timer.js", line 28, in notify
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox callback.apply(null, args);
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox File "resource://onepassword-at-agilebits-dot-com/api-utils/lib/content/worker.js", line 91, in
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox self._emit.apply(self, JSON.parse(args));
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox File "resource://onepassword-at-agilebits-dot-com/api-utils/lib/events.js", line 119, in _emit
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox return this._emitOnObject.apply(this, args);
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox File "resource://onepassword-at-agilebits-dot-com/api-utils/lib/events.js", line 149, in _emitOnObject
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox listener.apply(targetObj, params);
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox File "resource://onepassword-at-agilebits-dot-com/api-utils/lib/content/worker.js", line 197, in portEmit
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox self._addonWorker._onContentScriptEvent.apply(self._addonWorker, arguments);
    9/10/12 6:56:26 PM [0x0-0x6b06b].org.mozilla.firefox TypeError: self._addonWorker is null


    Regards,
    David
  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    edited September 2012
    Resetting my Firefox profile…and adding extensions back in one at a time starting with 1Password seems to have gotten rid of the stray window.

    If that did in fact resolve the problem, then it was indeed a Firefox issue (or corrupt Firefox profile data). I hope the problem doesn't recur, but please let me know if it does.



    I am still seeing errors from the plugin in the system log when exiting Firefox, but these do not appear to be causing the problem. I was seeing these tracebacks before the profile reset as well.

    Those are errors from the JetPack API that we use in 1Password. They are harmless. I believe they have been eradicated in the beta channel of the 1Password extension, though. Here is a link if you want to give it a try:

    https://agilebits.co...fox.html?beta=y

    Again, the messages are harmless, so there really isn't a need to switch to the beta channel of the extension, but if you like reading logs, you should find them to be a bit tidier in the beta channel. :)

    Please do let me know if there is anything else I can help with.
  • dprice
    edited September 2012
    After a reboot, the window is back. Resetting the Firefox profile is only a temporary solution. No additional extensions were installed, just 1Password and NoScript. I will be trying 1Password with no other extensions for a few days as a next step; this is not an acceptable long term solution, but will work in the interim until I find another solution.
  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    edited September 2012
    Thanks for the update. I didn't think Mozilla had fixed this yet, but I'm always willing to be pleasantly surprised when an issue is resolved. Sorry to hear this was not such a case.

    Again, if you have consistently reproducible steps it might help us resolve something on our end if indeed it is possible to do so, but so far, as I said above, no one here has seen the issue. There is anecdotal evidence that it may be related to certain website(s), but as far as I know there is no specific test case.

    If you see the issue repeatedly, try restarting Firefox with no tabs open a completely different set of tabs open, etc. Any information you can provide beyond just letting us know that you are having the issue may help. Just because something only happens with the 1Password extension installed doesn't mean the bug is in the extension. It is just as feasible that the extension triggers the bug in Firefox.

    We would be grateful for any more specific information you can provide. If not, we'll keep an eye on this and attempt to post back here if/when we have anything to share from our end.

    Cheers,
This discussion has been closed.