[I followed the (half-wrong) guidelines for adding the troubleshooting info. Doing so pasted a personal text! Because the button "Copy text to clipboard" in about:support does not copy anything. Someone may want to fix things.]

NB

I have not got that version available right now. The view source should be available as a keyboard shortcut Crtl+U combination. The Inspect should be available as an option on right click.

As this is a work computer or system you are talking about consult your IT Department. They may well have configured Firefox to prevent such actions.

No doubt you also have the current Release of Firefox 38 39 on your own computers, instead of or as well as the Firefox 31 ESR that you may need for work. Presumably you have no similar problems on your own computer.

edit - oops we are on fx39, & I am actually usingtht to post as shown in my next post

Hi again Nicholas,

The copy text button in the troubleshooting page works ok for me. it probably wouldn't surprise me if there is something going wrong with the options to add information to questions, it often seems to be missing & I guess people may run into problems.

Can you test first of all to see if the button normally works for you. Unless it does it is not likely to work in the Ask A Question workflow.

Can you please also test on your own Firefox 39 Release. I have no Idea what modifications your Work IT people may have made.

My copy text:

Application Basics

Name: Firefox Version: 39.0 Build ID: 20150629114848 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:39.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/39.0 Multiprocess Windows: 0/2 (default: false)

Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days

All Crash Reports

Extensions

Name: JSONView Version: 1.0.2 Enabled: true ID: jsonview@brh.numbera.com

Name: Lazarus: Form Recovery Version: 2.3.1-signed Enabled: true ID: lazarus@interclue.com

Name: Modern Download Manager Version: 0.2.1.1-signed Enabled: true ID: modernDownloadManager@teo.pl

Name: SQLite Manager Version: 0.8.3.1-signed Enabled: true ID: SQLiteManager@mrinalkant.blogspot.com

Name: Ubuntu Firefox Modifications Version: 3.0 Enabled: true ID: ubufox@ubuntu.com

Name: Ubuntu Online Accounts Version: 0.5 Enabled: true ID: online-accounts@lists.launchpad.net

Name: Unity Desktop Integration Version: 3.0.2 Enabled: true ID: webapps-team@lists.launchpad.net

Name: Unity Websites integration Version: 2014.08.06.beta Enabled: true ID: {2e1445b0-2682-11e1-bfc2-0800200c9a66}

Name: DownThemAll! Version: 2.0.18.1-signed Enabled: false ID: {DDC359D1-844A-42a7-9AA1-88A850A938A8}

Graphics

Adapter Description: X.Org -- Gallium 0.4 on AMD CAICOS Asynchronous Pan/Zoom: none Device ID: Gallium 0.4 on AMD CAICOS Driver Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 GPU Accelerated Windows: 0/2 Basic Vendor ID: X.Org WebGL Renderer: X.Org -- Gallium 0.4 on AMD CAICOS windowLayerManagerRemote: false AzureCanvasBackend: cairo AzureContentBackend: cairo AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: none AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

Important Modified Preferences

accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0 browser.cache.disk.capacity: 327680 browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.cache.frecency_experiment: 3 browser.download.folderList: 2 browser.download.importedFromSqlite: true browser.download.useDownloadDir: false browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 7 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20150629114848 browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20150629114848 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 39.0 dom.mozApps.used: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 39.0 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.lastUpdate: 1435837056 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.version: 1.4 media.gmp-manager.buildID: 20150629114848 media.gmp-manager.lastCheck: 1438170173 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true network.predictor.cleaned-up: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1437933348 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 34243 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf plugin.importedState: true plugin.state.flash: 0 privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true storage.vacuum.last.index: 1 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1435838876

Important Locked Preferences

JavaScript

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility

Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions

NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.10.8 Version in use: 4.10.8

NSS Expected minimum version: 3.19.2 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.19.2 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.19.2 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.19.2 Basic ECC

NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.19.2 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.19.2 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.19.2 Version in use: 3.19.2

Experimental Features

Sandbox

Seccomp-BPF (System Call Filtering): true Seccomp Thread Synchronisation: true User Namespaces: true Media Plugin Sandboxing: true

Thank you John for your fast reply!

John99 said

The view source should be available as a keyboard shortcut Crtl+U combination.

To show the source, Ctrl U works, that is good news! But we have to guess this. How? This is not discoverable. In previous Firefoxes, "View source" was available in the menus. Too bad that this has disappeared in Firefox 31.

John99 said

The Inspect should be available as an option on right click.

I cannot "Inspect element".

1) On the page, the right click does nothing, the contextual menu is blocked. Because of a bug of Firefox. "It's not a bug, it's a feature!" some would say. The author of the page probably asks Firefox, with some JavaScript, to block the contextual menu. And Firefox obeys that folly.

2) So I tried to open the Inspector with other ways. With the menus. With F12... No way.

3) On a normal page now, right click shows the contextual menu, but there is no item "Inspect element". Do you have it in Firefox 38?

John99 said

No doubt you also have the current Release of Firefox 38 on your own computers, instead of or as well as the Firefox 31 ESR that you may need for work. Presumably you have no similar problems on your own computer.

Does Firefox 38 offer "Inspect element" on right click, for you?

John99 said

The copy text button in the troubleshooting page works ok for me. it probably wouldn't surprise me if there is something going wrong with the options to add information to questions, it often seems to be missing & I guess people may run into problems. Can you test first of all to see if the button normally works for you. Unless it does it is not likely to work in the Ask A Question workflow.

I had already tested the button. The button for copying the text in "about:support" is broken. It does not copy anything.

[Edited by nykola: fixed typing error.]

John99 said

The view source should be available as a keyboard shortcut Crtl+U combination.

To show the source, Ctrl U works, that is good news! But we have to guess this. How? This is not discoverable. In previous Firefoxes, "View source" was available in the menus. Too bad that this has disappeared in Firefox 31. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ View Source wasn't removed from the contextual menu. But please see this support page with regards to keyboard commands: Keyboard Shortcuts - Tools > Page Source

Inspect Element has always worked for me, except when I had a faulty extension that broke some elements in Firefox. See what happens in the Firefox SafeMode.

And when a page author [attempts] to disable the context menu on their pages, I get around that with a bookmarklet to override "his" blocking code and the 2nd (after using the bookmarklet) time I right-click the context menu appears. And their may be another similar bookmarklet that would work without needing to right-click twice - it works well enough for me that I have looked for a different version the "Enable Context Menu" bookmarklet.

John99 said

Can you please also test on your own Firefox 39 Release. I have no Idea what modifications your Work IT people may have made.

1. I could test with a recent vanilla Firefox, if...
2. I also tried to get Firefox Nightly to test something.

But none of these is possible.

I need that the site of Firefox propose to simply download the application Firefox, in a zip file if needed.

Alas, the site of Firefox does not propose that.

1. The site proposes installers.
2. The link starts with "https://ftp." It does not work here, God knows why.
3. The installer is not even autonom. He needs to download stuff from the Internet. Typically, this fails here in my secure work environment.

As you see, there is much room for improvement at Mozilla's hands. Most of it is simply: "do as you did 10 years ago".

( There is also room for improvement in the IT security policy at my work, this is another subject. :-) )

the-edmeister said

Inspect Element has always worked for me, except when I had a faulty extension that broke some elements in Firefox.

This is interesting. You have "Inspect element" at right click in what version of Firefox?

Hi Nicolas, it sounds as though either your Firefox is damaged, or an extension is mucking it up, or your Firefox has been reconfigured by your IT.

(1) Have you turned on the menu bar?

You can use one of these methods to show the toolbar list and select Menu Bar there:

• right-click a blank spot on the tab bar (or the "+" button)
• tap the Alt key to activate the classic menu bar > View > Toolbars
• in Customize mode > Show/Hide Toolbars (see: Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars)

(2) Did you try Firefox's Safe Mode?

That's a standard diagnostic tool to deactivate extensions and some advanced features of Firefox. More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

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?

(3) Do you have the freedom to install another version?

If so, I suggest this way:

Clean Reinstall

We use this name, but it's not about removing your settings, it's about making sure the program files are clean (no inconsistent, corrupted, or alien code files). As described below, this process does not disturb your existing settings. Do NOT uninstall Firefox, that's not needed.

(A) Download a fresh installer for Firefox 39.0 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.)

(B) Exit out of Firefox (if applicable).

(C) Rename the program folder, either:

(64-bit Windows folder names)

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox

to

C:\Program Files (x86)\OldFirefox

(32-bit Windows folder names)

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox

to

C:\Program Files\OldFirefox

(D) Run the installer you downloaded in #1. It should automatically connect to your existing settings.

Any improvement after this reinstall?

Note: Some plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:

• \OldFirefox\Plugins
• \OldFirefox\browser\plugins

(4) Remove any user.js file in your profile folder. You can access that folder while Firefox is closed by pasting the following into the Start menu search box and pressing Enter:

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

Here you should find one or more semi-randomly-named folders. Click into each and check for a file named user.js and unless you created it yourself, delete it.

Note: by default, Windows hides the .js file extension. To work with files accurately, I suggest setting Windows to show all file extensions. This article has the steps: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hide-file-name-extensions

Back to normal?

nykola said

the-edmeister said

Inspect Element has always worked for me, except when I had a faulty extension that broke some elements in Firefox.

This is interesting. You have "Inspect element" at right click in what version of Firefox?

Firefox 39.0, but it's never not worked for me in any previous version - it's something I use frequently.

Does the view-source: protocol work?

• view-source:https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1074896

cor-el said

Does the view-source: protocol work?

• view-source:https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1074896

Thank you for the tip, this is a very nice trick! :-)

But this trick does not work for all situations (the trick making a new request, AJAX, POST request...).

[Edited by nykola.]

Did you install Firefox yourself or do you have a special version from your IT department?

Did you try the DOM Inspector and possibly the Live Http Headers extension to inspect internet traffic?

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/live-http-headers/
• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/dom-inspector-6622/

• https://developer.mozilla.org/DOM_Inspector
• https://developer.mozilla.org/Introduction_to_DOM_Inspector

I did not install Firefox myself.

cor-el said

Did you try the DOM Inspector and possibly the Live Http Headers extension to inspect internet traffic?

I wanted to use the extension Live HTTP Headers, but apparently it required restarting Firefox, so I did not. (Who says I am lazy? ;-))

What do you mean by "the DOM Inspector"? I did try to find the inspector in Firefox. To no avail. I did not try an extension.

cor-el said

• https://developer.mozilla.org/DOM_Inspector
• https://developer.mozilla.org/Introduction_to_DOM_Inspector

These pages are not found.

I am reassured that according to you people here Firefox 39 still has "Inspect element".

Thank you for your help.

jscher2000 said

(1) Have you turned on the menu bar?

Yes.

jscher2000 said

(2) Did you try Firefox's Safe Mode?

In safe mode too, I get the issue: no "Inspect element".

Are you able to do a Clean Reinstall per an earlier post?