Closed Bug 269220 Opened 20 years ago Closed 20 years ago

No XBL Binding for browser after updating Pinball theme

Categories

(Toolkit :: Add-ons Manager, defect)

Product:
Toolkit
Component:
Add-ons Manager
Platform:
x86
Windows XP
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
critical

Tracking

()

Status:
VERIFIED DUPLICATE of bug 266161

People

(Reporter: thunderstone.hank, Assigned: bugs)

References

Details

(Whiteboard: probably because version for wrong platform was installed) 

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041107 Firefox/1.0
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041107 Firefox/1.0

Updated 1.0 Preview using update tool:  success; Pinball theme updated; when it
was selected via "Use this Theme" and the browser restarted, an error message: 
"... No XBL binder for browser" was received.  The browser launches without any
controls.  The "Mozilla Safe Mode" mercifully launches with user preferences in
tact.  Question:  How does one undo this without uninstalling and loosing all
the user preference information?

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1.  Logon -> auto launch of default browser (Mozilla Firefox 1.0)
2.
3.

Actual Results:  
get binder error .

Expected Results:  
Launch browser  with designated theme.

Pinball  0.9.9.1 updated for Firefox 1.0
*** Bug 269163 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
To the question of "How does one undo this without uninstalling and loosing all
the user preference information?", I restarted in safe mode, went to the themes
panel and un-installing the theme. Re-installing the browser does not fix the
problem.
ok, I believe both of you got MacOSX version installed somehow.
In bug 269163, reporter told he installed from
https://update.mozilla.org/themes/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&id=6 if I
understood correctly, which is link to MaxOSX version.

In this bug (269220) I think the update mechanism installed the theme with
bigger version number (which happens to be Mac version), but I'm not sure. Hank
Cook, could you please find out what is the version of currently installed theme
(you can see it in profile folder\extensions\extensions.rdf file, look for
"Pinball" string and report the contents of <em:version> tag nearby.) Thanks.

In both cases I think that deletion of profile\extensions folder will solve the
problem (although it will result in loss of all your installed themes/extensions).
Summary: No XBL Binder for browser → No XBL Binder for browser after updating Pinball theme
Whiteboard: probably because version for wrong platform was installed
There is a way to get rid of this extension without deletion of the
Extentions/Theme folders

Steps:
-Run firefox in Safe Mode
--First time I found it by going to Start/All programs/Mozilla Firefox, there
was a short cut to run Firefox in safe mode, can't find it now because I
probably deleted it.
-When the application launches click on Tools/Themes
-Select the Pinball Theme and click uninstall theme button
-->Restart firefox in regualr mode and it just defaulted back to the firefox
default theme.
CCing author of the the theme, as Wolf said to do.

Alan, in my opinion two versions of the theme (for different platforms) should
have different GUID, for the update system to work properly - at least as a
temporary workaround.
Currently update system updates the pinball theme to MacOS version, even on windows.
Summary: No XBL Binder for browser after updating Pinball theme → No XBL Binding for browser after updating Pinball theme
This is either going to be fixed on the theme side, or the theme gets removed
from UMO. Themes that cause breakage are 100% unacceptable. I'd have removed it
already if server load would allow me.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
If the browser can't start because of a corrupt theme, it should automatically
default to safe mode and tell you of the offending theme so you can delete it
manually. If you're not aware of safe mode you might be in trouble.

Safe Mode as a shortcut is put there by the Windows and Linux installers. 
There's no way of really detecting an XML parsing error like that.
(In reply to comment #6) 
> This is either going to be fixed on the theme side, or the theme gets 
removed 
> from UMO. Themes that cause breakage are 100% unacceptable. 
 
Oh Piss off. Seriously. This is NOT our (Pinball's) fault. This is UMO's fault 
for not checking OS versions. Don't you dare blame us for your mistakes or 
oversights. The Win/Lin version of PB-fx works fine with the Win & Lin 
versions of Firefox and the OSX version of PB-fx works fine with the OSX 
version of Firefox. But if you use the Win/Lin version in OSX you get a 
non-fatal scrollbar problem and if you use the OSX version in Win/Lin you get 
the fatal XBL binding error. If Firefox and/or UMO update a properly installed 
version of Pinball to an incorrect version that is a Firefox and/or UMO issue, 
not a Pinball issue. 
 
At any rate, I just checked this with a new profile and Fx 1.0 (Linux). I 
first installed PB-fx 0.9.9.1. I then had Firefox update it and it downloaded 
and installed the correct version of 0.9.9.2. I suspect this would break on 
OSX however. But for the updater to get the right version (for Win/Lin anyway) 
I believe Alan had to settle with leaving the OSX version on the main Pinball 
page at UMO, which has been the indirect cause of a lot of improper installs 
(see related bug 269511). 
 
Hank: If you can remember, which releases of Pinball did you upgrade from and 
to? 
 
It looks like we may have to go with Nickolay's suggestion and assign a 
different GUID to the OSX version to correct a problem not of our creation. 
 
Btw, this looks like a dupe of bug 266161 to me. 
If you have forked versions of your theme enough where they're not compatible
with each other, they should have different GUIDs.
I'm not going to play a blame game here, as the biggest majority of the first
paragraph of Comment 9 wants. The simple point here is the MacOSX version of
this theme is being distributed to Win/Linux users and fatally breaking the
browser. The fastest fix for *that* issue which is the most important to address
is the removal of Pinball for MacOSX.
The cause of the bug has already been determined in Bug 266161, The
Extension/Theme part of the AUS doesnt' check OS. There's a patch to fix that
awaiting review in that bug, but it won't help users being bitten while it waits.
Those users will think:
(1) Pinball is untrustable because it broke their browser and shouldn't have
been allowed on UMO.
(2) Therefore, UMO is untrustable as a source of extensions/themes despite it's
official status.
(3) They don't care who's fault it is. :-) To them it's just broken, and they
want the fastest solution to the problem.
All 8 versions of Pinball for MacOSX are now currently hidden to prevent users
from being horked.

This comes with a caveat that MacOSX users will get the non-fatal scrollbar
problem. Which I believe is better than Win/Linux users getting a fatal XBL error.

Pinball for Mac can return when either: Bug 266161 is fixed, which is the
UMO/AUS issue that causes the wrong version to be installed in the first place. 
-- or --
Pinball for Mac is given a new GUID and is forked from Pinball to prevent bad
installs.
(In reply to comment #10) 
 
> I'm not going to play a blame game here, as the biggest majority of the 
first 
> paragraph of Comment 9 wants. 
 
You started the blame game with comment #6 ! I'm not going to stand by and 
allow blame to be assigned our way. You didn't have to blame us in #6 but you 
did (the word "cause" was used). 
 
The irony is that this problem only showed up because we sought to have 
compatible versions of Pinball for all users. If you read the comments of 
other themes you'll find comments relating to the scrollbar issue on Macs. 
 
Before I go down the route of assigning a new GUID to the MacOSX version there 
are some things to consider: Do we really want to have a separate GUID for 
each OS? What if TPTB decide to introduce a change that splits the Win/Lin 
version between Windows and Linux? Then the upgrade path for one of them will 
be screwed up as well if another GUID is introduced as a quick fix. Or suppose 
that the stupid scrollbar problem gets fixed somehow so that all OSes can use 
the same theme .jar. Again, the upgrade path for OSX breaks. 
 
Since Alan seems to be away and I can't edit anything at UMO I would 
appreciate if a comment could be added to the theme description advising 
MacOSX users to head to the theme homepage for their version. Because 
otherwise I'll get comments and complaints about that too. 
 
 
As a side note, I must say I am quite dismayed at the number of people who 
install a theme without even reading the description. And this screw up has 
completely destroyed Pinball's rating - all because we provided versions for 
everyone. 
(In reply to comment #12)
> I would appreciate if a comment could be added to the theme description
> advising MacOSX users to head to the theme homepage for their version.

Done. :-)
Earlier today I marked all Pinball OSX versions as being non-approved.  This 
_should_ hide them all.  However, it does not solve the root cause.  This is a 
dupe of bug 266161, quite frankly, where I've already discussed the various 
ways to combat this.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 266161 ***
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 20 years ago
Resolution: --- → DUPLICATE
Status: RESOLVED → VERIFIED
Product: Firefox → Toolkit
You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.