Example of the issue please.

Operating System: openSUSE Tumbleweed 20251031 KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.1 KDE Frameworks Version: 6.19.0 Qt Version: 6.10.0 Kernel Version: 6.17.6-1-default (64-bit) Graphics Platform: X11 Processors: 12 × Intel® Core™ i7-9850H CPU @ 2.60GHz Memory: 128 GiB of RAM (125.1 GiB usable) Graphics Processor: Intel® UHD Graphics 630 Manufacturer: HP Product Name: HP ZBook 17 G6

Here's what happens:

• I go to the extensions page.
• Search for an extension, say, "cache".
• "Clear_cache" is displayed at the top of the list.
• I click on "Install" and nothing happens. The tab does nothing until I manually close it.

I have let the so-called install process run overnight only to find that Firefox crashed sometime during the night. This has been going on for some time on different versions of Firefox on Tumbleweed on my laptop as well as my desktop. I'm currently on 144.0.2 which is, supposedly, the latest and "greatest". It doesn't work on the ESR version either.

What, if any, Firefox configuration files could be the problem? And where would they be located? Another support page listed four preferences files but only one of them existed under my $HOME directory.

i was able to add it to the distro and Mozilla versions with no issue. see screenshot What desktop? X11 or wayland?

Operating System: openSUSE Tumbleweed 20251109 KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.2 KDE Frameworks Version: 6.19.0 Qt Version: 6.10.0 Kernel Version: 6.17.7-1-default (64-bit) Graphics Platform: X11 Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 5825U with Radeon Graphics Memory: 64 GiB of RAM (62.1 GiB usable) Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon Graphics Manufacturer: HP Product Name: HP ProBook 455 15.6 inch G9 Notebook PC

OS release: Tumbleweed 20251031 Desktop: KDE/Plasma Windowing: X11

Is there a way to wipe all traces of FF from my $HOME directory tree. Perhaps a completely fresh start will solve the problem. No old profiles, etc.

As an interim step, could you right-click the Add to Firefox button and then use Save Link As to download the .xpi file. Can Firefox save it to disk, or is there an error in the downloading process?

I can right-click on "Add to Firefox" and save the .xpi extension file to disk. When I go into a file manager and right-click on the extension file, I get "Open with Firefox" as an option. Selecting that doesn't do anything different than before -- the process opens a new tab with the same dialog -- the one where you're asked to run to private windows and the "Add" button -- I get when trying to add directly within FF. That tab hangs when clicking on "Add". It doesn't matter whether I select "run in private ..." or not. Interestingly, when I click on "Add" in that pop-up window nothing happens BUT the "run in private" selection is still selectable. It's as though the "Add" is being ignored completely.

So trying to add from a downloaded file doesn't work either.

Could you open the Browser Console (Ctrl+Shift+J - separate popup window), then try the file open method again, then check for any new messages in the console? I'm interested in knowing whether Firefox records any error there that isn't shown to you. If the console is cluttered when you first open it, you can use the trash can at the upper left to clear the irrelevant messages.

Not sure what you can do with this. I cleared the listing (trashcan) before attempting to open the .xpi file. This is what I got followed by what was logged when I clicked on the "Add" button:

The resource at “https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/adview?ai=Ct77qFPIUabjHE8Gf29sP4q-6sAGKpJyggwG78s72nRWGt_XuNxABILDIwCFgya6BiPCj7BKgAf6D-_UpyAEC4AIAqAMByAMIqgTfA0_QVfPoI2njK91Zm9eWBBBgss9WFqA-BIWtwTYRODbjogNTWZwApEKkbkWb04sXy8ECBL4bKBGjwGNHHgDwXZoTJzqj0Ufu0Lo1XhAH5kU4dd8DNgR9GSm1cpXgCtgaE-jUNxgIprn-BIxzKINKzfgAzQGLjvrDOOwN6AvCUhOOywVPQers9m5CbciAilbcEsNepCYSRf2f5HxUAqiINCcK6rT5KHo4dur-fcNKye-arVMUcaAwAfX4cWW09DrlM5ZeDGVNk5xbZd17Uidh2sb6mbzjbu3_D6SpPfIyzotYA-vcQfeQBH4UZBojGliu0wagGnj_bZs20lU5i8bvChS1mIzPj0csIbnb8NNtaVJaIXv04Tt5Jej4sPOxGbN0RYceGr6CdTGYC4cK6bqsJ7BU1JhaRypV4JiFW0S00K7EgCN5kiWtXTwtnZhWrbu8bcZ5yL3YqY-ZO5Cs-l0_3EzMCaoocencgwL8F69ZoNo2-ciB2WPu1ZUNoTPflIi4y3q_NeG8SXW92HpHjdfm0Vy18MGn5hF337oj-rDJxc3e16CBG1MPBiQGEEtZByyHqqR74JhNcJGSOTTdmNT6gh8qquNM9cQVR_cRPwlUcgwZhEwBwLhgm0DALYj2uPImwATqpPq7rgXgBAGIBZrnospVkgUECAQYAZIFBAgFGASgBgKAB_67y9UEqAenzLECqAemvhuoB8zOsQKoB_PRG6gHltgbqAeqm7ECqAeOzhuoB5PYG6gH8OAbqAfulrECqAf-nrECqAevvrECqAfVyRuoB9m2sQKoB_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-INEwjCpNjWve2QAxXBz3YFHeKXDhbqDRMInLXZ1r3tkAMVwc92BR3ilw4WiA7___________8B2BML0BUByhYCCgD4FgGAFwGyFywKHAgAEhRwdWItMjMyNTQ3OTE4NjQ4NTMzOBjUxAwYASoKOTkwNjU3NTY1N7oXAjgBqhgXCQAAAABAuutAEgo5OTA2NTc1NjU3GAGyGAkSAvBsGAIiAQDQGAHoGAHCGQIIAQ&sigh=Fnl_Qby76Bc&uach_m=%5BUACH%5D&ase=2&nis=ATTRIBUTION_REPORTING_STATUS&cid=CAQSoAEAwksa0Q0G1siDxz8XZ-a8weKlptV4u1-6GLrkieZ4989PXiTkRP_8sz6peaYwx2mvKNFqXPXSYjKRJuDZBn02EnEJY77RmIZU87iiAHXT2WCHxpTHWAaLwPHssmj-0jI_yps9wLOg2lZ_NrZ7JQTzQVj7TFQxPDYLEX4fcGRYhbXdupVmlrYEagQLISKP3dBEkP6zM1lhHipwH5R-Bv70GAE&ebtr=1” was blocked by OpaqueResponseBlocking. Reason: “nosniff is true and mimeType is an opaque-blocklisted MIME type or its essence is 'text/plain'”. The resource at “https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/btr/view?ai=Ct77qFPIUabjHE8Gf29sP4q-6sAGKpJyggwG78s72nRWGt_XuNxABILDIwCFgya6BiPCj7BKgAf6D-_UpyAEC4AIAqAMByAMIqgTfA0_QVfPoI2njK91Zm9eWBBBgss9WFqA-BIWtwTYRODbjogNTWZwApEKkbkWb04sXy8ECBL4bKBGjwGNHHgDwXZoTJzqj0Ufu0Lo1XhAH5kU4dd8DNgR9GSm1cpXgCtgaE-jUNxgIprn-BIxzKINKzfgAzQGLjvrDOOwN6AvCUhOOywVPQers9m5CbciAilbcEsNepCYSRf2f5HxUAqiINCcK6rT5KHo4dur-fcNKye-arVMUcaAwAfX4cWW09DrlM5ZeDGVNk5xbZd17Uidh2sb6mbzjbu3_D6SpPfIyzotYA-vcQfeQBH4UZBojGliu0wagGnj_bZs20lU5i8bvChS1mIzPj0csIbnb8NNtaVJaIXv04Tt5Jej4sPOxGbN0RYceGr6CdTGYC4cK6bqsJ7BU1JhaRypV4JiFW0S00K7EgCN5kiWtXTwtnZhWrbu8bcZ5yL3YqY-ZO5Cs-l0_3EzMCaoocencgwL8F69ZoNo2-ciB2WPu1ZUNoTPflIi4y3q_NeG8SXW92HpHjdfm0Vy18MGn5hF337oj-rDJxc3e16CBG1MPBiQGEEtZByyHqqR74JhNcJGSOTTdmNT6gh8qquNM9cQVR_cRPwlUcgwZhEwBwLhgm0DALYj2uPImwATqpPq7rgXgBAGIBZrnospVkgUECAQYAZIFBAgFGASgBgKAB_67y9UEqAenzLECqAemvhuoB8zOsQKoB_PRG6gHltgbqAeqm7ECqAeOzhuoB5PYG6gH8OAbqAfulrECqAf-nrECqAevvrECqAfVyRuoB9m2sQKoB_fCsQLYBwHyBwQQ0rsD0ggvCIBhEAEYnQEyCIqCgICAgIAIOg2AQIDAgICAgKiAAqgDSL39wTpY2pTX1r3tkAOaCeUCaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY29uc3VtZXJiYWdzLmNvbS9jb29sZXN0LWdpZnRzP2djbGlkPXtnY2xpZH0mY2FtcGFpZ25pZD0yMjk3Mjc3MzI3NCZhZGdyb3VwaWQ9MTg0MjcyNDU4MzQ2JmxvY19waHlzaWNhbGxfbXM9OTAyMTcwMCZsb2NfaW50ZXJlc3RfbXM9Jm1hdGNodHlwZT0mbmV0d29yaz1kJmNyZWF0aXZlPTc4MTk1MTQzMzE4OSZrZXl3b3JkPSZwbGFjZW1lbnQ9d3d3LmRhaWx5a29zLmNvbSZ0YXJnZXRpZD0mY3BpZD1jMzNkN2E0Yy05MGEyLTQ5ZmUtOTdiNC1mNWIxY2I4NGYyMTUmbHBpZD00N2E3Mzk0ZC03YTBkLTQ2MWYtYWQzNy05MTVlNjQ4NjBkN2YmZ2FkX3NvdXJjZT01JmdhZF9jYW1wYWlnbmlkPTIyOTcyNzczMjc0gAoDyAsB2gwRCgsQ0JuJiu3XjZerARICAQOqDQJVU-INEwjCpNjWve2QAxXBz3YFHeKXDhbqDRMInLXZ1r3tkAMVwc92BR3ilw4WiA7___________8B2BML0BUByhYCCgD4FgGAFwGyFywKHAgAEhRwdWItMjMyNTQ3OTE4NjQ4NTMzOBjUxAwYASoKOTkwNjU3NTY1N7oXAjgBqhgXCQAAAABAuutAEgo5OTA2NTc1NjU3GAGyGAkSAvBsGAIiAQDQGAHoGAHCGQIIAQ&sigh=Fnl_Qby76Bc&uach_m=%5B%5D&ase=2&nis=4&cid=CAQSoAEAwksa0Q0G1siDxz8XZ-a8weKlptV4u1-6GLrkieZ4989PXiTkRP_8sz6peaYwx2mvKNFqXPXSYjKRJuDZBn02EnEJY77RmIZU87iiAHXT2WCHxpTHWAaLwPHssmj-0jI_yps9wLOg2lZ_NrZ7JQTzQVj7TFQxPDYLEX4fcGRYhbXdupVmlrYEagQLISKP3dBEkP6zM1lhHipwH5R-Bv70GAE&ibtr=1” was blocked by OpaqueResponseBlocking. Reason: “nosniff is true and mimeType is an opaque-blocklisted MIME type or its essence is 'text/plain'”. PopupNotifications._onButtonEvent: Button click happened before the window was focused / active

Hopefully, this makes some sense to /you/.

The first two probably are a coincidence. I can't think of a reason for Google Ads to be displayed in the extension install process.

The third one might be more relevant:

PopupNotifications._onButtonEvent: Button click happened before the window was focused / active

This message seems to refer to a click that was ignored as part of Firefox's "clickjacking" protection when opening local files. So maybe not directly related to the extension. References:

• Code: https://searchfox.org/firefox-release/source/toolkit/modules/PopupNotifications.sys.mjs#1918
• Bug: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1886082

To see whether it is possible to work around it, could you click elsewhere on the installation panel first to ensure it is focused/selected before clicking Add and see whether we now get a new error?

I clicked on the background window where the "Add to Firefox" and, other than the "db is undefined" and "NS_ERROR_" messages appeared, not much logged in the browser console before the "PopupNotification._onButtonEvent:" message finally appears. Interestingly, the "NS_ERROR..." messages appear as I'm entering this reply.

TypeError: can't access property "executeCached", db is undefined

   query resource://gre/modules/Bookmarks.sys.mjs:2557
   fetchBookmarksByURL resource://gre/modules/Bookmarks.sys.mjs:2589
   onLocationChange resource://gre/actors/TranslationsParent.sys.mjs:3439
   onLocationChange chrome://browser/content/browser.js:2294
   callListeners chrome://browser/content/tabbrowser/tabbrowser.js:1028
   _callProgressListeners chrome://browser/content/tabbrowser/tabbrowser.js:1042
   _callProgressListeners chrome://browser/content/tabbrowser/tabbrowser.js:8256
   onLocationChange chrome://browser/content/tabbrowser/tabbrowser.js:8731

TranslationsParent.sys.mjs:3439:53 NS_ERROR_NOT_AVAILABLE: Component returned failure code: 0x80040111 (NS_ERROR_NOT_AVAILABLE) [nsIFaviconService.setFaviconForPage]

   setIconFromLink resource:///actors/LinkHandlerParent.sys.mjs:142
   receiveMessage resource:///actors/LinkHandlerParent.sys.mjs:55

LinkHandlerParent.sys.mjs:151:17 Uncaught (in promise) NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED: Component returned failure code: 0x8000ffff (NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED) [nsINavBookmarksService.tagsFolder]

   get resource://gre/modules/PlacesUtils.sys.mjs:3028
   get tagsFolderId resource://gre/modules/PlacesUtils.sys.mjs:1403
   _getCommonParams resource://gre/modules/NewTabUtils.sys.mjs:776
   getTopFrecentSites resource://gre/modules/NewTabUtils.sys.mjs:1232
   getTopSites resource://gre/modules/NewTabUtils.sys.mjs:1565
   getTopSiteURLs chrome://browser/content/browser-thumbnails.js:213
   _capture chrome://browser/content/browser-thumbnails.js:131
   idleCallback chrome://browser/content/browser-thumbnails.js:149

PlacesUtils.sys.mjs:3028 TypeError: can't access property "executeCached", db is undefined

   query resource://gre/modules/Bookmarks.sys.mjs:2557
   fetchBookmarksByURL resource://gre/modules/Bookmarks.sys.mjs:2589
   dispatch resource://gre/actors/TranslationsParent.sys.mjs:4261
   locationChanged resource://gre/actors/TranslationsParent.sys.mjs:4336
   onLocationChange resource://gre/actors/TranslationsParent.sys.mjs:3443
   onLocationChange chrome://browser/content/browser.js:2294
   callListeners chrome://browser/content/tabbrowser/tabbrowser.js:1028
   _callProgressListeners chrome://browser/content/tabbrowser/tabbrowser.js:1042
   _callProgressListeners chrome://browser/content/tabbrowser/tabbrowser.js:8256
   onLocationChange chrome://browser/content/tabbrowser/tabbrowser.js:8731

TranslationsParent.sys.mjs:4261:13 TypeError: can't access property "executeBeforeShutdown", db is undefined

   withConnectionWrapper resource://gre/modules/PlacesUtils.sys.mjs:1632

TypeError: can't access property "executeBeforeShutdown", db is undefined

   withConnectionWrapper resource://gre/modules/PlacesUtils.sys.mjs:1632

TypeError: can't access property "executeBeforeShutdown", db is undefined

   withConnectionWrapper resource://gre/modules/PlacesUtils.sys.mjs:1632

TypeError: can't access property "executeBeforeShutdown", db is undefined

   withConnectionWrapper resource://gre/modules/PlacesUtils.sys.mjs:1632

PopupNotifications._onButtonEvent: Button click happened before the window was focused / active TypeError: can't access property "executeBeforeShutdown", db is undefined

   withConnectionWrapper resource://gre/modules/PlacesUtils.sys.mjs:1632

IMHO, end users shouldn't be seeing behavior like this. Weird FF 144.0.2 interactions with Plasma possibly? Even opening a new, blank browser tab generates these NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED messages in the console. Seems broken to me. To a non-FF developer, this console output is meaningless.

Any more ideas to try?

Those error messages seem to be related to bookmarks/history rather than add-ons. Are you having problems with bookmarks/history, such as losing access to some bookmarks/history or inability to save new bookmarks or inability to display site icons for previously visited sites?

I don't know whether addressing those issues will affect the problem with installing extensions, but perhaps they will:

First thing to try is simply exiting out of Firefox and starting it up again. Some users have clean-up programs that check browser data files, so if one of those is running slowly, there may be a delay before Firefox can access its files.

Check for an extra toolbar with the error message in the title of the following article: Fix "The bookmarks and history system will not be functional" error message. If you see that bar, Firefox either can't get access to the file -- possibly another process has locked it -- or the file has become corrupted. Before giving up on the file and nuking it (as described in that article), you could try a few other things:

(1) Try to release the file if it's locked

I don't know how file handles work on Linux. One option is to try a normal shutdown and/or restart of your system.

(2) Run the "Verify Integrity" diagnosis and repair function

That's here:

Open Firefox's Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

• "3-bar" menu button > Help > More Troubleshooting Information
• (menu bar) Help > More Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

Near the bottom, there is a section titled Places Database -- that's the file which stores history and bookmarks. Click the button labeled Verify Integrity. There may be a 10-15 second delay before results appear.

If all is well, the report that appears below the button should start with:

> Task: checkIntegrity
+ The places.sqlite database is sane
+ The favicons.sqlite database is sane
> Task: checkCoherence
+ The database is coherent
> Task: expire
+ Database cleaned up

et cetera

Does yours say the databases are sane and coherent, or something else? You can select and copy the report, and then paste it into a reply for review and comment.

On Firefox ESR, the bookmark check was okay though I occasionally have the bookmark menu (which I always want displayed) not appearing -- very aggravating. The integrity check resulted in:

> Task: checkIntegrity + The places.sqlite database is sane + The favicons.sqlite database is sane > Task: checkCoherence + The database is coherent > Task: expire + Database cleaned up > Task: vacuum + Initial database size is 5120KiB + The database has been vacuumed + Final database size is 5120KiB

A recent software update bumped Firefox to 145.0. That behaved differently: Trying to add an extension resulted in the "Add" popping up a different window that either has a busy bar (reminiscent of the original Battlestar Galactica Cylons and never got any farther than a "Verifying" message below the Cylon eyeball. I gave it several minutes before closing the tab) or the popup simply displayed a blue dot in the center and did nothing after that.

I think I asked earlier: Since I can safely export/backup my bookmarks (all I really care about. History? Phht!) what would uninstalling Firefox and removing all configuration items, profiles, etc., associated with it (wherever they hide under $HOME) do to help the extensions problem if I started completely from scratch as though FF never had been installed previously? This is becoming a crazy time sink.

You don't need to delete anything, usually. If you install Firefox 144.0.2 (Install an older version of Firefox), it will insist you create a clean new profile (it won't normally downgrade the old files). If you have been using Sync and log in the new profile to the same Mozilla account, much of your data will transfer automatically. What is missing can often be migrated manually.

But Firefox 144.0.2 will want to update fairly soon, so try the new profile first? Here's how:

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.

Take a quick glance at the page and make a mental note of which Profile has this notation: This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted. That is your current default profile.

Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next. Assign a name like Test2025, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button.

Firefox will switch your default profile to the new one, so click the Set as Default Profile button for your regular one to avoid an unwanted surprise at your next startup.

Scroll down to Test2025 and click its Launch profile in new browser button.

Firefox should open a new window that looks like a brand new, uncustomized installation. (Your existing Firefox window(s) should not be affected.) Please ignore any tabs enticing you to connect to a Sync account or to activate extensions found on your system to get a clean test.

Do extensions install normally in the new profile?

When you are done with the experiment, you can close the extra window without affecting your regular Firefox profile. (Test2025 will remain available for future testing.)

Firefox ESR and 145 are installed on the system. Downloaded firefox 144.0.2 Unxzed it into /usr/local/src and untarred the archive Symlinked /usr/local/src/firefox/firefox-bin to /usr/local/bin/firefox14402 Launched firefox14402 Attempting to add an extension result in the same hung tab. Now I've got three versions of FF that don't allow extensions to load.

I'm unsure what could be preventing this from working. Nothing has worked so far.

Forgot to include this in previous reply:

~> which firefox14202 /usr/local/bin/firefox14202 ~> firefox14202 ATTENTION: default value of option mesa_glthread overridden by environment.

Extension adds (mis)behave as before.