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Downloads not working as expected after updating to FireFox 32.0 - Mac - standard user (not admin).

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Many of our MacBook users (some on OS 10.6.8 and some on OS 10.9.4) updated to Firefox 32.0 today. They are all standard users, not admin users, of their computers. They are no longer able to download files in the usual way. The animation appears on the screen as if it is going to download, but the download manager shows "failed" and in the downloads folder there are two files. One is a ".part" file with a temporary-looking name that is the right size for the file and the other is the downloaded file (correct file name) and it is Zero KB in size.

If we change the extension on the .part file to be .doc, for example, then the file will open. This is confusing for many of our users and is not a good long-term solution.

If the admin user logs in on the same computer, downloads behave as expected. One file is downloaded and it is the correct size with the right name.

Is there a solution for this? Our temporary workaround is to install version 31 because it works as expected.

Thank you!

Many of our MacBook users (some on OS 10.6.8 and some on OS 10.9.4) updated to Firefox 32.0 today. They are all standard users, not admin users, of their computers. They are no longer able to download files in the usual way. The animation appears on the screen as if it is going to download, but the download manager shows "failed" and in the downloads folder there are two files. One is a ".part" file with a temporary-looking name that is the right size for the file and the other is the downloaded file (correct file name) and it is Zero KB in size. If we change the extension on the .part file to be .doc, for example, then the file will open. This is confusing for many of our users and is not a good long-term solution. If the admin user logs in on the same computer, downloads behave as expected. One file is downloaded and it is the correct size with the right name. Is there a solution for this? Our temporary workaround is to install version 31 because it works as expected. Thank you!

Ŋuɖoɖo si wotia

Looks like this will be fixed in version 33 when it comes out tomorrow :-) See https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1073134

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All Replies (8)

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If the scanwhendone feature is turned on for downloads, then the detected antivirus program will be used to scan the file. It could also be possible if it is happening on the same network that the proxy is making a change in the file.

Please try these troubleshooting steps:What to do if you can't download or save files

And report back what were the results! Thank you.

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Thanks for the reply. I do not have antivirus on the computers having the problem, and I did not see a scanwhendone feature.

The problem seems to be with Parental Controls. All of the affected users have OSX Parental Controls turned on. We started doing this years ago so that Standard Users could manage their own printers, and it has worked very well until now.

I turned off Parental Controls on my sample account on the affected computer, and was able to download without failing. I was also able to continue to manage printers as the standard user, so I am hoping that printer management no longer has to be allowed via parental controls. I will do further testing on our other affected computers.

I hope this helps someone else!

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This is directly connect to Parental Controls. In the firefox developer console i found the following error message:

Full Message: Component returned failure code: 0x80040111 (NS_ERROR_NOT_AVAILABLE) [nsIParentalControlsService.blockFileDownloadsEnabled]

However, in OSX there is no specific parental control for allowing the download of files!! it seems to prevent the download of files simply because you are using a parental control enabled user account.

Safari works fine in the same account.

An interesting thing is that firefox still actually downloads the file, but it has random character names and has a .part extension. see dir listing below. i can still rename the file to .dmg and it works fine.

user-mbp:Downloads user$ ls -al total 82544 drwx------+ 10 user staff 340 Sep 22 08:28 . drwxr-xr-x+ 20 user staff 680 Aug 25 16:43 .. -rw-r--r--@ 1 user staff 6148 Sep 22 08:01 .DS_Store -rw------- 1 user staff 0 Feb 5 2013 .localized drwx------ 3 user staff 102 Feb 5 2013 About Downloads.lpdf -rw-r--r--@ 1 user staff 0 Sep 22 08:28 Shockwave_Installer_Full_64bit.dmg -rw-r--r--@ 1 user staff 13695887 Sep 22 08:28 Shockwave_Installer_Full_64bit.dmg.part -rw-r--r--@ 1 user staff 13695887 Sep 22 08:26 lNNwqm8c.dmg.part user-mbp:Downloads user$

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I filed https://bugzil.la/1078283 for this.

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Ɖɔɖɔɖo si wotia

Looks like this will be fixed in version 33 when it comes out tomorrow :-) See https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1073134

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It works! Thank you!!!

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I have version 33.0.1 and i still have this problem, any other help ? Thanks!

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HI Punk-Mask, Please start a new thread with your troubleshooting information to allow further investigation.

If the above information does not resolve your issue, please consider creating a new thread containing the specific details of your issue.

Doing so will allow the Mozilla volunteers to give you solutions that are more helpful to you. This may help them to solve your problem faster and more efficiently.

Please, feel free to post the link to your thread on this thread for volunteers interested in assisting you.

Thank you.