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Restore previous session doesn't work, and if browser gets restarted (eg installing an extension) all tabs get lost...

  • 12 replies
  • 17 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by elMau

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Using FF 29.0 or 29.0.1, session storage seem badly broken.

All commands for restoring previous sessions are disabled (whether or not they are from an extension), and even when the browser gets restarted (for example when an extension is installed or updated) all the sessions get lost: I click Restart in the extensions tab with 10 different tabs opened, and the restarted Firefox window contains NOTHING but the default startup page (on which, by the way, the search box doesn't work at all).

Before someone asks, I've already tried all the standard suggestions:

1) Tried with a new empty profile with NO extension at all 2) Tried deleting ALL profile info, uninstalling FF, then reinstalling and using the default empty profile with NO extensions whatsoever

And the problem is still there: session storage does not function (sessionstore.js doesn't get created).

The only thing that solved the problem was reverting back to FF 28, which I have done.

(By the way, this bug led me to discover another thing which I consider a total ergonomic failure: in FF28 the "check for updates" button in the about dialog MUST be called in another way: this button DOES NOT check for updates, it INSTALLS updates! In fact, if clicked, it does not check and tell me if a new version is available: if the new version is available, having clicked "check" is interpreted as "Download and immediately install the update", and NOTHING can be done to stop this when clicked; even closing FF results in the updated version being installed as soon as downloaded, and the only way to get back to the previous version is to download the specific installed from mozilla and reinstall it! This is NOT a version check, this is a forced update a la M$!)

Any other suggestion form the experts?

Using FF 29.0 or 29.0.1, session storage seem badly broken. All commands for restoring previous sessions are disabled (whether or not they are from an extension), and even when the browser gets restarted (for example when an extension is installed or updated) all the sessions get lost: I click Restart in the extensions tab with 10 different tabs opened, and the restarted Firefox window contains NOTHING but the default startup page (on which, by the way, the search box doesn't work at all). Before someone asks, I've already tried all the standard suggestions: 1) Tried with a new empty profile with NO extension at all 2) Tried deleting ALL profile info, uninstalling FF, then reinstalling and using the default empty profile with NO extensions whatsoever And the problem is still there: session storage does not function (sessionstore.js doesn't get created). The only thing that solved the problem was reverting back to FF 28, which I have done. (By the way, this bug led me to discover another thing which I consider a total ergonomic failure: in FF28 the "check for updates" button in the about dialog MUST be called in another way: this button DOES NOT check for updates, it INSTALLS updates! In fact, if clicked, it does not check and tell me if a new version is available: if the new version is available, having clicked "check" is interpreted as "Download and immediately install the update", and NOTHING can be done to stop this when clicked; even closing FF results in the updated version being installed as soon as downloaded, and the only way to get back to the previous version is to download the specific installed from mozilla and reinstall it! This is NOT a version check, this is a forced update a la M$!) Any other suggestion form the experts?

All Replies (12)

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Have you tried restoring the last session using the buttons on the home screen or in the history menu?

See the support page here.

Hope this helps :)

Modified by Salkey

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No way: there is no restore button on the home screen and the command in the history menu is greyed out...

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Try this, delete or rename your sessionstore.js file, restart, and try again after you opened a few pages and closed Firefox.

Press the <Alt> or <F10> key to bring up the tool bar. Then Help > Troubleshooting Information.

Look on the left side. Press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Close FF. After you are done, restart.

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As I already said, NO sessionstore.js gets created, ever, nor sessionstore.bak is present.

Simply put, sessionstore does not exist; even if I take copy sessionstore.js from my backed up FF28 profile and put it in the current profile directory, it will be totally ignored by FF29.

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There was a bug that corrupted sessionrestore files do not open in Firefox 29. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.sessionstore.resume_session_... Does it show up with Session Manager add on?

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Sure: neither installing Session Manager addon, nor installing Tab Mix Plus addon resolved it.

Even with one of these addons, menu items where greyed out and no session restore happened on restart.

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It's like adding insult to injury. Not only does it not restore now, it also causes the whole system to freeze, forcing you to lose your windows when you have to forcibly shut down the computer.

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ShoresOfNowhere,

(Are you running multiple versions of Firefox ?) I just wonder if you may have stayed at Firefox 29 or earlier and missed out on the upgrade to Fx29.0.1

Have you tried with the current Firefox29.0.1 . I had a few glitches with session restore and presumably was running into

  • Bug 1001167 - Session Restore doesn't handle a corrupted sessionstore.js file properly

Usually I found that renaming and copying sessionstore.bak and over writing the sessionstore.js with the copy worked to get a set of open tabs back. This is supposed to be fixed in Firefox 29.0.1

The regression causing the update setting to be ignored has also been fixed in Fx29

  • Bug 950357 - The About dialog automatically checks for updates (and then asks the user if he wants to update) even when the "Never check for updates" option is selected.
Checking the "Never check for updates" pref and then opening the Help/About dialog displays first the "Check for updates" button. If pressed, then the "Update to 29.0a1" button shows up. 
Verified fixed FF 29.0a1 ....

LorraineK

Please post your own question. (use /question/new ) Come back here to confirm that you have done so. You could well have a different issue, and quite possibly you may have an issue that also has a fix now.

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As I already said in the first post, these problems show up in both v29 and v29.0.1; I'll write down again my usage history to be sure it's perfectly clear.

I'm not running multiple versions of FF.

I was running v28, and when I clicked "check for updates" button, it did NOT ask if I wanted to download the new version, it gone straight to downloading it and installing it.

So I was (forcefully) updated to v29, and then to V29.0.1, all in a short row.

Since being on V29.x, session restore stuff is missing, no sessionstore.bak is present and sessionstore.js did not change in any way when I surfed the web.

So I tried deleting the entire profile (having done a backup) and tried starting V29.0.1 with a new empty profile, with no add-ons and barely global plugins such as flash and java.

No way: session restore still broken, and no sessionstore.js gets created EVER.

So I tried to fully uninstall FF, totally deleting the Profiles dir, and then reinstalling and starting up FF; no way either, session restore still missing.

So I tried installing "Session manager" add-on, no way.

Removed it and installed "Tab Mix plus", no way.

Removed it, uninstalled V29 and reinstalled v28, ta dah! All working.

So I restored my backed up profile, and all is working fine.

So, to be perfectly clear: having tried all the tests I listed here, the only thing that resolved was RETURNING to V28 which I'm running now.

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By the way, the glitch about the update check I was talking about is NOT that the update check starts as soon as the about windows opens, is that WHEN an update has been found, NO confirmation is asked to download an install it, so I clicked "Check for updates" and what I get is "Install immediately whatever update is present"!

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What about if you install the Firefox 29 portable which is an unofficial third party build of Firefox and can be installed easily as an additional browser without affecting your ordinary installs does that work ok for you ?


Sessionstore issue

I ask because if you really have found a regression i.e. a fault in Firefox that is seen in Firefox 29 but not in Firefox 28 it is going to need fixing. But I am not seeing problems and I am not sure anyone else is reporting problems.

Using Firefox 29 portable is easier than trying an additional custom install of Firefox 29 and running multiple Firefox versions.

  • If you can prove to yourself that works you may be more inclined to try to fix your Firefox Release install.
  • If it does not work then as someone seeing the problem maybe we need to help you in filing a bug for the issue.

Update Issue

You will need to be on Firefox29 and wait a day or so for the update to Fx30 before you will be able to confirm for yourself that the update settings are now respected. (The bug fix was confirmed by trying it out on the pre release channels)

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Same problem with my latest firefox releases (this includes Fx 30) In my case it was due to wrong owner onthese two files in the Fx profile (surprisingly its owner was root) seesionstore.bak sessionstore.js Restoring the file owner to my user worked for me: chown myUserName:MyGroupName sessionstore.bak chown myUserName:MyGroupName sessionstore.js