Firefox 128.3.1esr *not* clearing history on closing

Altoid · 2024-10-16 15:00:27

Hello:

Devuan Daedalus now running Firefox 128.3.1esr but the same thing was happening with the previous browser version.

I have (as I have done ever since I can recall) the Privacy and Security -> History setting as 'Use custom settings for history' with 'Clear history when Firefox closes' checked.

Always worked, but now I find that closing Firefox does not do what I set it to do.

I return home, boot my box, open Firefox and instead of getting the usual blank page, I get the last web site I was looking at when I closed the browser.
Quite annoying.

Has anyone else seen this same behaviour?
Any idea as to what may be going in?

Thanks in advance.

Best,

A.

quickfur · 2024-10-16 17:30:59

No idea what's going on, but if you're paranoid, you can always

rm -rf ~/.cache/mozilla/firefox

to destroy all cached files. This probably also includes profiles and settings, though, so if you want to save some things, you may need to refine that rm target appropriately.

Altoid · 2024-10-16 18:31:23

Hello:

quickfur wrote:

... you can always ...
... probably also includes profiles and settings ...

I'd rather it worked as intended.

One thing though: while testing today I found that I cannot reproduce this at will, which is strange.
I'll have to do some more testing.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

A.

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn · Yesterday 06:02:24

if you are comfortable using Firefox "about:config" area, then you can start investigating by searching these one at a time. "resume" "reload" "restart" and any other keywords/phrases that might show what is happening.

please keep us posted on your progress as i am sure others will have the same situation!

Altoid · Yesterday 14:14:38

Hello:

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn wrote:

... comfortable using Firefox "about:config" ...

Sure, no problem with that.

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn wrote:

... start investigating by searching these ...

Thanks for that info.

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn wrote:

... keep us posted ...

Of course, always.

But ...
On one hand, I have not heard from anyone (yet) with the same issue and on the other, I have not been able to reproduce it.
Not has it happened again.

What I know for sure is that I had not ever seen it happen before the last two Firefox *esr updates.
ie: the versions without the upper left hand View recent browsing across windows and devices icon.

Can that new crap feature be disabled?

And then it may be a fluke, a hardware problem or worse, allucinations. 8^°
No idea, but I don't like it.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

A.

fsmithred · Yesterday 15:09:29

115.8.0esr in excalibur works correctly. It has the "Firefox View" icon in the upper left.

128.3.1esr in the same excalibur also works correctly. This one has a folder icon in the upper left that says "View recent browsing..."

I tried the newer version both by closing the window and by killing firefox from a terminal. Both worked correctly.

blackhole · Yesterday 15:12:57

Check the bug reports:

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgrepo … t=unstable

Maybe a relevant one among that bugfest: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo … bug=682369

Still seems open and unfixed...

Altoid · Yesterday 20:22:12

Hello:

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn wrote:

... comfortable using Firefox "about:config" ...

That is usually, albeit not always, a good way to start.

I went looking and through trial and error finally managed to (?) domesticate the beast a bit.
But the jury is still deliberating, so caveat emptor.

What I did in about:config was this:

1. looked for all instances of recent
2. set browser.bookmarks.editDialog.maxRecentFolders to 0
3. set browser.download.manager.addToRecentDocs to false
4. set browser.engagement.recent_visited_origins.expiry to 1*
5. set browser.urlbar.recentsearches.featureGate to false
6. set browser.urlbar.suggest.recentsearches to false
7. set privacy.restrict3rdpartystorage.heuristic.recently_visited_time to 1*
8. set services.sync.prefs.sync.browser.ctrlTab.sortByRecentlyUsed to false

* the default values are (probably) in seconds so I used 1 in case nought (0) means forever.

There's probably more to edit, time will tell.

Thank you all for your input.

Best,

A.

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