Figuring out why download dialog pops up randomly
Since about a month, the download dialog pops up multiple times a day (seems randomly; I did not download anything manually). If the list of downloaded files (history in download dialog) is not empty, it pops up and stays. If the list of downloaded files is empty, it also pops up randomly and immediately disappears again.
I searched for this issue and found out that the automatically popping up download dialog can be disabled with `browser.download.alwaysOpenPanel=false`. Unfortunately, this is not what I want because the dialog should pop up when a download has been completed - but not randomly.
I would like to find out why this happens because I am a bit afraid that this may be malicious behavior (e.g., triggered by an extension). Do you have any idea where this behavior comes from or how to figure this out? Are there appropriate logs to take a look at? Can I see somehow which Firefox components are active at which point in time?
Edit: Just found other users with the same issue (but no solution, yet): - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1370262#answer-1492291 - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1370262#answer-1495496
Upravil(a) ortaly dňa
Všetky odpovede (6)
Thanks for the response Dropa. I am not talking about website popups but about the Firefox download dialog. I added an image to clarify this.
It's a wee bit deep, but you would have to run strace to watch the firefox process. When you get the pop-up, make note of the time and then check the log. May the Schwartz be with you... Or just drop your distro version as your daily driver like I did almost 3yrs ago and use Firefox from Mozilla. ;-)) https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release
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Thanks for the response jonzn4SUSE and thanks for your strace images :)
Aren't there any proper application logs, extension logs or something similar to trace the behavior of Firefox? I would like to avoid reading through excessive strace logs ;-)
Upravil(a) ortaly dňa
Yeah, but you will only have to look for the time the issue pops up. Run Firefox from Mozilla (sync your data over as a backup) and see if you have the same issue.
Change the following preference in about:config to false: browser.download.alwaysOpenPanel
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/about-config-editor-firefox
@Terry: As I explained in the initial post already: I found this but I don't want to circumvent symptoms. I want to understand and fix the underlying problem.