01.05.06
The Firefox 1.0.7 Web Developer Toolbar Updating Chewing My Desk Blues
I lost a good couple hours to hair pulling and snarling, ultimately culminating in the effective demise of my install of Firefox 1.0.7. Word to the wise: do not update Chris Pederick’s damn-excellent Web Developer Toolbar to the latest 1.0 release if you’re using that version. You might have more luck if you completely uninstall the older version first…and then again maybe not, I dunno.
By all reports, Firefox 1.5 has no problems — but if you like to stay a little behind, say for testing purposes, beware.
All of this is a real shame since by all accounts the new version is mighty nice indeed (albeit with one or two slightly troubling-sounding Known Issues).
Here’s what happened to me. I clicked my little “you’ve got updates” icon and it merrily updated. When I closed then reopened Firefox, nothing was usable — I couldn’t type in the URL or search blanks, and I couldn’t access any of the browser menus, not even using keyboard shortcuts. The green “check for updates” icon was visible in an unusual spot and I could click that, but no joy there.
A visit to the toolbar’s official site revealed a prominent message saying those upgrading should uninstall first. D’oh! So why is the new version at the same download coordinates as the old, I asked no one in particular as I began to gnaw on my desk.
Aaanyway… The “solution” for Windows users is as follows:
1. Close Firefox. (Yes, that icon does still work, too.)
2. Fire up your command window (Start > Run and type cmd) and cd to \Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\
3. Run this command: firefox.exe -safe-mode (This starts Firefox in, you guessed it, safe mode.)
4. Go to Tools > Extensions.
5. Find Web Developer 1.0 and uninstall it.
6. Close Firefox. Then open it again.
This will restore you to most functionality and at least allow you to export your bookmarks and compile a list of extensions to replace if need be.
In my case, though, View Source was totally fubarred, producing only the (now) customary multi-pane view with a whole lot of nothing in it. To be fair, I dunno if this was due to something done by the Web Dev toolbar or some post-lobotomy clash with other extensions. But there it was n’t all the same.
(Hm… Come to think, I never tried to actually access a site at this stage. Bad QA on my part — sorry!)
So at that point I went and updated my copy of Firefox to 1.5 only to find that several of my beloved dev-friendly extensions were not compatible with it and were dead. Alas and alack!
But my woes were not ceasing to rain, brothers and sisters. When I then tried to install the Web Dev toolbar all I got was a “download error” of some sort. Prolly some permissions thing, tho maybe not. In any event, by that point I was pretty well beyond civil comportment and decided to leave bad enough alone. But not until I gave myself the sadistic pleasure of uninstalling Firefox altogether.
Hopefully a clean install will produce more joy for me. Fingers crossed…it’s kind of a professional imperative, doncha know. Meanwhile, my home copy of FF and all its extensions will remain as-is for a while longer yet.
Meanwhile, my public apologies to the esteemed Mr. Pederick for my rather snippy email earlier today. :-. I must hasten to add that he replied very promptly (!!) and was kind enough to provided some helpful instructions.
