How do I reconstruct a profile?
My profile appears to be corrupted. Newly created bookmarks disappear when the session is ended and new one is started. If I create a new profile and copy the contents of the old one, the problems come with it. I've tried removing add-ons, but none seem to be the cause. Safe mode works, but that's not a long-term solution. I've reinstalled FF, but copying the profile brings the problems with it.
My latest attempt is to create a new profile and import bookmarks, creating a new places.sqlite file. I copied a variety of other files (prefs.js, extentions*, key3.db, key4.db) and so far everything still works.
There's one issue with extensions.json and extensions.sqlite. These point to the extensions directory of the old, corrupted profile. This works, but obviously is not desirable. It's easy to do a find/replace on the .json file, but without changing the the .sqlite file this breaks extensions. Fixing the .sqlite file is harder (at least for me), but do-able. Is that the right solution?
Or is there a better way to reconstruct a corrupted profile?
All Replies (20)
Let's start with; [v57+] Places Maintenance is built into Firefox.
Type about:support<enter> in the address bar.
You will find Places Database near the bottom. Press the Verify Integrity button.
When done, copy and post the results here.
Then, It’s possible that there is a problem with the file(s) that store the extensions registry.
Type about:support in the address bar and press enter.
Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To its right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.
Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder
Linux: Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Directory. To its right press the button Open Directory.
Delete all extensions* files and compatibility.ini in the Firefox profile folder to reset the extensions registry.
New files will be created when required.
After, restart Firefox.
See "Corrupt extension files":
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You will have to approve the updating one last time.
FredMcD said
Let's start with; [v57+] Places Maintenance is built into Firefox. Type about:support<enter> in the address bar. You will find Places Database near the bottom. Press the Verify Integrity button. When done, copy and post the results here.
Doesn't look good:
> Task: checkIntegrity
- Unable to check favicons.sqlite integrity: [Exception... "Could not open connection to D:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\cycvx62y.default\favicons.sqlite: 2153971713" nsresult: "0x80630001 (NS_ERROR_STORAGE_BUSY)" location: "JS frame :: resource://gre/modules/Sqlite.jsm :: openConnection/</< :: line 1080" data: no]
> Task: invalidateCaches
- The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
> Task: checkCoherence
- The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
> Task: expire
- The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
> Task: originFrecencyStats
- The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
> Task: vacuum
- The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
> Task: stats
- The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
> Task: _refreshUI
- The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
The reconstructed places.sqlite in my new profile passes all checks.
Open Firefox on the computer you want to sync. Click the menu button , and then Sign in to Sync. Click Sign in in the Connect with a Firefox Account section. Enter the email and password you used to create your new account
Dinushi Dhananjani said
Open Firefox on the computer you want to sync. Click the menu button , and then Sign in to Sync. Click Sign in in the Connect with a Firefox Account section. Enter the email and password you used to create your new account
The OP didn't mention Sync.
firefox179 said
The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
The places.sqlite file contains your History and Bookmarks. And it looks like it is corrupted.
Type about:support<enter> in the address bar.
Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To its right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.
Locate the above file. Then rename or delete it. Restart Firefox.
The browser should then create a new place.sqlite and recover your bookmarks from the backup files. Note: Your history is not backed up and will be lost.
At first blush, this appears to have solved the problem. It will take a day or two of running to be sure.
Thanks for the help.
It is best to reinstall all extensions in a new profile and avoid copying files like prefs.js and extension database files (i.e. only copy SQLite database files). Current Firefox releases only use extensions.json (replaced extensions.sqlite) and possibly extensions.ini.
You can copy files like these with Firefox closed to the current profile folder to recover specific data.
- bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
- bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
- cookies.sqlite for the Cookies
- formhistory.sqlite for saved autocomplete Form Data
- logins.json (passwords) and key4.db (58+) or key3.db (57 and older) (decryption key) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
if you only have key3.db then make sure to remove an existing key4.db - cert9.db (58+) or cert8.db (57 and older) for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
if you only have cert8.db then make sure to remove an existing cert9.db - persdict.dat for words you added to the spelling checker dictionary
- permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other website specific data (Site Preferences)
- sessionstore.jsonlz4 for open tabs and pinned tabs (see also the sessionstore-backups folder)
Once you have solved the problems you have, Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.{web link} I use an add-on that makes backups of my user profile, Just In Case. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with the current Firefox.
Every now and then, open the profile folder and create a copy of the current profile as is to another location on your hard drive. This way you will have a backup.
If you do this each day, you will not lose much data. This should be done with Firefox Closed.
Note: In case you need to restore from these backups, you may need to overwrite old or corrupted files.
The important piece of this suggestion is that Firefox must be closed when backing up. I have strict backup regime involving three different external drives, two different backup programs, two physical locations to store the drives PLUS cloud backup. But none of this is sufficient if Firefox is running when the backup is created.
The underlying problem has reappeared - closing Firefox causes a crash, then on restarting FF takes 45 seconds or so to load the first tab. I checked and the places database is NOT corrupted, so that's a start.
In the address bar, type about:crashes<enter>. Note: If any reports do not have BP- in front of the numbers/letters, click it to submit them.
The crash report is several pages of data. We need the report numbers to see the whole report.
Using your mouse, mark the most recent 7 - 10 Submitted crash reports, and copy them. Now go to the reply box and paste them in.
For more help on crash reports, see; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-crashes-asking-support
Thanks for taking such interest in this problem. Here are the most recent crash reports (apparently the dates are the submission dates, not the event dates, since most of these were previously unsubmitted.) bp-4822c404-df9a-471f-9220-f759b0191130 11/29/2019, 9:49 PM View bp-648b1186-e955-400c-9a5c-578490191130 11/29/2019, 9:49 PM View bp-7c1f4ab1-ee2a-4257-af6c-eb5550191130 11/29/2019, 9:49 PM View bp-0eec52fa-2705-4e28-9259-fd48b0191130 11/29/2019, 9:49 PM View bp-6fb2b2c0-788f-41d1-a006-563d50191130 11/29/2019, 9:49 PM View bp-4e46cd87-3d52-4fe9-8fd1-448fd0191130 11/29/2019, 9:49 PM View bp-e6bad450-87b5-462a-a826-6c50d0191130 11/29/2019, 9:49 PM View bp-f6136da9-a88c-4702-9da9-eb4e20191129 11/29/2019, 4:20 PM
Are you possibly using Sync to sync bookmarks or history?
Did you do another "Verify Integrity" check to check for issues with places.sqlite or favicons.sqlite ?
What data did you transfer to the new profile ?
Modified by cor-el
Product Firefox Release Channel release Version 69.0.2 Build ID 20191001234643 (2019-10-01)
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 22:31:50 GMT bp-4822c404-df9a-471f-9220-f759b0191130 Signature: OOM | small
Product Firefox Release Channel release Version 70.0.1 Build ID 20191030021342 (2019-10-30)
Tue, 19 Nov 2019 15:32:00 GMT bp-648b1186-e955-400c-9a5c-578490191130
Mon, 21 Oct 2019 14:01:08 GMT bp-7c1f4ab1-ee2a-4257-af6c-eb5550191130
Signature: AsyncShutdownTimeout | Places Connection shutdown | PlacesUtils read-only connection closing as part of Places shutdown
The above and other records are too old to be of use.
Product Firefox
Release Channel release
Version 70.0.1
Build ID 20191030021342 (2019-10-30)
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 23:18:59 GMT bp-f6136da9-a88c-4702-9da9-eb4e20191129 Signature: AsyncShutdownTimeout | Places Connection shutdown | PlacesUtils read-only connection closing as part of Places shutdown
Crash Reason EXCEPTION_BREAKPOINT
The crash report flagged these programs;
KERNELBASE.dll = Microsoft
user32.dll = Windows User API
This is for Sumo's Related Bugs
1402103 RESOLVED DUPLICATE Crash in AsyncShutdownTimeout | Places Connection shutdown | PlacesUtils read-only connection closing as part of Places shutdown
1326309 NEW --- Crash in AsyncShutdownTimeout | places-will-close-connection | PlacesUtils read-only connection closing as part of Places shutdown
Bug 1326309 - Opened 3 years ago
It looks like a problem with sync and bookmarks. Many report crashes during shutdown.
As a test, disable sync.
Sync has been disabled for quite some time (>month). See attached image to verify I did it correctly.
The crashes occur using the original profile with the repaired places.sqlite database. The cloned profile does not crash as far as I can tell.
I tested places.sqlite integrity prior to the crash and it passed. I tested now after restarting from crash and it's corrupted again.
Task: checkIntegrity - Unable to check favicons.sqlite integrity: [Exception... "Could not open connection to D:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\cycvx62y.default\favicons.sqlite: 2153971713" nsresult: "0x80630001 (NS_ERROR_STORAGE_BUSY)" location: "JS frame :: resource://gre/modules/Sqlite.jsm :: openConnection/</< :: line 1080" data: no] > Task: invalidateCaches - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: checkCoherence - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: expire - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: originFrecencyStats - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: vacuum - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: stats - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: _refreshUI - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
The places.sqlite file contains your History and Bookmarks. And it looks like it is corrupted.
Type about:support<enter> in the address bar.
Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To its right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.
Locate the above file. Then rename or delete it. Restart Firefox. The browser should then create a new place.sqlite and recover your bookmarks from the backup files. Note: Your history is not backed up and will be lost.
FredMcD said
The places.sqlite file contains your History and Bookmarks. And it looks like it is corrupted. ... Locate the above file. Then rename or delete it.
We've been through this earlier in this thread. It fixes the problem for a short while, but eventually the database gets corrupted again after running for a few days.
In any event, I've deleted the places.sqlite file, FF has reconstructed it, and we're fine for now. When (if?) it gets corrupted again and crashes on close, I'll send updated information.