"TB can't update to the latest version..."

[tanstaafl]

If you downloaded the setup program for 102 from thunderbird.net and installed it you had automated access to all updates for 102. Earlier versions had to wait until they decided 102 was mature enough for wide spread use before they'd make updates available. They announced on the 15th that updates for 91 to 102 would start soon but I don't know if it started yet. They also typically do that cautiously letting only certain geographic regions update, and verifying there were no serious problems for a couple of days before making it available to everybody.

I suggest you wait. But if you need to update now to solve a annoying problem just download the setup program from thunderbird.net and install it over the existing installation. That avoids the "dedicated profile per installation" problem you'd run into if you installed it elsewhere.

[Kent Slimm]

Happy to wait. Because 102 started rolling out quite awhile ago (with many people writing about it on this forum), and because my other computer automatically got the update close to a month ago, I assumed it had already been deemed "mature" enough for general distribution and therefore that something was preventing my laptop from getting what everyone else had already been offered. But if you're confident that's not true, I'll keep waiting.

[wsmwk]

You say you are on v91.10.0, correct? If you have updates enabled, you should be offered version 91.12.0, not version 102.

Note, creating a new profile will not help with update issues.

FWIW, On Tuesday 8/16 we re-enabled manual updates to version 102. But still, you should be offered 91.12.0.

[Kent Slimm]

@wsmwk: Interesting. I still have 91.10.0 and I'm still being told I'm up to date (even though I'm supposedly "on the release channel") when I try to update. Why? And if v. 102 is only being offered as a manual update, as you say, why did I get it automatically (~ a month ago) on my other computer? Am I wrong to suspect that when I finally figure out what's preventing me from getting 91.12 and remove that obstacle, I'll immediately be offered v. 102?

Meanwhile, I still get that error message (the one that led me to start this thread) every single day.

I'm tempted to download a fresh copy of TB, but I dread having to transfer tens of thousands of archived messages in a dozen nested folders via a thumb drive, a huge project normally limited to when I buy a new computer.

[tanstaafl]

102.* is no longer just available as a manual download or an update to an existing 102.* installation.

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/ ... /en-US/has the setup program for en-us windows x64 of Thunderbird 91.13.0 if you'd prefer to upgrade to the latest 91.* (install it over the existing installation) and see if that will then offer you an automatic upgrade to 102.

https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thund ... easenotes/ states "Thunderbird 91.13.0 is the final release of Thunderbird 91."

Why do you think you need to transfer tens of thousands of archived messages? Install 102.* over the existing installation. The main issues are going backwards (having to use --allow-downgrades command line argument and deal with different schema for the address book), not forward as long as you install over an existing installation. If you install in a different location than you need to deal with the hassles created by the "dedicated profile per installation" feature they implemented in version 78.

[Kent Slimm]

@tanstaafl: Was your first sentence a reply to @wsmwk? Did you mean that v102 is now being offered automatically to everyone with v91 (which implies that the fact that I still haven't received it does indeed imply a problem)?

I just took your advice and manually upgraded to v91.13.0. Rather than offering an upgrade to v102, though, it's still saying I'm up to date. If that continues, and if I continue to get that daily error message, I guess you're suggesting that I manually upgrade again, this time to v102 (over my existing instllation)?

[tanstaafl]

I wasn't replying to wsmwk.

After reading your post I updated 91.12.0 to 91.13.0 by using help -> mozilla thunderbird and then pressing the button it created to update. I then did it again to upgrade to 102.2.1 . I'm configured to automatically install upgrades but it did nothing (even at this late date) until I used help -> mozilla thunderbird which typically forces the issue.

[Kent Slimm]

Sorry, I don't see how to get to "help -> mozilla thunderbird." If you mean using the dropdown menu within TB, then clicking on Help --> About Thunderbird, that doesn't work for me; it says I'm up to date even when I'm not. So where is this button that allows me to force an update (over my existing installation, rather than a fresh copy that will download and install separately)?

[tanstaafl]

Typo. I meant "About Thunderbird".

My experience is that unless there is something on your PC configured to explicitly block updates, using that menu will prompt for an update if its available for your configuration/location regardless of what you configure in tools -> settings -> updates. Go to help -> more troubleshooting information and look in the Application Basics section. About nine lines up from the bottom of it there should be Enterprise Policies Inactive if updates are enabled. That doesn't mean they're actually available, just that you're not blocking them.

Try running Thunderbird as an administrator. See
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/th ... ate-failed

[Kent Slimm]

Thanks for your new suggestions to what is basically the same issue I've had all along.
Yes, it does say "enterprise policies" are "inactive," so I guess I'm not blocking them.
And I'm pretty sure I've already been running TB as an administrator, but I went through the steps to make sure that was the case. Nothing changed.

So can I (and should I) do a manual update (over my existing installation) to v 102 in the same way that you had me do a manual update from 91.10 to 91.13? If so, how?

[tanstaafl]

Download the setup program from thunderbird.net and install it over the existing installation.

[Kent Slimm]

It wouldn't be better to download from an ftp page that has the .exe file for this specific version, as you had me do to get v91.13?

[tanstaafl]

No.

[Kent Slimm]

For anyone else who may experience this, here's what I've learned: The weird daily reminders weren't stopped by deleting directories, changing update-check policies, renaming files, or adjusting configurations. What finally resolved the problem was just updating to v102.

[Kent Slimm]

Unhappy update: After more than a week, during which time I made no changes to TB (or any relevant changes that I can recall to my computer in general - except for mandatory Windows 10 updates), the problem has returned. I'm now getting these error messages again, despite having updated to 102.2.1.