Firefox 3 Beta 5 not saving normal or live bookmarks

[Russell Nash]

Binary package hint: firefox-3.0

Since doing a fresh install of Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy (not an upgrade) I have noticed that the new Firefox 3 Beta 5 is not saving either bookmarks or live bookmarks:

Normal bookmarks are simply not saved at all, checking the 'Bookmarks' menu after adding the bookmark reveals that it simply isn't there.

Live bookmarks from RSS feeds get added to the 'Bookmarks' menu, but after closing and re-opening Firefox they are no longer present in the menu.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Thu May 1 10:31:33 2008
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.04
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
Package: firefox-3.0 3.0~b5+nobinonly-0ubuntu3
PackageArchitecture: i386
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=/home/username/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: firefox-3.0
Uname: Linux 2.6.24-16-generic i686

[John Vivirito (gnomefreak)]

Are you switching back and forth from one verison of firefox to another sinc eyou have both installed, this will show up if you are changing between the two

[Russell Nash (russnash37)]

John,

I don't have both installed, not unless that happens by default from the 8.04 alternate CD?

Russ.

[VTMarik (vtmarik)]

I'm having a similar problem except that I'm not having any trouble adding bookmarks. The problem is that when I close firefox and re-open it later on any new bookmarks or any change in the order of the bookmarks is reverted back to the way it was before making any changes/additions. It's like Firefox reverts back to its originally installed form (at least in the case of the bookmarks) every time I close it.

Is there any way to stop this, or is it a bug of the beta?

[Alexander.Ghost (alex747bin)]

My problem is similar with bookmarks. Additionally, start page don't save new values, after re-open browser start page starting from chrome://ubufox/content/startpage.html.

[RichardMBoos (richboos)]

I am having this similar problem as well. I've been checking bugzilla on mozilla's website for something very similar to this, but I haven't found anything yet. Most of the bugs of this nature we first reported years ago, I never had this problem until ubuntu 8.04.

[Alexander Sack (asac)]

On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 09:52:33PM -0000, RichardMBoos wrote:
> I am having this similar problem as well. I've been checking bugzilla
> on mozilla's website for something very similar to this, but I haven't
> found anything yet. Most of the bugs of this nature we first reported
> years ago, I never had this problem until ubuntu 8.04.
>

maybe your issue is due to some extension? you can disable them one by
one in tools-> addons to test

 status incomplete

 - Alexander

[Lars Yencken (lars-yencken)]

I have the same problem. Any changes to bookmarks aren't saved between browser sessions. However, I have made bookmarks on this machine before. This problem is recent. Was there a firefox update recently which might have added this problem?

I incrementally removed all firefox extensions, including the ubuntu ones, restarting each time. With all extensions disabled, the bug still manifests.

[paledread (chris-dunnz)]

Me too.

Ubuntu 8.04 and Firefox 3.0b5 on more than one machine.

Can save bookmarks (to the the Bookmarks Toolbar) but they are not there when Firefox is closed and re-opened.

Cannot change the home page to a blank page and have it saved and available after a close/re-open.

[Alexander Sack (asac)]

On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 10:17:54PM -0000, Lars Yencken wrote:
> I have the same problem. Any changes to bookmarks aren't saved between
> browser sessions. However, I have made bookmarks on this machine before.
> This problem is recent. Was there a firefox update recently which might
> have added this problem?
>
> I incrementally removed all firefox extensions, including the ubuntu
> ones, restarting each time. With all extensions disabled, the bug still
> manifests.
>

Sorry to ask that, but maybe your disc is full?

If not, please start firefox from a terminal and see if yu see any
errors getting out.

Another way to get the most obvious errors is to open Tool->Error
Console and if there are errors post them to this bug.

 - Alexander

[Alexander Sack (asac)]

On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 09:52:33PM -0000, RichardMBoos wrote:
> I am having this similar problem as well. I've been checking bugzilla
> on mozilla's website for something very similar to this, but I haven't
> found anything yet. Most of the bugs of this nature we first reported
> years ago, I never had this problem until ubuntu 8.04.
>

making this a master bug

 title "[MASTER] Firefox 3 Beta 5 not saving normal or live bookmarks"
 status confirmed

Thanks,

 - Alexander

[Lars Yencken (lars-yencken)]

On Sat, May 17, 2008 at 7:01 PM, Alexander Sack <email address hidden> wrote:
> Sorry to ask that, but maybe your disc is full?

The disc still has plenty of room.

> If not, please start firefox from a terminal and see if yu see any
> errors getting out.
>
> Another way to get the most obvious errors is to open Tool->Error
> Console and if there are errors post them to this bug.

There were not errors in the Error Console. Starting firefox on the
console, editing one bookmark, and closing gave me this output.

FirebugService fbs.DBG_FBS_CREATION: false fbs.DBG_FBS_BP:false
fbs.DBG_FBS_ERRORS:false fbs.DBG_FBS_STEP:false
fbs.DBG_FBS_FUNCTION:false
debugger.onModuleDeactivate Attempt to deactive context that is not
active http://www.google.com.au/
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622930: NP_GetMIMEDescription
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622930: NP_GetMIMEDescription return
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622930: NP_GetValue
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622930: NP_GetValue: returning plugin name.
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622930: NP_GetValue return
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622930: NP_GetValue
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622930: NP_GetValue: returning plugin description.
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622930: NP_GetValue return
** Message: GetValue variable 1 (1)
** Message: GetValue variable 2 (2)
** Message: GetValue variable 1 (1)
** Message: GetValue variable 2 (2)
** Message: GetValue variable 1 (1)
** Message: GetValue variable 2 (2)
** Message: GetValue variable 1 (1)
** Message: GetValue variable 2 (2)
** Message: GetValue variable 1 (1)
** Message: GetValue variable 2 (2)
** Message: GetValue variable 1 (1)
** Message: GetValue variable 2 (2)
FirebugService ShutdownRequestedObserver
chrome.shutdown entered for chrome://browser/content/browser.xul
debugger.onModuleDeactivate Attempt to deactive context that is not
active http://www.google.com.au/

- Lars

[Russell Nash (russnash37)]

I had some free time today and did some 'destructive' debugging on this problem, here's what I discovered:

I closed down firefox and performed 'rm -rf .mozilla' in my home directory, effectively blowing away the entire firefox configuration. I restarted firefox and went through preferences, setting things to the way I like them.

Next, I performed some testing, adding normal bookmarks and live bookmarks. The bookmarks added themselves to the bookmark menu and were still there after closing and restarting firefox, even after logging out and logging back in. In essence, the problem was solved and firefox was bookmarking like it should.

I think this definitely proves that this is a configuration issue.

Next, I am a very fond and extensive user of google toolbar, so that I can access my bookmarks from whatever browser I choose to use. In firefox 3b5, google's toolbar does not work, it's not compatible. Even if you disable the compatibility checking, it still refuses to download your bookmarks. I'd gotten around this by using the 'gmarks' add-on instead.

I wanted to return to the exact same configuration for the purposes of this test, therefore I went ahead and re-installed gmarks. Now that gmarks was installed, I noted that the same bookmark problem was back.

In gmarks options, there is an option for 'CTRL+D / CTRL+SHIFT+D support', it seems that this will basically intercept any 'add bookmark' requests, even if chosen from the bookmark menu. I disabled this option and found that I could add bookmarks and live bookmarks again with no problems.

I think that the main thing we can draw from this is that there is a very high chance that the problems we are experiencing might be the fault of an add-on?

It might also be useful if as well as just going through and disabling add-ons as a test, we might want to try blowing away the ~/.mozilla directory as well and starting firefox from scratch again?

This bug is definitely solved for me at this point.

Russ.

[John Vivirito (gnomefreak)]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Russell Nash wrote:
| I had some free time today and did some 'destructive' debugging on this
| problem, here's what I discovered:
|
| I closed down firefox and performed 'rm -rf .mozilla' in my home
| directory, effectively blowing away the entire firefox configuration. I
| restarted firefox and went through preferences, setting things to the
| way I like them.
|
| Next, I performed some testing, adding normal bookmarks and live
| bookmarks. The bookmarks added themselves to the bookmark menu and were
| still there after closing and restarting firefox, even after logging out
| and logging back in. In essence, the problem was solved and firefox was
| bookmarking like it should.
|
| I think this definitely proves that this is a configuration issue.
|
| Next, I am a very fond and extensive user of google toolbar, so that I
| can access my bookmarks from whatever browser I choose to use. In
| firefox 3b5, google's toolbar does not work, it's not compatible. Even
| if you disable the compatibility checking, it still refuses to download
| your bookmarks. I'd gotten around this by using the 'gmarks' add-on
| instead.
|
| I wanted to return to the exact same configuration for the purposes of
| this test, therefore I went ahead and re-installed gmarks. Now that
| gmarks was installed, I noted that the same bookmark problem was back.
|
| In gmarks options, there is an option for 'CTRL+D / CTRL+SHIFT+D
| support', it seems that this will basically intercept any 'add bookmark'
| requests, even if chosen from the bookmark menu. I disabled this option
| and found that I could add bookmarks and live bookmarks again with no
| problems.
|
| I think that the main thing we can draw from this is that there is a
| very high chance that the problems we are experiencing might be the
| fault of an add-on?
|
| It might also be useful if as well as just going through and disabling
| add-ons as a test, we might want to try blowing away the ~/.mozilla
| directory as well and starting firefox from scratch again?
|
| This bug is definitely solved for me at this point.
|
| Russ.
|
Can everyone confirm that new profile fixes this.
As for google toolbar it has caused problems with firefox since its
conception.
Did anyone switch from ff2 to ff3 and back at all?

- --
Sincerely Yours,
~ John Vivirito

https://launchpad.net/~gnomefreak
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JohnVivirito
Linux User# 414246
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[John Vivirito (gnomefreak)]

Lars,
 please disable firebug and see if it still happens,

Everyone,
see if you can reproduce this bug by running firefox in safe mode by opeing a terminal and typing firefox -safe-mode.

Russ,
Your issue looks like its gmarks that was causing it. this may not be the same for everyone but either way we are unable to support extensions we dont package.

[Russell Nash (russnash37)]

-----
Your issue looks like its gmarks that was causing it. this may not be the same for everyone but either way we are unable to support extensions we dont package.
-----

I certainly agree with that. I'm more concerned that my experience with add-ons here is likely to be the cause of everyone else's problems too.

Russ.

[John Vivirito (gnomefreak)]

Changed status due to we are only able to confirm everyones issues one user states it was gmarks but noone else has answered my questions as to what thier cause it. Most likely if its not gmarks its either switching back and forth from Firefox-2 and Firefox-3 or a corrupts profile.

[Lars Yencken (lars-yencken)]

I deleted my old profile and started from scratch. This fixed things for me. No problems so far, and I can add and manage bookmarks normally now.

For debugging purposes: I didn't have gmarks installed, and I wasn't (afaik) switching between versions of firefox. I only have firefox 3 installed.

Anyhow, it's working now for me.

Thanks John.

[VTMarik (vtmarik)]

I did what Lars and Russell did and it fixed the problem right away.

It's a corrupted profile, just delete .mozilla and then start up Firefox again. You'll lose your bookmarks and such, but at least you can save new ones again.

[Alexander Sack (asac)]

On Fri, May 23, 2008 at 11:21:01AM -0000, VTMarik wrote:
> I did what Lars and Russell did and it fixed the problem right away.
>
> It's a corrupted profile, just delete .mozilla and then start up Firefox
> again. You'll lose your bookmarks and such, but at least you can save
> new ones again.
>

Before doing this extreme measure you could also try to remove your
XUL.mfasl file as well as all extension.* files in your
.mozilla/firefox profile.

In any case, you should make a backup!

 - Alexander

[Alexander Sack (asac)]

On Fri, May 23, 2008 at 11:21:01AM -0000, VTMarik wrote:
> I did what Lars and Russell did and it fixed the problem right away.
>
> It's a corrupted profile, just delete .mozilla and then start up Firefox
> again. You'll lose your bookmarks and such, but at least you can save
> new ones again.
>

anyway. not a firefox bug as far as i can tell

 status invalid

 - Alexander

[leoperbo (leoperbo)]

Don't have to delete ".mozilla"... I was wondering that Yoono's (an extension similar to del.ici.ous and GMarks) was involved in this problem since it was disabled in Firefox 3b. So, reading the fix from Lars and Russell, I just deleted this folders/files relative to this extension (and preserved after upgrade) in my .mozilla folder: bookmarkbakups (folder), yoono (folder), bookmarks.bak (file)... I added a new bookmark, closed firefox, open firefox and, now, my new bookmark was there!

Perhaps, the other bookmarks extensions has similar files in .mozilla dir and people involved just have to delete them to fix the problem, without lost their personal firefox configurations.

- Leo

[Joe Weinberg (weinb110)]

Anyone got a solution for those of us who are just starting to learn to program?

In other words, pretend I'm an idiot who barely knows how to use a computer beyond 'so you just click the thing?' and please tell me how to fix this.

thanks.

Joe

[gregory j wolfe (gwolfe-umich)]

@Joe
Rarely is there just one sure fix for something, but here is what worked on my machine:

Close Firefox.
Navigate to home directory > View hidden items (Ctrl+H).
Open folder ".mozilla" > Open folder "firefox" > Open folder "xxxxxxxx.default".

Deleted folder "extensions", as others had mentioned some extensions were their problem.
Start Firefox >Create a bookmark > Restart Firefox.
Bookmark not saved > Close Firefox.

Delete folder "bookmarkbackups".
Start Firefox >Create a bookmark > Restart Firefox.
Bookmark saved.

[Joe Weinberg (weinb110)]

@gregory

That worked very well. Thank you.

[gerard (zzking)]

gregory's solution worked beautifully, Thx a lot

[Darin (newhoa)]

I'm also having this problem. I didn't delete the extensions folder or anything, but I did delete the bookmarkbackups folder. I then restarted Firefox, closed it, opened it back up. I went to Organize Bookmarks, and clicked the Import and Backup button, selected Restore, and restored the latest bookmark session/file. Since then it's been saving fine. I'm not sure that I had to delete the folder, I may just have had to restore the last session. Anyway, I have the following extensions installed if it helps:

Adblock Filterset G Updater 0.3.1.3
Adblock Plus 0.7.5.4
Copy Link Text 1.3
Fetch Text URL 1.6.2
FLST 0.8.6
Menu Editor 1.2.6
SmartSearch 3.10
Ubuntu Firefox Modifications 0.5

The Bookmarks.html in my profile folder is not updating when Bookmarks are added, only the bookmarkbackups folder.

- Darin

[Rich Fromm (nospam420)]

I was experiencing the same problem. Ubuntu 8.10 on an XO (OLPC) laptop. I had reported it here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=7040160#post7040160

And another user echoed the same problem as well on a DellE520, ff3.0.8, jaunty.

I tried gregory's suggestion. The short answer is that it was bookmarkbackups that was the problem. This was a pretty much new install/config (I noticed nearly right away that bookmarks weren't working
 -- I had never been able to successfully save a single one after a restart), so I still think there is some kind of bug in terms of why did this happen, although it's nice to have a fairly simple workaround.

More details about my exact steps taken are below.

- Rich

Disabled Flashblock 1.5.9.
Restarted firefox.
Added bookmark.
In menu.
Restarted firefox.
Bookmark gone.
Disabled Adblock Plus 1.0.1.
Restarted firefox.
Added bookmark.
In menu.
Restarted firefox.
Bookmark gone.
Disable Ubuntu Firefox Modifications 0.6.
Restarted firefox.
ALL extensions are now disabled.
Added bookmark.
In menu.
Restarted firefox.
Bookmark gone.
Quit firefox.
mv bookmarkbackups bookmarkbackups.bak
Start firefox.
Added bookmark.
In menu.
Restarted firefox.
Bookmark still there!
I also note that a new bookmarkbackups dir has been created.
Reenable all extensions (getting a bit tired of piecemeal step by step here...)
Restarted firefox.
Bookmark still there!

[Rich Fromm (nospam420)]

One further clarification, this was with firefox 3.0.8. not beta.