Can't open PDFs in Firefox after new update?
Firefox just updated to 30.0 today. Ever since this update, I cannot open pdfs in Firefox without Firefox freezing. Ironically, Firefox doesn't even recognize that it's frozen! If I go to a pdf (for example, if I'm reading a syllabus for one of my classes), Firefox immediately freezes and a new Adobe Reader tab opens up on my taskbar (W8.1). This new tab shows a distorted image and I have to exit out of this new Adobe Reader tab to get Firefox back to normal.
Without being able to view pdfs, Firefox is virtually unusable for me. This is ridiculous. This has to be a Firefox issue. My Adobe Reader is up to date and I didn't encounter this issue until I had to restart Firefox to apply the update. What can be done about this? Anyone else with the same issue?
Muudetud
All Replies (10)
Could you temporarily switch to opening PDFs in the stand-alone Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat software until someone figures this out?
This article has the steps that will lead you to that option: View PDF files using Firefox’s built-in viewer.
Personally, I like the "Always Ask" option so you can either launch it immediately in your external viewer or save it to disk.
Yes, thanks.
That works temporarily but I may have up to 10 pdfs open at one time, and switching between tabs is usually easier for me. Hopefully this is fixed soon. Thanks again.
I think it might be difficult to solve without more information about why the Acrobat plugin is not working correctly on your system.
Is there any special reason why you have disable TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2?
- security.tls.version.max: 1
- 0 means SSL 3.0, 1 means TLS 1.0, 2 means TLS 1.1, 3 means TLS 1.2 etc.
There are other things that need your attention.
Note that your System Details List shows multiple Flash plugins.
- Shockwave Flash 14.0 r0
- Shockwave Flash 13.0 r0
You can find the installation path of all plugins on the about:plugins page.
You can check the Flash player installation folder for multiple Flash player plugins and remove older version(s) of the plugin (NPSWF32) and possibly (re)install the latest Flash player.
- (32 bit Windows) C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\
- (64 bit Windows) C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\
I have no idea what those (TLS) are, lol. I definitely didn't disable anything.
And yeah, I did notice both Flash installations. It's strange because yesterday I was prompted to update Flash (about the same time the Firefox update took place), so I did... when I was looking into the PDF problem I noticed them both. The funny thing is, when I check to see if my plugins are up to date, it only lists Flash 14.
Edit: I got rid of the 13 installation.
Muudetud
If you didn't change this pref yourself then you may have or had an extension that has modified this pref.
You can reset the pref on the about:config page via the via the right-click context menu to the default value of 3.
Type about:config in the location (address) bar and press the Enter key to open the about:config page like you open a website by typing the URL in the location bar.
- If you see a warning message then you can confirm that you want to access the about:config page.
You can use the search bar at the top of the about:config page to locate the pref.
- security.tls.version.max
Right-click the security.tls.version.max pref and click "Reset" to rest this pref to the default value. You can close the tab with the about:config page once you are done.
There seems to be no way to click-auto-open PDFs. They download to my Downloads folder by default since the update to 30.0.
Very annoying so I came looking.
I use PDF-Xchange Editor instead of Acrobat.
It's actually working for me now. No idea why, but no more freezing!
I hate the built-in viewer. I have to be able to blow up my PDFs 400% to 800%, and the built-in viewer won't do that. Why does this happen so often? Sometimes I hold off updating Firefox because I'm afraid it will happen yet again.
Hi thetechlady, you can change your PDF viewer fairly quickly and painlessly. Please see this article: View PDF files using Firefox’s built-in viewer.
If you find that setting has returned to its default after an update, two thoughts:
(1) Make sure your preferred PDF plugin is up-to-date because old vulnerable versions may be disabled. For Adobe products, use Help > Check for Updates from within Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.
(2) It's possible that the Firefox Reset feature ran during the update. This shouldn't happen unless there is some kind of serious problem with your settings. If you check your desktop, do you find an Old Firefox Data folder with a recently updated, semi-randomly-named subfolder inside it?