Let me begin by pointing out that I have 4 favicons files in the root directory of my latest profile, the one I use as my current default:

favicons.sqlite favicons.sqlite.corrupt favicons.sqlite-shm favicons.sqlite-wal

These 4 are always present.

I have had these since FF60, in fact I seem to recall mentioning these in a long-ago posting on Mozillazine when this first began.

The first 2 are identical in size, always have been, today they are both 5120 KB

Questions:

1. What do I back up?

2. How do I back it up?

I am no expert, but having this *.*.corrupt file seems to be problematic????

Thanks, as always for the assist, thanks for hanging in with me...

This is my understanding based on other SQLite files:

• favicons.sqlite => current database
• favicons.sqlite.corrupt => previous database Firefox couldn't use, so it added .corrupt and then created a new one (you can move or delete this file any time)
• favicons.sqlite-shm => "shared memory" file created by the SQLite engine to optimize performance, should be removed when Firefox exits normally
• favicons.sqlite-wal => "write ahead log" file created by the SQLite engine to optimize performance, should be reconciled into the main database and removed when Firefox exits normally

The first 2 are identical in size, always have been, today they are both 5120 KB

I think that is the minimum file size for SQLite databases in Firefox. You can't tell from that how many items are stored in the file.

1. What do I back up?
2. How do I back it up?

If the current favicons.sqlite database has a problem, try moving it to a research folder (you can create a folder called RESEARCH in your profile and drag it in there, while Firefox is not running).

I am no expert, but having this *.*.corrupt file seems to be problematic????

I wonder if that file not replace-able, so Firefox can't flush the favicons.sqlite database when it is determined to be corrupted? I think you should go ahead and remove the .corrupt one.

OK.

I have a lot of errands to run this morning, will get to this later today and get back to you.

Note that downloads are part of the history.

Firefox manages downloads in the Downloads folder in the Library (History -> Show All History). Downloads are history items that have a special annotation.

• downloads are treated as history items: clearing history removes corresponding download items and vice versa

I did delete the corrupt file, not sure what it did.

Still can't delete the download list, can't delete any history either.

Favicons won't render, even after deleting the corrupt folder.

I am still running with no A/V, not running FF in Sandboxie right now.

I do no want to create another profile, at his juncture, I'm not sure what that would do.

Question: Does it matter what I use as the default location for downloads?

I have it configured to ask me the location...Could there be a bug if there is no specified location, like a Desktop?

I have used this browser since Mosaic in 1992/1993, and I have never seen an issue that couldn't ultimately be solved.

There are a lot of smart people, like yourself, that have helped solved every issue I have ever had since the Phoenix release.

Where do I go from here?

BTW, Happy New Year to all.

Theo1352 said

I did delete the corrupt file, not sure what it did. Still can't delete the download list, can't delete any history either. Favicons won't render, even after deleting the corrupt folder.

Does Verify Integrity say that favicons.sqlite is "sane" or "malformed" at this point?

With a fresh favicons.sqlite, you'll have default icons for websites (globe) until you visit them.

Sorry, forgot to mention that...

Unable to check favicons.sqlite integrity: Error: Error(s) encountered during statement execution: database disk image is malformed.

No, I do understand the favicon rendering, most of them won't render even now; those that do - major corporate sites - they render, but once I exit FF, they go away.

Okay, does this seem to be a fair summary:

(1) favicons.sqlite becomes "malformed" breaking bookmarks and history -- cause not yet identified

(2) Removing favicons.sqlite and starting Firefox yields one good session where favicons.sqlite is "sane", but between exiting Firefox and starting it up again, something goes wrong and in the next session, favicons.sqlite is "malformed" again

(3) Sometimes favicons.sqlite is "sane" for multiple Firefox sessions -- pattern yet to be determined

(4) Firefox runs in Sandboxie, but this was true before the problem began (estimated to be in Firefox 60); profile folder is exempt from AV scanning; no other software is known to touch the profile folder

Can we add anything to that?

Yes, perfect.

Thanks.

If you only remove favicons.sqlite and not places.sqlite then in theory the favicon table in places.sqlite can still contain references to the old favicons.sqlite database that can cause issues. I don't know how Firefox handles a new favicons.sqlite database. Places.sqlite is a very complicated database with a lot of linked tables.

I understand it's complicated, yes.

But, given the number of new profiles I have created since FF60 - completely new profiles that started from scratch, erased everything, didn't carry anything over or use any old preferences including bookmarks - shouldn't my 10 day old profile have started clean?

What, then, is your suggestion or recommended course of action?

Delete Places?

Update...

I was able to delete the downloads list this morning, first time in, what 10-14 days, as above.

There were 100+ items in the list, I just tried first thing as I always do, they deleted.

Is there a time or number element to this functionality that wasn't there before?

Meaning, will it flush after 2 weeks, or flush after 100 items in the list?

I remain at a loss...

Thanks.

Firefox is designed on the assumption that places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite will remain available and uncorrupted. In most cases, there's no problem, and I really have no idea why your Firefox often does not find those conditions.

I get it, I just don't understand...

Were you going to do anything with the summary?

I thought maybe you were going to communicate with other experts such as yourself to see if somebody else has any ideas.

Sorry, I don't see enough of a pattern to suggest a fix. You can file a bug with this information and see if the developers have specific follow-up suggestions, such as particular error messages to look for, etc.

• https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Mozilla/QA/Bug_writing_guidelines
• https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/

If you have used this profile with different Firefox versions and downgraded then this profile could very likely have been corrupted and in such a case best is to try to use the Profile Manager to create a new profile. Otherwise you may have security software or other software that messes with files in the profile folder causing them to get corrupted. Files shouldn't be getting corrupted under normal use except when a crash occurs or Firefox isn't closing properly. To avoid issues the latter, best is to close Firefox via the Exit menu item and not via the close X.

I have not used this profile before - I mentioned in the beginning both here and in Mozillazine that I always create a new profile from scratch; since FF60, about 8 new profiles.

I not only uninstall FF, but I also delete everything and start fresh.

I only have a few extensions that I install, I know what major preferences I need to change in about:config, I only have a few personal bookmarks that need to be imported.

I am not running any A/V right now, as I mentioned above, I uninstalled it and am only using Sandboxie.

I have spent a lot of time with the Sandboxie folks, there is no apparent issue with my set up.

I have the identical set up on my desktop and 5 laptops, every one of them identical.

This only occurs on my desktop.

Downloads and long URLs expire automatically in 60 days.

Thank you - I new there was an expiration date, couldn't find it.

If I keep using FF, that is good to know.