Where did you install Firefox from? Help Mozilla uncover 3rd party websites that offer problematic Firefox installation by taking part in our campaign. There will be swag, and you'll be featured in our blog if you manage to report at least 10 valid reports!

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

mozilla.cfg file to lock preferences.

more options

Hi there!

I recently created a mozilla.cfg file to lock the firefox preferences related to changing the homepage:

The contents of mozilla.cfg is as follows:

//

lockPref("browser.startup.page", 1);

lockPref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://www.google.com.au/firefox"); lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.current_page", true); lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.restore_default", true); lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.bookmark_page", true);

This works great! My homepage is locked, as is the buttons to change the homepage via bookmarks etc.

However whenever I start firefox I get this message:


Netscape.cfg/AutoConfig failed. Please contact your system administrator.

Error: defaultPref failed: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x8000ffff (NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED) [nsIPrefBranch.setBoolPref]"  nsresult: "0x8000ffff (NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED)"  location: "JS frame :: prefcalls.js :: defaultPref :: line 91"  data: no]

But my preferences are locked and firefox works fine otherwise.

Before when I just locked the homepage itself (so you can't type out a new one, but you could use the buttons such as "use current page" to change the homepage) it worked without any error message. Now that I have added those last 3 lines into mozilla.cfg I get that error message on startup. But everything works exactly as I wanted.

What is the error message about, how do I fix it or how do I supress the message so it doesn't appear whever I start up.

Thanks for your time!

Hi there! I recently created a mozilla.cfg file to lock the firefox preferences related to changing the homepage: The contents of mozilla.cfg is as follows: // lockPref("browser.startup.page", 1); lockPref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://www.google.com.au/firefox"); lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.current_page", true); lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.restore_default", true); lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.bookmark_page", true); This works great! My homepage is locked, as is the buttons to change the homepage via bookmarks etc. However whenever I start firefox I get this message: Netscape.cfg/AutoConfig failed. Please contact your system administrator. Error: defaultPref failed: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x8000ffff (NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED) [nsIPrefBranch.setBoolPref]" nsresult: "0x8000ffff (NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED)" location: "JS frame :: prefcalls.js :: defaultPref :: line 91" data: no] But my preferences are locked and firefox works fine otherwise. Before when I just locked the homepage itself (so you can't type out a new one, but you could use the buttons such as "use current page" to change the homepage) it worked without any error message. Now that I have added those last 3 lines into mozilla.cfg I get that error message on startup. But everything works exactly as I wanted. What is the error message about, how do I fix it or how do I supress the message so it doesn't appear whever I start up. Thanks for your time!

Modified by Anionz

Chosen solution

I have determined that it is due to the line:

lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.bookmark_page", true);

In my about:config this is listed as a string whereas the other two are listed as boolean?

Solved! I reset this entry in about:config, on restarting Firefox it was deleted and I could add it in again as a boolean entry. Now it all workes great!

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (2)

more options

Chosen Solution

I have determined that it is due to the line:

lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.bookmark_page", true);

In my about:config this is listed as a string whereas the other two are listed as boolean?

Solved! I reset this entry in about:config, on restarting Firefox it was deleted and I could add it in again as a boolean entry. Now it all workes great!

Modified by Anionz

more options

lockPref("toolkit.telemetry.prompted", true) is a possible source of this error, too. Tested with FF 9.0.1, the parameter seems to be no more boolean, but integer.

Modified by pfostentreffer