Bug 29036 – Webkit nightly presents blank screen after logon to Twitter

• Status: RESOLVED
• Resolution: FIXED
• Component: New Bugs

[Albo P. Fossa]

This does not occur in Safari. (In addition, it does not occur in other browsers: e.g., Firefox, Camino, Opera, Shiira, Flock). So, it does not appear to be OS-related.

I've searched the Mozilla threads and found nothing similar, though I've also experienced the bug, mentioned elsewhere, wherein Webkit locks up, upon Twitter update, after my return to the Twitter page from any other URL.

This unsatisfactory behavior has been present, not only in the current nightly build, but also, in the past several, including those BEFORE I installed Snow Leopard. It should be noted that I installed SL at the first possible opportunity: Apple shipped overnight on pre-order.

Let's see. Further information? No special settings of which I'm aware, apart from the fact that, prior to installation of SL, I had installed Inquisitor. I had done nothing special to "uninstall" it, so perhaps its presence is relevant, though it is not functional (in either Safari or Webkit) in Snow Leopard. 

Aside from that, I've tried to amend the problem via purging cache, deleting Twitter cookies, and emptying history: all to no avail.

[Mark Rowe (bdash)]

Are you sure that you have no other Safari extensions installed?  I would recommend removing all Safari extensions to make sure that they are not responsible for the problem.

[Albo P. Fossa]

I was surprised at your suggestion, since (1) the described problem wasn't occurring in Safari 4 (SL) but only in Webkit nightly... and (2) no other extensions of which I'm aware.

Nonetheless, I simply went to Preferences==> Security and unchecked "Enable plugins" and the described behavior has disappeared in Webkit... for now. 

I'd prefer not to close this report, as I'd wonder why "Enable plugins" (or the idea of an extensions in general) exists. Also, for selfish reasons, I hope someday to use Inquisitor again: I'm not a GoOgle fan (off-topic).

[Mark Rowe (bdash)]

Plug-ins and extensions are different things.  Plug-ins, as controlled by Safari's Security preference pane, are technologies like Flash or Silverlight.  Extensions are unsupported tools that extend the Safari application, such as Inquisitor.

[Albo P. Fossa]

OK then, obviously I'm ignernt. I will try to figure out how to detect any other extensions, and ensure they are removed... and report back. Thank you for your generous patience and training.

[Albo P. Fossa]

The only other extension I found in the InputManagers part of the Library was one for Google Gears... So I removed both Google Gears and Inquisitor folders from that area. I guess that's where extensions are, and what it takes, to remove them. (?) And I suppose the ignernt sort such as I shouldn't be adding them to begin with.

[Mark Rowe (bdash)]

(In reply to comment #5)
> The only other extension I found in the InputManagers part of the Library was
> one for Google Gears... So I removed both Google Gears and Inquisitor folders
> from that area. I guess that's where extensions are, and what it takes, to
> remove them. (?) And I suppose the ignernt sort such as I shouldn't be adding
> them to begin with.

Did Twitter then begin working again after you reenabled plug-ins in Safari's preferences?

[Mark Rowe (bdash)]

(In reply to comment #6)
> (In reply to comment #5)
> > The only other extension I found in the InputManagers part of the Library was
> > one for Google Gears... So I removed both Google Gears and Inquisitor folders
> > from that area. I guess that's where extensions are, and what it takes, to
> > remove them. (?) And I suppose the ignernt sort such as I shouldn't be adding
> > them to begin with.
> 
> Did Twitter then begin working again after you reenabled plug-ins in Safari's
> preferences?

Or rather: did Twitter continue to work after you deleted Google Gears and Inquisitor and then re-enabeld plug-ins in Safari's preferences?  If so, I think this bug should be closed and a bug report filed with either Google Gears or Inquisitor's developers (depending on which is at fault).

[Albo P. Fossa]

OK, then. I'll close this report. The "blank screen" behavior has been eliminated. 

All that remains is the Webkit lockup upon update after returning to the URL from other URLs or after extending the size of the screen (the number of updates visible on the "wall"). I see this has been described in a different Bugzilla thread, so I will pursue it there. 

I'm marking the "Status" as "RESOLVED" "FIXED" ...hoping that is sufficient to close this report. Thanks very much for your help.