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Authentication problem with Gmail

  • 7 replies
  • 26 have this problem
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  • Last reply by Ducatiman

Ducatiman
Ducatiman

Hello, Like many other users, not only on Firefox, but Chrome and other browsers as well, I have been continually getting this message on Gmail for about a couple of weeks... "Gmail is having authentication problems. Some features may not work. Try logging in to fix the problem". Logging in again does nothing to remove the problem. I only have to open any email, or try and access my contacts, for the message to pop up. It is actually impossible to access my contacts while this problem is there. Google have been working on it for all that time, with no resolution, which would indicate it is a severe problem. I am just wondering if the browsers have been corrupted and whether resetting Firefox might get rid of the problem. Can anyone comment on whether resetting Firefox might work. An extreme measure, in the hope that the browsers have been corrupted by something on Gmail, would be to uninstall Firefox and then reinstall it from new. However, it is no exaggeration to say that I have between 1000 and 2000 bookmarks for medical related articles I have received from the net over the last few years and it would be a disaster to lose them. I am assuming that there would be no way to save those bookmarks if I uninstalled Firefox, or is there a way? Ducatiman

Hello, Like many other users, not only on Firefox, but Chrome and other browsers as well, I have been continually getting this message on Gmail for about a couple of weeks... "Gmail is having authentication problems. Some features may not work. Try logging in to fix the problem". Logging in again does nothing to remove the problem. I only have to open any email, or try and access my contacts, for the message to pop up. It is actually impossible to access my contacts while this problem is there. Google have been working on it for all that time, with no resolution, which would indicate it is a severe problem. I am just wondering if the browsers have been corrupted and whether resetting Firefox might get rid of the problem. Can anyone comment on whether resetting Firefox might work. An extreme measure, in the hope that the browsers have been corrupted by something on Gmail, would be to uninstall Firefox and then reinstall it from new. However, it is no exaggeration to say that I have between 1000 and 2000 bookmarks for medical related articles I have received from the net over the last few years and it would be a disaster to lose them. I am assuming that there would be no way to save those bookmarks if I uninstalled Firefox, or is there a way? Ducatiman

Chosen solution

Try to delete the cookies.sqlite file that you copied to delete all saved cookies.
You may have to delete the permissions.sqlite file as well to reset all permissions in case you were blocking data.

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All Replies (7)

the-edmeister
the-edmeister

Many site issues can be caused by corrupt cookies or cache. In order to try to fix these problems, the first step is to clear both cookies and the cache. Note: This will temporarily log you out of all sites you're logged in to. To clear cache and cookies do the following:

  1. Go to Firefox > History > Clear recent history or (if no Firefox button is shown) go to Tools > Clear recent history.
  2. Under "Time range to clear", select "Everything".
  3. Now, click the arrow next to Details to toggle the Details list active.
  4. From the details list, check Cache and Cookies and uncheck everything else.
  5. Now click the Clear now button.

Further information can be found in the Clear your cache, history and other personal information in Firefox article.

As far as doing a Reset, your bookmarks should not be affected - they're supposed to be there after the Reset.

IMO, a better troubleshooting approach would be to create a new Profile, and see if that Gmail problem is lessened or eliminated (at least temporarily). You will be able to switch back to your current Profile quite easily.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles

Do not remove your current Profile at this time, this is a troubleshooting exercise.

Ducatiman
Ducatiman Question owner

Thanks, Creating a new profile does remove the problem, but it is not a satisfactory solution as I have probably close to 2000 bookmarks on my original profile, not to mention everything else attached to it, and I believe it would be a daunting task to set up my alternative profile with all that data.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator

If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over the problem

Ducatiman
Ducatiman Question owner

I created a new profile and while I had not populated it with anything else Gmail worked perfectly without the authentication problem. However I had to copy my Bookmarkbackups and Searchplugins folders to my new profile so I could use it satisfactorily, plus only the following files recommended in the Firefox document "Transfering data to a new profile - Firefox": cert8.db, chromeappsstore.sqlite, content-prefs.sqlite, cookies.sqlite, formhistory.sqlite, key3.db, mimeTypes.rdf, permissions.sqlite, places.sqlite, signons.sqlite and webappsstore.sqlite. When I then logged onto Gmail the problem was back, so creating a new profile did not appear to serve any purpose. Ducatiman

the-edmeister
the-edmeister

The purpose that creating a new Profile served, is that it clearly displays that "something" in your personal data is creating that problem at Gmail.

That new Profile worked until you transferred your data into the new Profiles, corrupting it in the process.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator

Chosen Solution

Try to delete the cookies.sqlite file that you copied to delete all saved cookies.
You may have to delete the permissions.sqlite file as well to reset all permissions in case you were blocking data.

Ducatiman
Ducatiman Question owner

Thank you very much cor-el. Creating a new profile without copying either the cookies.sqlite or permissions.sqlite worked a charm. Gmail is now working normally. I have Firefox set to ask my permission every time a site wants to add a cookie to my PC, so with luck I may not experience the problem again.