Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

JimW · 2019-07-21 23:49

I am so mad that I better not say everything I'm thinking!
I just got my desktop setup with Centaurus and installed Firefox as my browser. Now, in the past I could copy the old .mozilla file and paste it into the new Firefox. NOT NOW! Now you MUST use the 'sync' to your other computers! NO! Why do I need to spend many minutes (at a minimum) going out on the internet to connect to another of my computers (assuming I have one) to transfer my bookmarks and passwords to a new computer when by doing a copy/paste I could do it in seconds?

Is there ANY way around this new farce they are forcing on us? Is there another browser that can use the old .mozilla file?
Or is there anyway to install an older version of Firefox?

Dai_trying · 2019-07-22 00:44

Have you tried just copying the profile directory (and it's contents) across? it is usually .mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default, you may need to edit .mozilla/firefox/profiles.ini to reflect the new (or old actually) profile name.

I haven't tested if it will work as I have been using palemoon as my browser for quite some time now.

JimW · 2019-07-22 01:10

Thanks Dia. Yes, that is exactly what I have done for years. And it is how I set up this laptop with Firefox 67. Now it no longer works with ff68!
If I have to enter every bookmark and passwords manually then I may go to Pale moon (which I have on my tablet), Or install ff67, where it still works!

Dai_trying · 2019-07-22 01:28

Does FF still have an import profile option? I seem to recall being able to import a profile some time back.

Also could you just copy across the main files you need for bookmarks and passwords? I can't remember which files they were but going from memory there were four files I used to back up from the profile and I could restore them or copy to another installation.

I think the files would be key4.db, places.sqlite, prefs.js and the last one I think is either storage.sqlite or xulstore.json but I cannot be sure, it might be worth seeing if you can copy just those files across and get bookmarks and passwords sorted.

I think it is crazy that they would deliberately do this, I think I'm gonna stick to PaleMoon, I have my palemoon profile (.moonchild productions) folder on my data partition and have a symlink in the home folder of all my OS's so they all use the same profile, it makes it so much easier to have a browser uniform across distros.

JimW · 2019-07-22 02:17

No way I found to import. There is an import from other browser, but it finds nothing since ff is the only browser. I tried renaming the .default file from the working machine to the same name as in the new one. No luck.Tried several things and had no luck. May have to see about getting the FF67 installed.
Thankfully Thunderbird still works the same!

bin · 2019-07-22 05:53

New Firefox - improved for your convenience!

/me stick with ESR thank you very much!

I checked my wife's machine - it had updated from previous versions of FF to 68 without any issue so it looks like just fresh installs.

I did come across something about using about:profiles to point 68 to your previous profile but didn't follow it through cos I couldn't be bothered

Waterfox is another interesting project - some have raised concerns it is not updated quickly when there are security changes but so far it has. It's very retro FF feel is a blast from the past too.

Dai_trying · 2019-07-22 09:24

I found a reddit post that suggests finding the file compatibility.ini (.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/compatibility.ini) and removing the LastVersion line, seems to have worked for quite a few users but it was on version 67 so not sure if this is still applicable, but definitely worth a shot.

Jerome · 2019-07-22 11:46

I had the same problem, very annoying. Fortunately I had saved most of my passwords elsewhere but I lost all my bookmarks. :-(

JimW · 2019-07-22 19:27

Well, I have a partial solution. I've managed to transfer my bookmarks but not the passwords. You do have to do this before upgrading to FF68 or have another computer to work from.
In the upper right of the FF display you will see a 'library' icon, it looks something like little books. Select that and the first entry should be 'bookmarks'. Click that and at the bottom of the new window you should see 'show all bookmarks'. By selecting that you will have a new window. At the top of that window should be a menu item called 'Import and Backup' with a drop down arrow. Selecting the arrow will expose several options, one of which is 'Export to HTML'. By clicking that you can export your existing bookmarks to an HTML file. Going to FF68 you can repeat the process except you select 'Import HTML'
This sets up your bookmarks. As for passwords? I'm still working on that one!

Dai_trying · 2019-07-22 19:29

Did you try my latest suggestion? many users claimed it worked for them to read the full profile.

Rademes · 2019-07-22 22:00

JimW wrote:

Why do I need to spend many minutes (at a minimum) going out on the internet to connect to another of my computers (assuming I have one) to transfer my bookmarks and passwords to a new computer when by doing a copy/paste I could do it in seconds?

Never, ever, save your passwords on Firefox or Chrome/Chromium! It is VERY insecure storage!
https://palant.de/2018/03/10/master-pas … ot-bother/
https://palant.de/2018/03/13/can-chrome … tive-data/
Use open-source password managers, like JPasswords, KeePassXC, Pain-free Passwords, Password Safe!
I have used JPasswords and Pain-free Passwords. Both work very well on Linux. JimW, I strongly suggest you to try one of them.
Trust me, I have been using password managers since 2008.

Last edited by Rademes (2019-07-22 22:06)

OldCodger · 2019-07-24 08:01

I haven't upgraded yet, so am yet to hit this but according to the
Firefox documentation you can select your previous profile by using
about:profiles

See article below
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/re … fox-update

tlmiller76 · 2019-07-25 20:57

bin wrote:

New Firefox - improved for your convenience!
/me stick with ESR thank you very much!
I checked my wife's machine - it had updated from previous versions of FF to 68 without any issue so it looks like just fresh installs.
I did come across something about using about:profiles to point 68 to your previous profile but didn't follow it through cos I couldn't be bothered
Waterfox is another interesting project - some have raised concerns it is not updated quickly when there are security changes but so far it has. It's very retro FF feel is a blast from the past too.

I would point out that 68 is now ESR, so everything will be going to it within a few months as ESR 60 winds down it's life.

JimW · 2019-07-25 21:16

Sorry for not getting back earlier - real life getting in the way!

@bin - did a quick check on the about:profiles and it looks like it is used to create new profiles then switch between them. Couldn't find any way to use a FF67 profile.

@Dia - I edited the mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/compatibility.ini with no results. Maybe I did something different that those others?

@Rademes - The passwords saved in my browser are for sites like q4os forum. If someone gets them and makes some spamming posts I may get banned, but I think most are banning IP addresses instead of user names. I have NO banking accounts on my computer and I have no credit cards for someone to steal.

@OldCodger - I'll check out that link more when I get time - Thanks!

Meanwhile - I guess I'll just enter username and password for each account I visit on the new computer. (like I did here)

Last edited by JimW (2019-07-25 21:16)

JimW · 2019-07-28 13:21

MODS -
I guess this should actually be in "Off Topic" since it is not a Q4OS problem.

Dai_trying · 2019-07-28 18:25

It's not a Q4OS problem but could affect Q4OS users, so I would say probably best left here really to make it easier for them to find.

Q4OS Forum

#1 2019-07-21 23:49

Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#2 2019-07-22 00:44

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#3 2019-07-22 01:10

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#4 2019-07-22 01:28

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#5 2019-07-22 02:17

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#6 2019-07-22 05:53

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#7 2019-07-22 09:24

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#8 2019-07-22 11:46

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#9 2019-07-22 19:27

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#10 2019-07-22 19:29

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#11 2019-07-22 22:00

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#12 2019-07-24 08:01

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#13 2019-07-25 20:57

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#14 2019-07-25 21:16

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#15 2019-07-28 13:21

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

#16 2019-07-28 18:25

Re: Firefox 6.8 !!NO!!

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