Cannot change release channel

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david835
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Joined: May 5th, 2014, 6:06 am

Cannot change release channel

Post by david835 »

At some time in the past, I got myself on the Thunderbird Beta release channel (to avoid a big bug that was recently fixed).

I have changed the Options>Advanced>Config Editor>app.update.channel value to "release" to return to the release channel.

But I am still getting notice after notice for the Beta channel!

Something is wrong with this user interface. It makes Thunderbird harder to use, with no obvious solution (yes, I searched the Web several times).

Note again: Thunderbird, not Firefox.

Please help!
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tanstaafl
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Re: Cannot change release channel

Post by tanstaafl »

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Software_Upda ... -_Advanced

I believe its specified in C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\defaults\pref\channel-prefs.js . What you see in the config editor is based on that. However, you can't change it using the config editor since that only modifies prefs.js. If you uninstall Thunderbird and then install the release build it will install a copy of that file that specifies its using the release channel. . Or you could edit the app.update.channel setting in channel-prefs.js using a text editor (NOT a word processor).
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James
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Re: Cannot change release channel

Post by James »

The app.update.channel is just to show what channel you are on as changing it in about:config has no effect. You can change channel in channel-prefs.js file but it is not as if you will then get a update from a Beta build going backwards to current Release. It is for say going from Release to Beta.

To get back to Release channel just install the current Release https://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/all
david835
Posts: 21
Joined: May 5th, 2014, 6:06 am

Re: Cannot change release channel

Post by david835 »

Thank you. That file contains a line "pref("app.update.channel", "beta");". I have closed TB and changed it to pref("app.update.channel", "release"); using NoteTab Pro in DOS/Windows file format.

Are all the developers happy with this random method of locating preferences? Do the developers really think that ordinary email users can find this source folder and then find this preference file? It was hard enough finding the config editor, but for the config editor not to work is simply not acceptable. I must call that a bug, in spite of the workaround you gave of re-installing TB (what user is not going to fear losing mail folders?). There are times when any user of an email program might need to change its release channel. There should be a more user-friendly way to do this.

Could someone please pass this on to the suggestion forum? I've run way over my budgeted time on this little gem of a problem.

And preferences should be stored in the read/write profile, with all the other preference files, not in the executable folder, IMO. I wasn't able to save that file directly, because of the access restriction on writing data into that folder.

Best of luck to all, and thanks, Moderator, for the helpful and correct answer.
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WaltS48
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Re: Cannot change release channel

Post by WaltS48 »

When I clanged that pref to "release" and checked for updates using Thunderbird 44.0b1, it told me Thunderbird was up to date.

What version are you now using?
Linux Desktop - AMD Athlon(tm) II X3 455 3.3GHz | 8.0GB RAM | GeForce GT 630
Windows Notebook - AMD A8 7410 2.2GHz | 6.0GB RAM | AMD Radeon R5
wsmwk
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Re: Cannot change release channel

Post by wsmwk »

david835 wrote:Thank you. That file contains a line "pref("app.update.channel", "beta");". I have closed TB and changed it to pref("app.update.channel", "release"); using NoteTab Pro in DOS/Windows file format.

Are all the developers happy with this random method of locating preferences? Do the developers really think that ordinary email users can find this source folder and then find this preference file? It was hard enough finding the config editor, but for the config editor not to work is simply not acceptable. I must call that a bug, in spite of the workaround you gave of re-installing TB (what user is not going to fear losing mail folders?). There are times when any user of an email program might need to change its release channel. There should be a more user-friendly way to do this.
These settings are not intended for the average user. And changing this setting does NOT change the channel that gets *installed*. The only way get on a different release channel is to *install* it.

Release channel download link is easy to remember as http://getthunderbird.com/
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James
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Re: Cannot change release channel

Post by James »

You change it in channel-prefs.js if you are going up a channel. Where you cannot change it is in about:config or the user.js file.
pbfoo
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Re: Cannot change release channel

Post by pbfoo »

According to this https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbi ... nizations/ release and esr are now the same.
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James
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Re: Cannot change release channel

Post by James »

pbfoo wrote:According to this https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbi ... nizations/ release and esr are now the same.
Been like that for five years now since Thunderbird 17.0 as you can see the major Releases every seven versions since 17.0. https://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/

Thunderbird has development channels besides the Release.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Cannot change release channel

Post by DanRaisch »

Locking this due to the age of the original posts.
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