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Firefox freezes when opening external links

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by FredMcD

TypoMustakes
TypoMustakes
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Firefox, upon opening with a link passed as a parameter (clicking a link in some other application which opens up the default browser to that URL), freezes completely and prevents me from manually opening a new instance, saying that another Firefox instance is already running. Opening a system monitor shows a running Firefox process, pointing to the previously clicked URL, but does not respond at all. CPU and RAM usage are both 0 for this process, so it's likely not even doing anything. Not even a SIGTERM will terminate the process, I have to throw at least two SIGKILLs at the process for it to die. Why is this a thing? I've been using this browser on this exact same system for almost a year now, this was never a problem before.

OS: Arch Linux Kernel: Linux, 5.9.14-arch1-1 Firefox Version: 84.0.1

Firefox, upon opening with a link passed as a parameter (clicking a link in some other application which opens up the default browser to that URL), freezes completely and prevents me from manually opening a new instance, saying that another Firefox instance is already running. Opening a system monitor shows a running Firefox process, pointing to the previously clicked URL, but does not respond at all. CPU and RAM usage are both 0 for this process, so it's likely not even doing anything. Not even a SIGTERM will terminate the process, I have to throw at least two SIGKILLs at the process for it to die. Why is this a thing? I've been using this browser on this exact same system for almost a year now, this was never a problem before. OS: Arch Linux Kernel: Linux, 5.9.14-arch1-1 Firefox Version: 84.0.1
Attached screenshots

All Replies (1)

FredMcD
FredMcD
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Is this with all websites/pages, some, a few?

Try this: Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link}

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh).

Now, drop that window to the taskbar. After, try to open a link from another application. Is the problem still there?