The Quality Feedback Agent, also known as Talkback, is a program that sends information to Firefox developers when Firefox crashes. Firefox developers use this information to make future versions of Firefox crash less frequently.

The Quality Feedback Agent comes up because Firefox crashes; it doesn't cause Firefox to crash. For suggestions on how to prevent Firefox from crashing, see Firefox crashes.

Table Of Contents

• Checking for the Quality Feedback Agent
• Checking if it's installed and enabled
• Installing the Quality Feedback Agent
• Turning the Quality Feedback Agent on
• Submitting incidents
• Getting an incident ID

Checking for the Quality Feedback Agent

The Quality Feedback Agent must be installed, enabled, and turned on for it to work.

Checking if it's installed and enabled

The Quality Feedback Agent is installed along with Firefox, with the following exceptions:

• (Windows) It is not installed if you chose a Custom setup and deselected it.
• (Linux) It is not installed if you installed Firefox from your distribution's package manager or if Firefox came already installed in your distribution.

You can check to make sure it's installed and enabled in Firefox's Add-ons dialog.

1. Open the Add-ons dialog.
   • (Windows) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select Tools and then select the Add-ons menu item.
   • (Mac) On the menu bar, select Tools and then select the Add-ons menu item.
   • (Linux) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select Tools and then select the Add-ons menu item.
2. If it is not already selected, click the Extensions icon, to display the list of installed extensions.
3. Look for an entry titled Talkback. If it is there, the Quality Feedback Agent is installed.
   
   
   
   • If there is no entry, the Quality Feedback Agent is not installed. See Installing the Quality Feedback Agent.
4. Click on the entry for Talkback.
5. If you see a Disable button, the Quality Feedback Agent is enabled.
   • If you see an Enable button, the Quality Feedback Agent is disabled. Click the button. The Quality Feedback Agent will be enabled the next time you start Firefox.

Installing the Quality Feedback Agent

If you find that the Quality Feedback Agent isn't installed on Windows, you'll have to re-install Firefox. Choose the Custom setup that includes the Quality Feedback Agent. Once you have installed the Quality Feedback Agent, check to see if it's enabled as described above.

There is currently no way to install the Quality Feedback Agent on Linux if you don't already have it.

Turning the Quality Feedback Agent on

The first time the Quality Feedback Agent opens after a Firefox crash, it will ask you if you want to turn it on.

1. Click Next, to move onto the Customer Privacy step.
   
   
   
   
2. After reading the Customer Privacy information, click Next.
   
   
   
   
3. Leave Turn Agent on selected and click Finish. The Quality Feedback Agent is now on.
   
   

You can also turn on the Quality Feedback Agent at a later time:

1. Open the Quality Feedback Agent interface.
   • (Windows Vista) Click the Windows Start button, and type C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\talkback@mozilla.org\components\talkback.exe in the Start Search box near the bottom of the Start menu and press Enter.
   • (Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP) Click the Windows Start button, and select Run.... Type in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\talkback@mozilla.org\components\talkback.exe then click OK.
   • (Mac) Navigate to /Applications/Utilities. Open the Terminal application. Enter the following:

     open Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/talkback/talkback.app

   • (Linux) Run extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/talkback/talkback in the directory you installed Firefox in.
2. Click the Settings menu and choose Turn Agent On.
   
   
   

Submitting incidents

If the Quality Feedback Agent is installed, enabled, and turned on, it will open when Firefox crashes. It will let you provide additional information about what happened. Once you've provided any additional information you have, click Send.

Getting an incident ID

When you submit an incident, that incident will be assigned an ID. You can give this incident ID to someone providing you technical support and they'll be able to look up the cause of the crash.

1. Open the Quality Feedback Agent interface.
   • (Windows Vista) Click the Windows Start button, and type C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\talkback@mozilla.org\components\talkback.exe in the Start Search box near the bottom of the Start menu and press Enter.
   • (Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP) Click the Windows Start button, and select Run.... Type in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\talkback@mozilla.org\components\talkback.exe then click OK.
   • (Mac) Navigate to /Applications/Utilities. Open the Terminal application. Enter the following:

     open /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/components/talkback/talkback.app

2. Your incidents will be listed in the Quality Feedback Agent interface.
   
   
   
3. To copy an incident ID to the clipboard, click on an incident, then click the Edit menu and choose Copy Currently Selected Incident ID(s). You can now paste your incident ID wherever you choose.