TB fails to notice old (migrated) profile

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microcord
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Joined: March 26th, 2023, 11:06 pm

TB fails to notice old (migrated) profile

Post by microcord »

I'm having problems migrating Thunderbird from one computer (ver 78.14.0, on macOS) to another (ver. 102.9.0, downloaded from thunderbird.net, on Windows 10), via "dqclqvao.default" on an external SSD.

"Moving your profile folder - Thunderbird" http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_p ... hunderbird and "Move to a new PC" http://kb.mozillazine.org/Move_to_a_new_PC provide methods that look promising. However, whatever I try, TB ignores the content of dqclqvao.default, and instead shows me "Account setup / Setting up your existing mail address" (my back-translation from the Japanese); and this doesn't do the job.

My most recent two attempts:

1. I installed TB afresh; started TB but quickly exited; copied dqclqvao.default into Thunderbird\Profiles; used Notepad++ to edit profiles.ini to replace freshly generated k55fmd3l.default with dqclqvao.default; restarted TB -- and was given the "Account setup" tab (in addition to the tab titled something like "Home / Welcome to Mozilla Thunderbird 102.9.0": my back-translation from the Japanese).

2. I deleted TB and the content of Thunderbird\Profiles, and installed TB afresh. Looking in Thunderbird\Profiles, I saw that TB had started 72gd30r1.default (containing just one file). I copied the content of dqclqvao.default (of course not the folder, just the content of the folder) into Thunderbird\Profiles\72gd30r1.default; and started TB. This gave me the two tabs mentioned above for the previous attempt.

TB doesn't give me any error message: no file missing or corrupted; nothing. The annoyance is simply its insistence on my telling it of the existing mail address. (Experimenting with doing just that did what I'd expected: The resulting setup worked, insofar that I could then use it to send a message from the email address. But it had remembered nothing. So the migration attempt had been a complete failure.)

Probably I'm stupidly overlooking something simple. But what?
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DanRaisch
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Re: TB fails to notice old (migrated) profile

Post by DanRaisch »

1. I installed TB afresh; started TB but quickly exited; copied dqclqvao.default into Thunderbird\Profiles; used Notepad++ to edit profiles.ini to replace freshly generated k55fmd3l.default with dqclqvao.default; restarted TB -- and was given the "Account setup" tab (in addition to the tab titled something like "Home / Welcome to Mozilla Thunderbird 102.9.0": my back-translation from the Japanese).
You may be copying one level too high. After allowing Thunderbird to start and create a new profile on the target system, you want to copy the contents of the old profile directory but not that profile directory itself. In other words, if you open dqclqvao.default you will see a number of sub-directories and files in that directory. It is only those sub-directories and files that you want to copy into the new profile created on the target system, leaving the profiles.ini file alone and not trying to change the profile directory name that was newly created.
microcord
Posts: 3
Joined: March 26th, 2023, 11:06 pm

Re: TB fails to notice old (migrated) profile

Post by microcord »

@DanRaisch , I don't think I did that. But anyway, today I decided to start afresh:

● Removed all trace of the previous attempt: deleted AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird; also, using Windows Control Panel, uninstalled Mozilla Thunderbird
● Ran Thunderbird Setup 102.9.0.exe, opting for the standard S rather than a custom C version. The installation routine announced completion, and opened TB, which I promptly closed
● The TB installation had created 69rlr0je.default, empty other than for times.json, which I renamed 00_times.json (in order to preserve it but get it out of the way)
● Copied the content (471 files, of course with the directory structure intact) of the old dcqlqvao.default into 69rlr0je.default
● Started up TB. This opened two windows, one with a tab for Home and another tab asking me for details of the existing account; the other window showing https://www.thunderbird.net/ja/thunderbird/102.0/eoy/
● Closed TB. Noticed that my "new" times.json was dated 2013; renamed it to 00_standard_times.json; returned the name times.json to the file I'd inherited from the working installation on the Mac
● Restarted TB. This opened one window, with a tab for Home and another asking me for details of the existing account

Again, at no point did I get any error message, whether about missing or corrupted files, or about anything else.

"Files and folders in the profile - Thunderbird" http://kb.mozillazine.org/Files_and_fol ... hunderbird says nothing about times.json but it does warn about a directory named places.sqlite*; the old TB installation I want to access isn't cursed with this. It does have localstore.rdf, about which the MozillaZine page carries a mild warning. I'm surprised to notice that it doesn't have abook.mab, although it does have abook.mab.bak. I haven't yet gone systematically through the list of files. I suppose that I could, but whatever files are present or absent. the set of them works on an old Mac and I imagine that the problem I'm encountering with the new Lenovo is something simpler.
microcord
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Joined: March 26th, 2023, 11:06 pm

Re: TB fails to notice old (migrated) profile

Post by microcord »

If anyone is wondering: As the owner of the computer had no immediate, pressing need for it, I took a short break from Thunderbird frustration. But I knew that I had to get it working eventually. Yesterday I followed the instructions to the letter -- and all I got was the same old request to set up the details for the existing mail address. And therefore I googled for an alternative approach. Near the foot of the page ( https://hekasoft.com/hekasoft-backup-restore/ ) about "Hekasoft Backup & Restore 0.95", I found something about a "Profile Switcher" that sounded promising. Installing software merely in order to switch profiles seemed a bit silly, but of course less silly than an inability to use the desired profile. And so I installed Hekasoft Backup & Restore, went straight to its profile switcher and, as promised, "With this tool you can set your old profile as default".

Probably all that was needed was a humdrum edit with Notepad++ or similar to some .ini file, but Hekasoft B&R got the job done.
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DanRaisch
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Re: TB fails to notice old (migrated) profile

Post by DanRaisch »

Thanks for your report but selecting a profile to make default can be done using Thunderbird alone, using the command line switch http://kb.mozillazine.org/Command_line_ ... hunderbird
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