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Old 07-19-2019, 12:16 PM   #1
Gordie
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ruario's Latest Firefox - How to preserve settings


I have been trying to get used to using Firefox as my default browser. Latest Firefox script by ruaro works well for me. Anyway, it updates about once weekly and then all my settings need to be re-set. After awhile it becomes a real drag to search out and re-set all my settings only to have them lost next week.

What do others do to keep/transfer their Firefox settings?
 
Old 07-19-2019, 12:43 PM   #2
BW-userx
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I got my firefox synced with firefox. I never see my setting getting reset whenever firefox is updated. maybe try that.
 
Old 07-19-2019, 02:22 PM   #3
Gordie
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BW-userx View Post
I got my firefox synced with firefox. I never see my setting getting reset whenever firefox is updated. maybe try that.
BW-userx - Thanks for the reply.

Actually, for the last couple of months or so I have be using Firefox Sync and the preferences do not transfer. There is check-mark in everything except the bookmarks box.

The browser can be set to save page zoom settings and those are all lost upon upgrade.

Username/Passwords for LQ Forum and any other site that saves Username/Passwords need to be entered again. I admit that all I have to do is click on the Username box and the values are automatically applied.

Extension settings are lost as well. The ad-blocker goes over the same ground over and over again. Every week or so, upon upgrade the same old ads pop up and I have to make the same adjustments only to get a week or so of piece until the next upgrade wipes out my settings
 
Old 07-19-2019, 02:35 PM   #4
BW-userx
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordie View Post
BW-userx - Thanks for the reply.

Actually, for the last couple of months or so I have be using Firefox Sync and the preferences do not transfer. There is check-mark in everything except the bookmarks box.

The browser can be set to save page zoom settings and those are all lost upon upgrade.

Username/Passwords for LQ Forum and any other site that saves Username/Passwords need to be entered again. I admit that all I have to do is click on the Username box and the values are automatically applied.

Extension settings are lost as well. The ad-blocker goes over the same ground over and over again. Every week or so, upon upgrade the same old ads pop up and I have to make the same adjustments only to get a week or so of piece until the next upgrade wipes out my settings
zooming a page is just a clt+mouseWheel away. as far as the rest of that, it sounds like it is over writing your home/mozzia files. which it should not be doing.

this is the script I've used before, and I do not ever remember it causing my firefox config files being over written.

Code:
#!/bin/bash
# latest-firefox Version 1.4.1

# This script will find the latest Firefox binary package, download it
# and repackage it into Slackware format.

# I don't use Firefox for regular browsing but it is handy for
# comparative tests against Vivaldi. :P

# Copyright 2017 Ruari Oedegaard, Oslo, Norway
# All rights reserved.
#
# Redistribution and use of this script, with or without modification, is
# permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
#
# 1. Redistributions of this script must retain the above copyright
#    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
#
# THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
# "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
# LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
# A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
# HOLDER BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
# EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
# PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
# PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
# NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
# SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

# Check if the user asked for auto-install
if [ "$1" = "-i" -o "$1" = "--install" ]; then
  if [ "$UID" = "0" ]; then
    AUTO_INSTALL=Y
  else
    echo "You must be root to auto-install, $1 ignored!" >&2
    AUTO_INSTALL=N
  fi
else
  AUTO_INSTALL=N
fi

# Use the architecture of the current machine or whatever the user has
# set externally
ARCH=${ARCH:-$(uname -m)}

if [ "$ARCH" = "x86_64" ]; then
  LIBDIRSUFFIX="64"
elif [[ "$ARCH" = i?86 ]]; then
  ARCH=i686
  LIBDIRSUFFIX=""
else
  echo "The architecture $ARCH is not supported." >&2
  exit 1
fi

# Set to esr or beta to track ESR and beta channels instead of regular Firefox
FFESR=${FFESR:-N}

if [ "$FFESR" = "Y" ]; then
  FFCHANNEL=esr-latest
fi

FFCHANNEL=${FFCHANNEL:-latest}

if [ "$FFCHANNEL" = "esr" ]; then
  FFCHANNEL=esr-latest
elif [ "$FFCHANNEL" = "beta" ]; then
  FFCHANNEL=beta-latest
fi

# This defines the language of the downloaded package
FFLANG=${FFLANG:-en-US}

# Work out the latest stable Firefox if VERSION is unset
VERSION=${VERSION:-$(wget --spider -S --max-redirect 0 "https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-${FFCHANNEL}&os=linux${LIBDIRSUFFIX}&lang=${FFLANG}" 2>&1 | sed -n '/Location: /{s|.*/firefox-\(.*\)\.tar.*|\1|p;q;}')}

# Error out if $VERISON is unset, e.g. because previous command failed
if [ -z $VERSION ]; then
  echo "Could not work out the latest version; exiting" >&2
  exit 1
fi

# Don't start repackaging if the same version is already installed
if /bin/ls /var/log/packages/mozilla-firefox-$VERSION-* >/dev/null 2>&1 ; then
  echo "Firefox ($VERSION) is already installed; exiting"
  exit 0
fi

TMP=${TMP:-/tmp}
OUTPUT=${OUTPUT:-/tmp}
BUILD=${BUILD:-1}
TAG=${TAG:-ro}
PKGTYPE=${PKGTYPE:-tgz}
PACKAGE="$OUTPUT/mozilla-firefox-$VERSION-$ARCH-$BUILD$TAG.$PKGTYPE"

# If the package was made previously, no need to make it again. ;)
if [ -e "$PACKAGE" ]; then
  echo "$PACKAGE already exists; exiting"
  exit 0
fi

REPACKDIR=$TMP/repackage-mozilla-firefox

# Three sources are needed, here is where to find them if they are not
# already in the directory this script was started from.
FIREFOXPKG="https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-${VERSION}&os=linux${LIBDIRSUFFIX}&lang=${FFLANG}"
DESKTOPFILE=https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware-current/source/xap/mozilla-firefox/mozilla-firefox.desktop
SCRIPT="${0##*/}"

# This function can be used in place of Slackware's makepkg, with the
# added bonus that it is able to make packages with root owned files
# even when run as a regular user.
mkpkg() {
  if [ "$1" = "-n" ]; then
    TAROWNER=""
    shift 1
  else
    TAROWNER="--group 0 --owner 0"
  fi
  if find * -type l | grep -qm1 .; then
    mkdir -p install
    find * -type l -printf '( cd %h ; rm -rf %f )\n( cd %h ; ln -sf %l %f )\n' -delete > install/symlinks
    if [ -f "install/doinst.sh" ]; then
      printf '\n' | cat - install/doinst.sh >> install/symlinks
    fi
    mv install/symlinks install/doinst.sh
  fi
  case "$1" in
    *tbz) cmp=bzip2 ;;
    *tgz) cmp=gzip ;;
    *tlz) cmp=lzma ;;
    *txz) cmp=xz ;;
    *) echo "Unknown compression type" >&2 ; exit 1 ;;
  esac
  tar cvvf - . --format gnu --xform 'sx^\./\(.\)x\1x' --show-stored-names $TAROWNER | $cmp > "$1"
  echo "Slackware package \"$1\" created."
}

# Since packaging is about to begin errors become more important now,
# so exit if things fail.
set -eu

# If the repackage is already present from the past, clear it down
# and re-create it.
if [ -d "$REPACKDIR" ]; then
  rm -fr "$REPACKDIR"
fi

mkdir -p "$REPACKDIR"/{pkg,src}

# Check if the current directory contains mozilla-firefox.desktop. If
# not try /usr/share/applications/, otherwise download it.
if [ -e mozilla-firefox.desktop ]; then
  cp mozilla-firefox.desktop "$REPACKDIR/src/"
elif [ -e /usr/share/applications/mozilla-firefox.desktop ]; then
  cp /usr/share/applications/mozilla-firefox.desktop "$REPACKDIR/src/"
else
  wget -P "$REPACKDIR/src" $DESKTOPFILE
fi

# Save a copy if this script but remove execute persmissions as it will
# later be moved into the doc directory.
install -m 644 "${0}" "$REPACKDIR/src/$SCRIPT"

# Check if the current directory contains the Firefox binary package,
# otherwise download it.
if [ -e firefox-$VERSION.tar.bz2 ]; then
  cp firefox-$VERSION.tar.bz2 "$REPACKDIR/src/"
else
  wget -O "$REPACKDIR/src/firefox-$VERSION.tar.bz2" $FIREFOXPKG
fi

# Now we have all the sources in place, switch to the package directory
# and start setting things up.
cd "$REPACKDIR/pkg"

# Create the basic directory structure for files.
mkdir -p install
mkdir -p usr/bin
mkdir -p usr/doc/mozilla-firefox-$VERSION
mkdir -p usr/share/applications
mkdir -p usr/share/icons/hicolor/{16x16,32x32,48x48,128x128}/apps
mkdir -p usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/mozilla
mkdir -p usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION

# Copy the desktop file in place
cp ../src/mozilla-firefox.desktop usr/share/applications/

# Copy this script into the doc directory
cp ../src/$SCRIPT usr/doc/mozilla-firefox-$VERSION/$SCRIPT

# Extract the contents of the binary Firefox package into an
# appropriately named lib directory.
tar xf ../src/firefox-$VERSION.tar.* --strip 1 -C usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION

# If present, move the readme or any other similar text files to the
# doc directory.
find usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION -maxdepth 1 -iname "*.txt" -exec mv {} usr/doc/mozilla-firefox-$VERSION/ \;

# If a plugins folder was present move it to the mozilla lib directory.
# Otherwise just create a directory in mozilla so that there is
# definately somthing to symlink to later on in the post-install.
if [ -d usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/plugins ]; then
  mv usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/plugins usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/mozilla/
else
  mkdir usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/mozilla/plugins
fi

# Setup symlinks for firefox binary, plugin directory and icons.
(
  cd usr/bin
  ln -s ../lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/firefox firefox
)
# Changes in Firefox 21 mean we need to check for the browser directory
if [ -d usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/browser ]; then
  (
    cd usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/browser
    ln -s ../../mozilla/plugins plugins
  )
else
  (
    cd usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION
    ln -s ../mozilla/plugins plugins
  )
fi

# Changes in Firefox 21 mean we need to check for the location of icons
if /bin/ls usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/chrome/icons/default/default*.png >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  DEFAULTICONPATH=lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/chrome/icons/default
  ALTICONPATH=lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/icons
elif /bin/ls usr/lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/browser/chrome/icons/default/default*.png >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  DEFAULTICONPATH=lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/browser/chrome/icons/default
  ALTICONPATH=lib$LIBDIRSUFFIX/firefox-$VERSION/browser/icons
else
  echo "Changes have been made to the internal formating of the firefox source packaging!" >&2
  exit 1
fi

(
  cd usr/share/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps
  ln -s ../../../../../$DEFAULTICONPATH/default16.png firefox.png
)
(
  cd usr/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps
  ln -s ../../../../../$DEFAULTICONPATH/default32.png firefox.png
)
(
  cd usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps
  ln -s ../../../../../$DEFAULTICONPATH/default48.png firefox.png
)
(
  cd usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps
  ln -s ../../../../../$ALTICONPATH/mozicon128.png firefox.png
)

# Now create the post-install to register the desktop file and icons.
cat <<EOS> install/doinst.sh
# Setup menu entries
if command -v update-desktop-database >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  update-desktop-database -q usr/share/applications
fi

# Setup icons
touch -c usr/share/icons/hicolor
if command -v gtk-update-icon-cache >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  gtk-update-icon-cache -tq usr/share/icons/hicolor
fi
EOS

# Create a description file inside the package.
cat <<EOD> install/slack-desc
               |-----handy-ruler------------------------------------------------------|
mozilla-firefox: mozilla-firefox (Mozilla Firefox Web browser)
mozilla-firefox:
mozilla-firefox: This project is a redesign of the Mozilla browser component written
mozilla-firefox: using the XUL user interface language. Firefox delivers safe, easy web
mozilla-firefox: browsing.
mozilla-firefox:
mozilla-firefox: Visit the Mozilla Firefox project online:
mozilla-firefox:   http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/
mozilla-firefox:
mozilla-firefox:
mozilla-firefox:
EOD

# Make sure the file permissions are ok
chmod -R u+w,go+r-w,a-s .

# Create the Slackware package
mkpkg "$PACKAGE"

# Install if the user requested it
if [ $AUTO_INSTALL = "Y" ]; then
  /sbin/upgradepkg --install-new "$PACKAGE"
fi
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 07-19-2019, 03:01 PM   #5
Gordie
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Registered: Aug 2007
Location: Nolalu, Ontario, Canada
Distribution: Slackware64-Current
Posts: 871

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 364Reputation: 364Reputation: 364Reputation: 364
Quote:
Originally Posted by BW-userx View Post
zooming a page is just a clt+mouseWheel away. as far as the rest of that, it sounds like it is over writing your home/mozzia files. which it should not be doing.

this is the script I've used before, and I do not ever remember it causing my firefox config files being over written.

Code:
#!/bin/bash
# latest-firefox Version 1.4.1
Hmm, the script I have been using was 1.3.9
I have made the necessary change and the next upgrade will tell the story.

The page zoom is just an irritation to me. My eyes are poor and I wear pop-bottle glasses. Zoom is not saved at all to the next Firefox verion. I set the default at 110% and some others at 130% to make things easy for me to view. Every single page needs set again with every upgrade.

I appears that mostly it is the extensions that loose the settings.

I copied ~/.mozilla/* and after upgrading Firefox I used that copy to restore with and there was no change. All my settings were lost anyway

Last edited by Gordie; 07-19-2019 at 05:13 PM.
 
Old 07-19-2019, 03:29 PM   #6
BW-userx
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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: Somewhere in my head.
Distribution: Slackware (15 current), Slack15, Ubuntu studio, MX Linux, FreeBSD 13.1, WIn10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordie View Post
Hmm, the script I have been using was 1.3.9
I have made the necessary change and the next upgrade will tell the story.

The page zoom is just an irritation to me. My eyes are poor and I wear pop-bottle glasses. Zoom is not saved at all to the next Firefox verion. I set the default at 110% and some others at 130% to make things easy for me to view. Every single page needs set again with every upgrade.

I appears that mostly it is the extensions that loose the settings.

I copied ~/mozilla/* and after upgrading Firefox I used that copy to restore with and there was no change. All my settings were lost anyway
I do not know the script you're using, that one is the one I've always used, and have not used it sense my last install. Only because I do not pay that much attention to what version firefox I am using, nevertheless, again, it should not be over writing anything on your home. No updates should be.

It is the hidden dir in your home that is not suppose to be getting updated. ~/.mozilla

if you got everything back the way you want it, make a backup of it, run that script I posted and maybe the other one you have after seeing if this one changed anything first. It should give you more of an idea of what is going on.
 
Old 07-19-2019, 08:41 PM   #7
speck
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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: US
Distribution: Slackware 14.2
Posts: 375

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I use the same script to download Firefox and haven't had issues. I have seen a lot of recent posts on Firefox forums about add-ons and settings getting lost after an upgrade, so it seems to be a bug in Firefox.
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 07-19-2019, 10:49 PM   #8
Gordie
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Registered: Aug 2007
Location: Nolalu, Ontario, Canada
Distribution: Slackware64-Current
Posts: 871

Original Poster
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Quote:
Originally Posted by speck View Post
I use the same script to download Firefox and haven't had issues. I have seen a lot of recent posts on Firefox forums about add-ons and settings getting lost after an upgrade, so it seems to be a bug in Firefox.

Thanks speck. I spent the rest of the evening looking on DDG for "firefox extensions settings lost" and found my answer here
https://www.askvg.com/fix-all-bookma...zilla-firefox/


Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I'm marking this thread as solved
 
2 members found this post helpful.
Old 07-19-2019, 11:06 PM   #9
glorsplitz
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Yes Gordie thank you, that was so irritating.
 
Old 07-20-2019, 06:35 AM   #10
chrisretusn
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I haven't seen this problem. Could be that I start Firefox normally with the Profile Manager on this machine. This will come in handy if I run across it on my latop that is a ways behind on -current updates.
 
Old 07-20-2019, 07:30 AM   #11
BW-userx
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aaaa Good, Looks like you got a solution.
 
  


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