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Cannot click/select some password fields in firefox on Ubuntu

  • 35 replies
  • 7 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Juan Ramón

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Hello

I am currently using Ubuntu 18.04 and Firefox Quantum 59.0.2 64-bit. On some websites, I am unable to select the password field either using tab or a mouse click to be able to enter a password. This leaves me unable to login. However, this doesnt seem to happen on all password fields.

For example on https://reddit.com I can enter username and password on the field on the right. However, if I click on Login hyperlink on 'Want to join? Log in or sign up in seconds.', I get a popup which I am unable to click the password field on.

I have also seen this problem on https://abnzb.com

I have tried to run in safe-mode but the problem persists.

My addons are Gnome shell integration, Enhanced Steam, HTTPS Everywhere, uBlock origin.

Also, to add to this. When I right click on the password text fields, I do not get a menu popup. I am not sure if this is related or not.

Hello I am currently using Ubuntu 18.04 and Firefox Quantum 59.0.2 64-bit. On some websites, I am unable to select the password field either using tab or a mouse click to be able to enter a password. This leaves me unable to login. However, this doesnt seem to happen on all password fields. For example on https://reddit.com I can enter username and password on the field on the right. However, if I click on Login hyperlink on 'Want to join? Log in or sign up in seconds.', I get a popup which I am unable to click the password field on. I have also seen this problem on https://abnzb.com I have tried to run in safe-mode but the problem persists. My addons are Gnome shell integration, Enhanced Steam, HTTPS Everywhere, uBlock origin. Also, to add to this. When I right click on the password text fields, I do not get a menu popup. I am not sure if this is related or not.

Modified by mattxo

Chosen solution

Just to add an update. I have since installed the snap version of firefox on ubuntu and the issue is gone.

Thanks for your help.

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All Replies (15)

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Ernesto94 said

Hi. Thanks! Should I remove the first version first?

I did. You can do that with 'sudo apt-get remove firefox'.

The new snap version will keep itself up to date :)

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Hi, I'd like to know if there is a way to solve this very annoying problem without installing a snap version of Firefox (I'd like not to use it). Will this be fixed in a future version?

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(Could we re-open the tread so it isn't labeled as solved anymore? Thanks!)

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I have this issue too on the password field for a shopify dev store.

FF 60.0.2 on Ubuntu 18.04

I used FF once since installing Ubuntu, and that was to get chrome. It has no addons, extensions, cache, history other than going to google.

One thing I noticed is if you open the inspector with F12 and the webpage has focus and you try to right click the password field, no menu appears. But if you click in the inspector to give it focus (I have my inspector window docked to the bottom) and then right click the password field, the menu comes up. And it does indeed pull up the correct element in the source.

If I manually change the input tag in the inspector from type="password" to type="text", I can then type into the box. If I change it back to password, it converts what I had previously typed to dots, but I am no longer able to type in the box.

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Just some follow up. I found it is a focus issue where the box is getting (almost immediately) defocused after clicking it.

I ran some JS in the console to putput the focused object every second.

Starting with the password box not focused, the the container div has focus. When I click the box, depending on the timing, it will show that the password box gets focus, then immediately looses it to the container div. This is why you CAN type into it if you type immediately after clicking but you can only type a character or two before it loses focus.

Now the weird part is if you click the password box, then click off Firefox (like to another program or even the address bar), the password box regains focus again (in the dom)! This is why if you click off the page, the right click works on the password box.

So now I spent half my day on this and all I wanted to do was test something in FF that was completely unrelated.

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turbo2ltr, please consider creating a new thread containing the specific details of your issue.

Doing so will allow the Mozilla volunteers to give you solutions that are more helpful to you. This may help them to solve your problem faster and more efficiently.

Please, feel free to post the link to your thread on this thread for volunteers interested in assisting you.

Thank you.

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This is not solved. The issue still exists. I'd like to request that this be marked as *not solved*.

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Can you press the Tab (or Shift+Tab) key to set focus to the field.

Note that best is to create a new thread instead of posting in a thread that is solved for the original poster (thread owner).

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Having the OP install a different version isn't really what I would consider a a solution where this thread is marked solved if other people are having it. I use chrome so I'm not going to though the trouble of reposting the detailed results of the significant time I spent troubleshooting FF and posting here. You guys can do whatever you want with it, include ignore it.

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cor-el said

Can you press the Tab (or Shift+Tab) key to set focus to the field. Note that best is to create a new thread instead of posting in a thread that is solved for the original poster (thread owner).

No, it is not possible to Tab my way to the field. Other users (above) mentioned the issue and what they believed to be the cause. It seems like this 'support' board is not an effective mean of communicating with the people who are in a position to correct the issue.

Like turbo2ltr, I feel forced to revert back to Chrome as well. Not being able to log in to a website seems to be a critical issue to me.

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I can confirm that I am running into the exact same problem on Ubuntu 18.04.1. Running FF 61.0.1. For certain websites when I click on a password field, the field immediately blurs (web developer here). This makes it impossible to enter in a password.

Here's an example of the bug in action:

  1. Navigate to: http://www.movescount.com/
  2. Click the "Sign In" button.
  3. Try to enter a password, you'll see that something is happening client side that very quickly blurs the password field. If you're quick you can maybe enter in a single letter, but that's about it.

I can also confirm that this bug does not exist on FF 61.0.1 running on Windows. So it seems to be a Linux or at least Ubuntu specific issue.

Please consider re-opening this issue as the solution (which was to install the snap version of FF) is not really a try solution.

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No problem on Linux with the Firefox version from the Mozilla server.

Ubuntu is known to make a lot of modification to its own version from the Ubuntu repositories, so if you have a problem with that version then best it to contact Ubuntu for support or check the Firefox version from the Mozilla server to see if this version behaves better.

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I have found here a solution: https://github.com/ibus/ibus/issues/2002 Go to Language Support -> Keyboard input method system and select XIM instead of IBus. Restart/logout. The problem it's solve.

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Juan Ramón said

I have found here a solution: https://github.com/ibus/ibus/issues/2002 Go to Language Support -> Keyboard input method system and select XIM instead of IBus. Restart/logout. The problem it's solve.

Juan, Thanks for the suggestion. I tried this and it fixed my firefox password issue but caused a new issue with gedit -- the application window is completely transparent. Do you have any issues with gedit after selecting XIM? James

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Do you have any issues with gedit after selecting XIM?

James, I don't have any issue with gedit. I don't think that changing the ibus, can cause the transparent window in gedit. I have found information about this here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/838259/gedit-has-a-transparent-background-since-upgrade-to-16-10#840073 I hope you find it useful.

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