[DESKTOP] Two problems.

[RLynwood]

Here we go again, with all the idiotic, niggling problems.
1. This time, Fx doesn't come up with the previous sessions' tabs, though it's set to. Is this a Firefox problem (I doubt it) or a 24.04 implementation problem (probably)?
Btw, another such problem I've had with the last two installations of Kub., 22.04 & 23.10, was that I couldn't modify a file name before saving it from a web browser. Now I can, as it used to be. One problem replaced with another.
2. Using KDE Connect to sync this new 24.04 with my laptop's 23.10 (not yet upgraded), I'm told that "All paired devices are unavailable." How do I get their availability?

Btw, I love KDE Connect. It's a really useful app.

[Schwarzer Kater]

Regarding 1.

• Firefox Snap, Firefox Flatpak or "traditional" Firefox (and if the latter installed how? PPA, repository, the install traditional Firefox script or by hand?)?
  If it is the Snap: did you try the install traditional Firefox script and tested if this also occurs with the "traditional" Firefox (you can install it with the script additionally to the Snap without any problems)?
• Did you copy your old user files or is this a completely new user? If it is not the latter: try new user account.
• Did you start with a saved Plasma session or a new one? If it is not the latter: try disabling it in --> System Settings --> Startup and Shutdown --> Desktop Session --> Session Restore --> enable Start with an empty session --> log out and in again.

[RLynwood]

I had only 24.04's regular, snapped Fx. Followed your scripted instructions to install Mozilla's Fx. Works great! I'm using it now. But I can't pin it to the Task bar (replacing the snapped one). But I didn't see the advice to de-snap the entire 24.04 before doing de-snapping Fx. So, now I'll have to de-snap the distro.
I don't understand your second bullet. I didn't know I had to save a Plasma session. In the past, when booting, rebooting, or logging out/in, Kub. simply replaces almost all apps that I'd had up. That's a fantastic feature which I love.

[Schwarzer Kater]

The default setting of Kubuntu in System Settings is to save the Plasma session (meaning: your programs that were open when you rebooted your computer will be openend more or less exactly as the were when you start the computer again = "session restore"). This feature is not exclusive to the Plasma desktop - other DEs have that too.
This can rarely cause strange things when the according saved file is e.g. corrupt, thus my suggestion.
By disabling this setting (or enabling the setting not to do it = "empty session") this gets removed and can be created anew (only when you log out and in again respectively).
--> change this setting = enable "start with empty session" --> log out or reboot --> log in --> test if this changed anything --> change the setting back if you like --> log out or reboot --> log in --> test if this changed anything.
Just one possibility…
It can also simply have to do with the fact that the Firefox you used is a Snap - I have never tested "session restore" with Snaps…

---

Edit:
I re-tested everything (again):

The icon of the "traditional" Firefox can be pinned to the task bar with or without the Firefox Snap icon present - I just re-tested this. Together with the Snap icon this confuses Plasma a bit sometimes, though… So I would not recommend this.

The "traditional" Firefox can be used together with the Firefox Snap, but not at the same time.
--> One thing you can't do most times is using them at the same time = having both the "traditional" Firefox and the Firefox Snap simultaneously open (but his also can depend on some things like which one you opened first and how much time went by before you additionally open the other one…).

In all cases and all Kubuntus >= 22.04 the "traditional" Firefox can be used with or without the Firefox Snap present and with or without the whole Snap functionality present with no problems in all the tests I have done during the last years.
--> So there is no need at all to "de-snap" your Kubuntu for this!

You can remove the Firefox Snap by sudo snap remove firefox or sudo snap purge firefox if you wish to do so.
Or feel free to remove Snap alltogether, of course!


PS: I wonder how the repository version of Firefox behaves in combination with the Snap and the Plasma Panel - probably the same…

[Schwarzer Kater]

OT:

I will test the behaviour when "starting both the 'traditional' Firefox and the Firefox Snap = trying to use them simultaneously" further - and probably add a warning to the "Known issues / bugs" section of the READ MEs and one to the script itself.
Honestly I have not had the slightest motivation to start and use them both simultaneously so far…

Crap, I wanted to go to sleep half an hour ago.

[RLynwood]

I saw that System Settings' session saving feature you mentioned. Thanks.
I'm copying files from a flash drive to this 24.04 and have quite a while to go. When that's finished, I'll follow your instructions to test the Moz. Fx session restoration.
You don't have to test the simultaneous use of the two Fxs for me, at least not now.
Thanks for your patience and very articulate and thorough instructions, which I really appreciate. Not common at all.
Pleasant dreams.

[RLynwood]

Moz. Fx comes up with complete previous session. One more problem solved.

[Schwarzer Kater]

OT:

Added a warning to the READ MEs, changed (and improved) and tested the scripts accordingly several times and uploaded new versions of the install traditional Firefox script and the install traditional Thunderbird script.

If you have already used the scripts --> to also get the improvements of the new versions just

1. run both scripts again
   and
2. choose [2] to remove Firefox/Thunderbird from /opt (this will not touch your user data and settings in your /home directory - I just re-tested this with my main system among others: several hundreds of Firefox links and several tens of thousands of emails in Thunderbird - nothing was removed or altered!).
3. Immediatly re-run the scripts afterwards
   and
4. choose [1] to re-install Firefox/Thunderbird.

Good Night!

[RLynwood]

I'm very sorry for this looonng hiatus. A tornado hit my duplex (no damage to me, my car, or neighbor) and tore up my 'net connection. I have been without (Metronet fiber) service for nearly a month. Now I have it again. (They made no attempt to communicate with me or any other customers in our neighborhood, essentially ignored our calls, and finally addressed my request for service when I visited the local office, which will be closed at the end of this month.)
I did determine how to pin my Firefox from Mozilla icon to the Status bar & removed the snapped version.
But, after that long period without use, Fx fr. Moz. says I have to update its version to 126.0.1 (*.tar.gz, not *.deb), and it can't do that from within the current Fx., that I must re-install. But I don't see how to do that. The--your--instructions don't make any sense. I've downloaded your updated instructions. I had no problem following your earlier instructions for installing the current Fx fr. Moz, 125.0.3.
First, should I remove the current Fx before installing 126, and if so, will Fx save all my settings somehow? Or, will your instructions for installing 126 remove 125 in the process, saving all of 125's settings (tabs, bkmrks, passwords, history). Sorry, but I don't even know how to start.

[jglen490]

I'm glad you're alright, tornadoes are evil!

I followed Schwarzer Kater 's instructions and scripts to the letter (by running them). Firefox now automatically updates without the need to re-install. maybe I'm missing something in your problem description.

[RLynwood]

Thank you. I believe you are missing something. I, too, thought that Fx would update itself from Mozilla as Kubuntu's snapped version does. But, after the month's non-use, my Firefox pops up a notification that an update is available and that I have to go to Mozilla to get it in another download. I explained that, hence my questions. You may also have read that I had no problem following Schwarzer Kater's instructions in installing the Mozilla Firefox. I suspect that the difference between you and me is that you've been using your Firefox continually so that it updated itself regularly, whereas my not having used it for nearly a month, it may have missed some intermediate updates that were required in order to update to version 126. I don't know.

[jlittle]

But, after the month's non-use, my Firefox pops up a notification that an update is available and that I have to go to Mozilla to get it in another download.

When I use the ≡ menu, help, about firefox, the update is usually small, typically a few MB, and is downloaded quickly. Usually it's only once or twice a month, but when there's a security fix can come only a few days apart; but those are usually small.

I use a bash script that scrapes the download pages of firefox and thunderbird to find the latest version and tell me when there's a new version. It sometimes finds a new version before I get a pop up notification in the application. The script just told be that thunderbird latest is 115.11.1, and thunderbird hadn't told me yet. When I went into the ≡ menu, help, about thunderbird, the update button was there, and the update was only a few hundred KB, and downloaded in less than a second.

(I use the applications installed from the tarball. That is, the .tar.bz2 files.)

[RLynwood]

As I said, you probably use your Firefox continually, not with this critical month's break. When I click on the hamburger (how do you provide that symbol?) > Help > About, my pop-up box says in link form "Updates available at https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new." Clicking it takes me to the same Mozilla download page as clicking on the pop-up notification to update Firefox. Again, apparently there was a critical update to 125 that was necessary to have installed in order to update to 126.

[jlittle]

how do you provide that symbol?

It's a normal character, unicode U+2261;IDENTICAL TO, also called Triple bar. There's a vim digraph, <ctrl-k>=3, but I usually copy and paste from somewhere, perhaps the wikipedia page.

[RLynwood]

Thanks. Can anyone else help with my problem? Schwarzer Kater?