Firefox says one of it's files is in use after new installation

[Luzemário]

Steps to reproduce:

- Make a full backup of Firefox user data;
- rm -rf /home/<user_directory>/.mozilla;
- apt purge firefox;
- apt install firefox;

On first run, Firefox Says "The bookmarks and history system will not be functional because one of Firefox's files is in use by another application. Some security software can cause this problem"

Trying to enter sync is not possible because Firefox says coookies are disabled, despite it being enabled.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: firefox 98.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.13.0-37.42~20.04.1-generic 5.13.19
Uname: Linux 5.13.0-37-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
AddonCompatCheckDisabled: False
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.21
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: luzemario 1437 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: luzemario 1437 F.... pulseaudio
BuildID: 20220322144853
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
Channel: Unavailable
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Tue Mar 29 12:48:28 2022
DefaultProfileExtensions: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
DefaultProfileIncompatibleExtensions: Unavailable (corrupt or non-existant compatibility.ini or extensions.sqlite)
DefaultProfileLocales: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
DefaultProfilePrefErrors: Unexpected character ',' before close parenthesis @ /usr/lib/firefox/omni.ja:greprefs.js:364
DefaultProfileThemes: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
ExecutablePath: /usr/lib/firefox/firefox
ForcedLayersAccel: False
InstallationDate: Installed on 2021-01-23 (429 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 20.04.1 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20200731)
IpRoute:
 default via 192.168.1.1 dev enp4s0 proto static metric 100
 169.254.0.0/16 dev virbr0 scope link metric 1000
 192.168.1.0/24 dev enp4s0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.1.20 metric 100
 192.168.122.0/24 dev virbr0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.122.1
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=pt_BR:en_US
 PATH=(custom, user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=pt_BR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
Profile0Extensions: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
Profile0IncompatibleExtensions: Unavailable (corrupt or non-existant compatibility.ini or extensions.sqlite)
Profile0Locales: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
Profile0PrefErrors: Unexpected character ',' before close parenthesis @ /usr/lib/firefox/omni.ja:greprefs.js:364
Profile0PrefSources: prefs.js
Profile0Themes: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
Profiles:
 Profile1 (Default) - LastVersion=None/None (Out of date)
 Profile0 - LastVersion=98.0.2/20220322144853 (In use)
RunningIncompatibleAddons: False
SourcePackage: firefox
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 11/18/2016
dmi.bios.release: 8.15
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 0502
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: M5A78L-M PLUS/USB3
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev X.0x
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset-1234567890
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0502:bd11/18/2016:br8.15:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnM5A78L-MPLUS/USB3:rvrRevX.0x:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion:skuToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.family: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.sku: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer

[Luzemário (luzemario)]

After extensive trial-and-error effort, I discovered this issue is not related with browsers, but can be related to systemd. Google Chrome also does not save bookmarks and history, behaving erratically because this. Trying to start watsapp web brings an error message saying that the was an error with browser database.

I wiped Ubuntu install, trying Linux Mint and Debian, and the same issue happens after I activate my /home partition in /etc/fstab. I use an additional f2fs formatted disk as home, with file system defaults. When default /home is mounted again, the problem is gone.

How do I do to suspect systemd? simple, I removed Debian and installed Devuan distro, which is Debian without systemd. The problem was solved.

Maybe some user config at my /home disk can be causing this behavior, but it is time-consuming for me to check what is causing this to systemd, so I will give up using Ubuntu, unfortunately.

Please close this bug if you want, but I think it is a systemd bug, and needs to be investigated.

Since now, I don't trust systemd anymore.

[Luzemário (luzemario)]

My setup:

- OS on a 256GB SSD disk, ext4, defaults
- /home on a 8TB Seagate Archive HDD, f2fs, defaults, mounted to /home. The disk has *no partition table*. It is entirely fsf2-formatted. (as a super-floppy).

[Luzemário (luzemario)]

Whenever the 8TB disk is mounted, browsers do not use history and bookmarks. When dismounted (the original /home is back again), the browsers works correctly.

Staring from a new install. Preserved only user data in the /home mount point (my 8TB disk).

fstab entry used:
UUID=<disk UUID> /home f2fs defaults 0 0

the disk was fsck.f2fs-checked, and is behaving normally. No Smart errors or Uncorrectable Sectors. more than 1.7 TB free.

P.S. I used Ubuntu this way since 20.04 was released. Only after few days the issue started to happen. Maybe due to new systemd update.