Add Ons for Firefox Disabled - Page 3

reclgks1 · May 5th, 2019, 05:02 AM

It seems strange to me that it suddenly affects ALL add-ons all at once. I don't know much about computers, but I do take the point that if the add-ons you've selected are no longer available / relevant then it does seem to me to have been done deliberately, if not by Firefox then by someone.

For what it may be worth, it's affecting me still.

Anyone know of a good browser with privacy extras?

**Mister Fide** · May 5th, 2019, 05:35 AM

Had thought it was just me affected.
Three of my add-ons were disabled but I just now re-installed them.

**m100** · May 5th, 2019, 06:17 AM

I'm basing this on something I read late last night. It has been fixed via the "studies" option in firefox. If yours is now working it may be an option to go into firefox's menu and disable studies. I have just done this and everything is still working fine.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/shield

and look in the how to opt out section. It takes five seconds.

Also if you're not working it could be an option just dropping into that studies menu, clicking enable and leaving it for a while to see if that resolves it.

Ladyfyre, I would give it time. It didn't affect everyone at the same time, it's not resolving for everyone at the same time. There was a theory thrown around last night that it was even being repaired according to usage. Yes I use mine and the add ons a lot but that seems a ridiculously long way around to me.

**Madcap12** · May 5th, 2019, 11:21 AM

Adblock and Video Downloadhelper disabled too. I thought it was because I used an ancient version so I downloaded the new one but the problem remains and it's impossible to add those again. Plus, I lost Batchdownload that I used to open a selection of image links on one page. (Who knows something equivalent ? But I may go back to the previous version in fact...) Also for a while now, gmail is blocked by firefox and I have to use it with internet explorer. I wonder how much all this is related to the fact that mozilla is now very pushy to make us subscribe to their stuff...

**brk549** · May 5th, 2019, 12:01 PM

I can't even find my addons now.Popups galore.

**m100** · May 5th, 2019, 12:15 PM

There's all kinds of very techy "solutions" being thrown around the internet. From experience yesterday I would say the solution is to ride it out. Yesterday when it happened and when it was resolved for me I had the studies box ticked that i mentioned earlier - I didn't know I had it ticked and I don't know for sure that it played any part. I also had the box above it 'data collection' ticked. Since it was resolved I've unticked both which is the only advice I've followed and I've been using firefox happily with ublock, no coin etc appearing to function all morning.

The youtube downloader add on I use was certainly working last night as I did around 800mb of downloads through it.

I realise that's a long post for no concrete help but if it's resolved for some it must resolve for others.

**Madcap12** · May 5th, 2019, 01:22 PM

Ublock seems okay, thanks Emhund !

Not as efficient as Adblock but it maybe slows down firefox a little less. Video Downloader professional is for now and according to my few experiences better than Video Downloadhelper. For images, I found Bulk Image Downloader. With the free version, you can upload lots of pics from a galery in full size. Right click / "Open current page with BID" then select the pics you want to save with right click.

**m100** · May 5th, 2019, 01:46 PM

Same issues on Tor browser.

jillfan666 · May 5th, 2019, 03:57 PM

Re Post 23 above - this worked for me. Several hours ago I unblocked the Studies stuff and my add-ons magically re-enabled (with visible toolbar icons) in less than 30 minutes.

Gordon3 · May 6th, 2019, 12:47 AM

For those who have turned studies on, remember to turn that back off once add-ons are reenabled. Also, the xpi file previously posted was verified as being signed by Mozilla, so it's safe. They've announced that the dot update with the fix, 66.0.4, should be downloadable in the next couple of days, so I'm doing both, the xpi & new version when available.

The reason for this debacle is that Mozilla required that all add-ons be signed with their certificate, after being validated as not being malicious by Mozilla, starting about 18 months ago, if my memory serves me correctly. This one single-point-of-failure, this certificate, was allowed to expire

, so over the course of a couple of days, everyone's copy of Firefox went to Mozilla's certificate server to verify that their add-ons were still signed, which of course, failed catastrophically.

This is incompetence at the highest level, and out of the many black eyes Mozilla has suffered in recent years, this may be their biggest yet, the lack of an admin or sysop to go in and change a date on a file on a server

. This also shows how bad a shape the Internet is in right now, that a tiny oversight can disable a browser for tens of millions of users...truly a house of cards.

May 5th, 2019, 05:02 AM	#21
reclgks1 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2019 Posts: 418 Thanks: 358 Thanked 17,520 Times in 454 Posts	It seems strange to me that it suddenly affects ALL add-ons all at once. I don't know much about computers, but I do take the point that if the add-ons you've selected are no longer available / relevant then it does seem to me to have been done deliberately, if not by Firefox then by someone. For what it may be worth, it's affecting me still. Anyone know of a good browser with privacy extras? Last edited by reclgks1; May 5th, 2019 at 05:05 AM.. Reason: extra information

May 5th, 2019, 12:15 PM	#26
m100 Vintage Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,505 Thanks: 5,110 Thanked 11,919 Times in 1,489 Posts	There's all kinds of very techy "solutions" being thrown around the internet. From experience yesterday I would say the solution is to ride it out. Yesterday when it happened and when it was resolved for me I had the studies box ticked that i mentioned earlier - I didn't know I had it ticked and I don't know for sure that it played any part. I also had the box above it 'data collection' ticked. Since it was resolved I've unticked both which is the only advice I've followed and I've been using firefox happily with ublock, no coin etc appearing to function all morning. The youtube downloader add on I use was certainly working last night as I did around 800mb of downloads through it. I realise that's a long post for no concrete help but if it's resolved for some it must resolve for others. Last edited by m100; May 5th, 2019 at 12:26 PM.. Reason: extra info

May 5th, 2019, 05:35 AM	#22
Mister Fide Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Nearly there Posts: 892 Thanks: 23,075 Thanked 17,987 Times in 890 Posts	Had thought it was just me affected. Three of my add-ons were disabled but I just now re-installed them.

May 5th, 2019, 06:17 AM	#23
m100 Vintage Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,505 Thanks: 5,110 Thanked 11,919 Times in 1,489 Posts	I'm basing this on something I read late last night. It has been fixed via the "studies" option in firefox. If yours is now working it may be an option to go into firefox's menu and disable studies. I have just done this and everything is still working fine. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/shield and look in the how to opt out section. It takes five seconds. Also if you're not working it could be an option just dropping into that studies menu, clicking enable and leaving it for a while to see if that resolves it. Ladyfyre, I would give it time. It didn't affect everyone at the same time, it's not resolving for everyone at the same time. There was a theory thrown around last night that it was even being repaired according to usage. Yes I use mine and the add ons a lot but that seems a ridiculously long way around to me.

May 5th, 2019, 11:21 AM	#24
Madcap12 Vintage Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: France / Italy Posts: 662 Thanks: 3,440 Thanked 10,303 Times in 637 Posts	Adblock and Video Downloadhelper disabled too. I thought it was because I used an ancient version so I downloaded the new one but the problem remains and it's impossible to add those again. Plus, I lost Batchdownload that I used to open a selection of image links on one page. (Who knows something equivalent ? But I may go back to the previous version in fact...) Also for a while now, gmail is blocked by firefox and I have to use it with internet explorer. I wonder how much all this is related to the fact that mozilla is now very pushy to make us subscribe to their stuff...

May 5th, 2019, 12:01 PM	#25
brk549 Vintage Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1,122 Thanks: 20,220 Thanked 7,178 Times in 1,046 Posts	I can't even find my addons now.Popups galore.

May 5th, 2019, 01:22 PM	#27
Madcap12 Vintage Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: France / Italy Posts: 662 Thanks: 3,440 Thanked 10,303 Times in 637 Posts	Ublock seems okay, thanks Emhund ! Not as efficient as Adblock but it maybe slows down firefox a little less. Video Downloader professional is for now and according to my few experiences better than Video Downloadhelper. For images, I found Bulk Image Downloader. With the free version, you can upload lots of pics from a galery in full size. Right click / "Open current page with BID" then select the pics you want to save with right click.

May 5th, 2019, 01:46 PM	#28
m100 Vintage Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,505 Thanks: 5,110 Thanked 11,919 Times in 1,489 Posts	Same issues on Tor browser.

May 5th, 2019, 03:57 PM	#29
jillfan666 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 346 Thanks: 10,694 Thanked 1,931 Times in 325 Posts	Re Post 23 above - this worked for me. Several hours ago I unblocked the Studies stuff and my add-ons magically re-enabled (with visible toolbar icons) in less than 30 minutes.

May 6th, 2019, 12:47 AM	#30
Gordon3 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 458 Thanks: 2,479 Thanked 5,237 Times in 446 Posts	For those who have turned studies on, remember to turn that back off once add-ons are reenabled. Also, the xpi file previously posted was verified as being signed by Mozilla, so it's safe. They've announced that the dot update with the fix, 66.0.4, should be downloadable in the next couple of days, so I'm doing both, the xpi & new version when available. The reason for this debacle is that Mozilla required that all add-ons be signed with their certificate, after being validated as not being malicious by Mozilla, starting about 18 months ago, if my memory serves me correctly. This one single-point-of-failure, this certificate, was allowed to expire , so over the course of a couple of days, everyone's copy of Firefox went to Mozilla's certificate server to verify that their add-ons were still signed, which of course, failed catastrophically. This is incompetence at the highest level, and out of the many black eyes Mozilla has suffered in recent years, this may be their biggest yet, the lack of an admin or sysop to go in and change a date on a file on a server . This also shows how bad a shape the Internet is in right now, that a tiny oversight can disable a browser for tens of millions of users...truly a house of cards.