[Bug]: Attempting to launch Microsoft Edge browser will crash the program for the first time, but subsequent executions of the program work as expected

[xxvwmtws]

Version

1.51.0

Steps to reproduce

Example steps:

1. Create a fresh C# ASP.NET console program
2. Paste the following code into the main function:

var playwright = await Playwright.CreateAsync();

var browser = await playwright.Chromium.LaunchAsync(new BrowserTypeLaunchOptions
{
    Channel = "msedge",
    ExecutablePath = @"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe",
    Headless = false,
    ChromiumSandbox = true,
    Timeout = 60000
});

var context = await browser.NewContextAsync(new BrowserNewContextOptions
{
    ViewportSize = new ViewportSize { Width = 1920, Height = 1080 },
    JavaScriptEnabled = true
});

var page = await context.NewPageAsync();
page.SetDefaultTimeout(60000);
page.SetDefaultNavigationTimeout(60000);

await page.GotoAsync("https://github.com/", new PageGotoOptions
{
    Timeout = 60000,
    WaitUntil = WaitUntilState.DOMContentLoaded
});

3. Compile the program (with either Debug or Release config)
4. Copy the compiled program, along with all the applicable dll files, to another directory on the local disk
5. Double-click the exe file to run the program. During the first round of running, the program will crash. Close the program and double-click it to run again, no more issues will be observed starting from now

Expected behavior

No crash and the code can run without throwing any exception

Actual behavior

The program crashes with the following exception thrown:

Unhandled Exception: Microsoft.Playwright.TargetClosedException: Target page, context or browser has been closed
Browser logs:

<launching> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe --disable-field-trial-config --disable-background-networking --disable-background-timer-throttling --disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows --disable-back-forward-cache --disable-breakpad --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --disable-component-extensions-with-background-pages --disable-component-update --no-default-browser-check --disable-default-apps --disable-dev-shm-usage --disable-extensions --disable-features=AcceptCHFrame,AutoExpandDetailsElement,AvoidUnnecessaryBeforeUnloadCheckSync,CertificateTransparencyComponentUpdater,DeferRendererTasksAfterInput,DestroyProfileOnBrowserClose,DialMediaRouteProvider,ExtensionManifestV2Disabled,GlobalMediaControls,HttpsUpgrades,ImprovedCookieControls,LazyFrameLoading,LensOverlay,MediaRouter,PaintHolding,ThirdPartyStoragePartitioning,Translate --allow-pre-commit-input --disable-hang-monitor --disable-ipc-flooding-protection --disable-popup-blocking --disable-prompt-on-repost --disable-renderer-backgrounding --force-color-profile=srgb --metrics-recording-only --no-first-run --enable-automation --password-store=basic --use-mock-keychain --no-service-autorun --export-tagged-pdf --disable-search-engine-choice-screen --unsafely-disable-devtools-self-xss-warnings --user-data-dir=C:\Windows\Temp\playwright_chromiumdev_profile-aBc123 --remote-debugging-pipe --no-startup-window
<launched> pid=9876
Call log:
  -   - <launching> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe --disable-field-trial-config --disable-background-networking --disable-background-timer-throttling --disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows --disable-back-forward-cache --disable-breakpad --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --disable-component-extensions-with-background-pages --disable-component-update --no-default-browser-check --disable-default-apps --disable-dev-shm-usage --disable-extensions --disable-features=AcceptCHFrame,AutoExpandDetailsElement,AvoidUnnecessaryBeforeUnloadCheckSync,CertificateTransparencyComponentUpdater,DeferRendererTasksAfterInput,DestroyProfileOnBrowserClose,DialMediaRouteProvider,ExtensionManifestV2Disabled,GlobalMediaControls,HttpsUpgrades,ImprovedCookieControls,LazyFrameLoading,LensOverlay,MediaRouter,PaintHolding,ThirdPartyStoragePartitioning,Translate --allow-pre-commit-input --disable-hang-monitor --disable-ipc-flooding-protection --disable-popup-blocking --disable-prompt-on-repost --disable-renderer-backgrounding --force-color-profile=srgb --metrics-recording-only --no-first-run --enable-automation --password-store=basic --use-mock-keychain --no-service-autorun --export-tagged-pdf --disable-search-engine-choice-screen --unsafely-disable-devtools-self-xss-warnings --user-data-dir=C:\Windows\Temp\playwright_chromiumdev_profile-aBc123 --remote-debugging-pipe --no-startup-window
  -   - <launched> pid=9876
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ValidateEnd(Task task)
   at Microsoft.Playwright.Transport.Connection.<InnerSendMessageToServerAsync>d__40`1.MoveNext() at /_/src/Playwright/Transport/Connection.cs: Line 206
--- Stack trace of previously thrown exception ---
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ValidateEnd(Task task)
   at Microsoft.Playwright.Transport.Connection.<WrapApiCallAsync>d__52`1.MoveNext() at /_/src/Playwright/Transport/Connection.cs: Line 535
--- Stack trace of previously thrown exception ---
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Microsoft.Playwright.Core.BrowserType.<LaunchAsync>d__10.MoveNext() at /_/src/Playwright/Core/BrowserType.cs: Line 56
--- Stack trace of previously thrown exception ---
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter`1.GetResult()
   at MyTestCode.Program.<Main>d__7.MoveNext() at C:\MyProjects\MyTestCode\MyTestCode\Program.cs: 行 37
--- Stack trace of previously thrown exception ---
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.GetResult()
   at MyTestCode.Program.<Main>(String[] args)

The above call log reveals that the exception comes from the var browser = await playwright.Chromium.LaunchAsync() line in the code.

Subsequent executions of exactly the same compiled program work without issues though.

Additional context

I have tested the aforesaid await playwright.Chromium.LaunchAsync() function with both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome browsers. And no exceptions were ever observed for the Chrome browser; whereas for Edge, this bug can be constantly reproduced (need to re-build the program each time as this issue happens only during the first time of running)

Environment

- Operating System: [Windows 10 PC]
- CPU: [Intel x64]
- Browser: [Microsoft Edge (latest stable channel)]
- .NET Version (TFM): [net4.8]
- Other info:

[ChrstnAnsl]

Hi @xxvwmtws I cannot reproduce this error. Even though I mimic the environments. Can you try removing the ExecutablePath?

[xxvwmtws]

Hi @ChrstnAnsl , thanks a lot for your reply and the efforts to reproduce this issue. I have upgraded the Playwright .NET package to the latest release (1.52.0) and removed the ExecutablePath from my code per your suggestion. And it has been observed from log that the same browser executable (C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe) would be invoked after the removal and the same exception would still be thrown.

Please kindly note a strange fact that the specified error seems to be reproducible typically when the program is copied to a new directory. Thus, would you wish to follow the aforesaid steps 3-5 to build the solution first and then run the program elsewhere, to see if there is a chance for you to catch the same issue? Your attention to this matter and generous help are highly appreciated.

Here are the compiling steps for your easy reference:

3. Compile the program (with either Debug or Release config)
4. Copy the compiled program, along with all the applicable dll files, to another directory on the local disk
5. Double-click the exe file to run the program. During the first round of running, the program will crash. Close the program and double-click it to run again, no more issues will be observed starting from now

[mxschmitt]

You could try logging the environment variables in Debug/Release mode and compare. This would be my first guess.

Is the way you run your executables different between these two configurations?

[xxvwmtws]

Hi @mxschmitt , thank you very much for your comment above and I have further tested different ways to run the compiled executables as inspired by it. It turns out that using Debug or Release config to compile the solution (instead of just clicking the little green triangle in Visual Studio to start debugging directly) would both reproduce the same issue - the program always just crashes during the first round of running if it is copied to another directory following the steps described in the "Steps to reproduce" section above, and then no more issue can be observed during subsequent runs. I have also updated my above posts to reflect such latest observations. Thanks a lot for helping to reveal this.

In terms of environment variables, I have checked that my code (as well as the sample code provided above) does not explicitly utilize any specific environment variable.

Since the crash seems to have certain kind of relationship to directory path (it only appears the first time the program is copied to a new directory), I am wondering if this would worth additional investigation. If so, would you kindly suggest what feature of this library might be relevant or how may I further debug this issue? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[moon-no-sleep]

I have the same problem in python.

My code as below (filename msedge1.py):

from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright
import ctypes

try:
    p = sync_playwright().start()
    ctypes.windll.kernel32.SetDllDirectoryW(None)
    browser = p.chromium.launch(channel="msedge", headless=False)
    context = browser.new_context()

    page = context.new_page()
    page.goto("http://www.baidu.com")
    input("input 0")
    page.wait_for_timeout(3600000)

except Exception as e:
    print("error is : ")
    print(e)

input("input 1")

1.do the command in cmd:

pyinstaller msedge1.py

2.get "msedge1.exe" and "_internal"
2.1 run msedge1.exe at first time, catch the error.
2.2 run at secondtime, all is right.
2.3 copy all files to a new directory, run at first time, catch the error.

Environment

python 3.13.5
playwright 1.52.0
pyinstaller 6.12.0
msedge 137.0.3296.68
win11 x64

[mxschmitt]

Could you try adding Args = ['--edge-skip-compat-layer-relaunch'] to Launch? - we had similar reports where this fixed it.