Hello,

Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode, which disables most add-ons.

(If you're not using it, switch to the Default theme.)

• On Windows you can open Firefox 4.0+ in Safe Mode by holding the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
• On Mac you can open Firefox 4.0+ in Safe Mode by holding the option key while starting Firefox.
• On Linux you can open Firefox 4.0+ in Safe Mode by quitting Firefox and then going to your Terminal and running: firefox -safe-mode (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)
• Or open the Help menu and click on the Restart with Add-ons Disabled... menu item while Firefox is running.

Once you get the pop-up, just select "'Start in Safe Mode"

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article for that.

To exit the Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help other users who have the same problem.

Thank you.

Your More System Details do not show that your Flash plugin (actually it will show as Shockwave Flash in Firefox) is active. Perhaps it is old and was disabled due to a security issue??

As the first step in investigating the problem, open the Add-ons page. Either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a
• orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Plugins. Check at the bottom of the list where there is a gray background to see whether Shockwave Flash is listed there. If you do not have a recent version starting with 11.9 then Firefox might be blocking it. If you do have a recent version, try changing from "Never Activate" to "Always Activate" and test the sites that are giving you the error to see whether they work.

If you do not see Shockwave Flash among your plugins at all, please post back for next steps.

Edit: Removed unrelated text.

I have the same problem: javascript not working. For example, on a google search results page, the settings (gear) icon appears but does not work in firefox, whereas it's ok using chrome. I tried using firefox safe mode but it made no difference. I looked up my shockwave flash plugin and it is version 11.9.900.117. I think this is a problem I've had for quite some time - possibly a few years. Most sites work ok - it's just an occasional problem. Any suggestions appreciated.

Hi andrew22, Firefox only has an on/off setting for JavaScript, so if it's that, you would be seeing the warning all over the place. Sounds like that setting is okay.

Going back to basics, when you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.

(1) Bypass Firefox's Cache

Use Ctrl+Shift+r to reload the page fresh from the server. (On Mac: Command+Shift+r)

Alternately, you also can clear Firefox's cache completely using:

orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced
On Mac: Firefox menu > Preferences > Advanced

On the Network mini-tab > Cached Web Content : "Clear Now"

If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.

(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site, try either:

• right-click and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
• Tools menu > Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"

In the dialog that opens, you can remove the site's cookies individually.

Then try reloading the page. Does that help?

Thanks jscher2000. However, I tried all this and it didn't make any difference. I've been testing the problem using (or trying to use) the google gear button (when not logged in - it works ok when logged into google), but occasionally have the same problem with random buttons on other pages (e.g. a local theatre ticketing page, just now).

Could you open Firefox's Browser Console (Ctrl+Shift+J), click the Clear button, then flip back over to Google and click the button again to see whether Firefox records any error message? You should be able to copy/paste anything that pops up into a reply here.

Is there any pattern related to secure (HTTPS URL) vs. non-secure (HTTP URL) sites? For example, when you are logged out of Google, are you still using HTTPS or are you using HTTP?

Hi gypsycomp, it seems we've hijacked your thread, sorry. Were you able to get Flash working?

Regarding NoScript, it's a great tool for paranoid web browsing, but if you find it too much of a hassle to approve trusted sites/servers, you might want to go ahead and uninstall it. When you find a site/server you definitely do NOT trust, you can use an extension like YesScript to just block that one. For users with a more optimistic approach to unknown websites, that's probably a better fit.

Thanks again jscher2000, and sorry if I've posted this in the wrong place. Whether signed in or not, google is showing an https address, but now the button doesn't seem to work when I'm signed in either - sure it was earlier. Anyway, after clicking the inactive button a few times, the firefox console shows:

GET http://www.google.com/ [HTTP/1.1 302 Found 79ms]
20:53:56.700 GET http://www.google.co.uk/ [HTTP/1.1 302 Found 62ms]
20:53:56.758 GET https://www.google.co.uk/ [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 282ms]
20:53:56.759 POST http://clients1.google.com/ocsp [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 46ms]
20:53:56.835 POST http://gtglobal-ocsp.geotrust.com/ [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 47ms]
20:53:56.964 Unknown property '-moz-border-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Unknown property 'box-sizing'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Unknown pseudo-class or pseudo-element '-o-prefocus'.  Ruleset ignored due to bad selector. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Unknown pseudo-class or pseudo-element '-webkit-scrollbar'.  Ruleset ignored due to bad selector. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Unknown pseudo-class or pseudo-element '-webkit-scrollbar-button'.  Ruleset ignored due to bad selector. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Unknown pseudo-class or pseudo-element '-webkit-scrollbar-thumb'.  Ruleset ignored due to bad selector. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Unknown property '-moz-box-shadow'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Unknown property 'overflow-wrap'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Error in parsing value for 'display'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Expected color but found 'top'.  Error in parsing value for 'background'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.964 Expected 'none' or URL but found 'progid'.  Error in parsing value for 'filter'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.965 Expected color but found 'top'.  Error in parsing value for 'background-image'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.965 Expected declaration but found '*'.  Skipped to next declaration. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.966 Expected media feature name but found '-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio'. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.966 Expected media feature name but found 'min-device-pixel-ratio'. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.966 Expected media feature name but found '-o-min-device-pixel-ratio'. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.966 Error in parsing value for 'background-image'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:53:56.995 Use of getUserData() or setUserData() is deprecated.  Use WeakMap or element.dataset instead. requestNotifier.js:64
20:53:57.015 Expected 'none' or URL but found 'alpha('.  Error in parsing value for 'filter'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:232
20:53:57.016 Unknown property '-moz-border-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:232
20:53:57.016 Error in parsing value for 'background-image'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:232
20:53:57.017 Expected color but found 'top'.  Error in parsing value for 'background-image'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:232
20:53:57.017 Expected 'none' or URL but found 'progid'.  Error in parsing value for 'filter'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:232
20:53:57.017 Unknown property '-moz-box-shadow'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:232
20:53:57.017 Unknown property 'behavior'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk
20:53:57.019 Unknown property '-moz-box-shadow'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:235
20:53:57.019 Unknown property '-moz-tap-highlight-color'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:235
20:53:57.020 Error in parsing value for 'border-bottom-color'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:235
20:53:57.415 POST http://clients1.google.com/ocsp [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 16ms]
20:53:57.231 Unknown property 'user-select'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:53:57.231 Unknown property '-moz-box-shadow'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:53:57.417 GET https://www.google.co.uk/extern_chrome/6ddd27c2fb550afd.js [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 94ms]
20:53:57.413 Unknown property '-moz-border-top-right-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:53:57.413 Unknown property '-moz-border-bottom-right-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:53:57.520 GET https://www.google.com/gen_204 [HTTP/1.1 204 No Content 94ms]
20:53:57.521 POST http://clients1.google.com/ocsp [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 16ms]
20:53:57.625 GET https://www.google.co.uk/gen_204 [HTTP/1.1 204 No Content 32ms]
20:54:04.529 GET https://www.google.co.uk/s [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 94ms]
20:54:04.680 GET https://www.google.co.uk/gen_204 [HTTP/1.1 204 No Content 31ms]
20:54:04.743 GET https://www.google.co.uk/s [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 62ms]
20:54:04.956 GET https://www.google.co.uk/s [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 63ms]
20:54:05.089 GET https://www.google.co.uk/s [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 63ms]
20:54:07.824 GET https://www.google.co.uk/search [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 328ms]
20:54:07.905 Expected 'none' or URL but found 'alpha('.  Error in parsing value for 'filter'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.905 Error in parsing value for 'margin-right'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.905 Unknown property '-moz-border-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.905 Error in parsing value for '-moz-transition'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.905 Unknown property 'user-select'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.905 Unknown property '-moz-text-overflow'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.906 Unknown property '-moz-box-shadow'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.906 Unknown property '-moz-tap-highlight-color'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.906 Expected color but found 'top'.  Error in parsing value for 'background-image'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.906 Unknown property 'box-sizing'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.907 Unknown property '-moz-border-top-right-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.907 Unknown property '-moz-border-bottom-right-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.907 Unknown property '-moz-border-bottom-left-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.907 Unknown property '-moz-border-top-left-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:10
20:54:07.908 Expected 'none' or URL but found 'alpha('.  Error in parsing value for 'filter'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:07.908 Unknown property '-moz-border-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:07.908 Unknown property '-moz-box-shadow'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:07.908 Unknown property '-moz-opacity'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:07.909 Error in parsing value for 'background-image'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:07.909 Expected 'none' or URL but found 'progid'.  Error in parsing value for 'filter'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:07.909 Unknown property 'box-sizing'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:07.910 Expected color but found 'top'.  Error in parsing value for 'background-image'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:07.910 Unknown property '-moz-border-radius-topright'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:07.915 Unknown property 'zoom'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk
20:54:07.915 Unknown property '-moz-box-shadow'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:4
20:54:07.915 Unknown property '-moz-tap-highlight-color'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:4
20:54:08.079 Error in parsing value for 'border-bottom-color'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:238
20:54:08.079 Unknown property '-moz-box-shadow'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:238
20:54:08.214 Unknown property '-moz-border-top-right-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:08.214 Unknown property '-moz-border-bottom-right-radius'.  Declaration dropped. www.google.co.uk:1
20:54:08.335 GET https://www.google.co.uk/xjs/_/js/k=xjs.s.en_US.AVoFdZrpA0w.O/m=sy138,wta,aspn,sy88,sy90,sy80,adct,sy235,vs,sy143,sy160,sy187,kptm/am=MAaLAg/rt=j/d=0/sv=1/rs=AItRSTNhO3qG2f094LemB08m5tNeD0GdWQ [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 32ms]
20:54:08.335 GET https://www.google.co.uk/gen_204 [HTTP/1.1 204 No Content 47ms]
20:54:08.320 Use of attributes' specified attribute is deprecated. It always returns true.  rs=AItRSTNhO3qG2f...

!??

Hi andrew22, I should have suggested "unclicking" the CSS button so that the style warnings don't clutter the list.

Here's what I see:

• Requesting main Google page on HTTP and getting a redirect:
  GET http://www.google.com/ [HTTP/1.1 302 Found 79ms]
• Requesting main Google.co.uk page on HTTP and getting a redirect:
  GET http://www.google.co.uk/ [HTTP/1.1 302 Found 62ms]
• Requesting main Google page on HTTPS and getting a page:
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/ [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 282ms]
• Checking that the certificate is not revoked ?:
  POST http://clients1.google.com/ocsp [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 46ms]
  POST http://gtglobal-ocsp.geotrust.com/
• Various style warnings
• Script error:
  Use of getUserData() or setUserData() is deprecated. Use WeakMap or element.dataset instead. requestNotifier.js:64
• More style warnings
• Checking that the certificate is not revoked ?:
  POST http://clients1.google.com/ocsp [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 16ms]
• Requesting a script file:
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/extern_chrome/6ddd27c2fb550afd.js [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 94ms]
• More requests...
  GET https://www.google.com/gen_204 [HTTP/1.1 204 No Content 94ms]
  POST http://clients1.google.com/ocsp [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 16ms]
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/gen_204 [HTTP/1.1 204 No Content 32ms]
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/s [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 94ms]
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/gen_204 [HTTP/1.1 204 No Content 31ms]
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/s [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 62ms]
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/s [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 63ms]
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/s [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 63ms]
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/search [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 328ms]

I think that takes us up to the search results page, judging by that last URL. This is followed by a lot of style warnings. I think you might have clicked the Clear button too soon, or this list would be much shorter.

• Mystery requests, possibly related to the gear button:
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/xjs/_/js/k=xjs.s.en_US.AVoFdZrpA0w.O/m=sy138,wta,aspn,sy88,sy90,sy80,adct,sy235,vs,sy143,sy160,sy187,kptm/am=MAaLAg/rt=j/d=0/sv=1/rs=AItRSTNhO3qG2f094LemB08m5tNeD0GdWQ [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 32ms] (Google sends a script file in response to this request)
  GET https://www.google.co.uk/gen_204 [HTTP/1.1 204 No Content 47ms]
• Some kind of warning:
  Use of attributes' specified attribute is deprecated. It always returns true. rs=AItRSTNhO3qG2f...

So, not very illuminating.

Thanks again. I cleared the log immediately before clicking the dead button, and the upshot seems to be:

GET https://www.google.co.uk/gen_204 [HTTP/1.1 204 No Content 47ms]

That URL does nothing even if you copy it into the chrome address bar. However, if you hover over the button, you can see it's supposed to direct to google.co.uk/preferences, and if you type that in you do indeed get to where the gear button should take you.

There's something on the blank URL here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/980716?page=2

but it relates to Avast!, which I don't have, and anyway disabling plugins makes no difference.

Thanks anyway!

That URL is the the page that Google return when it detects an error, so this is not a page that you should get and Firefox won't request it (a script might do this if it throws an exception). So you would have to check the HTTP response headers to see is there is something wrong with a request or location response that is Google causing to send you to this error page.

This might be the difference of going to the link as specified in the href attribute and the onclick attribute that should be evaluated.

Did you try Firefox Safe Mode and also check for possible issues with security software and malware on your computer?

You probably can open the preferences page using either:

• right-click > Open Link in New Tab
• "middle-click" using the mouse scroll wheel

However, what is supposed to happen is that a script in the page intercepts your click and drops down the multiple choice menu.

If you "manually" switch the list from hidden to visible, can you see it? You can do that using the Web Console. Press Ctrl+Shift+k on the results page, then next to the caret (») paste the following bit of script and press Enter:

document.getElementById("ab_options").style.visibility = "visible";

If it doesn't immediately display, try using Ctrl+A to select all on the page. This sometimes helps when there is a problem of white-on-white text, for example. Can you find it?

It also might be interesting to use the Inspector tool to watch whether the script is working. If you right-click the gear image and choose Inspect Element (Q), Firefox will show a tree diagram of the HTML of the page with that image highlighted (in gray, if you can call that a highlight). Just below it you will see a <div> element with style="visibility:hidden". See the attached screen shot.

That visibility style should switch when you click the button, then switch back to hidden when you click it again. Can you see that change happening?

cor-el - Afraid I'm not quite technically aware enough to check response headers. I did try safe mode and it made no difference. I don't use security software except Windows firewall. Last time I did an online scan my system was clean, and I haven't had any other problems, but I'll try again at some point.

jscher2000 - Opening link in new tab worked fine, and so did switching from hidden to visible. However, when I tried these on the local theatre webpage that initially prompted my question, the console showed:

document.getElementById("ab_options").style.visibility = "visible"; 01:55:37.313 TypeError: document.getElementById(...) is null 01:55:41.640 TypeError: document.tryAgain is undefined

Thanks for all your help, but this seems maybe intractable, and I'm sure I can work around it

Hi andrew22, the little script was extremely specific to that Google drop-down, so unfortunately it won't help anywhere else.

If you try the second test with the Inspector, does clicking the button change the style? If not, then the script is not running, or something is intercepting the mouse click, and the question would be whether we can discern any kind of pattern that leads to a cure.

Hi DeBo$$. I am not sure why you are referring to my using version 4.0, which was discontinued many years ago? i am now using version 27.0.