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Firefox 67.0
#51750 05/21/19 08:02 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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I'm running Firefox 66.0.5.
Firefox 67.0 was just released today.
After installing same, rather than having all the bits and pieces (eg, bookmarks) automatically repopulated in the new version (as was always the case in the past), the Mozilla folk have chosen to create a new "profile" scheme which prevents such from happening.
In order to "sync" the old with the new, one has to create an account, which appears to be impossible to do (at least for me): Enter an email address and hit the "Continue" button — which proceeds to do nothing.
So much for updating Firefox. 'Twould appear that I'm stuck using version 66.0.5.
Anybody got any thoughts on the matter?

Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51751 05/21/19 09:08 PM
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Firefox (Mozilla) like Safari is serving a multi-platform audience where users are switching continually from their computer, to their smart phone, or to their tablet and back several times every day. So they are taking a cue from Apple's playbook to make that transition as invisible as possible. So just as Apple uses iCloud to link all the data, Mozilla is using their own cloud server (account) to provide the interconnectivity between devices and locations.

If you are not a multi-platform users I can understand your not liking the change, but assuming that is the case, you are part of an ever smaller minority of users. In fact there are a millions more users that do NOT have a computer than those that do. It occurs to me there is also the potential for Mozilla to mine data from that database for sale, so future users might continue to use Firefox at no cost. I am not saying they are data mining, but the option is there — if or when it is ever needed.

"The times they are a changing"


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Firefox 67.0
joemikeb #51753 05/21/19 10:22 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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So I guess I'd better grab Firefox 60esr as my final Firefox browser (since I can't get any version of 67 to work, as noted earlier — unless somebody can tell me how to do it).

Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51754 05/22/19 06:30 AM
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I'm unable to replicate your experience.

I see this and this , but unless I haven't done enough digging, they deal only with syncing between devices, not between Firefox versions, and my bookmarks and prefs have synced between v 66.0.5 and 67.0 with no required action on my part.

I also had no problem clicking through to an account creation dialog box.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
artie505 #51755 05/22/19 07:24 AM
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grelber Offline OP
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To be clear: I can't get past the opening/announcement page under any condition ... in order "to do nothing". The browser is dead in the water.
Previous versions have always started up straightaway with everything (eg, bookmarks, prefs) carried over with no other action on my part (as you've experienced).
What am I missing? Is there some way of getting out of that opening/announcement page so that the browser will actually open?

FYI — My standard practice for installing a new app is to close the older one, remove it from the Dock, install the new/updated one, place a copy in the Dock, and open it. All done offline. And I've never had a problem with that protocol ... until now.

I just now tried to reinstall version 67.0 while online. It made no difference. I could not recover any settings from version 66.0.5 or find any way of doing so. I must be missing something significant to make it do what it did for you.

Last edited by grelber; 05/22/19 08:10 AM. Reason: Additional info
Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51756 05/22/19 08:08 AM
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Hah!

I trashed my entire Firefox installation and launched v 67.0, and only then did I see the screen you're referencing. I clicked on "Skip this step," and was then in the same situation you're in. (I hope I can reproduce my original situation from my clone.)

I'm guessing here, but it looks like you somehow got into a "new installation" situation rather than having v 67.0 overwrite and perpetuate your present installation.

You may need to contact Mozilla.

For what it's worth, my update procedure, done while I"m on line, is:
  1. Copy new version from .dmg.
  2. Paste it over my existing earlier version (which is stored in my data partition).
  3. Launch new version.
  4. Click to OK download.
and that procedure perpetuated my prefs, etc.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
artie505 #51757 05/22/19 08:25 AM
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grelber Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: artie505
For what it's worth, my update procedure, done while I"m on line, is:
  1. Copy new version from .dmg.
  2. Paste it over my existing earlier version (which is stored in my data partition).
  3. Launch new version.
  4. Click to OK download.
and that procedure perpetuated my prefs, etc.

I added another edit to my previous one.

I don't understand your update procedure.
• What does it mean to copy new version from .dmg? [I just open the Firefox 67.0.dmg file (as I've always done previously without any weirdness intervening).]
• Your step #2 is completely opaque (incomprehensible) to me.
• Steps #3 and #4 likewise.
Given your own concerns about the procedure, I doubt if I could be persuaded to follow such (even if I understood it).

Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51758 05/22/19 09:54 AM
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Forget about that post; it's more complicated than it needs to be and has become irrelevant.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51759 05/22/19 10:05 AM
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Originally Posted By: grelber
I just now tried to reinstall version 67.0 while online. It made no difference. I could not recover any settings from version 66.0.5 or find any way of doing so. I must be missing something significant to make it do what it did for you.

Well, I'm now in almost the same boat as you; I, too, have lost my settings, and regardless of which earlier version I install I get the v 67.0 setup screen. I even tried cloning back my AM clone, but with no joy. Something changed when I updated, but I haven't got a clue what it might be.

The "almost" is my saver, because I almost never use Firefox, so I had almost no settings to lose.

I've got no idea what I may have done differently on my first try, but that's now academic. frown

I wonder if this is all bug-related, and the next version will correct it?

For the moment, the best I can suggest is your contacting Mozilla.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
artie505 #51760 05/22/19 11:17 AM
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Does anything in See what’s new in Firefox! help? I just updated to FF 67.0 via the usual method (Firefox > About Firefox > Update) and everything seems to be intact. I did not trash the original installation, but simply updated.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Firefox 67.0
jchuzi #51761 05/22/19 11:36 AM
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Then you had the same experience I did...dunno what happened to grelber. Do you see anything in his method that might have caused his problem? (I never use my Dock, so I can't really relate to what he did.)

At this point, though, I've recovered my one lost bookmark and reset my prefs, and all I"ve got left to do is reinstall the AdBlock add-on.

Maybe the link will help grelber, who, I suspect, has lost quite a bit.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51762 05/22/19 11:42 AM
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Have you got a Time Machine backup from which you can restore to your pre-update state?


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
artie505 #51763 05/22/19 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
Then you had the same experience I did...dunno what happened to grelber. Do you see anything in his method that might have caused his problem? (I never use my Dock, so I can't really relate to what he did.)
My only thought is that he might have deleted ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox, in addition to deleting /Applications/Firefox. The former is listed, in my system, as having been modified at the same time that I installed the update.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Firefox 67.0
jchuzi #51764 05/22/19 02:31 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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Jon & artie:
I didn't lose anything. I just reverted to my Firefox 66.0.5 (still in Applications) and disabled version 67.0 (also in Applications). And all runs without problem.
It is possible (even though I haven't seen any indication from Mozilla) that whatever bug is causing my issues might be corrected in a subsequent version. I'll wait and see.
In the meantime I'll grab Firefox 60.7.0esr (latest version) as a fallback.

EDIT: Just to cover a batch of bases, I downloaded Firefox 60.7.0esr, as well as Chrome 72 and iCab 5.8.6, and am storing same in case of a case.

Last edited by grelber; 05/22/19 03:46 PM. Reason: Follow-up info
Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51765 05/22/19 02:38 PM
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Originally Posted By: grelber
I didn't lose anything.

Great news!

(You did a lot better than I did. I spent probably 2 hours trying to get back to square one after I screwed myself up by trashing my installation, and I still don't understand why I was unable to turn the trick. Happily, it doesn't matter.)


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51861 06/19/19 05:11 PM
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Update:
I just downloaded Firefox 67.0.1 and Firefox 60.7.1esr.
FF 67.0.1 still won't populate with previous profile information; the ESR version does so just fine.
In order to get my profile into 67.0.1 I still have to set up a Firefox account, which, if I do, I cannot access same (since it seems to require broadband/high-speed internet access). So that would appear to be that!

Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51880 06/22/19 09:42 AM
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Are you certain that you must have a Firefox account?

I've poked around a bit, and I've gotten the impression that you only need one to sync across devices.

I'm running v 67.0.4 and haven't been required to open an account.

You may need to do some deeper digging to find out what's actually going on.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
artie505 #51881 06/22/19 09:54 AM
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grelber Offline OP
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The panel that appears when I try to install FF 67 explicitly states that if I want to preserve my profile across versions I must have a Firefox account.
I can't go further than that.

Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51882 06/22/19 10:03 AM
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I admit that I didn't dig tremendously deeply, but I believe that "versions" means NOT 66/67/68, but the different versions of Firefox that reside on different devices, i.e. the desktop version and the mobile version....

If you haven't done so already, I suggest that you take your issue to Firefox Support.

Would you mind posting a screenshot of that panel?

If necessary: To post a screenshot...
  1. Go to https://imgur.com/upload.
  2. Either drag your screenshot into the window or browse for it.
  3. Click on "Copy" in the next window to copy your screenshot's URL to your clipboard.
  4. Create a link using FTM's "Create a link..." tags...2nd icon from the left.



The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
artie505 #51883 06/22/19 10:31 AM
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grelber Offline OP
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Further to my previous post ...

In lieu of a screen shot — Imgur takes forever to load without broadband/high-speed internet access — here's the text of that preliminary panel:

Important News

This installation of Firefox has a new profile. It does not share bookmarks, passwords, and user preferences with other installations of Firefox (including Firefox, Firefox ESR, Firefox Beta, Firefox Developer Edition, and Firefox Nightly) on this computer.

To sync information you've already saved to Firefox with this installation of Firefox, sign in with your Firefox Account.


A secondary page states:

What are my options?

If you do nothing, your profile data in Firefox will be different from profile data in other installations of Firefox.

If you would like all of your profile data to be the same on all installations of Firefox, you can use a Firefox Account to keep them in sync.

If I try to open a Firefox Account, it fails (ie, I can't "continue", the button is dead).

As for contacting Firefox Support, that's a non-starter. Every time I've tried in past, it hasn't worked. Again, the reason is likely that I don't have broadband/high-speed access.

Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51884 06/22/19 10:39 AM
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If anyone has the expertise to advise how I might transfer plists and other necessary bits within the library in order to effect the desired carryover of profile information, I'd be grateful to receive the information (assuming that I don't have to do anything in Terminal).

EDIT:
After futzing around I was able to set up a Firefox Account, as well as update to Firefox 67.0.4, but I can find no way to carry over my profile preferences anywhere. This is just stupid! So I'm back to my ESR version.

And there is no way of contacting Firefox/Mozilla Support "directly" in order to ask how to do such. Everything shows up as how-to articles which don't cover the requisite solution.

Last edited by grelber; 06/22/19 03:26 PM. Reason: Additional information
Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51886 06/22/19 03:52 PM
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I don't know if it will be helpful in your situation, but I found Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings | Firefox Help.

Although it may not help, it sounds like it can't hurt other than by costing you your Add-ons and possibly some settings. (You may want to back up ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles first.)

More: Maybe run it on Firefox v 66 and then try to update again?

Last edited by artie505; 06/22/19 03:56 PM. Reason: More

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
artie505 #51887 06/22/19 06:11 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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Merci for the suggestion, but doing a refresh could wipe out a lot.

However — and I am well and truly hornswoggled — I went to about:profiles in the ESR version to get the lie of the land and then went to Firefox 67.0.4 and set the default profile to ESR's (and previous FF versions') profile.
Et voilà! As if by magic all became right with the world — every setting, all bookmarks and other established preferences have carried over — and I'm working with it right now. That gift horse's mouth was wide open, and I don't know why that wasn't given (by Mozilla) as the preferred method for syncing stuff.
Let's just pray that it sticks.

Re: Firefox 67.0
grelber #51889 06/22/19 10:25 PM
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I don't pray, but fingers are crossed. cool

More: Where did you find about:profiles in the ESR version? I don't see it.

Last edited by artie505; 06/22/19 10:56 PM. Reason: More

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Firefox 67.0
artie505 #51891 06/23/19 01:12 AM
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grelber Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: artie505
I don't pray, but fingers are crossed. cool

More: Where did you find about:profiles in the ESR version? I don't see it.

Just enter about:profiles in the URL window of the browser and hit return. It works for any version. That goes for anything with about:xxx .

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