Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

User Help for Seamonkey and Mozilla Suite
jpChris
Posts: 164
Joined: December 14th, 2006, 3:21 pm
Location: North Hollyweird, CA

Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by jpChris »

Hi all,

What's the most stable version of SeaMonkey? I'm running 1.1.18 now and downloaded 2.5 about a week ago. However, when I clicked Properties, it said, "v. 4.42".

Is 2.5 a stable version and why does it say 4.42?

(p.s. Why is there an ad to download Google Chrome on this site? :-k
rsx11m
Moderator
Posts: 14404
Joined: May 3rd, 2007, 7:40 am
Location: US

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by rsx11m »

SeaMonkey 1.1.x is not longer supported (neither is 2.0.x) and subject to various known vulnerabilities. You've downloaded the correct current version (SM 2.5), but I don't know where the "4.42" information is coming from or which Properties dialog you've found it.

While a direct migration from 1.1.18 to the current version should work, a recommendation elsewhere was to first get the latest 2.0.x version to take care of the profile migration (i.e., your 1.1.18 settings and messages are copied into a new format used in 2.x, leaving your old 1.x profile intact). From there, after having run 2.0.14 at least once for all users and profiles, update to 2.5 to get to the current version.

Either way, making a backup of your profile is definitely recommended before starting anything. You can either manually copy the C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Mozilla folder to a secure location, or use a utility like MozBackup to create a single backup file.

(the ads on this forum are for financing this site and come from Google, thus occasionally an ad from the "competition" shows up; the site's admin doesn't have a fine-grained control about which ads are allowed to appear.)
jpChris
Posts: 164
Joined: December 14th, 2006, 3:21 pm
Location: North Hollyweird, CA

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by jpChris »

Hi rsx,

Thanks for the info. Here's my present setup: I have SeaMonkey installed on my D\ drive and I have the Mozilla folder (profiles\mail) also on the D\ drive, but it's separate (easier for me to backup). I try to keep as little on the C\ drive as possible.

I downloaded v. 2.5 and I'd like to know the easiest way to transition to it. Do I uninstall 1.8 first? Or, just install 2.5? What about my Mozilla Mail\Profiles folder? Are there different extensions I need to change (e.g. bookmarks, Inbox, etc.)? What else do I need to know to update and migrate?
rsx11m
Moderator
Posts: 14404
Joined: May 3rd, 2007, 7:40 am
Location: US

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by rsx11m »

So, your original 1.x profile is on C:\ but you relocated the mail folders to D:\, do I understand that correctly? Installing 2.0.14 or 2.5 in a custom location shouldn't be a problem during the installation (select "Custom" to proceed to that choice), however definitely uninstall the current version especially if it's going to the same location on D:\.

On profile migration, SeaMonkey 2.x should automatically copy and adjust the 1.x profile data on first run. Now, if you have a custom mail location it might just copy that into the regular mail folders on C:\Documents and Settings\...\Mozilla\SeaMonkey\...\Mail and thus copy it. If that happens, you'll have to change "Local Directory" in Edit > Mail & News Account Settings > (account) > Server Settings back to the original location and then remove the redundant copy again from the C:\ drive (I'm not quite sure how the migration behaves in such cases). Address Books and Bookmarks should migrate as usual from the 1.x to the 2.x profile. Thus, ideally you won't have anything specific to do for this case.
jpChris
Posts: 164
Joined: December 14th, 2006, 3:21 pm
Location: North Hollyweird, CA

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by jpChris »

Hi rsx,
So, your original 1.x profile is on C:\ but you relocated the mail folders to D:\, do I understand that correctly?

Almost correct: the 1.x Profile was on C ( think — it's been so long since I did it) and I moved it.

Bear with me for a sec, please; You said to uninstall 1.x first and then install 2.5. Will the profile (x0x0x0x0x0.slt folder) folder get migrated to the new SM and Mozilla on my D:\, along with my bookmarks, etc.? Should I create a new Profile on 2.5?

Also, when I uninstall from Add\Rem Progs, it always asks if I want to delete the leftover folders, too. Should I uninstall those also?

I've already backed up both SM and Mozilla so when it goes south, I'm covered.
rsx11m
Moderator
Posts: 14404
Joined: May 3rd, 2007, 7:40 am
Location: US

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by rsx11m »

Again, I'm not sure how it works with a custom installation with the profile on a different drive, but SeaMonkey 2.x should find the old 1.x profile when you first start it up, the create a new one. It may be putting the migrated copy (or parts thereof) to the default location of the profile (that would be the C:\ drive) and you'd need to move it again after that migration.

The Profile Manager / Custom Profile Location and Moving your profile folder articles have some instructions how to use the profile manager for that purpose.
jpChris
Posts: 164
Joined: December 14th, 2006, 3:21 pm
Location: North Hollyweird, CA

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by jpChris »

OK, installed in a separate folder (SeaMonkey2 - clever, huh) and it seems to be working. The "new profile" is on C:\D & S\Adm\AppData\Mozilla\SeaMonkey\Profiles\xxxxxx.default. I'll try to dope out how to move it over to the D:\ drive some other time.

However, there's one thing that I can't get past: Every time I try to go somewhere I get, "Please enter the master password for software security device." No matter what I put in the box, it doesn't take and I have to click Cancel; then it goes on OK.

Why is it asking for a password and then not accepting it? How do I get rid of it?

Also, I don't want "tabbed browsing". When I click the "X" on the tab bar, SM closes.
rsx11m
Moderator
Posts: 14404
Joined: May 3rd, 2007, 7:40 am
Location: US

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by rsx11m »

Looks like you've been bitten by bug 506638 with some setting not having migrated well. If you don't mind possibly losing stored passwords, renaming the file "key3.db" in the new 2.x profile seems to resolve the issue per comment #65 in that bug report. There are also some instructions to use the Error Console to reset the passwords in the Mozilla Thunderbird Knowledge Base (that's Tools > Web Development > Error Console in SeaMonkey). Hope that this will do the trick.
jpChris
Posts: 164
Joined: December 14th, 2006, 3:21 pm
Location: North Hollyweird, CA

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by jpChris »

If you don't mind possibly losing stored passwords, renaming the file "key3.db" in the new 2.x profile seems to resolve the issue per comment #65 in that bug report.

But I do mind losing my passwords!

As far as the Error Console goes, there's, like, a hundred listings there. I followed instructions with the "openDialog("chrome://pippki/content/resetpassword.xul" and I got some kind of error at the bottom.

Also, how do I get rid of the Tabbed Browsing stuff. I don't want tabs.
Last edited by jpChris on December 3rd, 2011, 9:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
rsx11m
Moderator
Posts: 14404
Joined: May 3rd, 2007, 7:40 am
Location: US

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by rsx11m »

Well, I can't tell you more than is written in the bug report and the article, unfortunately.

The settings for tab usage are in Edit > Preferences > Browser > Tabbed Browsing and Link Behavior. Check "Hide the tab bar when only one tab is open" and uncheck "Switch to new tabs opened from links". In "Link Behavior" underneath, select "window" options where it says "tabs" right now. This should avoid most if not all tabbed-browsing features.
jpChris
Posts: 164
Joined: December 14th, 2006, 3:21 pm
Location: North Hollyweird, CA

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by jpChris »

Hi rsx,

OK, went to Error Console and pasted in the above "opendialog . . .); also I "cloaked" the key3.db and so far, I haven't had to reenter any passwords. Now it behaves like SM 1.1.18 did. =D>
However, it acts like IE in that I have to type in the first letter of my login name before it completes. Is there anyway to have it AutoComplete when I go to a site and click Logon like SM1.x did?

I followed your instructions as far as untabbing and, again, so far there's no tabs and I can open as many browser windows or follow as many links as I want without the tabs! =D> (again!)

So, the only remaining "thing" (at this point) is: Is there a SM 1.x "skin" for 2.5? I checked but I didn't see anything that looked line the Modern Theme.

Oh, and one final thing: Where's the PlugIn folder in SM???
rsx11m
Moderator
Posts: 14404
Joined: May 3rd, 2007, 7:40 am
Location: US

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by rsx11m »

Glad to hear that most of the issues are resolved. The "Modern" theme is still available in the current releases, only the default theme has been given an overhaul. Try View > Apply Theme > SeaMonkey Modern and restart to get that theme (I'd expect it to have migrated from your 1.1.18 profile, but maybe not). If you are looking for the "Classic" theme, have a look at Classic Default which retained the Mozilla Suite icons.

Forms: With SM 2.0, the form management was switched from the old code to what Firefox's Toolkit has, which may require some getting used to. Sometimes you can just click into a form field and hit the cursor-down key to get a list of choices, or you may need to type at least one character. Suggestions are based on the field name only, not on the domain. Thus, don't be surprised if for common fields (like "username") you get also suggestions from completely unrelated sites. In Tools > Data Manager > Form Data, you can see a list of stored field names and values.

Plugin folder: There are a couple of system-global plugin folders which are searched for (don't have a list, on Windows this may be coming from the registry), and then there is an optional "plugins" folder in the installation (i.e., C:\Program Files\SeaMonkey\plugins by default, your respective D:\ drive location for the custom installation) where *.dll and *.jar files of non-global plugins are looked for.
jpChris
Posts: 164
Joined: December 14th, 2006, 3:21 pm
Location: North Hollyweird, CA

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by jpChris »

Hi rsx,

I never would have thought to look in "View" to change the skin. I'd been looking in Edit\Prefs like SM 1.x

Still haven't found any plugins folder anywhere except SM 1.x and Netscape. Oh, well.

Also, I noticed that I have the (random number string).s file, but there's no ".W" file like SM 1.x do I need to import\copy\paste it or do nothing?

Also, I don't like the way I have to save bookmarks. Should I start a new thread?

I had my first crash today and I was amazed! I got the "Sorry . . " window with the report this to Moz, and then when I clicked to send the error report, SM restarted and all the web pages I had open came back! I was listening to streaming radio at the time and it restarted, along with another radio station (the same one) opened — so I had the same station on twice.
Yegg57
Posts: 5
Joined: November 25th, 2011, 10:11 pm

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by Yegg57 »

I am having stability issues as well...

I can't stop SeaMonkey from Crashing and as I use it for my primary e-mail program its very annoying.

Tonights info from windows is: (anybody have a clue what this means or how to fix?)

Description:
A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: AppHangB1
Application Name: seamonkey.exe
Application Version: 8.0.1.4342
Application Timestamp: 4eca752f
Hang Signature: 8f39
Hang Type: 0
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Hang Signature 1: 8f39b4c0e8741464a888ee7a0e22d26c
Additional Hang Signature 2: 9df4
Additional Hang Signature 3: 9df4aecc2d5611eccdf3475eca7a18eb
Additional Hang Signature 4: 8f39
Additional Hang Signature 5: 8f39b4c0e8741464a888ee7a0e22d26c
Additional Hang Signature 6: 9df4
Additional Hang Signature 7: 9df4aecc2d5611eccdf3475eca7a18eb

Read our privacy statement online:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid= ... cid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt
rsx11m
Moderator
Posts: 14404
Joined: May 3rd, 2007, 7:40 am
Location: US

Re: Which version of SeaMonkey is stable?

Post by rsx11m »

jpChris wrote:I never would have thought to look in "View" to change the skin. I'd been looking in Edit\Prefs like SM 1.x

Yes, menus and settings dialogs have changed quite a bit, you could have also switched it using Tools > Add-ons Manager > Appearance.

Still haven't found any plugins folder anywhere except SM 1.x and Netscape. Oh, well.

Is anything listed in Tools > Add-ons Manager > Plugins, or when you type about:plugins into the location bar (that's where you usually type in web addresses, it should provide you a list of all active plugins and their associations).

Also, I noticed that I have the (random number string).s file, but there's no ".W" file like SM 1.x do I need to import\copy\paste it or do nothing?

Are you missing anything from the old profile? I think that's password/security stuff and may be hosted in a different file now. If everything works fine, no need to worry.

Also, I don't like the way I have to save bookmarks. Should I start a new thread?

Plenty of threads on the bookmarking system (which was "inherited" from Firefox as well along with their "places" backend for the history), you can look around first to see if any suggestions there makes whatever bothers you easier to handle.

I had my first crash today and I was amazed! I got the "Sorry . . " [...] I was listening to streaming radio at the time and it restarted, along with another radio station (the same one) opened — so I had the same station on twice.

If the music works, unless it's an OGG-encoded audio stream, it appears that at least that plugin seems to work, so the system isn't completely broken. Crashes due to plugins can happen, and I'm not sure if out-of-process plugin handling has been ported for SeaMonkey yet (which is supposed to prevent a crashing or hanging plugin from affecting the entire application). Of course, there are other causes for an application to crash or hang.

BTW: Session restore after a crash is a new feature. You can also activate it for regular close/restart in Edit > Preferences > Browser > set "Display on [Browser Startup]" to "Restore Previous Session".

You should see a crash report listed when typing about:crashes into the location bar. If you see a "bp-..." link, click on it to get to the crash report you've transmitted, and it may have been automatically cross-references to a known bug already. Those Windows reports on crashes or hangs usually aren't helpful.
Post Reply