after OS, Chrome upgrade, experiencing odd issue with NS

[ginahoy]

I recently upgraded my ancient Linux OS (Mint 18 to 22) so I could install the latest version of Chrome. Since then, I've begun to encounter browsing issues on certain sites that can only be resolved by disabling scripts globally, or by fully turning off NS. Disabling tab restrictions or temporarily trusting all scripts doesn't help.

Here are a couple of examples of the most common issues. Hopefully you can reproduce...

1. When certain pages are initially loaded, one or more buttons don't work, but always work when I reload the page.
example: the "Load more" button at bottom of feed at this site: https://myheraldreview.com/news
Note: to reproduce, select "Set all on this page to temporarily trusted" then close the tab and reload. The 'load more' button still won't work until you reload without closing. Disabling tab restrictions won't demonstrate this issue since it auto-reloads the page, which resolves the issue but only because the page is reloaded.

2. When using a site's embedded search engine, the results page is blank, but always loads properly when I reload the results page.
example: searches for AHRI reference # in upper left side search box at this site: https://ahridirectory.org
NOTE: to reproduce, simply enter a valid reference # (e.g., 216440330). The results page will be blank. Reloading results page will clear the issue. Then repeat with tab restrictions disabled, or all scripts temporarily trusted. Same result.

Similar issues occur on maybe a dozens sites I frequent, so I'm constantly having to reload certain pages.

(Edited for clarity and accuracy after further testing. I'm running NS v13.5.10.)

[barbaz]

Not understanding how this is different from expected behavior? It sounds like you're loading a page, doing something that requires active content, setting needed sites to (Temp.) TRUSTED in NoScript, then *not* reloading the page after making the changes to NoScript permissions? Changing NoScript permissions requires reloading the page to apply the new permissions.

[ginahoy]

Thanks for responding. Yup, this issue is a bit confusing and I got bogged down trying to describe how to test. I'll describe the expected behavior for the 2nd example as it's easier to explain:

When I load https://ahridirectory.org and search for a valid reference number, e.g., 216440330, the results page opens in a new tab. However, it always loads as a blank page. Reloading the results page clears the issue. I only get a blank result page when NS is enabled.

Note that no 3rd party scripts are required for this site to properly function. All except the TLD have Default permissions and I'm not making any changes before reloading the page. If any 3rd party scripts were needed, simply reloading the page wouldn't fix the issue. The reason for setting the results page to Temporarily Trust All On Page is to rule out a tertiary script. The smoking gun here is that subsequent searches with all scripts trusted always generates a blank results screen. Can you reproduce?

In case of some sort of conflict with another Chrome extension, I tested with all other extensions disabled. Same result. The only way the results page isn't initially blank is if I disable restrictions globally or turn off NS (from chrome://extensions tab).

Having to reload pages isn't such an onerous burden but it's annoying enough that I finally decided to post here.

[barbaz]

Not seeing that in a fresh (no existing user configuration) Chromium 145.0.7362.75 (installed as flatpak) with NoScript 13.5.10 installed from Chrome Web Store and all default Chromium and NoScript settings. Visited ahridirectory.org, set …ahridirectory.org to Temp. TRUSTED, searched for the reference number, and it opened in a new tab displaying the information.

You seem to be using Chrome 143 but mentioned wanting to use latest Chrome version, are you able to use 145?

[ginahoy]

Not seeing that in a fresh (no existing user configuration) Chromium 145.0.7362.75 (installed as flatpak) with NoScript 13.5.10 installed from Chrome Web Store and all default Chromium and NoScript settings.

Thanks for trying. Maybe these issues only happen in Google Chrome...?

You seem to be using Chrome 143 but mentioned wanting to use latest Chrome version, are you able to use 145?

Yes, I upgraded my ancient OS so I could run the latest version of Chrome. When I installed Mint 22 (Dec 31), I installed the then-current version of Chrome (v141). I've updated Chrome twice since then, but got behind because of an issue with my external hard drive (I generally wait until I do a full backup image before doing system and app updates). That's now resolved so I just installed Chrome 145, reset NS to default settings, and disabled all other add-ons, yet I'm still experiencing the same issues.

When I have the time, I'll create a new partition and try a fresh install of Mint 22 and Chrome to see what happens. In the meantime... resetting NS to default created another issue that has higher priority. I'll describe what happened in a separate post as I'm going to need more help

[ginahoy]

I did a fresh install of Linux Mint and Google Chrome and experienced same behavior as described above. Sigh.

While doing some additional testing, I stumbled across what I believe to be the cause... When I 'middle click' the Herald Review bookmark https://www.myheraldreview.com/news/ to open the site in a new tab (my normal process), the Load More button won't work until I refresh the page. Likewise, if I 'right click' the bookmark and select "open in new tab", or click a link that opens the page in a new tab, the Load More button won't work until I refresh the page. However, if I 'left click' the bookmark to open the site in the current existing tab, the Load More button works without a refresh. And if I disable NS, the Load More button always works the first time, regardless of how I open it.

This seems to explain similar behavior I've experienced on a number of other sites.. In the case of https://ahridirectory.org, the search results, which are coded to open in a new tab, are blank until I refresh the page. If I disable NS, the results page loads normally without having to refresh.

I'm not expecting this to be fixed as its only a minor annoyance, but if you want to try to replicate, you'll need to test with Google Chrome since it apparently doesn't happen in Chromium. BTW, Chrome isn't in the Mint repository so I had to manually install.

[[User canned by moderator]]

I've noticed similar script execution issues after OS upgrades, especially with how modern browsers handle cached scripts on Mint. While troubleshooting these kinds of 'blank page' errors on my own utility projects, I found that the issue often stems from the browser's interaction with the new kernel's memory management.

For NoScript specifically, try clearing the extension's local storage and re-importing your whitelist. It sounds like a 'race condition' where the script is trying to fire before the page environment is fully ready—a reload fixes it because the assets are already in the cache.

[ginahoy]

...For NoScript specifically, try clearing the extension's local storage and re-importing your whitelist. It sounds like a 'race condition' where the script is trying to fire before the page environment is fully ready—a reload fixes it because the assets are already in the cache.

Thanks! Race condition sounds right. Can you be more specific re: clearing local storage? Do you mean delete everything in the Google Chrome folder path with filename = NS app ID? (doojmbjmlfjjnbmnoijecmcbfeoakpjm). Other than the extension itself, of course.

[barbaz]

Can you be more specific re: clearing local storage?

No. That post was an excuse to post a spam link (now removed), and that entire paragraph is drivel. Here's what my NoScript localStorage actually contains:

Code: Select all

>> localStorage
Storage { theme: "auto", vintageTheme: "", "persistentTab-main-tabs": "1", length: 3 }

I didn't delete the post outright because it's not impossible that this part might have some merit -

While troubleshooting these kinds of 'blank page' errors on my own utility projects, I found that the issue often stems from the browser's interaction with the new kernel's memory management.

I've seen things like this before, and I was testing on Xubuntu 22.04 which does not have the same kernel that Linux Mint 22 would have