Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Discussion of general topics about Mozilla Firefox
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MiloShapiro
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Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by MiloShapiro »

An add-on that i use frequently (iMacros for Firefox) will not work with v56.
They are working on it but said it will probably not work until early next year.
I can live with v55 that long and have repeatedly reloaded it.
It opens, shows me on the "about firefox" that it's truly 55 and runs iMacros successfully.
All great EXCEPT...as soon as I close FF and re-open it, I'm back on v56!
I've tried setting the radio button option to "Never check for updates" several times but it doesn't help.
I also tried "Check for updates, but let you choose whether to install them", thinking I could say no. No better.
I tried adding or omitting "Use a background service to install updates" but no improvement.
Why/how is it forcing me to 56? Thank you!
Milo in San Diego
TheVisitor
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by TheVisitor »

Uninstall Mozilla Maintenance Service from add/remove programs.

You could also do a 'Custom' Install of 55 read through the dialog boxes and just uncheck 'Install Maintenance Service'

Do not verify your version with Help->about Firefox - that will trigger an update. If you want to check your version use about:support instead.
Brummelchen
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by Brummelchen »

create a second profile to upgrade and retain the current for iMacros purpose only.

as stated iMacros is only up to v55 (see version info)
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/a ... r-firefox/
seems that author has abandonned his work, no mozilla issue.

but you have also to read comments - very important
Great extension, looking forward to fix

von ShawnM am October 3, 2017 · Permanentlink

Please see their blog post: https://imacros.net/imacros-firefox-com ... -56-newer/

They are working on a new version that will work with Firefox 56 and 57+.
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MiloShapiro
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by MiloShapiro »

I'm not the most techy person so I'm not sure what creating a second profile would entail or how I'd alternate between them (or why I'd do so).
I can certainly avoid the "About" feature if just not going there would prevent this.
I just tried typing "about:support" in the URL area and it completely locked up Firefox saying "Not responding". Had to X-out of firefox and reopen it, which threw me into v56.
Tried "about:support" again in v56 and it completely locked up Firefox again. I can reinstall v55, of course, but would avoiding the About feature be enough to keep me on v55?
What a strange thing that just checking the About signals an update even if my options say not to!

Is it safe to uninstall Mozila Maintenance Service from add/remove programs?
What about after they fix iMacros and then I'd want updates to be automatic again?
And if I just avoid the "about" option, do I really need to take this step? I don't love messing with behind the scenes stuff more than I need to.

Brummelchen, I'm not sure what you mean about the author abandoning his work if they say that there should be a new version that will work with FF56 and 57.

Thank you both!
Milo in San Diego
Brummelchen
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by Brummelchen »

no need to be tech-savvy - at least almost any issues with extension sooner than later will land on the extension site.
if i have a problem with some extension my first look ist on addons.mozilla.org (short: AMO), then a fresh profile to check out my possible faults.
Is it safe to uninstall Mozila Maintenance Service from add/remove programs?
yes - but you can set that option in Firefox > Updates > disable.
same for extensions - dont update > disable. its both in firefox options dialogs!

for iMacros - first view will tell me that author has abandoned his work - stopped.
some1 else pointed out that he is working on a newer version which seems to be a webextension - otherwise he already had updated the legacy extension for firefox 56.
(legacy is not usable in firefox 57, but webextensions are usable more or less since firefox 48)
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MiloShapiro
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by MiloShapiro »

Until early October, I had direct contact with someone at iMacros who did tell me that they were working on this so I don't think it's been abandoned.
Unfortunately, when I replied to him, after years of a having a helpful insider, the email got an autoreply, saying that the email was no longer
a way to reach staff for comments and I'd have to open a trouble ticket. Sigh. I'll miss having access to him because iMacros seemed to have
some quirks on my computer and he helped me through them.

Regardless, on the top of FF, I have File/Edit/View/History/Bookmarks/Tools/Help .
So I'm not sure what you mean by Firefox > Updates > disable
Is that different than what i did, which was Tools > Options > scroll down to "FF Updates" and setting "Never check for updates (not recommended)" on?
If it's something different, please advise since the word "Disable" is not something that I see.
If you're just saying what I did in another way, it didn't work to set on "Never check for updates (not recommended)"
Milo in San Diego
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therube
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by therube »

You might not have disabled updates after (re)installing 55 until the update for 56 had already initiated, in which case you would get the update even if you had subsequently disabled updates in 55.

Disable updating in 55 (or 56).
Verify that there is no (even partially downloaded) update in the works*.
Install 55.
Verify that updates are still disabled.


* Updates would be in a place like (& this is on XP):
C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\firefox\updates\0

If there is anything (like a .mar file) within the \0\ directory, delete it.
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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MiloShapiro
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by MiloShapiro »

Before I take a look at whether i might indeed have initiated the update by checking my version upon installation,
can you help me with that last part better?

C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\firefox\updates\0

might be XP related. I'm on Win7.
There's nothing called "Documents and Settings" under C:.
There IS users and i see my user name (milo) in there, but no "Local Settings" under that.
I DO see "application data" directly under C:\Users\milo\Application Data but the only two folders under that are "Adobe" and "Microsoft".
Nothing called "Mozilla" or anything FF related.
I even searched C: for all folders named "Firefox" and none of the ones there were on chains even similar to this.
Milo in San Diego
Brummelchen
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by Brummelchen »

C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data
which is valid anytime and any windows --> %localappdata%

silly xp, yours is only valid on english windows systems.
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MiloShapiro
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by MiloShapiro »

again, i'm win7, not XP.
and as i said, under C: there's no folder called "Documents and Settings".
Since I can't show an image here, i've pasted an image of what's on C: at http://www.improventures.com/temp for you.

i don't follow the first non-quoted line of your message. I don't know what %localappdata% means.
But please look at the link I provided so we can get through that first step. Thanks!
Milo in San Diego
TheVisitor
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by TheVisitor »

MiloShapiro wrote:again, i'm win7, not XP.
and as i said, under C: there's no folder called "Documents and Settings".
Since I can't show an image here, i've pasted an image of what's on C: at http://www.improventures.com/temp for you.

i don't follow the first non-quoted line of your message. I don't know what %localappdata% means.
But please look at the link I provided so we can get through that first step. Thanks!
Win7 and up has removed docs&settings

Your profile is in path:
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default
There are also some file/folders in the AppData\Local i.e.
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default
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MiloShapiro
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by MiloShapiro »

ah, that explains why my search didn't find it. Appdata is a hidden file.
But if I drill down manually, i get get to this folder, which matches your generic one:

C:\Users\milo\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\9twpxlxe.default-1423785433624

None of the files at that level have a .mar suffix, but there's also 23 folders there.
Hoping I don't have to check all 23 of those too?

Likewise for C:\Users\milo\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\9twpxlxe.default-1423785433624 having no .mar files, but seeing 8 more folders.

Does it sound like I'm ready to roll back to 55 and just avoid the "about" option?
And then see if I can exit FF and get back in without it doing the update?
Thanks so much!
Milo in San Diego
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MiloShapiro
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Location: San Diego

Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by MiloShapiro »

The news is not good. I reloaded FF55 and i checked that iMacros worked fine so I know it loaded right. Without ever going to the "About", I then closed FF and tried to reopen it. I got a pop-up that said something like, "The previous process of Firefox has not closed yet. Do you want to close it?" I just said cancel, waited about 15 seconds, and tried again. FF opened, but iMacros failed. Sure enough, going to "About" told me I was now on FF56. And when I check settings, it still says "Never check for updates (not recommended)" so that setting never even turned off.
Milo in San Diego
TheVisitor
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by TheVisitor »

MiloShapiro wrote:The news is not good. I reloaded FF55 and i checked that iMacros worked fine so I know it loaded right. Without ever going to the "About", I then closed FF and tried to reopen it. I got a pop-up that said something like, "The previous process of Firefox has not closed yet. Do you want to close it?" I just said cancel, waited about 15 seconds, and tried again. FF opened, but iMacros failed. Sure enough, going to "About" told me I was now on FF56. And when I check settings, it still says "Never check for updates (not recommended)" so that setting never even turned off.
As I stated before... You MUST not install Mozilla Maintenance Service it runs outside of Firefox even when Firefox is closed....
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MiloShapiro
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Re: Being forced to v56 when I need to stay on v55

Post by MiloShapiro »

TheVisitor, you offered a second option of "You could also..." and I thought I had done that.
On re-read, I now understand that you said I had to choose the Custom option (something i don't think I even noticed at the time) and choose an option to "uncheck 'Install Maintenance Service'"
Let me give that a try...I like that idea better than uninstalling Mozilla Maintenance Service which sounds more permanent (unless you know better).
Milo in San Diego
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