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Firefox continually displays post-upgrade behavior every restart
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pd
Jan 4, 2012, 1:40:15 PM1/4/12
to
For some reason Firefox now thinks it has just upgraded every time I
open it.
Whenever I start up Firefox I now get the add-on compatibility check
dialog, the Firebug post-update page in a new tab and then the post-
update Firefox page is another new tab.
Thankfully the rest o my session seems to re-open and maintain itself
between restarts but this is quite annoying.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
open it.
Whenever I start up Firefox I now get the add-on compatibility check
dialog, the Firebug post-update page in a new tab and then the post-
update Firefox page is another new tab.
Thankfully the rest o my session seems to re-open and maintain itself
between restarts but this is quite annoying.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Chris Ilias
Jan 4, 2012, 4:31:15 PM1/4/12
to
<http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Firefox%20has%20just%20updated%20tab%20shows%20each%20time%20you%20start%20Firefox>
--
Chris Ilias <http://ilias.ca>
Mailing list/Newsgroup moderator
pd
Jan 6, 2012, 9:04:17 PM1/6/12
to
Unfortunately not completely. It kinda confirmed that when I was
playing with the user.js file to try and delete old extension
preferences which bloat startup - really Mozilla should have built in
an opt-in method to do this when uninstalling add-ons - I must have
screwed something up.
Unfortunately that article, or one of the articles linking off that
one, explains how to get to the user.js file and edit it, but gives
absolutely zero information on *what* to edit. I also found that it
suggested to deleted prefs-X.js files which I did and it didn't solve
the problem completely either.
The problem has progressed though. I've now only got the post-update
"different (broken?) by design" propaganda tab opening, the post-
update Firebug tab doesn't open.
Is there a specific line in user.js that I should look for in order to
get rid of the propaganda tab?
playing with the user.js file to try and delete old extension
preferences which bloat startup - really Mozilla should have built in
an opt-in method to do this when uninstalling add-ons - I must have
screwed something up.
Unfortunately that article, or one of the articles linking off that
one, explains how to get to the user.js file and edit it, but gives
absolutely zero information on *what* to edit. I also found that it
suggested to deleted prefs-X.js files which I did and it didn't solve
the problem completely either.
The problem has progressed though. I've now only got the post-update
"different (broken?) by design" propaganda tab opening, the post-
update Firebug tab doesn't open.
Is there a specific line in user.js that I should look for in order to
get rid of the propaganda tab?
Chris Ilias
Jan 7, 2012, 1:08:00 AM1/7/12
to
On 12-01-06 9:04 PM, pd wrote:
> Unfortunately not completely. It kinda confirmed that when I was
> playing with the user.js file to try and delete old extension
> preferences which bloat startup - really Mozilla should have built in
> an opt-in method to do this when uninstalling add-ons - I must have
> screwed something up.
>
> Unfortunately that article, or one of the articles linking off that
> one, explains how to get to the user.js file and edit it, but gives
> absolutely zero information on *what* to edit. I also found that it
> suggested to deleted prefs-X.js files which I did and it didn't solve
> the problem completely either.
>
> The problem has progressed though. I've now only got the post-update
> "different (broken?) by design" propaganda tab opening, the post-
> update Firebug tab doesn't open.
>
> Is there a specific line in user.js that I should look for in order to
> get rid of the propaganda tab?
The user.js file does not remove preferences. It works the same way as
> Unfortunately not completely. It kinda confirmed that when I was
> playing with the user.js file to try and delete old extension
> preferences which bloat startup - really Mozilla should have built in
> an opt-in method to do this when uninstalling add-ons - I must have
> screwed something up.
>
> Unfortunately that article, or one of the articles linking off that
> one, explains how to get to the user.js file and edit it, but gives
> absolutely zero information on *what* to edit. I also found that it
> suggested to deleted prefs-X.js files which I did and it didn't solve
> the problem completely either.
>
> The problem has progressed though. I've now only got the post-update
> "different (broken?) by design" propaganda tab opening, the post-
> update Firebug tab doesn't open.
>
> Is there a specific line in user.js that I should look for in order to
> get rid of the propaganda tab?
the prefs.js, but it is 100% user controlled and takes precedence over
the prefs.js. When Firefox is started, all settings within the user.js
will be copied over to the prefs.js. If the same preference name exists
in the prefs.js, it will be replaced by the one in the user.js. Firefox,
on the other hand, does not have the right to manipulate user.js or
create it. If you created a user.js file to delete preferences, you
should just delete the user.js file, and remove the preferences via
prefs.js or reset the values of those preferences in about:config. (If
the preference is not used anymore, resetting the value will delete it.)
After you've done that, if the problem still occurs, we'll work from there.
pd
Feb 2, 2012, 6:37:24 AM2/2/12
to
is 100% user controlled (which to me implies a user has to manually
edit it with a text editor and nothing else can make changes to it)
then I have to wonder how my user.js came to contain 619 lines! It is
inside a 4 year old profile but even still, I never put that many
lines in there that I can remember!
Can user.js be edited by third parties such as extensions?
Confused.
Chris Ilias
Feb 2, 2012, 4:48:39 PM2/2/12
to
On 12-02-02 6:37 AM, _pd_ spoke thusly:
McAfee would put in a line to disable the pop-up blocker (They may still
do that). And some malware is known to create the user.js file. For that
reason, there is discussion about whether or not to support the user.js
file anymore.
If you're certain that you did not create the user.js file, delete it
right away, scan your computer for malware[1], and migrate only
essential data to a new profile[2].
[1]<http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Is%20my%20Firefox%20problem%20a%20result%20of%20malware>
[2]<http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Recovering%20important%20data%20from%20an%20old%20profile>
> On Jan 7, 5:08 pm, Chris Ilias<n...@ilias.ca> wrote:
>
>> The user.js file does not remove preferences. It works the same way as
>> the prefs.js, but it is 100% user controlled and takes precedence over
>> the prefs.js. When Firefox is started, all settings within the user.js
>> will be copied over to the prefs.js. If the same preference name exists
>> in the prefs.js, it will be replaced by the one in the user.js. Firefox,
>> on the other hand, does not have the right to manipulate user.js or
>> create it. If you created a user.js file to delete preferences, you
>> should just delete the user.js file, and remove the preferences via
>> prefs.js or reset the values of those preferences in about:config. (If
>> the preference is not used anymore, resetting the value will delete it.)
>>
>> After you've done that, if the problem still occurs, we'll work from there.
>
>
>> The user.js file does not remove preferences. It works the same way as
>> the prefs.js, but it is 100% user controlled and takes precedence over
>> the prefs.js. When Firefox is started, all settings within the user.js
>> will be copied over to the prefs.js. If the same preference name exists
>> in the prefs.js, it will be replaced by the one in the user.js. Firefox,
>> on the other hand, does not have the right to manipulate user.js or
>> create it. If you created a user.js file to delete preferences, you
>> should just delete the user.js file, and remove the preferences via
>> prefs.js or reset the values of those preferences in about:config. (If
>> the preference is not used anymore, resetting the value will delete it.)
>>
>> After you've done that, if the problem still occurs, we'll work from there.
>
> Thanks Chris, interesting information. One question though: if use.js
> is 100% user controlled (which to me implies a user has to manually
> edit it with a text editor and nothing else can make changes to it)
> then I have to wonder how my user.js came to contain 619 lines! It is
> inside a 4 year old profile but even still, I never put that many
> lines in there that I can remember!
>
> Can user.js be edited by third parties such as extensions?
>
> Confused.
There are some known instances of extensions creating a user.js file.
> is 100% user controlled (which to me implies a user has to manually
> edit it with a text editor and nothing else can make changes to it)
> then I have to wonder how my user.js came to contain 619 lines! It is
> inside a 4 year old profile but even still, I never put that many
> lines in there that I can remember!
>
> Can user.js be edited by third parties such as extensions?
>
> Confused.
McAfee would put in a line to disable the pop-up blocker (They may still
do that). And some malware is known to create the user.js file. For that
reason, there is discussion about whether or not to support the user.js
file anymore.
If you're certain that you did not create the user.js file, delete it
right away, scan your computer for malware[1], and migrate only
essential data to a new profile[2].
[1]<http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Is%20my%20Firefox%20problem%20a%20result%20of%20malware>
[2]<http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Recovering%20important%20data%20from%20an%20old%20profile>
EE
Feb 2, 2012, 5:40:54 PM2/2/12
to
settings, to make sure that if a new version of the browser changes
something, it will be changed right back again. Incidentally, that
happens when Firefox is shutting down, not when it is starting up.
goodwin
Feb 2, 2012, 8:08:44 PM2/2/12
to
Chris Ilias
Feb 2, 2012, 11:24:26 PM2/2/12
to
On 12-02-02 5:40 PM, _EE_ spoke thusly:
so you wouldn't need a user.js for that.
> Please! Do not take away the user.js file. I use it to preserve my
> settings, to make sure that if a new version of the browser changes
> something, it will be changed right back again. Incidentally, that
> happens when Firefox is shutting down, not when it is starting up.
Updating Firefox does not change preferences kept in your pref.js file,
> settings, to make sure that if a new version of the browser changes
> something, it will be changed right back again. Incidentally, that
> happens when Firefox is shutting down, not when it is starting up.
so you wouldn't need a user.js for that.
EE
Feb 3, 2012, 2:42:13 PM2/3/12
to
goodwin
Feb 3, 2012, 4:12:59 PM2/3/12
to
On 02/03/2012 11:42 AM, EE wrote:
> On 2012-02-02 18:08, goodwin wrote:
<snip>
> On 2012-02-02 18:08, goodwin wrote:
>> what happens on shutdown?
>
> The settings are copied from user.js to prefs.js on shutdown.
>
>
research that.
I'll get to it later - that doesn't sound intuitive...
goodwin
Feb 3, 2012, 7:09:57 PM2/3/12
to
On 02/03/2012 01:12 PM, goodwin wrote:
> On 02/03/2012 11:42 AM, EE wrote:
>> On 2012-02-02 18:08, goodwin wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>> what happens on shutdown?
>>
>> The settings are copied from user.js to prefs.js on shutdown.
>>
>>
from the moz k/b:
> On 02/03/2012 11:42 AM, EE wrote:
>> On 2012-02-02 18:08, goodwin wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>> what happens on shutdown?
>>
>> The settings are copied from user.js to prefs.js on shutdown.
>>
>>
When you launch your Mozilla application, valid preferences you've added
to the user.js file are automatically copied to the prefs.js file
(located in the same profile folder) where all user-set preferences are
stored. For this reason, you should make a backup copy of the prefs.js
file before you create or edit the user.js file.
an0n...@gmail.com
Mar 21, 2012, 9:30:45 AM3/21/12
to
Thanks for everybody's contributions thus far. Unfortunately I'm still stuck with this very stupid problem. I guess I could wait and hope like buggery that the clean migration to a new profile tool that seems to be coming in Firefox 13 fixes the problem however I'd rather get it sorted now.
I backed up my user.js and pref.js files, then did a diff comparing the two. The user.js file was 616 lines long. I deleted everything from it that was identical to a line in the pref.js file. Now I'm left with 28 entries in my user.js file. The keys are:
browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external
browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone
capability.policy.maonoscript.sites
extensions.adblockplus.currentVersion
extensions.blocklist.pingCountVersion
extensions.bootstrappedAddons
extensions.databaseSchema
extensions.enabledAddons
extensions.firebug.currentVersion
extensions.hide_caption.plus.version
extensions.installCache
extensions.lastAppVersion
extensions.lastPlatformVersion
extensions.nosquint.sites
extensions.nosquint.version
extensions.tabmix.version
extensions.tacache.cache
fireshot.curVersion
idle.lastDailyNotification
noscript.subscription.lastCheck
noscript.version
places.database.lastMaintenance
places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages
storage.vacuum.last.index
storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite
toolkit.telemetry.prompted
urlclassifier.keyupdatetime.https://sb-ssl.google.com/safebrowsing/newkey
I'm not sure that I really need any of those. Then again I'm not sure I do not really need any of those, hence I don't want to delete the user.js file if I can avoid it.
Having made those changes, I restarted Firefox and it STILL thinks I have just upgraded. I get over half a dozen 'you have just installed the latest Firefox/extension' type tabs. I also routinely get an empty tab I can't close!
Please help! I'm not at all an inexperienced computer or Firefox user, this thing is just a weird and very annoying PITA.
pd
I backed up my user.js and pref.js files, then did a diff comparing the two. The user.js file was 616 lines long. I deleted everything from it that was identical to a line in the pref.js file. Now I'm left with 28 entries in my user.js file. The keys are:
browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external
browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone
capability.policy.maonoscript.sites
extensions.adblockplus.currentVersion
extensions.blocklist.pingCountVersion
extensions.bootstrappedAddons
extensions.databaseSchema
extensions.enabledAddons
extensions.firebug.currentVersion
extensions.hide_caption.plus.version
extensions.installCache
extensions.lastAppVersion
extensions.lastPlatformVersion
extensions.nosquint.sites
extensions.nosquint.version
extensions.tabmix.version
extensions.tacache.cache
fireshot.curVersion
idle.lastDailyNotification
noscript.subscription.lastCheck
noscript.version
places.database.lastMaintenance
places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages
storage.vacuum.last.index
storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite
toolkit.telemetry.prompted
urlclassifier.keyupdatetime.https://sb-ssl.google.com/safebrowsing/newkey
I'm not sure that I really need any of those. Then again I'm not sure I do not really need any of those, hence I don't want to delete the user.js file if I can avoid it.
Having made those changes, I restarted Firefox and it STILL thinks I have just upgraded. I get over half a dozen 'you have just installed the latest Firefox/extension' type tabs. I also routinely get an empty tab I can't close!
Please help! I'm not at all an inexperienced computer or Firefox user, this thing is just a weird and very annoying PITA.
pd
an0n...@gmail.com
Mar 21, 2012, 11:24:09 AM3/21/12
to
Hey boys and girls, some good news. Finally a solution.
After cutting down the lines, as detailed in my previous
email, I started to remove some of the values remaining,
one at a time.
First I removed ...
user_pref("fireshot.curVersion", "0.93");
since that was incorrect, the Add-Ons Manager
reports version 0.97.1
Next ...
user_pref("extensions.lastAppVersion", "8.0");
This stopped the 'checking for updates to extensions' wizard
that was loading before the main UI at every restart.
user_pref("browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone", "rv:8.0");
This stopped the 'post-upgrade' Firefox tab.
Help -> Troubleshooting Information reports rv:11.0
in the User Agent table cell.
user_pref("extensions.firebug.currentVersion", "1.9.0b3");
This stopped the 'post-update' Firebug tab. Add-Ons Manager
reports version 1.10.0a5
user_pref("extensions.hide_caption.plus.version", "2.4.1");
This stopped the 'post-update' Hide Caption Titlebar Plus
tab from appearing. The Add-Ons Manager reports version 2.6.0
user_pref("extensions.tabmix.version", "0.3.8.7");
This stopped the 'post-update' Tab Mix Plus tab.
Add-Ons Manager 0.4.0
I do not really understand how these values got into my
user.js file. Now there's just 22 entries left in in.
browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external
browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID
extensions.nosquint.sites
extensions.lastPlatformVersion
extensions.nosquint.version
extensions.tacache.cache
capability.policy.maonoscript.sites
extensions.enabledAddons
extensions.installCache
extensions.nosquint.sites
extensions.tacache.cache
Of those I suspect that ...
capability.policy.maonoscript.sites
Is the list of domains for NoScript
extensions.enabledAddons
Contains invalid entries
extensions.installCache
Appears to be a JSON-formatted list of
extensions I have had installed, or
still have installed in my system.
extensions.nosquint.sites
Seems self-explanatory.
extensions.tacache.cache
Seems like it's for Textarea Cache.
Ideally I'd like to remove user.js altogether
since it seems to have caused so much trouble
and it appears to have a life of its own.
If anybody has any ideas what these entries are
and whether I need them or not, please reply.
Thanks
After cutting down the lines, as detailed in my previous
email, I started to remove some of the values remaining,
one at a time.
First I removed ...
user_pref("fireshot.curVersion", "0.93");
since that was incorrect, the Add-Ons Manager
reports version 0.97.1
Next ...
user_pref("extensions.lastAppVersion", "8.0");
This stopped the 'checking for updates to extensions' wizard
that was loading before the main UI at every restart.
user_pref("browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone", "rv:8.0");
This stopped the 'post-upgrade' Firefox tab.
Help -> Troubleshooting Information reports rv:11.0
in the User Agent table cell.
user_pref("extensions.firebug.currentVersion", "1.9.0b3");
This stopped the 'post-update' Firebug tab. Add-Ons Manager
reports version 1.10.0a5
user_pref("extensions.hide_caption.plus.version", "2.4.1");
This stopped the 'post-update' Hide Caption Titlebar Plus
tab from appearing. The Add-Ons Manager reports version 2.6.0
user_pref("extensions.tabmix.version", "0.3.8.7");
This stopped the 'post-update' Tab Mix Plus tab.
Add-Ons Manager 0.4.0
I do not really understand how these values got into my
user.js file. Now there's just 22 entries left in in.
browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external
browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID
capability.policy.maonoscript.sites
extensions.adblockplus.currentVersion
extensions.blocklist.pingCountVersion
extensions.bootstrappedAddons
extensions.databaseSchema
extensions.enabledAddons
extensions.installCache
extensions.adblockplus.currentVersion
extensions.blocklist.pingCountVersion
extensions.bootstrappedAddons
extensions.databaseSchema
extensions.enabledAddons
extensions.nosquint.sites
extensions.lastPlatformVersion
extensions.nosquint.version
extensions.tacache.cache
idle.lastDailyNotification
noscript.subscription.lastCheck
noscript.version
places.database.lastMaintenance
places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages
storage.vacuum.last.index
storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite
toolkit.telemetry.prompted
urlclassifier.keyupdatetime.https://sb-ssl.google.com/safebrowsing/newkey
In particular these entries have a substantial amounts of data:
noscript.subscription.lastCheck
noscript.version
places.database.lastMaintenance
places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages
storage.vacuum.last.index
storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite
toolkit.telemetry.prompted
urlclassifier.keyupdatetime.https://sb-ssl.google.com/safebrowsing/newkey
capability.policy.maonoscript.sites
extensions.enabledAddons
extensions.installCache
extensions.nosquint.sites
extensions.tacache.cache
Of those I suspect that ...
capability.policy.maonoscript.sites
Is the list of domains for NoScript
extensions.enabledAddons
Contains invalid entries
extensions.installCache
Appears to be a JSON-formatted list of
extensions I have had installed, or
still have installed in my system.
extensions.nosquint.sites
Seems self-explanatory.
extensions.tacache.cache
Seems like it's for Textarea Cache.
Ideally I'd like to remove user.js altogether
since it seems to have caused so much trouble
and it appears to have a life of its own.
If anybody has any ideas what these entries are
and whether I need them or not, please reply.
Thanks
pd
On Thursday, January 5, 2012 5:40:15 AM UTC+11, pd wrote:
On Thursday, January 5, 2012 5:40:15 AM UTC+11, pd wrote:
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