Brain dead question: How to manual update Firefox using MAR

[concerned807]

Please bear with me...I am stuck and brain-dead...

Firefox's auto-update feature has never worked for me. I wanna manual update (patch) Firefox 1.5.0.8 to 1.5.09, by using the MAR file. To know the howto I searched MozillaZine Wiki and the forums. I found Wiki article and read it 3 times but just could not figure out what commends I really want to use. BTW Firefox update under Linux was main OS discussed in that ariticle.

Anyone who has done this job and/or expert in the use of commands, please kindly advise. Would appreciate greatly step-by-step instructions - I AM brain dead:shoot:

Questions:
1. What specific commands do I need to use under Windows XP? I tried these under Command Prompt, they did not seem to work.
$ cd firefox
$ ../firefox-update/updater ../firefox-update 0
2. In the below article, "updater" is mentioned. Is this "updater" the same as MAR file itself. I am looking at it on Mozilla FTP right now. "firefox-1.5.0.8-1.5.0.9.partial.mar", is this?

Software Update:Manually Installing a MAR file

Overview

This document explains how to manually apply a MAR file to an existing Firefox installation to update it. This is useful in case you wish to patch Firefox without running Firefox itself.


Example

Assuming that you have a 2005-09-20-05 1.8-branch build of Firefox for Linux installed on your system, download firefox-1.4.en-US.linux-i686.partial.2005092005-2005092105.mar and rename it update.mar.

Make a working directory for the updater alongside your copy of Firefox. For example, on my system I have Firefox installed in a directory named firefox, and I've created a working directory alongside it called firefox-update. Place update.mar into the firefox-update directory and copy firefox/updater into this directory as well. Then run the following commands to update your copy of Firefox:

$ cd firefox
$ ../firefox-update/updater ../firefox-update 0

This will have the effect of applying the update. When this command returns look in the firefox-update directory for two files: update.status and update.log. If the update was applied successfully, then update.status will contain the text "succeeded". If it does not indicate success, then the update.log file may be consulted to figure out at what step the update failed. A failed update should leave the original Firefox directory intact.

Nearly the same steps described for Linux apply for the Windows build. The only difference is that the updater executable is named updater.exe instead.

Source: http://wiki.mozilla.org/Software_Update ... a_MAR_file

[smsmith]

See if this post shines any light for you:
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 97#2659297

[concerned807]

See if this post shines any light for you:
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 97#2659297

That post by DAC324 did put me on the right track. Following the steps given by DAC324 however, I haven't been able to manual update yet - getting this error. I must have overlooked something real simple...

Update.log: failed: 6
calling QuitProgressUI
Update status: failed: 6

What I tried so far:
1. Download partial update file
In this case, "firefox-1.5.0.8-1.5.0.9.partial.mar"
2. Rename and save the download as "update.mar" into my Firefox installation.
In this case, "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\updates"
3. Copy these into the above directory,
- updater.exe
- updater.ini
4. Run Command Prompt, and type and enter,
cd C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
updates\updater updates 0

[Swami]

Updater.exe and updater.ini should go into the updates subfolder:
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\updates\0\ where 0 is the name of the updates subfolder.
I haven't tried it, but that is from the instructions by DAC324.

[dickvl]

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 87#2525087
I use a .bat file in the folder were I put the updater files

Code: Select all

cd "c:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
..\fx20_update\updater ..\fx20_update 0

(copy and paste so you do not miss the spaces)

[concerned807]

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=2525087#2525087
I use a .bat file in the folder were I put the updater files

Code: Select all

cd "c:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox"
..\fx20_update\updater ..\fx20_update 0

(copy and paste so you do not miss the spaces)

I like the BAT file idea.

I followed exactly what you advised in the other thread, but I am still getting this error in update log. What am I doing wrong?

Code: Select all

Update error: 
Update.log: failed: 6
calling QuitProgressUI
Update status: failed: 6

Your instructions I followed:

Download update MAR file - "firefox-1.5.0.8-1.5.0.9.partial.mar"

Put these filese in a folder (eg. C:\Program Files\firefox_update):
update.mar (the renamed .mar file)
updater.exe (copy from the Fx program folder)
updater.ini (idem)

If you put the files in a folder called firefox_update then you can use this in the batch file:
cd "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox" (the Fx installation folder)
..\firefox_update\updater.exe ..\firefox_update 0 (command to run the updater)
Leave out my comments between "()".

Put the batch file (eg. update.bat) in the update folder (firefox_update) and start the batch file.
You can check the update.log file for errors.

[dickvl]

These are the last four lines in my log file for the Fx 1.5.0.9 update:
FINISH REMOVE uninstall/UninstallFirefox.exe
FINISH REMOVE uninstall/UninstallDeerPark.exe
succeeded
calling QuitProgressUI

So maybe only closing the updater and doing some cleanup fails for you and the update has been done completely.
I've been using this manual update for all Fx 1.5 and Fx 2.0 versions and never had any problems.
You can always install the full Fx 1.5.0.9 version if you want to be sure.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html

[concerned807]

Thanks for the follow-up dickvl. Your method of using a BAT file to automate the Firefox update patching process makes a great deal of sense to me. I want to pursue it a bit further.

The below is the exact and complete content of my BAT file made based on your suggestions. Please kindly confirm the content is correct. I will look into this further.

Although I am unsure if the quotation marks and the dots (..) should be there in the BAT file, as you suggested I just copied and pasted them w/o any modification.

Code: Select all

cd "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
..\firefox_update\updater.exe ..\firefox_update 0

A bit of recap......My Firefox installation directory is, "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox". And I put these 3 files in a folder called, "C:\Program Files\firefox_update". Then I ran the BAT file inside that "firefox_update" folder , although w/o success.

3 files in "C:\Program Files\firefox_update"
update.mar (downloaded and renamed .mar file)
updater.exe (copied from the Firefox program folder)
updater.ini (idem)


Again thanks!

[dickvl]

That looks ok to me and otherwise windows or the updater would complain about files not found.
Did you check the update.log file for errors?
You can try to disable AV software during the update.

[concerned807]

Success!
I got my Firefox manually updated 1508->1509 using dickvl's BAT file method.
Big thanks to dickvl!

Man, I am happy!

What I didn't do right before was...
I should have had to rename the downloaded Firefox partial update MAR file to, "update" not "update.mar". Yes, with no extension just name it as "update".

My manual update processes based on dickvl's BAT file method:
1. Downloaded a partial Firefox update MAR file
2. Created a folder called, "firefox_update" and placed it in C:\Program Files\
* My Firefox installation directory is C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
3. Renamed that downloaded MAR file as "update" and then copied it to, the firefox_update folder
4. Copied "updater.exe" and "updater.ini" from my Firefox installation directory to, the firefox_update folder
5. Created a BAT file within the firefox_update folder, based on dickvl's idea

Code: Select all

cd "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\" 
..\firefox_update\updater.exe ..\firefox_update 0

6. Executed the BAT file to manual update Firefox
7. Done!

[concerned807]

Edited......

[dickvl]

You're welcome.

Maybe windows hided/kept the original file extension and if you rename to update.mar then windows actually creates update.mar.mar.

[concerned807]

Have to dig up this old thread......

Hey dickvl! Are you still using the .BAT manual update method these days?

I just updated my Firefox (2.0.0.4 -> 2.0.0.5 then 2.0.0.6) using the .BAT method. When looking through the update.log, however I find lots of "remove failed" messages. Under the Firefox About, it does show 2.0.0.6. Still I want to double-check with you (and others), my manual updates did go well and my Firefox has been fully patched.

Second, will the .BAT manual update method work BOTH for these two update files?
e.g.
firefox-2.0.0.x-2.0.0.x.partial.mar
firefox-2.0.0.x.complete.mar

If I use the above complete update file, can I update w/o doing it sequentially (e.g. 2.0.0.4 -> 2.0.0.6)?

[concerned807]

Due to report that long log file was not displayed well on this forum and that this forum does not allow attachment, I uploaded my complete Firefox update log file to Rapidshare.com.
Hope this does not create huge hassle to anyone who would help check out.

Complete Firefox 2.0.0.5 -> 2.0.0.6 update.log
http://rapidshare.com/files/49159567/Fi ... g.rar.html

Thanks!!!

[dickvl]

Yes, I still use the bat method for updating the release versions of Firefox.

You can only use a partial update from one version to the next.
If you want to skip versions then you need the full version (either .mar or just install the smaller full .exe version).
It is possible that windows is hiding extensions and silently keeps the .mar file extension if you rename the file.
The name needs to be update.mar

Control Panel > Folder Options > View:
"Show Hidden files and folders" (check)
"Hide extensions for known file types" (uncheck)
"Hide protected system operating files" (uncheck)

Do you see any extra files in the firefox_update folder?
It looks that the updater wasn't able to remove the patch files that were extracted from the mar file, but was able to update the files in the Firefox program folder: no problems with the execute patch lines.


edit: your long post seems to have a very weird effect on my Firefox version: I only see a very small window with my post.