Hi, what happens please if Copy/Paste this : about:addons into the Address Bar and Enter

Also try in : SAFE MODE

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

In Firefox Safe mode these changes are effective:

• all extensions are disabled (about:addons)
• default theme is used (no persona)
• userChrome.css and userContent.css are ignored (chrome folder)
• default toolbar layout is used (file: localstore-safe.rdf)
• Javascript JIT compilers are disabled (prefs: javascript.options.*jit)
• hardware acceleration is disabled (Options > Performance > Uncheck to view)
• plugins are not affected
• preferences are not affected

TEST''''is issue still there ?

I was also thinking of Safe Mode, in case you have one of the malware-ish legacy extensions that interferes with access to the Add-ons page. In Firefox's Safe Mode, it would be disabled and therefore couldn't cause that problem.

VerizonSucks said

need to use Firefox 52.0.1 (64 bit) since its the last that works with OSX 10.11.6 El Capitan.

Current Firefox Releases requires OS X 10.9 or later so Firefox 61.0.2 should work. https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/61.0.2/system-requirements/

Also if you must use the old Firefox 52 at least use 52.9.0esr to be much more up to date with security and allowed stability fixes. However the legacy Firefox 52 ESR is almost EOL as of Sept 5th.

Sounds that you are viewing the Get Extensions tab.

Can't you select one of the other available choices like Extensions in the left panel?

cor-el said

Sounds that you are viewing the Get Extensions tab. Can't you select one of the other available choices like Extensions in the left panel?

No, that's the issue -- when the window opens it locks up trying to load something, which I presume is the top item in the left hand panel.

Will try safe mode...

Safe Mode allows me to see the Extensions choice...

Wish the display would allow them to be listed in chronological order of installation, so I could determine the newest ones.

James said

VerizonSucks said

need to use Firefox 52.0.1 (64 bit) since its the last that works with OSX 10.11.6 El Capitan.

Current Firefox Releases requires OS X 10.9 or later so Firefox 61.0.2 should work. https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/61.0.2/system-requirements/

Also if you must use the old Firefox 52 at least use 52.9.0esr to be much more up to date with security and allowed stability fixes. However the legacy Firefox 52 ESR is almost EOL as of Sept 5th.

How can I install separately, without doing an "update" -- so I can try it without removing my current setup?

Might have been DuckDuckGo Plus

which made me notice -- I have several search engines in my Preferences, but there is no place to click to swap from the default.

"The search bar lets you search alternate engines directly. Choose which ones to display."

Maybe Firefox 52 esr was the last that worked with OSX 10.6.8, but I finally bit the bullet (and lost the ability to open Eudora) and then forgot to turn on updates for Firefox again?

Anyway, rather create a separate install of FF 61 before risking an update the might break something.

An excellent reason to keep an old version is so that you can use the addon DownThemAll to get stuff off pages that don't want to give it to you.

And if I upgrade, it will kill ALL my Addons -- it won't automagically replace them with Web Extensions, will it? Or at least tell me where to go to get replacements?

Is it correct that FF 57 is the one that requires Web Extensions? So I could update to FF 56 and delay having to spend hours replacing my addons ???

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/

Also discovered that you cannot use an older version after installing FF55: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/08/02/you-cannot-downgrade-firefox-55-profiles/

and with FF 63 there is a different change preventing going back to an earlier version: https://www.ghacks.net/2018/08/06/dont-downgrade-firefox-63/

Says something about being able to if you use different Profiles... And something about a stand-alone Profile Manager app that will help you to avoid effing it all up...

oh... https://www.ghacks.net/2011/08/05/how-to-create-multiple-firefox-profiles-for-specific-tasks/

I don't know if you can run multiple versions of Firefox on Mac simultaneously, or whether you are limited to one at a time.

If you want to discover the install and latest update dates for extensions, there is a way to read one of Firefox's data files; it takes a bit of doing. I don't know if there is a faster automated way (i.e., using an add-on).

Here are the two steps:

(A) Open the extensions.json file in a tab in Firefox, then (B) Run a script which translates numeric timestamps to readable dates

Load extensions.json

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
• (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Open Folder" ("Show in Finder") button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer/Finder. If Finder shows a folder with few items and highlights a folder with a partially random name (e.g., a1b2c3d4.default), double-click into that folder.

Resize/position the window so you can see the Troubleshooting Information page in the Firefox tab behind it. Then drag the extensions.json file over to the tab and drop it on the page.

Firefox will load the file and, after a few moments, display a structured view of its contents.

Insert Readable Dates

Next, open the Web Console in the lower part of the tab using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > Web Developer > Web Console
• (menu bar) Tools > Web Developer > Web Console
• (Mac) Command + option/alt + k
• (Windows) Ctrl+Shift+k

In the blank area at the bottom of the console, paste the following script and press Enter to execute it. The first time you do anything like this, the console will warn you that it's not safe to run scripts from strangers and ask you to confirm that you understand that. Then you can finally run the script.

// For Web Console on tab showing the built-in JSON viewer: 
// Add readable date after installDate and updateDate timestamps
var numlabels = document.querySelectorAll('#json-panel span.treeLabel.numberLabel');
for (var i=0; i<numlabels.length; i++){
  if (numlabels[i].textContent == 'installDate' || numlabels[i].textContent == 'updateDate'){
    var dCell = numlabels[i].parentNode.nextElementSibling;
    if (dCell.nodeName == "TD"){
      var d = new Date(parseInt(dCell.textContent));
      dCell.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', ' ' + d.toLocaleString());
    }
    else console.log('nextElementSibling fail after "' + numlabels[i].outerHTML + '"');
  }
}

Once the script has finished (it just reports "undefined" if there are no problems) you can close the Web Console.

Review Results

Within the document, you can use Find (Command+f) for defaultlocale to jump from one extension to the next, and you should see the dates shown this like:

jscher2000 said

I don't know if you can run multiple versions of Firefox on Mac simultaneously, or whether you are limited to one at a time. If you want to discover the install and latest update dates for extensions, there is a way to read one of Firefox's data files; it takes a bit of doing

Apparantly if you use a different profile, you can open them if you use a different copy if FireFox, which probably means you need to run different versions to avoid a conflict.

Yea that is complicated, but looks like not too much code to write an applet that would output all the AddOns in chronological order, for someone who knows how to do that. That would make it easier to work in Safe Mode trying to eliminate a bad one.

Hi, you should be able to run Firefox Developer Version as it has a compatibility mode at end of install to run two versions (at least did for me on Windows) It does share your bookmarks so you would want to back them up.

Best to install on another drive.

I installed FF 52.9.0 (64-bit) & I can get the the Add-Ons so I don't have the spare time to do any better...