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Linux - Download firefox 56, create new profile, installation disappears

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  • Last reply by jwhitene

jwhitene
jwhitene
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This is a weird one. Ubuntu 16.04. I have firefox 57+ installed in the usual way. Profile in my home dir, etc.

But I needed to install 56 to use some add-ons that don't work in 57 yet. So I did something I've done 100's of times before.

Downloaded 56 for linux. Unzipped it to ~/firefox56 and made a directory ~/firefox56-profile. Then I started it with ./firefox -P, created a new profile, and chose the ~/firefox56-profilel folder to store it in.

Then I launched firefox56 from the profile manager, disabled automatic updates, verified it said it was firefox56, installed an add-on, and was prompted to reboot firefox. When it restarted, it was version 57.

I assumed, well maybe the restart button that the add-on displayed just issued 'firefox' command in my regular PATH. So I went back to ~/firefox56 to manually run ./firefox, except the entire folder was empty...

I've done this twice now, and each time I run firefox 56 for the second time, the installation folder is empty of all files.

This is a weird one. Ubuntu 16.04. I have firefox 57+ installed in the usual way. Profile in my home dir, etc. But I needed to install 56 to use some add-ons that don't work in 57 yet. So I did something I've done 100's of times before. Downloaded 56 for linux. Unzipped it to ~/firefox56 and made a directory ~/firefox56-profile. Then I started it with ./firefox -P, created a new profile, and chose the ~/firefox56-profilel folder to store it in. Then I launched firefox56 from the profile manager, disabled automatic updates, verified it said it was firefox56, installed an add-on, and was prompted to reboot firefox. When it restarted, it was version 57. I assumed, well maybe the restart button that the add-on displayed just issued 'firefox' command in my regular PATH. So I went back to ~/firefox56 to manually run ./firefox, except the entire folder was empty... I've done this twice now, and each time I run firefox 56 for the second time, the installation folder is empty of all files.

All Replies (1)

jwhitene
jwhitene Question owner
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I just tried a 3rd time, and this time did not launch firefox with the profile manager. And when I installed the add-on, I did not use the 'restart now' link. I closed firefox by hand, and re-launched it using the specific executable I want.

This time it worked, and the installation directory was not emptied.

Why launching 57 would delete a 56 directory is still weird though.