Firefox Portable periodically loses the installed plugins

[Governor]

@mikewalsh
Firefox Portable periodically loses most of the installed plugins. They show as installed, but they are not functioning. You can tell by the missing icons. They are also missing from the GUI.
This has happened periodically. This time it happened after I booted with the Airedale installed on my thumb drive.

FF_plugins_not_loaded(1).png (375.21 KiB) Viewed 766 times

FF_plugins_not_loaded(2).png (365.94 KiB) Viewed 766 times

FF_plugins_not_loaded(3).png (384.39 KiB) Viewed 766 times

Any ideas?

[Governor]

@mikewalsh
Here are the other plugins.

FF_plugins_not_loaded(4).png (365.44 KiB) Viewed 767 times

FF_plugins_not_loaded(5).png (365.68 KiB) Viewed 767 times

FF_plugins_not_loaded(6).png (343.8 KiB) Viewed 767 times

[mikeslr]

It does it on mine also, usually if (a) I've updated, or (b) ran firefox-portable under an older Puppy. Because of (a) I think it's a firefox problem, not a Puppy problem.
Here's what I do. Leaving the Tab showing 'installed' addons open, I open a 2nd tab then select the first of the broken addons in the "Search addons.mozilla,org". That will show it's installed. But I know it's not working. So I select remove; then immediately install. Then select the next broken addon in the search box. etc.

[Governor]

It does it on mine also, usually if (a) I've updated, or (b) ran firefox-portable under an older Puppy. Because of (a) I think it's a firefox problem, not a Puppy problem.
Here's what I do. Leaving the Tab showing 'installed' addons open, I open a 2nd tab then select the first of the broken addons in the "Search addons.mozilla,org". That will show it's installed. But I know it's not working. So I select remove; then immediately install. Then select the next broken addon in the search box. etc.

It is nice when I am not the only one experiencing a particular problem, if you know what I mean.
Ok, if you mean "Remove" followed by "Undo", that is not working for me. However, I had the foresight to download all the extensions I am using, so I go to the folder that contains them and choose those I need all at once, without removing any. Then, I must click the two dialog boxes that pop up for each install. The drawback is the newly installed may not be the newest version of the plugin.
Thanks.

[mikeslr]

To get to the Addons and themes Window, click the 3-Horizontal-Lines button at the Top Right, Select Addons & Themes. At the Top-Right of the GUI which opens is a "Find more addons" button which initially says "Search addons.mozilla,org". Type in the name of one of your broken addons. firefox will open to its Repo showing a list with your selection among them. Click your selection and its page will open. It will show that it's already installed but also displays a Remove button.

Remove.png (31.24 KiB) Viewed 665 times

Click the remove button. It only takes a second for it to be removed. The Window remains open and the button now reads "Add to Firefox". Click it.

[Governor]

To get to the Addons and themes Window, click the 3-Horizontal-Lines button at the Top Right, Select Addons & Themes. At the Top-Right of the GUI which opens is a "Find more addons" button which initially says "Search addons.mozilla,org". Type in the name of one of your broken addons. firefox will open to its Repo showing a list with your selection among them. Click your selection and its page will open. It will show that it's already installed but also displays a Remove button.

Remove.png

Click the remove button. It only takes a second for it to be removed. The Window remains open and the button now reads "Add to Firefox". Click it.

Ok, I see what you mean now. You do the remove and add on the addons.mozilla.org page. I hadn't thought of doing it that way.
Thanks.

Edit: Ok I tried this method of going to the website and finding each plugin, and I will do that if I do not have a downloaded version of the addon on my computer. If I have the plugin though, it is faster to install from a local file, and I can do that without going on-line. I have also previously experienced trying to replace an addon, and it was gone from the Mozilla repository.

[mikewalsh]

@Governor :-

Boy, ya DO like keeping us busy, don'tcha?

I have to concur with t'other Mike here; it also periodically happens to me too.....due to which I also think it's a Firefox issue, NOT a 'Puppy' one. It also used to happen in pre-portable days, so I think you can rule the package format out.

I do the same as Mikeslr; uninstall 'em, then immediately re-install. But I have to say one thing; I have never seen anybody install so many extensions in my life! I have about half-a-dozen that I install in each of my browsers, that's all. You do realise that every extension you add slows the browser down a wee bit, yes?

Mike.

[rockedge]

It's a permissions problem I think. When a Firefox-portable which is in reality a sub-directory, does create the profile for that session and it is stored using a Puppy Linux F96-CE_4 then I reboot the machine into a KLV-Airedale the issue with permissions accessing the location of the extensions code or the profile with their configurations can't be accessed.

Opera-portable so far works for me using across Puppy Linux F96-CE_4, KLV-Airedale and KLV-Spectr on the same machine and doesn't exhibit the same missing extensions occurrence.

[Governor]

@Governor :-

Boy, ya DO like keeping us busy, don'tcha?

I have to concur with t'other Mike here; it also periodically happens to me too.....due to which I also think it's a Firefox issue, NOT a 'Puppy' one. It also used to happen in pre-portable days, so I think you can rule the package format out.

I do the same as Mikeslr; uninstall 'em, then immediately re-install. But I have to say one thing; I have never seen anybody install so many extensions in my life! I have about half-a-dozen that I install in each of my browsers, that's all. You do realise that every extension you add slows the browser down a wee bit, yes?

Mike.

Yes, I know extensions slow down the browser, but it has not been an issue so far.

[redquine]

I've occasionally had similar issues after an update, when running Puppy and Firefox from a USB device. I stay signed into my Mozilla profile, though, so if I sign out then back in, they usually fix themselves when I re-sync.

Whether or not you do that: if you have a Mozilla profile, you can log into https://addons.mozilla.org and add your add-ons to one or more collections. (I've got three: 'Security,' 'Favourites' and 'Try These' for inŧeresting-looking add-ons I've found but haven't felt the need to install yet!) The advantage is that if they go wonky, you can remove the lot and download the latest versions one after the other. Quicker than reinstalling them individually and saves having to hunt for them again.

[Governor]

I've occasionally had similar issues after an update, when running Puppy and Firefox from a USB device. I stay signed into my Mozilla profile, though, so if I sign out then back in, they usually fix themselves when I re-sync.

Whether or not you do that: if you have a Mozilla profile, you can log into https://addons.mozilla.org and add your add-ons to one or more collections. (I've got three: 'Security,' 'Favourites' and 'Try These' for inŧeresting-looking add-ons I've found but haven't felt the need to install yet!) The advantage is that if they go wonky, you can remove the lot and download the latest versions one after the other. Quicker than reinstalling them individually and saves having to hunt for them again.

Sounds like a great idea. I just like to try to avoid signing up to various sites as much as possible, also sites that help me organize my personal choices about anything. I have experienced before that relying on external services can be problematic, for example, if they abruptly discontinue their service. Anyway, that's just me. I am grateful for your response.

I do it in another way. I download the add-ons I am using into a main add-ons folder. Add-ons that I plan to try, go into a subfolder. If I want to, I can re-install any or all of my add-ons in one go by choosing the 'install add-on from file' feature in Firefox, with no need to remove the old ones first, they are simply written over. The add-ons may need to be updated, and the automatic add-on update feature in FF should take care of that, or it can be done one at a time.

I realize everyone probably knows this, and I only mention it in case someone doesn't, but it was a long time before I realized I could download an add-on by right-clicking on the button on the Mozilla add-on page, regardless of if it says, Install or Remove. I believe many people do not associate right-click with buttons.

[Governor]

But I have to say one thing; I have never seen anybody install so many extensions in my life!

You would be surprised to see my "/public_html/.htaccess" file with 1022 lines of code!

Code: Select all

Name            Size                      Last Modified        Type              Permissions
.htaccess       53.98 KB                  Today, 7:01 AM       text/x-generic    0444

Ok, this is likely off-topic, but with the current permissions, I wonder what could be modifying .htaccess I suspect it was the hosting company when they changed the cPanel. Which permissions do people generally use for .htaccess?
Thanks.

[williwaw]

Ok, this is likely off-topic, but with the current permissions, I wonder what could be modifying .htaccess I suspect it was the hosting company when they changed the cPanel. Which permissions do people generally use for ,htaccess?
Thanks.

Do you have puppy installed on a vps? you should start a new thread describing how and why and share what you have learned,
sounds interesting

[Governor]

Ok, this is likely off-topic, but with the current permissions, I wonder what could be modifying .htaccess I suspect it was the hosting company when they changed the cPanel. Which permissions do people generally use for .htaccess?
Thanks.

Do you have puppy installed on a vps? you should start a new thread describing how and why and share what you have learned,
sounds interesting

No, I don't have a vps, I have a domain on a web hosting service.