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Firefox (57.0.2) keeps crashing on startup on MacOs Sierra (10.12.6)

  • 10 replies
  • 12 have this problem
  • 59 views
  • Last reply by koehn

satish5
satish5
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I have a Macbook Pro running MacOS Sierra (10.12.6). Today, I applied apple's Security Update 2017-002. I had to restart after the update. After that I've never been able to start firefox succesfully.

Here's what I've tried so far:

1. It does not start up in safe mode.

2. If I try starting /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin --safe-mode, it works in just bringup up the firefox UI - but it's like a blank shell - just the UI without any real broswer behind it. I think it just passes on all browsing activity to /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox that does the real work and that always crashes with a segment fault: 11.

3. I completely wiped out my firefox profile (removed the entire directory), removed the firefox app, and reinstalled firefox by downloading a fresh copy (Firefox 57.0.2)

4. Same results.

5. If I just try to run /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox, it segfaults immediately.

6. I tried to startup my Mac in safe mode and then try running firefox. Something does come up but I have no idea what it is. From what I can figure out - it's just the UI shell without any browser behind it. There are no tabs or anything that lets me enter a URL. In safe more, chrome and safari seem to work fine.

7. There are no other apps among the ones that I've tried so far (including chrome and safari broswers) that show similar behavior after the security update.

I have a Macbook Pro running MacOS Sierra (10.12.6). Today, I applied apple's Security Update 2017-002. I had to restart after the update. After that I've never been able to start firefox succesfully. Here's what I've tried so far: 1. It does not start up in safe mode. 2. If I try starting /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin --safe-mode, it works in just bringup up the firefox UI - but it's like a blank shell - just the UI without any real broswer behind it. I think it just passes on all browsing activity to /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox that does the real work and that always crashes with a segment fault: 11. 3. I completely wiped out my firefox profile (removed the entire directory), removed the firefox app, and reinstalled firefox by downloading a fresh copy (Firefox 57.0.2) 4. Same results. 5. If I just try to run /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox, it segfaults immediately. 6. I tried to startup my Mac in safe mode and then try running firefox. Something does come up but I have no idea what it is. From what I can figure out - it's just the UI shell without any browser behind it. There are no tabs or anything that lets me enter a URL. In safe more, chrome and safari seem to work fine. 7. There are no other apps among the ones that I've tried so far (including chrome and safari broswers) that show similar behavior after the security update.

Modified by satish5

All Replies (10)

Shadow110
Shadow110
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Well if it was Firefox it would have created a folder on the Desktop called OldFirefoxData

This is the clue : segment fault: 11 Just a matter to figure it out. I do not do Macs so no idea how to follow this up.

I found this from last Jan for a Mac https://github.com/mozilla/mozjpeg/issues/237 It may lead to the right places.

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

cor-el
cor-el
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Try to start Firefox via a terminal window to see if that shows some error messages.

satish5
satish5 Question owner
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Pkshadow said

Well if it was Firefox it would have created a folder on the Desktop called OldFirefoxData This is the clue : segment fault: 11 Just a matter to figure it out. I do not do Macs so no idea how to follow this up. I found this from last Jan for a Mac https://github.com/mozilla/mozjpeg/issues/237 It may lead to the right places. Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.


I noticed that already. Perhaps I should have added that to my list of things that I tried. However, that issue is for building firefox from the source on macOS High Sierra. I'm not on High Sierra. And I'm not building firefox - just installing and using it.

I also upgraded my libpng anyway, as that note seemed to indicate.

Modified by satish5

satish5
satish5 Question owner
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cor-el said

Try to start Firefox via a terminal window to see if that shows some error messages.

Step #5 in my list. It segfaults immediately.

BeerBaroN23
BeerBaroN23
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Find your profile and delete your prefs.js file then start up FF.

satish5
satish5 Question owner
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Beerbaron23 said

Find your profile and delete your prefs.js file then start up FF.

I guess it'd help if you'd read what's right there in my first post.

3. I completely wiped out my firefox profile (removed the entire directory), removed the firefox app, and reinstalled firefox by downloading a fresh copy (Firefox 57.0.2)
koehn
koehn
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I'm experiencing the same problem (and tried all the same things the OP tried). When I run from the command line, I get:

$ open /Applications/Firefox.app LSOpenURLsWithRole() failed with error -10810 for the file /Applications/Firefox.app.

This started happening immediately after installing 10.12.6 Security update 2017-002.

njhartwell
njhartwell
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I'm experiencing what looks like exactly the same issue. Just installed security update 2017-002 and now firefox segfaults immediately. Looks like it's back to Chrome/Safari :(

FredMcD
FredMcD
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Start your Computer in safe mode with network support. Then start Firefox. Try Safe websites. Is the problem still there?

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode Starting Any Computer In Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia

koehn
koehn
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FredMcD said

Start your Computer in safe mode with network support. Then start Firefox. Try Safe websites. Is the problem still there?

For me the problem does go away if I boot in Safe Mode, not that that helps me very much. Hope it's useful to you!