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Text is not showing up when printing from Firefox ESR

  • 4 replies
  • 42 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by tasdave

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We're using the ESR version 52, and text is not printing. Images in the document print, but not any text. This happens when printing a web page or a pdf preview in the browser. All other browsers are printing fine, and if we have pdf open in the pdf app it prints fine. The Firefox print troubleshooting steps did not work. I thought refreshing Firefox worked, but when you close Firefox and open it again the problem returns. I also disabled all plugins, but still no text when printing.

We're using the ESR version 52, and text is not printing. Images in the document print, but not any text. This happens when printing a web page or a pdf preview in the browser. All other browsers are printing fine, and if we have pdf open in the pdf app it prints fine. The Firefox print troubleshooting steps did not work. I thought refreshing Firefox worked, but when you close Firefox and open it again the problem returns. I also disabled all plugins, but still no text when printing.

Chosen solution

Hmm, it works only after Refresh and only until you exit Firefox. Could be:

Multiprocess. Recent versions of Firefox are migrating more users to a "multiprocess" architecture where the user interface and the web content are in separate processes to improve stability. Firefox assess whether your current configuration is compatible during the first run -- first run after installation or first run after a Refresh -- and if it is, enables it going forward for future runs. Could you investigate:

Are you using Multiprocess (e10s)?

Multiprocess creates a second firefox.exe or plugin-container.exe process to isolate the web content from the browser UI. You can check whether you have this feature turned on as follows. Either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the first table on the page, check the row for "Multiprocess Windows" and see whether the number on the left side of the fraction is greater than zero. If so, you are using e10s.

If you are using e10s:

To help evaluate whether that feature is causing problems, you could turn it off as follows:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste autos and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 preference to switch the value from true to false

Note: the exact name of the preference may vary, but it will start with browser.tabs.remote.autostart

At your next Firefox startup, it should run in the traditional way. Any difference?

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All Replies (4)

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Chosen Solution

Hmm, it works only after Refresh and only until you exit Firefox. Could be:

Multiprocess. Recent versions of Firefox are migrating more users to a "multiprocess" architecture where the user interface and the web content are in separate processes to improve stability. Firefox assess whether your current configuration is compatible during the first run -- first run after installation or first run after a Refresh -- and if it is, enables it going forward for future runs. Could you investigate:

Are you using Multiprocess (e10s)?

Multiprocess creates a second firefox.exe or plugin-container.exe process to isolate the web content from the browser UI. You can check whether you have this feature turned on as follows. Either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the first table on the page, check the row for "Multiprocess Windows" and see whether the number on the left side of the fraction is greater than zero. If so, you are using e10s.

If you are using e10s:

To help evaluate whether that feature is causing problems, you could turn it off as follows:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste autos and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 preference to switch the value from true to false

Note: the exact name of the preference may vary, but it will start with browser.tabs.remote.autostart

At your next Firefox startup, it should run in the traditional way. Any difference?

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Only had time for one quick test, but that seems to have done it. I will test some more tomorrow to make sure. Thank you!

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This worked perfectly for me too!

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This fixed my missing text issue as well.