Issue: Norton-like symptoms but not Norton 360

Cww

Author

Message

218 posts

I had a few users where replacing the places.sqlite did in fact solve cases like this. I think it's safe to say that when we see these symptoms, something is messing with the places.sqlite and we may end up with several different solutions.

Keep in mind if you rename a file rather than deleting it the data is preserved so helpers who see this issue should probably not hesitate to try this.

bnichols23

966 posts

"something is messing with the places.sqlite and we may end up with several different solutions."

It'll drive the users nuts & a lot of them will just revert to abuse & threats to leave, but I can't think of a better solution than a "Try A, Try B, Try C, Try..." KB article. :|

Bill

Cww

610 posts

The reason it's flagged as an issue is also because I didn't have but one or two of these two weeks ago and suddenly, there are a good number of them. Maybe something happened?

AliceWyman

1579 posts

I made some changes to the *Bookmarks and toolbar buttons not working after upgrading staging copy, including a "workaround" (end firefox.exe processes) and making extensions solution apply to Windows users who don't have Norton 360 installed. I didn't want to approve it without having someone else take a look, maybe add a section on replacing the places.sqlite file or other information that applies to Linux/Mac.

Lucy or anyone else:
Maybe the Bookmarks not saved article can be updated, possibly based on http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_not_saved#places.sqlite_file. The Bookmarks and toolbar buttons not working after upgrading article can then link to it.
EDIT: 10-31-2008 I made an edit to *Bookmarks not saved (staging copy) today which is pending approval, based on the above.

Alternately, we could just add a section to the article about deleting or renaming places.sqlite, based on Lucy's reports? I'm not sure but I think you can just let Firefox 3 regenerate places.sqlite from the information in the .JSON backups, without needing to go thorugh exporting bookmarks as HTML, etc.

Cww

610 posts

I'm thinking that the two articles should be redivided. One article should cover bookmarks resetting to a fixed set (default or restoring from an old JSON) when Firefox is restarted (but toolbar buttons work and you can save bookmarks when IN a firefox session.) This is caused by extensions, security software deleting places.sqlite etc. The other article should cover bookmarks and toolbars not working, not being able to save bookmarks while in a Firefox section, awesomebar issues.

AliceWyman

1579 posts

Cww,
I'll wait to see how you redo the articles before making any further edits.

P.S. I also added a comment to the *Bookmarks and toolbar buttons not working after upgrading staging copy, linking to this thread.

AliceWyman

1579 posts

A Linux user who reports Common FF3 Broken Toolbars/Greyed Buttons/No History/No Bookmarks/ etc. says ... I think I found a fix - at least for Linux version. I looked in the profile directories and found sequentially numbered "places.sqlite.corrupt" files. I closed FF, updated sqlite and FF looks to be fixed. I may have lost my bookmarks from FF2, but will try the common bookmarks fixes (delete places.sqlite, import from old bookmarks file...). Closed and opened FF a few times in case it was temporary, but so far so good. {snip} Was able to import old bookmarks from bookmark.html after removing places.sqlite and all of the places.sqlite*corrupt files. Looks like I'm fully operational at this point.

On updating sqlite, from a Linux forum (found via google search):
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?p=1012164
NoArms reports that... Forward/back buttons are ghosted, no home page loads at start, no history or bookmarks, bookmarking a page has no apparent effect. ... and then he posted this solution:

Figured it out. Needed to update sqlite:

$ yum -y update sqlite

Then remove places.sqlite and places.sqlte*corrupt from profile directory.
Then import bookmarks from bookmarks.html in profiles directory.

Another Linux user reports Bookmarks gone, homepage gone, forward and back buttons non functioning wrote that he .....deleted the firefox 3.0 files *sqlite* and the bookmark backups - no luck. When I relaunched firefox, it just recreated the presumably bad files, which include a bunch named places.sqlite-1.corrupt places.sqlite-2.corrupt, etc. (for 1 through 7) in addition to places.sqlite.

The last Linux user never solved the problem but same thread includes a post from a Windows XP user with this solution:

Problem solved.

Ran diskcheck utility and it found some serious errors and corrected them.
After that when switched firefox back on,everything is normal.All bookmarks are fine and every button is working.

Michael
Firefox user

The connection to the server has failed. Account: 'yahoo.com', Server: 'yahoo.com', Protocol: SMTP, Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Socket Error: 10060, Error Number: 0x800CCC0E

(Outlook Express)

AliceWyman

1579 posts

Followup to my Thu 23 of Oct post:

I posted the "update sqlite" solution in this thread for the Linux user who never solved the problem and it worked! Here is what he posted back:

Actually, I was running the most recent sqlite, but upgrading to sqlite3 (which includes sqlite) did the trick. (I don't use YUM, I use YAST2, but that's a small matter.) Bookmarks appear to be gone (importing from bookmarks.html isn't working), but I will poke at them for only another 82 seconds because that's all they're worth. Other than that, everything is working just fine.

AliceWyman

1579 posts

See page 3 of this topic:
Back button, history, bookmarks not working in Firefox 3 -- MOZILLA HELP US!
Another Linux fix:

(Andrea)

The following worked for me (Ubuntu Hardy and exactly the same problem). In profile directory, at command line:

mv places.sqlite places.sqlite.bak
mv places.sqlite-journal places.sqlite-journal.bak

then restarting Firefox.

From the same thread:

(Ray Nichols)

Andrea's solution above involving moving places.sqlite and places.sqlite-journal worked for me. (I moved to Opera in the mean while.)

I too am using (K)ubuntu Hardy:

i.e. $ lsb_release -a shows:
Description: Ubuntu 8.04.1

Also, a confirmation on disk repair fix using CHKDSK - the built-in Windows error-checking tool:

(Bob)

Looks like it's a Profile problem (somehow file gets corrupted).
I had recovered from a crash. CHKDSK on the directory fixed things.

AliceWyman

1579 posts

This Firefox forum thread at MozillaZine also includes the Linux update sqlite solution (yum -y update sqlite) :
Home page will not load (page 2)

AliceWyman

1579 posts

This forum thread at MozillaZine includes the same solution for both Linux and for Mac OS (remove or rename places.sqlite and places.sqlite-journal):
Firfox history lost/back browser buttons/menus inoperable

(superm401)

In my case (Linux, x86, Firefox 3.0) , I was able to fix this by doing:

mv places.sqlite places.sqlite.bak
mv places.sqlite-journal places.sqlite-journal.bak

then restarting Firefox.

Places is the new Firefox term for bookmarks, so this could result in Firefox "forgetting" your bookmarks. But in my case, they look to be there. It might have lost a couple recent ones, though. I'm not sure.

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9) Gecko/2008052912 Firefox/3.0

(illmatik53)

If you are using Mac OS X 10.5.* with Firefox 3.0.3, this is what worked for me.

Go to this path through finder " /users/(your user name)/library/application support/firefox/profiles/ "
There should be 1 folder in there that ends with ".default" The two files will be located in there.
If you use multiple profiles, then go to each profile folder and make the necessary changes.
Simply rename the two files to include ".bak" as a file extension.
If it prompts you to keep ".sqlite" or to change to ".bak" choose to change it to ".bak"

places.sqlite ---> places.sqlite.bak
places.sqlite-journal ---> places.sqlite-journal.bak

NOTE: Make sure you make these changes while Firefox and all instances of Firefox are closed. This fixed my problem. Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9.0.3) Gecko/2008092414 Firefox/3.0.3

AliceWyman

1579 posts

Another Linux solution from page 3 of this topic:

Back button, history, bookmarks not working in Firefox 3 -- MOZILLA HELP US!

(Anonymous)

Check file permissions within your profile directory (e.g. ~/.mozilla/firefox/ljzv2exp.default/). If anything is not owned by your UID, you'll get these exact symptoms.

This problem arose for me because I accidentally ran firefox as root. That clobbered permissions on some of the profile's files. To fix, just chown -R user:group /.mozilla/firefox/ljzv2exp.default/...

Here's a new MozillaZine article that summarizes much of what's posted above, in case it helps:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox

@ Cww,
I don't want to add the above information to Bookmarks and toolbar buttons not working after upgrading if you are still thinking about redividing it with Bookmarks not saved, as you mentioned in your above post on 22 of Oct, 2008.

Cww

610 posts

Shoot, I meant to poll the populous on that one. I would like to divide them but I wanted to see if there weren't better ideas out there first.

Cww

610 posts

In either case, I think all of the toolbar buttons and bookmarks are broken issues should get added to Bookmarks and toolbar buttons not working after upgrading. The real discussion is whether to retitle Bookmarks not saved to Bookmarks reset when starting Firefox and then move the stuff that's not relevant to Bookmarks and toolbar buttons not working after upgrading

AliceWyman

1579 posts

(I'm copy/pasting your newsgroup post on this topic and answering below)

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: Bookmarks not saved article
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2008 11:54:52 -0800
From: Cheng Wang {snip}
Newsgroups: mozilla.support.planning

We have two distinct symptoms for bookmarks not saved.
1) Bookmarks are being reset when you start Firefox. You can use toolbar buttons and you can save bookmarks for a session but they're deleted, returned to a previous JSON or otherwise reset when you load Firefox. This is caused by some extensions (some of the bookmark managing ones) and by security software deleting places.sqlite when you close Firefox.
2) We have the Norton/Norton-like issues. This is toolbar buttons not working, awesomebar not working, bookmarks not saving while IN FIREFOX, so you don't have to restart to watch them disappear. This is caused by norton, permissions issues on profile folder files, not-updated sqlite etc. This is fixed by updating sqlite, deleting places.sqlite, editing permissions as needed.

I think they should be separate articles, one Bookmarks resetting when you start Firefox and one Bookmarks and toolbar buttons do not work after updating. Basically, redirect the bookmarks not saved article to a more specific title and include more solutions in the bookmarks and toolbar buttons one.

I just wanted to get feedback before making these edits.

In case 2) What you call "Norton-like symptoms" covers missing or dysfunctional bookmarks and history, including disabled Back/forward toolbar buttons, which originally surfaced as a Norton issue (...currently covered in Bookmarks and toolbar buttons not working after upgrading...) and is caused by a locked (but undamaged) places.sqlite file . The Norton problem goes away when you restart the computer and there is no need to delete any places.sqlite* files, update sqlite or check permissions, so that's a major point you need to make in any article you write about those symptoms.

Norton symptoms include a firefox.exe process that does not exit properly and all symptoms disappear after ending all firefox processes or restarting the computer. In the Linux and Mac examples above, and in some Windows cases, the dysfunctional bookmarks and history problems are caused by "damaged" (or unwritable) places.sqlite* files and the problems persist through a restart or reboot. The "bookmarks not saved" symptom falls into the "damaged" category, since the problem is not solved by a reboot.

You said about case 1) (bookmark changes not saved after restarting) that, This is caused by some extensions (some of the bookmark managing ones) and by security software deleting places.sqlite when you close Firefox. Do you have any references on that? Deleting places.sqlite* (in addition to automatically restoring the last JSON backup) actually allows future bookmark changes to be saved if there is a problem with the file . See the forum topic, Unable to change bookmarks in FF3

Firefox 2 is still covered in Bookmarks not saved so you should keep a separate article for now, even if you rename it. "Bookmarks reset when starting Firefox " isn't a good title because, "reset" implies back to defaults. When you reset bookmarks in Firefox via the Safe Mode option, it restores the default set of bookmarks (places.sqlite file isn't deleted, by the way, the creation date remains the same... at least it did when I tested it in Fx3). A better title for that article might be "Bookmark changes not saved" (I like short titles). Right now that article includes Firefox not saving changes to bookmarks but reverting to the previously-saved bookmarks when closing and reopening Firefox, which can happen if bookmarks.html (or bookmarks.html.moztmp) is read-only or locked in Firefox 2. In Firefox 3, the comparable case would be a damaged places.sqlite file (or places.sqlite-journal) . The article also has a section on the "Add Bookmark" dialog not working, which is an OLD Firefox symptom, which may not even apply to Firefox 2 any longer, much less Firefox 3. I checked the references and the issue is related to localstore.rdf corruption (Ref) and an old extension issue (Ref) reported in Firefox 1.5.

The problem is, one type of sqlite damage may cause bookmark changes not to stick, another type of corruption might cause the other symptoms like missing bookmarks and history, home page not loading and disabled toolbar buttons. For example, a very specific symptom is reported in this open bug:
Bug 452193 - Places Library window is empty due to corrupt places.sqlite (invalid left pane root)

Another sqlite issue I've seen reported was not being able to delete a specific bookmark on the toolbar, along with an error, Unable to Process the Backup file, when attempting to restore bookmarks from backup, which is reported to be fixed by rebuilding the "places.sqlite" file (Ref.). I recently added this to http://kb.mozillazine.org/Lost_bookmarks#Restoring_bookmarks_in_Firefox_3

Cww
Firefox user

One thing about KB articles is we don't have to cover fringe cases, just the frequently reported ones. We have the forums for weird bugs where stuff is missing from dialogs. There are in my view, two major causes that account for the majority of things we're seeing.

1) Firefox can't write to places.sqlite/places.sqlite.journal (either because of the Norton 360 toolbar interfering with how Firefox closes, because of an obsolete version of sqlite, because of permissions issues with these files, because of corruption in the file)

2) Firefox writes to places.sqlite but this file is deleted before Firefox restarted or when the computer is restarted or for some other reason. Firefox then either pulls up a backup or uses the defaults. Norton privacy control at least and maybe others can delete places.sqlite (I think it may have to do with certain strings showing up and hence marked as possible viruses?). Also possible causes include: syncing bookmarks extensions that are misconfigured to own sync "down", backup software restoring the state of the profile folder when the computer is restarted, etc. This would also be the article for bookmarks.html locking in Firefox 2 as the symptoms are the same.

For each of these symptoms, we'll be, of course, offering solutions in a rational order. With the case 1, we'll suggest updating Norton as the first fix, followed by addressing any extension conflicts. And we never suggest deleting a file, always renaming it .bak. For case 2, again we offer solutions from the least invasive (check settings, permissions, extensions) to the more invasive (make an new profile folder). In both articles, we link to Lost bookmarks and Exporting bookmarks to an HTML file.

I'm not saying that these necessarily have to be two different articles divided as such, it just seems to make sense for me. We could divide further or lump everything into one article. I just think that a lot of these new issues (with out of date mysql for example) should be in the KB and that bookmarks not saved needs an overhaul. While we're doing this overhaul, it just made sense to formalize what's covered where.

AliceWyman

1579 posts

Cww,

You didn't answer my question about your references:
->You said about case 1) (bookmark changes not saved after restarting) that, This is caused by some extensions (some of the bookmark managing ones) and by security software deleting places.sqlite when you close Firefox. Do you have any references on that?

I usually include a tiki comment within the source or else a staging copy comment linking to my references, such as bug reports or forum posts (or I mention that the related MZ article includes such references). For each description of causes or solution offered, you should include references, so that people can review the source or track changes.

On the bookmark changes not being saved, there's also the browser.places preferences, which I included in my Oct 31 2008 edit to the *Bookmarks not saved staging copy, based on http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_not_saved#Places_preferences_-_Firefox_3 (References: 1, 2)

Places preferences - Firefox 3

If changes to bookmarks are not being saved after restarting Firefox 3, reset the browser.places preferences to the default settings:

1. Enter about:config in the Location Bar
2. In the Filter box, type browser.places
3. Context-click (right-click) any preference with a user-set status and select "Reset".

AliceWyman

1579 posts

On the Unable to Process the Backup File error when attempting to restore bookmarks from backup. This may be another "Norton-like symptom" of a locked places.sqlite file which is temporarily resolved by ending firefox.exe processes and restarting. See the forum topic, Error message: unable to process the backup file ...in which the OP wrote,
My bookmarks suddenly disappeared. I tried to restore them from the backups made automatically by Firefox, but I keep getting this error message: "unable to process the backup file". His next post included the solution:

(keith) I found the problem. After a bit of digging I noticed that I couldn't save any bookmarks. I closed the program and then started it a couple of times, but still the problem persisted.

I opened Task Manager and noticed that Firefox was still running even though I had closed it. I then killed the program from the Task Manager and started Firefox again, and lo and behold all my bookmarks were back. I've noticed a few times since upgrading to version 3 that even after closing the program, it is still running.

AliceWyman

1579 posts

The Unable to process the backup file error is also mentioned here, along with multiple other "Norton-like" symptoms:

Bug 449187 - Seem to have firefox locking up on exit, maintaining a file lock on all the profile files. Bookmarks & history gone, navigation buttons disabled when next opened.

Firefox Support

Issue: Norton-like symptoms but not Norton 360

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