Moved issue monorail:1130 to now be  issue chromium:595720 .

I am having this exact same issue.

In fact, there are a few "first-run" preferences that are no longer adhering for me in master_preferences; but the file is otherwise being read by Chrome because other preferences are working correctly.

I don't know the exact version in which this started, but I can confirm that I did not have the issue in this version at least:

47.0.2526.111

I too am having this issue but using Group Policies (see attached). I was able to suppress the welcome page using the master preference settings (see attached) but our homepage is dynamic depending on what group a user is a member of so setting the page in the master preference file is not a viable option for us.

Deleted: Show_Welcom_Page.PNG 75.9 KB

	Show_Welcom_Page.PNG 75.9 KB View Download

Deleted: master_preferences.txt 944 bytes

master_preferences.txt 944 bytes View Download

Yeah, it seems my "homepage" GPO isn't working, either.  The only thing that has changed is the version of Chrome.  Literally nothing else has changed.

I am seeing this issue as well in a school lab/library where a lot of different students will login and the master_pref's sets the homepage and now the home page and welcome settings are not working causing navigation issues for younger students.

I'm seeing this issue as well on a Mac build we've been preparing for labs.  Chrome 49 breaks it, but 48 and below still work as normal.

Yeah, we verified yesterday that even if you use no other master_preferences settings that the homepage and welcome-page settings do not work correctly. 

This needs to be fixed ASAP because it is extremely confusing for institutional users.

The master_preference for importing bookmarks from a file on first run is also not working.

What the hell, Google? Did version 49 get no testing at all?

Same:

Win7 x64
Chrome 49 x64

Any updates on what is happening, or if a fix will come for this version?

I'd like to know where we are with this, as well.

I am having the same issue with the Master Pref file not working with version 49+. Before v49, once Chrome is opened it would go to a specified homepage. Now with v49 it opens the Welcome tab and new tab.

confirm that this issue still exist in Version 49.0.2623.112 m

I am using version 49.0.2623.112 m and it is still not working. I've deleted the AppData from the user profile and it is still only opening a new tab and the Welcome tab. Win 7 ENT x64 with Chrome x86.

Just tested the new version 50.0.2662.75 and it seems as though these issues still exist. Anyone else able to confirm?

Just tested and confirmed that version 50.0.2662.75 still has the same issue.

I checked v 50.0.2661.75 yesterday and had the same issues even with a fresh OS install.

Here is the fixed (confirmed by me on Windows 7 x64):

  "first_run_tabs": [
    "http://www.example.com"
  ]

Set the URL to whatever your homepage is.  This will do the same thing as using show_run_tabs.

Still, the Chromium developers should be roiled for this.  This is a recent change that they told nobody about.  Getting really tired of tracking down Chromium changes by chance.  This was okay when Chrome was used by nobody, but as an established browser used by enterprise, these sort of changes should be communicated to IT professionals.

Hi, I am presuming this is the fix to your homepage issue! Sadly it doesn't seem like a fix has been introduced for my issue at the top. When I add this to the bottom of my manifest file, it breaks my first page which used to load as "google.com" and it now loads with the "chrome-signin" page.

I commented earlier that my master prefs file is no longer working, after seeing loosus's comment I began to play with my pref file (which was several years old now). I have been able to get it working as expected again.  I noticed some syntax discrepancies when looking at the setup instructions and I added a space before every colon (:) for all my settings.  I added the "session" section and used "startup_urls" and I added "first_run_tabs" as loosus suggested.  This worked in 49.0.2623.112 and in 50.0.2661.87.  Hope that helps, here is my pref file:
{
    "homepage" : "http://www.myhomepage.org",
    "homepage_is_newtabpage" : false,
    "browser" : {
        "show_home_button" : true,
        "check_default_browser" : false
    },
    "session" : {
        "restore_on_startup" : 4,
        "startup_urls" : [
            "http://www.myhomepage.org"
        ]
    },
    "bookmark_bar" : {
        "show_on_all_tabs" : true
    },
    "distribution" : {
        "skip_first_run_ui" : true,
        "show_welcome_page" : false,
        "import_search_engine" : false,
        "import_history" : false,
	"import_bookmarks" : false,
        "suppress_first_run_bubble" : true,
        "create_all_shortcuts" : false,
        "do_not_launch_chrome" : true,
	"do_not_create_desktop_shortcut" : true,
    	"do_not_create_quick_launch_shortcut" : true,
        "make_chrome_default" : false
    },
    "first_run_tabs" : [
        "http://www.myhomepage.org"
    ],
    "sync_promo" : {
        "user_skipped" : true
    }
}

I can confirm the adjustments worked for me as well.  Here is my corrected master prefs file

{
   "apps" : {
      "shortcuts_version" : 1
   },
   "autofill" : {
      "enabled" : false,
      "use_mac_address_book" : false
   },
   "bookmark_bar" : { 
      "show_on_all_tabs" : true 
   },
   "browser" : {
      "check_default_browser" : false,
      "show_home_button" : true 
   },
   "distribution" : {
      "chrome" : true,
      "do_not_launch_chrome" : true,
      "import_bookmarks" : false,
      "import_history" : false,
      "import_home_page" : false,
      "import_search_engine" : false,
      "make_chrome_default" : false,
      "make_chrome_default_for_user" : false,
	  "msi" : true,
      "require_eula" : false,
      "show_welcome_page" : false,
      "suppress_first_run_bubble" : true,
      "suppress_first_run_default_browser_prompt" : true,
	  "system_level" : true,
	  "verbose_logging" : true
   },
   "enable_do_not_track" : true,
   "first_run_tabs" : [
    "http://www.myhomepage.org"
   ],
   "homepage" : "http://www.myhomepage.org",
   "homepage_is_newtabpage" : false, 
   "profile" : {
      "content_settings" : {
			"exceptions" : {
				"plugins" : {
					"[*.]www.myhomepage.org,*" : {
						"setting": 1
					}
				},
				"popups" : {
					"[*.]myhomepage.org,*" : {
						"setting" : 1
					},
					"[*.]othersiteallowed.org,*" : {
						"setting" : 1
					}					
				}
			},
         "pref_version" : 1
      },
      "password_manager_enabled" : false,
      "per_host_zoom_levels" : {

      }
   }, 
	"session" : {
        "restore_on_startup" : 4,
		"startup_urls" : [
			"http://www.myhomepage.org"
		]
  },
   "sync" : {
      "remaining_rollback_tries": 0
   },
   "sync_promo" : {
      "show_on_first_run_allowed" : false,
      "user_skipped" : true
   }
}

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