new bookmarks added don't appear anymore when Firefox is restarted
Hello everybody,
I have a Mac OS X Lion server which runs an OpenDirectory as master.
About 50 clients connect to this server, also with Mac OS X Lion installed on each client.
Each User has his Homedir on the server, and Firefox is installed on each client.
The problem is : if a client adds a bookmark in Firefox, when Firefox is restarted, the new bookmark is not there anymore.
Firefox can retreive its bookmarks when the client logs in with a local user on the client.
So, I thought it was a problem with rights on Homedir, but they are the same on the local user as on the Opendirectory user.
So I looked farther in fireFox sqlite databases, and I saw this after installing Sqlite Manager Firefox extension :
I opened Firefox and Sqlite Manager and saw that :
when a bookmark is added, moz_bookmarks table from places.sqlite database receives a new record ; but when Firefox is stopped, either modification are not committed, or table reverts in its preceeding state, because, when Firefox is restarted, the new bookmark is not there.
So, I retried to add a new bookmark, and from Sqlite Manager, i forced changes committing through 'commit;' command ; and yet, when I stopped and restarted Firefox, The new bookmark was here !
All Replies (10)
Hi lgentis, did you check that they are always using the same profile. IIRC we recently made a change that won't allow people to open a second window with the same profile, when the -remote option was used.
Hi Kadir, thanks for your answer
Yes, it's allways the same profile ; there's only one, it's on the server
What do you mean with "-remote option" ?
The -remote flag when starting Firefox let's you access your profile from a remote location.
But what do you mean with "there's only one"? Are all users using the same profile? Or do they all have one profile each?
They have all their own profiles, and it's on the server.
I just wanted to say that they allways and only use their own profile (through AFP protocol)
I also made tests on a test client machine, and I confirm the problem.
I also tried to define toolkit.storage.synchronous to 2 in Firefox advanced config (where data are written to disk immediately), without success.
Are other files in that profile updated when Firefox is closed?
Did you try to delete the places files in case that is a problem with the file?
Hi cor-el,
I already tried your two links from Mozilla support without success ; I also to tried to delete places.sqlite and even entire profile : in these cases, curiously, it is possible to add a new bookmark, restart Firefox and retrieve the new bookmark, but only once ! If we try yet to add another bookmark, it is not here when Firefox is restarted.
Here is a copy of 'ls -l' in profile during the process of adding a new bookmark. (excuse me for editing format, but I guess you already know what file to look at)
After adding a new bookmark :
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 425984 3 mai 15:28 addons.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 21182 3 mai 15:30 blocklist.xml
drwx------@ 6 test2 staff 264 4 mai 09:17 bookmarkbackups
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 98304 4 mai 09:32 cert8.db
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 98304 3 mai 15:22 chromeappsstore.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 201 2 mai 11:51 compatibility.ini
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 229376 30 avr 15:29 content-prefs.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 524288 4 mai 09:33 cookies.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 65536 30 avr 15:30 downloads.sqlite
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 test2 staff 264 2 mai 11:36 extensions
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 335 2 mai 11:47 extensions.ini
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 425984 3 mai 15:28 extensions.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 163840 4 mai 09:33 formhistory.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 32768 4 mai 09:32 key3.db
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 452 2 mai 11:22 localstore-safe.rdf
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 2391 4 mai 09:32 localstore.rdf
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 3225 30 avr 15:38 mimeTypes.rdf
drwx------@ 2 test2 staff 264 30 avr 15:29 minidumps
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 65536 3 mai 15:37 permissions.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 10485760 4 mai 09:33 places.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 623256 4 mai 09:33 places.sqlite-journal
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 6271 2 mai 14:09 pluginreg.dat
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 4652 4 mai 09:33 prefs.js
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 12063 30 avr 16:33 search.json
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 65536 30 avr 16:33 search.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 32768 30 avr 15:29 secmod.db
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 757 4 mai 09:33 sessionstore.bak
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 9829 4 mai 09:33 sessionstore.js
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 294912 2 mai 16:36 signons.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 154 4 mai 09:33 urlclassifierkey3.txt
drwxr-xr-x@ 5 test2 staff 264 30 avr 16:41 weave
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 98304 3 mai 15:57 webappsstore.sqlite
After stopping FireFox :
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 425984 3 mai 15:28 addons.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 21182 3 mai 15:30 blocklist.xml
drwx------@ 6 test2 staff 264 4 mai 09:17 bookmarkbackups
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 98304 4 mai 09:34 cert8.db
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 98304 3 mai 15:22 chromeappsstore.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 201 2 mai 11:51 compatibility.ini
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 229376 30 avr 15:29 content-prefs.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 524288 4 mai 09:33 cookies.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 65536 30 avr 15:30 downloads.sqlite
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 test2 staff 264 2 mai 11:36 extensions
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 335 2 mai 11:47 extensions.ini
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 425984 3 mai 15:28 extensions.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 163840 4 mai 09:33 formhistory.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 32768 4 mai 09:34 key3.db
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 452 2 mai 11:22 localstore-safe.rdf
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 2217 4 mai 09:34 localstore.rdf
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 3225 30 avr 15:38 mimeTypes.rdf
drwx------@ 2 test2 staff 264 30 avr 15:29 minidumps
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 65536 3 mai 15:37 permissions.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 10485760 4 mai 09:33 places.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 6271 2 mai 14:09 pluginreg.dat
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 4652 4 mai 09:34 prefs.js
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 12063 30 avr 16:33 search.json
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 65536 30 avr 16:33 search.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 32768 30 avr 15:29 secmod.db
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 757 4 mai 09:33 sessionstore.bak
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 2222 4 mai 09:34 sessionstore.js
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 294912 2 mai 16:36 signons.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 154 4 mai 09:33 urlclassifierkey3.txt
drwxr-xr-x@ 5 test2 staff 264 30 avr 16:41 weave
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 98304 3 mai 15:57 webappsstore.sqlite
After starting Firefox again (new bookmark added above is not here anymore) :
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 425984 3 mai 15:28 addons.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 21182 3 mai 15:30 blocklist.xml
drwx------@ 6 test2 staff 264 4 mai 09:17 bookmarkbackups
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 98304 4 mai 09:34 cert8.db
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 98304 3 mai 15:22 chromeappsstore.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 201 2 mai 11:51 compatibility.ini
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 229376 30 avr 15:29 content-prefs.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 524288 4 mai 09:33 cookies.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 65536 30 avr 15:30 downloads.sqlite
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 test2 staff 264 2 mai 11:36 extensions
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 335 2 mai 11:47 extensions.ini
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 425984 3 mai 15:28 extensions.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 163840 4 mai 09:33 formhistory.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 32768 4 mai 09:34 key3.db
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 452 2 mai 11:22 localstore-safe.rdf
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 2217 4 mai 09:34 localstore.rdf
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 3225 30 avr 15:38 mimeTypes.rdf
drwx------@ 2 test2 staff 264 30 avr 15:29 minidumps
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 65536 3 mai 15:37 permissions.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 10485760 4 mai 09:33 places.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 6271 2 mai 14:09 pluginreg.dat
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 4652 4 mai 09:34 prefs.js
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 12063 30 avr 16:33 search.json
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 65536 30 avr 16:33 search.sqlite
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 32768 30 avr 15:29 secmod.db
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 2222 4 mai 09:34 sessionstore.bak
-rw-------@ 1 test2 staff 2999 4 mai 09:34 sessionstore.js
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 294912 2 mai 16:36 signons.sqlite
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 154 4 mai 09:34 urlclassifierkey3.txt
drwxr-xr-x@ 5 test2 staff 264 30 avr 16:41 weave
-rw-r--r--@ 1 test2 staff 98304 3 mai 15:57 webappsstore.sqlite
Okulungisiwe ngu lgentis
Finally, I found that the problem was related to places.sqlite-journal file.
When a change occurs during a Firefox session, say adding a new bookmark, a file named places.sqlite-journal is created, which, as I understand, is a kind of buffer containing all changes that will be committed to database.
I observed that this file normally stays less than one second, then is deleted, probably its content is committed to database. In this case, if we add a new bookmark, for example, it is registered to database and can be retrieved when Firefox is restarted.
But sometimes, and I don't know when and why, this temporary file stays in place, and in this case, any change made is not committed to database when Firefox is stopped.
lgentis, are any other files modified though? Like the passwords file or the history file etc? Could it be that Firefox is not started with the necessary rights to overwrite those files?
When Firefox is stopped, cert8.db and key3.db are also modified. As far as I know, history is in places.sqlite.
You can see in my post that after adding a new bookmark, places.sqlite time is 09:33, and there's a places.sqlite-journal file stuck here, which I think is not normal. After stopping Firefox, places.sqlite-journal file has disappeared, but places.sqlite time is allways 09:33, so it was not updated.
What passwords file are you talking about ?
Maybe try to reset the places.sqlite database by removing all places.sqlite files.