Addressbook data loss in 102 update - howto retrieve data?

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Gone Postal
Posts: 501
Joined: December 2nd, 2008, 1:00 pm

Re: Addressbook data loss in 102 update - howto retrieve dat

Post by Gone Postal »

I run a weekly back-up routine which syncs the back-up with the source (i.e. files in the back-up which have been removed from the source are also deleted from the back-up when the process runs). I have no abook.mab.bak files in source or back-up. However, I also archive at each year end and my archive for 2021 does have abook.mab.bak.

I do not recollect deleting the abook.mab.bak file which does leave the possibility that an update of T/bird (beta channel) since 31/12/99 (or 12/31/99 depending where in the world you are) has removed the abook.mab.bak file. It does also leave the possibility that I deleted the file accidentally or have forgotten that I deliberately deleted it so I wouldn't claim that this is definitive.
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tanstaafl
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Joined: July 30th, 2003, 5:06 pm

Re: Addressbook data loss in 102 update - howto retrieve dat

Post by tanstaafl »

"Please check that you're testing on v102.2.1."

I just exported the personal address book again using 102.2.2.

The error console is at tools -> developer tools -> error console. I'm assuming you have the menu toolbar enabled. If you don't you can press the ALT key to temporarily display it. view -> toolbars -> menu bar will permanently display the menu toolbar.

Once you see the error console click on Warnings etc. as needed until only the Errors tab is highlighted. Its normal to see some errors. I see :

Uncaught TypeError: gFolderDisplay is null
get currentViewValue chrome://messenger/content/msgViewPickerOverlay.js:98
RefreshViewPopup chrome://messenger/content/msgViewPickerOverlay.js:171
RefreshAllViewPopups chrome://messenger/content/msgViewPickerOverlay.js:154
ViewPickerOnLoad chrome://messenger/content/msgViewPickerOverlay.js:293
msgViewPickerOverlay.js:98:9
filterDef is undefined QuickFilterManager.jsm:542

yet things are working okay . You want to look for any reference to the address book window or export in the list of errors
martinr
Posts: 23
Joined: April 19th, 2016, 7:14 am

Re: Addressbook data loss in 102 update - howto retrieve dat

Post by martinr »

wsmwk wrote: *.mab.bak files are not created. They would be your original address book files, simply renamed after the migrate process was completed. And Thunderbird doesn't delete them.

As for export not working, please check error console after attempting the export.
Thanks for your reply.
Okay so the *.mab.bak files only occurred after the conversion in TB version 78. I installed newly after that, so that explains, why I don't have them.
I would have expected that at any major addressbook update they would make backup files of the original addressbook, but apparently they don't.
tanstaafl wrote:You want to look for any reference to the address book window or export in the list of errors
Thanks for your explanation.
I retested exporting two of my address books and checked the error console as you described. And low an behold both showed that an error occurred.

Code: Select all

Error: Could not extract integer from "NaN-" Ical.jsm:154:13
Is there a way to roll back the automatic Thunderbird update from v102.2.1 back to 91.13.0?
I don't dare doing any more upgrades until my address book data are safely backed up to CSV, but exporting is broken in v102.2.1.
martinr
Posts: 23
Joined: April 19th, 2016, 7:14 am

Re: Addressbook data loss in 102 update - howto retrieve dat

Post by martinr »

Gone Postal wrote:I run a weekly back-up routine which syncs the back-up with the source (i.e. files in the back-up which have been removed from the source are also deleted from the back-up when the process runs). I have no abook.mab.bak files in source or back-up. However, I also archive at each year end and my archive for 2021 does have abook.mab.bak.

I do not recollect deleting the abook.mab.bak file which does leave the possibility that an update of T/bird (beta channel) since 31/12/99 (or 12/31/99 depending where in the world you are) has removed the abook.mab.bak file. It does also leave the possibility that I deleted the file accidentally or have forgotten that I deliberately deleted it so I wouldn't claim that this is definitive.
Thanks for your thorough inspection. So the abook.mab.bak might have been cleaned out. It doesn't seem to have been a recent backup of the addressbook.
I hoped the TB developers would have made a backup file before migrating to a new data model.
As a user on the automatic release update channel, I didn't see the change coming otherwise I would have backed up to CSV myself. I also do yearly backups, but my last yearly backup misses important new data, which I'm unable to backtrace now that fields are missing...
wsmwk
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Joined: December 7th, 2004, 6:52 am
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Re: Addressbook data loss in 102 update - howto retrieve dat

Post by wsmwk »

martinr wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:You want to look for any reference to the address book window or export in the list of errors
Thanks for your explanation.
I retested exporting two of my address books and checked the error console as you described. And low an behold both showed that an error occurred.

Code: Select all

Error: Could not extract integer from "NaN-" Ical.jsm:154:13
If you didn't test with 102.3.0, then you didn't test with the birthday fix, where birthdate contains "NaN".
martinr
Posts: 23
Joined: April 19th, 2016, 7:14 am

Re: Addressbook data loss in 102 update - howto retrieve dat

Post by martinr »

wsmwk wrote:
martinr wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:You want to look for any reference to the address book window or export in the list of errors
Thanks for your explanation.
I retested exporting two of my address books and checked the error console as you described. And low an behold both showed that an error occurred.

Code: Select all

Error: Could not extract integer from "NaN-" Ical.jsm:154:13
If you didn't test with 102.3.0, then you didn't test with the birthday fix, where birthdate contains "NaN".
Thanks for your reply.
I don't dare taking any more chances on doing more updates until my address book data are safely backed up to CSV.
Is there a way to roll back to Thunderbird version 91.13.0? Then I can save my data to .CSV, run a final sync to the rest of my ecosystem (which is broken now too), and use addressbook plugins to do data reconciliation. After that I'm ready to migrate to newer TB versions in a safe state.
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tanstaafl
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Joined: July 30th, 2003, 5:06 pm

Re: Addressbook data loss in 102 update - howto retrieve dat

Post by tanstaafl »

You can get the old setup program from http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/ ... s/91.13.0/ if you're using Mozilla builds rather than a package that is part of your Ubuntu distro.

Install it over the existing installation to avoid problems due to the dedicated profile per installation feature introduced in version 68. See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/de ... stallation for background.

Thunderbird 91.* will detect that some files were modified for future releases and will probably claim that it can't use the existing profile. Add a --allow-downgrade command line argument to the shortcut (or whatever you use to launch the program) BEFORE you run the older version. That tells it to ignore differences in the profile leftover from the newer version.

If that doesn't work avoid it complaining that the profile isn't compatible by going to help -> more troubleshooting information , click on the about:profiles link and use the set as default profile button to make your profile the default profile again.

However if you're planning on upgrading to 102.3.0 I think it would be simpler to just export your address books as .csv files, view them using a spreadsheet program to verify they're intact and not corrupt, and then upgrade.
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