Congratulations, you just upgraded to Video DownloadHelper 5.5.0 for Firefox

[Sami Tabla]

With Windows 10, after upgrading in Firefox, I continue to get a new tab/window with a page  that says, "Congratulations, you just upgraded to Video DownloadHelper 5.5.0 for Firefox" (http://www.downloadhelper.net/update.php?from=5.4.2&to=5.5.0) each time I start Firefox. This has been happening since the release of VDL 5.5. Looking through this Forum, I haven't seen anyone else with this issue, so any ideas of how to stop this will be appreciated... or.... is this a BUG  I have to live with until the next upgrade?

Thanks,

S.
"Even a Wizard is a Newbie at Times"

[mig]

Just close the tab, then when you'll leave Firefox, exit the proper way (the 3 bars icon at the top right, then the Off button). This will ensure Firefox settings (including the one stating the last version of VDH) are saved to your user profile.

[Sami Tabla]

Thanks for the response, but that didn't solve the issue. One other thing that is happening is that every time I start Firefox, I get a quick "checking plugin for comparability" pop up message as if it's the first time the  browser has started with VDL. I generally use Sea Monkey for web surfing and Firefox/VDL for saving content to be viewed later, but, even though I dislike Chrome as a browser I'm getting tempted to switch to it when I need to download. :)

Once again thanks for your response and also, thank you for your efforts in keeping VDL going strong.

[mig]

So it looks like every time you start Firefox, it thinks this is the first time. Maybe this is a problem with your profile being read-only. You'd probably get better help from Firefox support forums.

[me.p...@gmail.com]

There is no "Off button" within the 3 bars icon at the top right.

At the bottom right of the 3 bars icon is an icon to Exit Firefox.
I that what you meant?

[mig]

Yes this is this "Exit Firefox" i was talking about.

In about:config, if you search for the extensions.dwhelper.last-version parameter, it should have value 6.1.0 (assuming you are up to date). This is what VDH uses to determine whether the update page should be opened: if at addon start, the current version is equal to what is saved in extensions.dwhelper.last-version then no update is shown.

[Sami Tabla]

Yet mine says exactly that and I still have to click through the "Congratulations... " page. Nothing like Windows 10 to introduce oddities.

[mig]

Can you share the exact URL of the update page you get ?

[Satyr Scott]

I have this problem as well. 

Yes, I tried exiting "formally" as mentioned above, no joy...

URL of the page I get is http://www.downloadhelper.net/update.php?from=5.6.0&to=6.1.1

I also checked about:config, my extensions.dwhelper.lastversion is set to 6.1.1

Further help would be appreciated

[Satyr Scott]

ah yes, and I double-checked, my firefox profile is NOT read-only.  no problems there.

[mig]

Could you search for extensions.dwhelper.last-version in your firefox profile directory ? it is probably in a file name named prefs.js.
If you can find it, exit Firefox, then edit the file to get 6.1.1 instead of 5.6.0 for this parameter and restart Firefox. If it was already 6.1.1, the update page you are seeing is not loaded by VDH but restored as the result of a previous browsing session.

[Satyr Scott]

wow... re-read my posts, please.  

already done, and was already listed as correct.  my preferences did NOT list 5.6.0 when I checked (as already indicated).  no change needed, either going through about:config, or manually editing the prefs.js file in the profile directory.

hmmm... I misspelled in my post.  should have been 'extensions.dwhelper.last-version' not 'extensions.dwhelper.lastversion' -- bad typing, I'm sorry.

[Satyr Scott]

oh, yes, regarding previous browsing sessions... I close this window, FIRST, each and every browsing session.  I actually have THREE extensions that do this to me, not just dwhelper.  I NEVER have this window open when I close a browsing session, NOR do I have this file listed as my home page, NOR do I have the browser configured to 'remember last session' -- when I open Firefox, I expect ONLY the tab "www.google.com" to be opened, as it is properly configured for that, and nothing else.

*SIGHS*

[mig]

You said:

I also checked about:config, my extensions.dwhelper.lastversion is set to 6.1.1

which is normal since VDH writes its own version (6.1.1) to the preferences, so we can assume it stays in memory. I was asking you to check, with Firefox exited, that the preferences have really been written to the disk (hence available to be read next time Firefox starts).

You can also to the following:

• Firefox open
• go to about:config
• right click to create a new preference parameter (any name, any value, just something you can remember and does not conflict with other preferences)
• exit Firefox
• restart Firefox
• back to about:config
• is your custom preference parameter still there ?

[Satyr Scott]

ah, I see.  I didn't make it clear.  when I checked the preferences files, Firefox was not active (not running).

As to your last request, yes, the preference parameter is there:  I created a dummy pref from within firefox, exited (clean exit, if you want to call it that), rebooted, looked for the preference in the file manually (it was there), and restarted firefox, and yes the pref was there.

Re-reading all these posts about this issue, I'd have to say this started (along with two OTHER extensions that are also 'insistently" loading webpages every start up) when I upgraded to Windows 10.

[mig]

Ok, so when you look in the file, is parameter extensions.dwhelper.last-version set to 5.6.0 or 6.1.1 ?

Can you do this test: disable VDH in Firefox, restart Firefox. Does the update page appear ? If so, it means VDH is not responsible for loading this page and we should look somewhere else. I don't see how the fact you use Windows 10 would change this behaviour, but well, why not ?

[Satyr Scott]

sorry for the delays, pressures of life... *shrugs*
 
Firefox was just updated to current version, 50.0.2, within the last half hour (It's been a while since I have used this computer).

Extracted from my current profile, prefs.js, WITHOUT Firefox running at the time:
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.advanced-settings", true);
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.chunks.concurrent-downloads", 8);
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.chunks.prefetch-count", 8);
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.convertHelper.lastChecked", 1477434810);
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.converter-aggreg-tune-h264", true);
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.converter-path", "C:\\Program Files\\ConvertHelper3\\avconv.exe");
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.converter-threads", "2");
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.dlconv-last-output", "e6587753-4ca5-4d2e-b7ba-beaf1e7f191c");
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.download-count", 8);
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.download.controlled.max", 2);
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.hls.download-as-m2ts", true);
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.last-version", "6.1.1");
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.need-prefs-migration", false);
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.scrap.state", "stopped");
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.storagedirectory", "C:\\Users\\scott_000\\dwhelper");
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.toolbar-button", "maincomp");
     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.tpsr.state", "stopped");

I disabled VDH in extensions, reloaded Firefox.  No VDH tab appeared.
I re-enabled VDH in extensions, reloaded Firefox, and got a tab accessing this webpage:
     http://www.downloadhelper.net/update.php?from=5.6.0&to=6.1.1

*facepalms*

[mig]

Is there any chance you have a line in prefs.js like:

     user_pref("dwhelper.last-version", "5.6.0");

Note this is different from:

     user_pref("extensions.dwhelper.last-version", xxx);

If so, can you remove that line, save the file and restart Firefox ?

[Satyr Scott]

just did a search of prefs.js file looking for the string "dwhelper" -- other than the obvious extensions.dwhelper.* entries, the only place I found the string was in browser.uiCustomization.state, where it should be.

no user preference tag dwhelper.last-version was found.



:snarky comment follows

can I access the web on an abacus?

[mig]

I must say i'm clueless :/
Your system believes there is an VDH 5.6.0 running and since this is not a default, it must get that information from somewhere. prefs.js should be the place but apparently something else overrides this.

[Satyr Scott]

welcome to my world.

some days, I'd suspect my computers are haunted.