Firefox cannot access my file system
Firefox cannot access my local filesystem. When I open a PDF in the browser and click the Save button, nothing happens. When I click a "Browse..." button to browse the filesystem and upload a file to a website, nothing happens.
This issue does not happen in Google Chrome. This issue persists in Troubleshooting Mode.
Please help! I'd be glad to provide more details as requested.
All Replies (7)
Is that a change? Did it coincide with an update? Can you open a local file with File > Open File (ctl+o)?
You can try Firefox from the official Mozilla server if you currently use a version from the repositories of your Linux distribution to see if it behaves differently.
Terry said
Is that a change? Did it coincide with an update? Can you open a local file with File > Open File (ctl+o)?
It is a change; this started happening yesterday, and I had been using Firefox with no issues for a couple of days before that.
Checking my Firefox version, I don't think it coincided with an update, as my version is 99.0.1, and I'm fairly sure this is the exact version that came with the OS (I freshly installed Ubuntu 22.04 a few days ago). If there is a better way to take a look at Firefox update logs to see if it updated when the issue arose, let me know.
Ctrl+O does not bring up any dialog.
cor-el said
You can try Firefox from the official Mozilla server if you currently use a version from the repositories of your Linux distribution to see if it behaves differently.
I'm using Firefox on a fresh install of Ubuntu 22.04, so this is the Snap version of Firefox that shipped with the OS. As I understand it, Mozilla developed this Snap so it should be considered an official Mozilla distribution of the browser.
I'll try uninstalling and reinstalling Firefix as a Snap, then if the problem persists I will try to reinstall with the tarball you linked.
As a note—and maybe this is important—I was able to download the tarball from the link you sent. I immediately tried to download an image (Save Image As...) and this produced nothing. Weird.
kim.hw.bryan said
cor-el said
You can try Firefox from the official Mozilla server if you currently use a version from the repositories of your Linux distribution to see if it behaves differently.I'm using Firefox on a fresh install of Ubuntu 22.04, so this is the Snap version of Firefox that shipped with the OS. As I understand it, Mozilla developed this Snap so it should be considered an official Mozilla distribution of the browser.
I'll try uninstalling and reinstalling Firefix as a Snap, then if the problem persists I will try to reinstall with the tarball you linked.
As a note—and maybe this is important—I was able to download the tarball from the link you sent. I immediately tried to download an image (Save Image As...) and this produced nothing. Weird.
I tried reinstalling Firefox as a Snap, but the problem persisted. I've just now installed Firefox from the tarball, and the problem is solved.
It's great that the problem is solved but I do not want to have Firefox installed in this way, as it will make updating the browser much more difficult. I wish to have a self-updating installation of Firefox.
How should I proceed? Should I try installing Firefox with self-updating packages other than Snap (say, .deb or .appimage)?
Can you just do what cor-el asked and install from Mozilla to see if you have the same issue.
jonzn4SUSE said
Can you just do what cor-el asked and install from Mozilla to see if you have the same issue.
I did.
kim.hw.bryan said
I've just now installed Firefox from the tarball, and the problem is solved.
I then proceeded to explain that while installing from Mozilla does fix the problem, it is not a viable solution for me as manual updating is far too tedious.
kim.hw.bryan said
It's great that the problem is solved but I do not want to have Firefox installed in this way, as it will make updating the browser much more difficult. I wish to have a self-updating installation of Firefox.
So, do you have any productive suggestions on how to proceed?