Rainbow wheel appears when I open Firefox - then it hangs and all I can do is force-quit.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox on my Macbook Pro. The same thing keeps happening - I open Firefox and the rainbow wheel appears - that's it. I have tried to reset Firefox (I was able to click a "reset" button yesterday but nothing happened. I tried to reset it today but an unable to do so). All I can do is force quit the application. I think resetting it to default might work but I cannot write anything in the address bar or click on any of the tabs because the rainbow wheel is the only thing that appears. This has never happened before and I don't know what's going on.
Thank you in advance for your help.
All Replies (11)
Reset Firefox {web link} is a LAST RESORT ! !
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode;
Type about:preferences<Enter> in the address bar
Select Advanced > General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.
Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?
Then restart.
If there is still a problem; Start your Computer in safe mode. Then start Firefox. Try Safe web sites.
Starting The Computer In Safe Mode;
If running, turn your computer off. Remove any disks and thumb drives that are in your hard drives or ports. Now start your computer but also;
Windows; Press the <F8> key repeatedly. Mac: Hold down the Shift key. Linux; Using the command line, Linux/Unix computers can be booted into various run levels that determine which resources are loaded. For example, "runlevel 1" is typically the equivalent to Windows and Mac safe modes.
When the Boot menu is displayed, release the key you were pressing. You must now choose what mode you want. The most used are;
- Safe Mode; The computer runs with only a minimum set of programs.
- Safe Mode With Networking; Same as above, but with internet access.
Hello-
Thank you for taking the time to help me and send a response. Sadly, your suggestion did not work. I started my Macbook in safe mode (though there wasn't an option for safemode with networking but I was able to connect to the internet). When I opened Firefox the rainbow wheel appeared again and that was it. No address bar appeared nor anything else. I opened Safari to see if the internet was working and it was.
Any other suggestions on how I might fix this problem? Thank you again.
Morgan
Can you start Firefox in Safe Mode by holding down the Shift/Options key?
Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.
- Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
- Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
Try to disable IPv6 (check for other possible causes as well).
I am unable to get firefox to work and the same thing is still happening. I have tried to start my computer in safe mode and then open it (didn't work). I also tried opening Firefox in safe mode like you suggested - I am still getting the rainbow wheel and an unable to do anything else but force-quit.
Any other suggestions?
Thank you for all your help.
What are you using as your home page?
Experiment: Start Firefox, but immediately press the stop button X
If it responds, type about:home<enter> in the address bar.
Still unable to start Firefox in safe mode. My home page is google.com. I tried starting Firefox and immediately pressing stop button but am unable to do so as all I get is rainbow wheel. At this point I'm really just trying to figure out how to get my saved bookmarks. I found the backup bookmarks file but it's a jsonlz4 file and not an html file. Is there anyway to change the file format so I can import it into another browser?
Thank you for all your help.
I think it's time for drastic measures. This is your choice.
Remove the Firefox, including all folders in the \Programs\ directories. DO NOT remove personal files. They are stored in your user folder.
Restart the computer. Use the registry editor, and remove all Firefox and Mozilla entries. Save a backup before you begin.
Restart the computer. Download the version of your choice from this web link. Start with v32, then v31 . . . . . See if it works. Once you get a Firefox working, the first thing to do is Save All Information. My next post will tell you what to do.
Uninstall Firefox from your computer {web link}
Install an older version of Firefox {web link}
Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the tool bar. Then select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control>(Mac:<Command>)<Shift> B. Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Export Bookmarks To HTML, and follow the prompts and save it to a HTML file. Copy the file to another computer. Repeat the instructions above, BUT select Import Bookmarks From HTML,
These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.
These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox
FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.
OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences
I too have this problem. I am a Mac user and have tried deleting Firefox and reinstalling it to no avail. I looked for my profile folder in Library>Application Support and cannot find a Firefox folder. In the Mozilla folder are these files: Global.regs and Versions.regs. That's all. I have tried to uninstall and then reinstall version 34 without anyluck. I am running OSX 10.9.5. Firefox is running fine on my laptop running Yosemite. Is it safe to sync?
You can try to create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problem.
See "Creating a profile":
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.