External links do not change focus to Firefox

[gldickens3]

Binary package hint: firefox

I just upgraded from Ubuntu 10.10 with Firefox 3.5 to Ubuntu 11.04 with Firefox 4.0.1. After the upgrade, external links do not change focus to Firefox. For example, when I click on a link in Thunderbird then the link is loaded in a new tab in Firefox, however, the focus does not change to the Firefox window. This is especially annoying if the Firefox window is covered by another window since I am then unable to see the new link in the Firefox tab until I manually change the focus by clicking on the Firefox window.

OS Version: Ubuntu 11.04
Firefox Version: 4.0.1

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: firefox 4.0.1+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
Date: Tue May 24 17:07:08 2011
ExecutablePath: /usr/lib/firefox-4.0.1/firefox-bin
FirefoxPackages:
 firefox 4.0.1+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.2
 flashplugin-installer 10.3.181.14ubuntu0.11.04.1
 adobe-flashplugin N/A
 icedtea-plugin N/A
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100429)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: firefox
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-05-19 (4 days ago)

[gldickens3 (gordon-dickens)]

Just to clarify, Firefox is designated as my Web Browser in System > Preferences > Prefered Applications. Secondly, in Firefox's about:config, the parameter "browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground" is already set to false. Also, I have run Firefox in safe mode and I have uninstalled/reinstalled Firefox to a fresh blank profile but in all cases external links do not change the focus to Firefox. However, if I set the browser to Chromium in Preferences > Preferred Applications then external links do change focus to Chromium.

I have done quite a bit of testing with new users created in empty home directories. I found that this problem does not exist for new users that I create on my computer if the user is running Unity. That is, if I create a new user on my system then the external links do properly change focus to Firefox for the new user when running Unity. The problem occurs only when I am running Ubuntu Classic (not running Unity). That is, when I create a brand new user in an empty directory then external links do not focus properly on Firefox if I am not running Unity (Ubuntu). Whereas, when I am running Unity (Ubuntu Classic) then external links do focus properly on Firefox.

[gldickens3 (gordon-dickens)]

I got tangled up in that last sentence of the last paragraph of the preceding post regarding Ubuntu/Ubuntu Classic. Here is what I meant to say:

"That is, when I create a brand new user in an empty directory then external links do not focus properly on Firefox if I am not running Unity (Ubuntu Classic). Whereas, when I am running Unity (Ubuntu) then external links do focus properly on Firefox."

[gldickens3 (gordon-dickens)]

This is a compiz issue and can be solved with the Compiz Fusion Settings Manger as follows:

Compiz Settings Manager > General Options -> Focus & Raise Behaviour, and set the Focus Prevention Level to Off.

[gldickens3 (gordon-dickens)]

Converting this bug into a question since it can be easily solved with the Compiz settings manager.