Facebook & Other pages suddenly not loading properly

[TimDeaton]

Was an update just pushed out in the last few hours? This afternoon everything was working normally. But when my wife opened Firefox and went to Facebook, it was no longer loading normally. Right now, all I see is a little bit of text from what I think is supposed to be the heading of the Facebook page, along with a variety of links. Most of the other pages in my tabs are either displaying similar problems or saying the page can't be found.

Because I wasn't in here at the time, I didn't see whether NoScript had just updated itself. But not long ago there was another incident where NoScript updated (to version 2.5.8?) and all these same problems appeared. Then a few hours later, I think NoScript updated again (version 2.5.9?) and the problems went away again. So I'm hoping that this is the same problem and that another quick NoScript update fixes it again.

[Tom T.]

The current stable release of NoScript is 2.6, so you might as well get that first.

Or perhaps someone is hitting the "reset" button accidentally?
Have you gone through the NS menu and allowed the necessary Facebook scripting, *including* the "static*-type content script described here? (search for "static").

There was a user who found that Firefox Sync was causing this issue, but it sounds like you and your wife are on the same machine, correct? Or do you use it to sync two different profiles on that one machine?

If none of the above applies, an extension conflict is possible, or even likely. Please create a clean profile from scratch. Install only NoScript, leaving all the defaults. Does the problem still exist? If not, NoScript is not the culprit.

Try adding back your extensions, one at a time, until you find the one that causes the issue.
Then remove all the others, pairing only the suspected one with NoScript, to confirm that the remaining one is the issue.
If the problem is solved even with all add-ons reinstalled, then the previous profile was probably corrupt. Problem solved.

Let us know, thanks.

[TimDeaton]

Thanks for your reply.

I checked last night before going to bed, and the problem was still there. I just checked this morning, and everything is fine again.

As to other parts of your reply: I already showed that I was on NoScript 2.6. Updates are automatic, and I don't know when that update came in. We only have this one computer and one user profile, which both my wife and I use.

I'll look at the links in your reply later. I dont' have time now.

-- Tim

[Tom T.]

... I checked last night before going to bed, and the problem was still there. I just checked this morning, and everything is fine again...
I'll look at the links in your reply later. I dont' have time now.

No need. If the problem is gone, don't worry about it.
If and when it returns, and you are sure that you have given the necessary script permissions for the broken sites, then please try the "clean profile" test, and let us know the results.

btw, do you use the RequestPolicy add-on? It's another excellent protection, but it too breaks things if necessary permissions aren't given.
If you don't use this, then disregard.
If/when you become fully comfortable with NoScript, you might look into RP. The developers of each add-on wholeheartedly endorse the other, as the two add-ons complement each other.

-- Tom

[TimDeaton]

This problem that I had & wrote about a year ago has reappeared this morning.

I'm currently on Noscript 2.6.8.8, which appears to be the current version. While looking for that info, I also discovered that my Java plugin, "Java Deployment Toolkit 7.0.450.18 10.45.2.18", is disabled due to security vulnerabilities, so I guess this is the problem. I'll look for a Java update.

Facebook, which seems to have the worst problems, is working in Internet Explorer, so I guess IE hasn't disabled Java. Did NoScript automatically disable it in Firefox? Or would Firefox have done that itself? (My Firefox version is 26.0). Whichever happened, it was working last night and then broken this morning.

Thanks for any enlightenment.

[therube]

Java Deployment Toolkit is most likely not needed at all.


You may have the most recent Java, not sure?
Java Platform, Standard Edition

[TimDeaton]

That was/is the most recent version, as it turns out. I tried reinstalling it from the website, to no avail.

I meant to include earlier that I have had several other instances of this happening since I started this thread a year ago. But in each of those other instances, a shutdown and reboot cured the problem. Not so today. I've shut down & rebooted several times today, including leaving the pc off for the last few hours. But the problem is persisting.

[barbaz]

Standard Diagnostic ?

Did NoScript automatically disable it in Firefox? Or would Firefox have done that itself?

it's firefox's internal and auto-updating extension and plugin blocklist, nothing to do with noscript

[TimDeaton]

Thank you, Barbaz.

I'm working thru the "standard diagnostics link you gave me. I've disabled all the extensions in both regular and safe modes without solving the problem. I haven't gone thru the plug-ins yet, with the exception of "Windows Activation Technologies 7.1.7600.16395", which then prevented me from loading Firefox in safe mode. I've also looked at the "Last Updated" dates for all of them, and the only one with an update date that coincides with the problem seems to be NoScript. (Yet disabling NoScript) doesn't solve the problem?)

I'll have to come back to this later - probably tomorrow. The sites that aren't working in Firefox do seem to be working in IE, so I can use that when I have to.

-- Tim

[Thrawn]

Well, if disabling NoScript does not help, then the problem isn't related to NoScript, and I'm not sure how much help we can give

Did you try a new, clean profile as suggested? Perhaps there is something strange in your Firefox configuration.

[TimDeaton]

I had not gotten to the new profile suggestion, but had run out of time.

Meanwhile, the problem still existed when I was on the computer last night - my bank's website was one of the sites affected. However, when I started Firefox this morning, everything was fine again. I have no idea what might have changed. I can find no extensions or plug-ins that admit to having been updated, Firefox itself doesn't appear to have been updated, and I can't see anything that tells me that Microsoft has pushed out any Windows updates.

All I know is - now it's working.

Thanks, guys, for your help.