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Why has Firefox suddenly stopped rendering pages?

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firefox for windows, up-to-date, Windows 7. Been using Firefox for 10+ years. Just stopped rendering pages. All I see on every page is left-justified text and links. Clicking links just loads another unrendered page. I have exited and reloaded, updated to 49, restarted windows, restarted computer. Still the same. How to get back to ordinary

firefox for windows, up-to-date, Windows 7. Been using Firefox for 10+ years. Just stopped rendering pages. All I see on every page is left-justified text and links. Clicking links just loads another unrendered page. I have exited and reloaded, updated to 49, restarted windows, restarted computer. Still the same. How to get back to ordinary

Chosen solution

Hmm, it's not an external block. Could it be an add-on??

Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
  • Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

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All Replies (12)

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Load the web page. Then holding down the <Shift> key, reload the page.

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Thanks, Fred, but shift-reload does not seem to help me. Looking further, I found two sites that rendered normally, centered, with normal graphics: 1. Google search reply page 2. FindaGrave.com

others, not so good.

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What about when you view this thread?

https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1145140

Does it lack style (in the technical sense, I mean, not an aesthetic criticism)? If so, could you investigate whether Firefox is successfully loading all the files (or getting errors in that process)? Here's how, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Developer > Network
  • (menu bar) Tools > Web Developer > Network

Firefox should display a panel in the lower part of the tab. To test what Firefox is fetching, do Shift+Reload again (e.g., Ctrl+Shift+r) and a list of files should appear. The status code at the left normally is 200, indicating a successful load; a 301 or 302 indicates a redirect; higher numbers usually indicate problems. Does yours look anything like mine (screenshot attached)?

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Location of the cache files; Windows: *C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\ Mac: ~/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/ Linux: ~/.cache/mozilla/firefox/

Close Firefox. Open your file browser to the above, and remove the folder.

You may have a corrupt cookies.sqlite file. Delete cookies.sqlite + cookies.sqlite.old + cookies.sqlite-shm + cookies.sqlite-wal

Type about:support in the address bar and press enter.

Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To its right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

Locate the above file. Then rename or delete it. Restart Firefox.

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Tried jscher's tests I get nothing like your screenshot . 4 lines only 200 Get 1145140 support.Mozilla.org transferred 16.82 kb size 72.25 kb 302 get [long hex string] secure.gravitar.com size 0 302 w/ different hex string 302 w/different hex string First hex string: fffb333b8c3c8e8df1eefca7b1d8f4437s=48&d=https://support.cdn.mozilla.net/static/sumo/img.avatar.png Have not tried Fred's cookie killer. Should I?

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Hi hgbullen, I doubt that your cookie database is corrupted but you could try removing it if you like.

First, though, I'm puzzled why your Firefox isn't even trying to retrieve this style sheet. What if you click the link to load it directly in its own tab:

https://support.cdn.mozilla.net/static/build/common-min.e8b3c24a8874.css

Normally you get a long page of plain text starting with:

/*! normalize.css v3.0.2 | MIT License | git.io/normalize

Do you see text, or an error, or Firefox doesn't even go there?

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Yes, I get that page of code starting with Normalize

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Status Code 200 at first. Css, cached, fully loads 50.62 kb. A refresh gets status code 304, interrupted load.

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Chosen Solution

Hmm, it's not an external block. Could it be an add-on??

Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
  • Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

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yahoo, or rather Mozilla! Firefox runs normally in safe mode! Thanks! So now i guess i should try my desired add-ons, one at a time?

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The problem seems to have been with AdBlock Plus. I've used it for years. There was an update about the same time as Firefox stopped rendering, possibly the cause. I cannot live with all those adds. Trying out uBlock instead.

Thanks so much for your deep knowledge of Firefox and your persistence in solving my problem.

Halsey Bullen

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Hi Halsey, ABP has many settings and features, so there's probably a way to adjust it if you do not find uBlock to your liking (but many people find uBlock a little easier on their system, so you probably will like it).