Author Topic: Firefox and LastPass problems (Read 18579 times)

Carol Haynes · « **on:** February 25, 2012, 06:57 PM »

I really liked Firefox but I have moved over to Chrome (

) almost exclusively now because of Firefox startup problems.

The trouble is I miss some features in Firefox and the extensions I was using and I prefer not to have all my web traffic tracked by Google!

The problem is that when I click on Firefox it loads quickly enough with my usual 6 tabs but then the tabs stop loading for about 30-40 seconds, I get an error that LastPass can't connect to its server (not actually true it is just the delay starting up giving a false error). Finally when it loads it works fine but it is really annoying that I have to wait everytime I open FF.

Leaving it running in the tray would, I suppose, solve the problem but I don't want it running all the time.

I have reported this issue with LastPass a number of times to LP support and they have helped sometimes - usually with non-binary test builds - but the issue always returns when LP updates to a new version. It isn't PC specific, it happens on all the computers attached to my network (currently 5).

This problem stops if I disable LastPass and it doesn't seem to affect other browsers at all.

Any one else experiencing this or have a solution?

cmpm · « **Reply #1 on:** February 25, 2012, 08:25 PM »

Yes, same here, get the yellow bar saying it can't connect and you are in offline mode with LastPass.
Sometimes it only shows for a couple seconds and sometimes it stays up till I x it off.

If I click 'restart' FF it does not show up, that always works, it seems.
An annoyance to wait for my browser to load properly though.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #2 on:** February 25, 2012, 08:35 PM »

Glad it isn't just me!

cyberdiva · « **Reply #3 on:** February 25, 2012, 09:27 PM »

Hi, Carol. I'm writing to say that I use Firefox (currently version 10.0.2) and Last Pass (currently 1.90), and I haven't had that problem. Since it doesn't happen with your other browsers, I'm wondering whether some FF add-on could be involved here. Perhaps something like NoScript or Ghostery or something else that tries to monitor what interacts with your browser. Just a wild guess. I'd also continue to report the problem to LastPass, both via a ticket and perhaps also via their forum. They need to know (and be reminded

) that the problem recurs each time LP is updated.

Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck!

IainB · « **Reply #4 on:** February 25, 2012, 10:23 PM »

I am using Firefox on the ß channel, currently at v11, on a laptop with Win7-64 Home Premium.
I also sometimes use Internet Explorer (mostly x86 version 9), Google Chrome (ß-dev version) and Chromium (ß-dev version).

I have been using LastPass for over a year, after moving away from Xmarks.
Using the FF ß channel, I could have expected a bit of instability here and there, but it's all been rock-solid - except for some add-ons having difficulty keeping up with FF's relatively frequent updates.

LastPass in particular seems not to have presented any incidents on my setup, and I was thinking only the other day that LastPass seems to have been a pretty well-designed and stable product overall.

A suggestion: If LastPass support - from what you say - do not seem to have come across the issue with other users, then it could be useful to see if any DCers using FF and LastPass report similar incidents to yourself. Then it may be worthwhile sharing detailed settings and add-on info to see what else you have in common. Maybe the symptoms you experience are peculiar to you users as a group for a good reason. Then do some investigation and a root cause analysis. That could also provide some valuable info to LastPass support.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #5 on:** February 25, 2012, 10:26 PM »

I use Chromium snap shots:
http://commondatasto...index.html?path=Win/

I use the Win32 zip files, not the mini installer. Also I back up the current Chromium local data and executable folders before overwriting in case I need to back it off. The snap shots are surprisingly stable. Now and then I got that LastPass Yellow Flag. But updating to latest LastPass for Chrome along with trying snap shots until I didn't get the yellow flag seems to have done the trick.

For privacy in Chromium there's an "about:flags" option "Disable hyperlink auditing" that supposedly prevents the tracking ping from being sent. Also Chromium doesn't have the unique ID thing that Chrome does.

Chromium doesn't have as many extensions as FireFox but I find I don't need as many. Also some I install but only enable manually to use, then disable again, such as bookmark sorting, dead link removal etc..

I set Chromium to load with an empty page, then have my Speed-dial2 open when I hit the Home Button or New Tab. That way it loads quickly even if the HD is busy at launch.

I use FF as my secondary browser. Opera I use only occasionally. Anything IE based including MaxThon, I don't use at all. I have no need to run web based ActiveX Controls or BHOs.

The nice thing about trying Chromium from zip is if I get a buggy one I copy back my local user data and exe folder backups, and the bug is gone. If you dabble across major version numbers it's a good idea to keep a backup for each Chromium version so that you don't get an error about config from a newer version if you back off. But it doesn't take that much space. Now I only save v. 18.x and 19.x Chromium. I've been running the 18.x snap shots long enough to know I'm not going back to 17.x or earlier. A few hundred MB of backup is all I need.

cmpm · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2012, 10:52 PM »

hm, no addons showing in 'about:addons'
I know I have them.....cause they are working.....

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #7 on:** February 26, 2012, 04:49 AM »

Oddly this morning it doesn't seem to be having a problem - first time in months.

I have tried disabling all addons ecept for LastPass but it doesn't seem to make any difference and anyway the computers I have use difffernent addons - the only ones in common are AdBlock Plus and LastPass - but even removing AdBlock Plus doesn't seem to fix things when the problem occurs.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #8 on:** February 26, 2012, 05:29 PM »

I remember there was a long series of Chromium builds that gave the twirling yellow flag. Once I installed LastPass 1.90.3 for chrome, it happened only on occasion. I notice FF hasn't been updated past 1.90. Maybe they found a fix for Chrome that doesn't apply to FF?

I just tried a new snap shot yesterday. So far so good. I seem to get the yellow flag about 1 out of 3 snap shots now instead of nearly every one as before.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #9 on:** February 26, 2012, 06:08 PM »

Back to normal slow behaviour with FF - only extension enabled is LastPass!

Daleus · « **Reply #10 on:** February 27, 2012, 06:16 AM »

Hi Carol, for your information gathering purposes, here is what I use.

I'm using Firefox 10.0.2 and LastPass 1.90.0. I am *not* having the issues you report.

However, right after I first installed LastPass (I also use it in Chrome version 17.0.963.56 m), everytime I'd startup either browser, I kept getting an error about how the browser couldn't redirect to the address it was given, did I still want to try that? This happened because I have to manually connect to the Internet at home and have to start a browser to talk to my router.

I have not been able to determine what address the browser wants to contact, but always assumed it was a LastPass server.

Now, having read about your issue, I realize that error has not raised it's head in a month or two.

Aside from that, my issues with LastPass are mostly cosmetic.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #11 on:** February 27, 2012, 09:48 AM »

Thanks for the feedback - still seems intermittent here - usually accompanied by the error "Cannot connect to the login server" but then it does and all the pages load normally.

Strange that it is only FF that seems to be affected but it is on all the computers I have connected - and I have seen it on other people's computers once or twice too.Odd.

Just had a reply from LP support and they suggest LP > Tools > Clear Local Cache

Can't see it has made any difference.

Innuendo · « **Reply #12 on:** February 27, 2012, 12:16 PM »

Sounds like it's time to find a replacement for LastPass rather than a replacement for your browser.

iphigenie · « **Reply #13 on:** February 27, 2012, 02:24 PM »

Very odd - never had an issue with lastpass. Have FF 9 and the up to date lastpass. But then FF is my secondary browser so I would perhaps not notice

MilesAhead · « **Reply #14 on:** February 27, 2012, 03:19 PM »

Not sure if this would help but it may be worth an experiment. My program UrlPack lets you save a pack of Url shortcuts to launch via a hotkey. The idea is to set the browser to open with a blank page and set it to open new pages in new tabs. When you hit the hotkey it will open the default browser via command line with each Url. The program lets you set the first and subsequent delay times.

If you don't wish to use the default browser, with supported browsers(of which FF should be one) if you open the browser, then make it the active window, then hit the hotkey, the pack of Urls is opened with it.

http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html

If you want to try it I would try just using one shortcut until you see if it has any positive effect. The upside should be that your browser is up and loaded and should be usable even if you have an autologon lag. The down side is there's one pack made by default. For more than one set you'd have to add some other kludge to shift the shortcuts in the folder.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #15 on:** February 27, 2012, 05:02 PM »

Interesting - actually one of the workarounds that works (at least mostly) is to a have a single Homepage tab (preferably blank) and use a bookmark button to launch the home pages.

I don't really want to swap from LastPass - I like it a lot and it works for apps as well as webpages - which is really handy.

iphigenie · « **Reply #16 on:** February 27, 2012, 05:24 PM »

Interesting - I dont have any autologon on the sites i have set to preopen in firefox, that might be why I don't see the bugs

For bookmark sets, I use the speed dial extension. I tend to mostly use it as a lazy bookmark set but it can also be used to open a whole set at once

MilesAhead · « **Reply #17 on:** February 27, 2012, 05:53 PM »

Interesting - actually one of the workarounds that works (at least mostly) is to a have a single Homepage tab (preferably blank) and use a bookmark button to launch the home pages.

I don't really want to swap from LastPass - I like it a lot and it works for apps as well as webpages - which is really handy.
-Carol Haynes (February 27, 2012, 05:02 PM)

It's written in AHK_L. I added the source files to the zip and just uploaded. If you want to add features the easiest way may be to add buttons to the Gui.

I believe the currently supported browsers are Chromium based, Firefox, Opera, and MaxThon. I'm not sure if I killed off IE due to bugs where it insists on opening new pages in a new window even if set to open in a new tab. It's an IE issue in their bug list.

If Firefox doesn't work check the class name with a spy tool. A newer version may have a different window class name. But that's only for hitting the hotkey on the active window. The default browser should work as long as it will open new pages in new tabs when run on the command line.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #18 on:** February 27, 2012, 07:16 PM »

Thanks - I will give URLpack a try.

Update: Tried it and it works nicely.

Just on thing - I don't like the gather function. I keep some URLS on my desktop and I don't want them deleted from the desktop or added to a pack. Simplest way to do what you want it to create a shortcut on the desktop to URLpack (you could use desktop.ini and an icon to make it a distinctive shortcut) and just drop browser icons directly onto that shortcut. That way you don't create extra desktop icons and you don't delete irrelevant ones.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #19 on:** February 27, 2012, 08:52 PM »

You have the source so such mods should be easy. It works well for my purposes as I try to avoid desktop icons. Feel free to modify to your own preferences.

One reason I decided against the drop target approach is not all browsers let you drag from the addressbar to get a url shortcut. That's why if you look in the source there's 2 places it looks in the .url file for the url. Probably IE based that's different but I don't remember.

Innuendo · « **Reply #20 on:** February 28, 2012, 08:56 AM »

Very odd - never had an issue with lastpass. Have FF 9 and the up to date lastpass. But then FF is my secondary browser so I would perhaps not notice
-iphigenie (February 27, 2012, 02:24 PM)

Just like you perhaps didn't notice that Firefox is now up to version v10.x.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #21 on:** April 11, 2012, 04:26 PM »

Thanks - I will give URLpack a try.

Update: Tried it and it works nicely.

Just on thing - I don't like the gather function. I keep some URLS on my desktop and I don't want them deleted from the desktop or added to a pack. Simplest way to do what you want it to create a shortcut on the desktop to URLpack (you could use desktop.ini and an icon to make it a distinctive shortcut) and just drop browser icons directly onto that shortcut. That way you don't create extra desktop icons and you don't delete irrelevant ones.
-Carol Haynes (February 27, 2012, 07:16 PM)

I just tried this with Chromium and a simpler way to accomplish the same thing is to use the Open URL Folder command in Tray Menu. Then drag the url shortcut from the address bar directly into the folder. Presumably if one was collecting a bunch of shortcuts the folder would be left open for a period of time. Since it's an ordinary Explorer folder just click to close. No program setting to disable it being on the desktop is required.

(I take your point about the desktop gathering though. Maybe I should add a button to the Gui to open the folder. Might be a bit easier than right clicking the tray icon.)

edit: I made some revisions. Now has a Tray Menu command to open the Gui. A Gui Button to open the URL folder. Also added icons to Tray Menu to spiff it up a tad.

Also pressing F1 while Gui is active should display the About Box.

edit: here's a link to the latest update that shows the new screen shot:
https://www.donation....msg285071#msg285071

MilesAhead · « **Reply #22 on:** April 11, 2012, 04:36 PM »

Very odd - never had an issue with lastpass. Have FF 9 and the up to date lastpass. But then FF is my secondary browser so I would perhaps not notice
-iphigenie (February 27, 2012, 02:24 PM)

Just like you perhaps didn't notice that Firefox is now up to version v10.x.
-Innuendo (February 28, 2012, 08:56 AM)

Now up to 11.x. To me FF version being 9, 10, 11 or 50.x is about as much of a distinction as being charged $499.95, $499.98 or $500 for a TV set. In fact I'd be happy to pay the extra nickle just so I can say "500 bucks" instead of "four hundred ninety nine dollars and ninety five cents." They do that just to be annoying.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #23 on:** May 03, 2012, 05:51 PM »

Thanks - I will give URLpack a try.

Update: Tried it and it works nicely.

Just on thing - I don't like the gather function. I keep some URLS on my desktop and I don't want them deleted from the desktop or added to a pack. Simplest way to do what you want it to create a shortcut on the desktop to URLpack (you could use desktop.ini and an icon to make it a distinctive shortcut) and just drop browser icons directly onto that shortcut. That way you don't create extra desktop icons and you don't delete irrelevant ones.
-Carol Haynes (February 27, 2012, 07:16 PM)

btw I experimented with drag and drop of addressbar on the Gui using ActiveX Web Browser Object to catch the drops. It worked ok for chrome, Maxthon, Firefox, but Opera does something differently. In any case it's not a good design to use the Gui for URL drop because I detect if a browser is the active window and if you hit the hotkey to open the Gui to drop onto it, instead it will open a bunch of tabs in the browser. (Works fine if you open the Gui first, but it's easy to forget that.) It was interesting though. "jethrow" on ahk forum showed me how to use the IE events to catch the drop and stop the browser from actually navigating while getting the url from the event params.

Here's the thread if you might like to incorporate it yourself in your own mod:

http://www.autohotke....php?f=1&t=85778