936910 - Firefox did not automatically update

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Firefox :: Installer, defect)

Description

[Jukka Jylänki]

Observed: None of Firefox Stable, Aurora, Beta or Nightly versions will automatically update to newest.

Steps to reproduce:

0. Uninstall other Firefox versions.
1. Download and install an old Firefox version, e.g. FF 24.0 (https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/24.0/win32/en-US/Firefox%20Setup%2024.0.exe)
  - Uncheck when asked to choose to set as the default browser.
  - Don't import anything.
2. Start the browser.
3. Navigate to http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/prop_nav_useragent.asp to confirm that you are running an old version of the browser. The user agent string will say "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:24.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/24.0".
4. Close the browser.
5. Goto 2.

Expected: At browser startup/shutdown, if there is a new version available, the browser will update to that automatically.

Reproduced on three different systems with Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012, on FF 24 through to Nightly 28.0a1.

As a workaround, one can manually update by opening Firefox -> Help -> About Firefox, at which point the update mechanism will kick in and a new version will be installed.

Comment 1

[perroazul64]

I can confirm this happened on my system as well. I had Firefox 24 and as soon as I visited the about box it updated to 25, even though it should've had already been updated. Using Windows 7 (x64).

Comment 2

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

Please open about:config and post a comment in this bug with the value of app.update.enabled

Did you wait for the update mechanism to start or just expected it to update immediately on "startup/shutdown"?

Comment 3

[Jukka Jylänki]

app.update.enabled is 'true'. I expected it to work like Chrome and Opera do, namely that when "Automatically install updates" is enabled that updates to the browser would get installed when they become available without having to make any UI clicks to confirm the installation. I use firefox since 21 or 22 I think, but have never so far gotten an automatic update, I've always had to go to Help->About Firefox to update.

Comment 4

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

The vast majority of users don't click any UI to update or confirm the installation which is why I asked.

1. In about:config please set app.update.log to true.
2. Install an old version of Firefox and launch it.
3. Open the error console (typically under tools -> web developer).
4. Clear the error console.
5. copy and paste the following into the text box next to "Code:" and click evaluate.
const Ci = Components.interfaces; const Cc = Components.classes; Cc["@mozilla.org/updates/update-service;1"].getService(Ci.nsIApplicationUpdateService).QueryInterface(Ci.nsITimerCallback).notify(null);

The error console should display several messages that start with "AUS:". Please copy and paste them into this bug. Thanks!

Comment 5

[Jukka Jylänki]

I got the following:

[22:05:22.292] const Ci = Components.interfaces; const Cc = Components.classes;
Cc["@mozilla.org/updates/update-service;1"].getService(Ci.nsIApplicationUpdateService).QueryInterface(Ci.nsITimerCallback).notify(null);
[22:05:22.297] TypeError: redeclaration of var Ci
--
[22:06:16.336] AUS:SVC Checker: checkForUpdates, force: false
[22:06:16.339] AUS:SVC getLocale - getting locale from file: resource://gre/update.locale, locale: en-US
[22:06:16.342] AUS:SVC Checker:getUpdateURL - update URL: https://aus3.mozilla.org/update/3/Firefox/24.0/20130910160258/WINNT_x86-msvc/en-US/release/Windows_NT%206.1.1.0%20(x64)/default/default/update.xml
[22:06:16.344] AUS:SVC Checker:checkForUpdates - sending request to: https://aus3.mozilla.org/update/3/Firefox/24.0/20130910160258/WINNT_x86-msvc/en-US/release/Windows_NT%206.1.1.0%20(x64)/default/default/update.xml
[22:06:16.413] GET https://aus3.mozilla.org/update/3/Firefox/24.0/20130910160258/WINNT_x86-msvc/en-US/release/Windows_NT%206.1.1.0%20(x64)/default/default/update.xml [HTTP/1.1 200 OK 960ms]
[22:06:16.824] POST http://ocsp.thawte.com/ [HTTP/1.0 200 Ok 327ms]
[22:06:17.312] AUS:SVC Checker:onLoad - request completed downloading document
[22:06:17.319] AUS:SVC Checker:getUpdateURL - update URL: https://aus3.mozilla.org/update/3/Firefox/24.0/20130910160258/WINNT_x86-msvc/en-US/release/Windows_NT%206.1.1.0%20(x64)/default/default/update.xml
[22:06:17.320] AUS:SVC Checker:onLoad - number of updates available: 1
[22:06:17.323] AUS:SVC gCanApplyUpdates - testing write access C:\Users\clb\AppData\Local\Mozilla\updates\E7CF176E110C211B\update.test
[22:06:17.325] AUS:SVC gCanApplyUpdates - windowsVersion = 6.1
[22:06:17.325] AUS:SVC gCanApplyUpdates - on Vista, userCanElevate: true
[22:06:17.325] AUS:SVC gCanApplyUpdates - able to apply updates
[22:06:17.342] AUS:SVC UpdateService:_checkAddonCompatibility - no need to show prompt, just download the update
[22:06:17.342] AUS:SVC Creating Downloader
[22:06:17.342] AUS:SVC UpdateService:_downloadUpdate
[22:06:17.343] AUS:SVC readStringFromFile - file doesn't exist: C:\Users\clb\AppData\Local\Mozilla\updates\E7CF176E110C211B\updates\0\update.status
[22:06:17.343] AUS:SVC readStatusFile - status: null, path: C:\Users\clb\AppData\Local\Mozilla\updates\E7CF176E110C211B\updates\0\update.status
[22:06:17.355] AUS:SVC Downloader:downloadUpdate - downloading from http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-25.0.1-partial-24.0&os=win&lang=en-US to C:\Users\clb\AppData\Local\Mozilla\updates\E7CF176E110C211B\updates\0\update.mar
[22:06:17.454] GET http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-25.0.1-partial-24.0&os=win&lang=en-US [HTTP/1.1 302 Found 401ms]
[22:06:17.859] GET http://download.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/25.0.1/update/win32/en-US/firefox-24.0-25.0.1.partial.mar [HTTP/1.1 206 Partial Content 286ms]
[22:06:17.872] AUS:SVC Downloader:onStartRequest - original URI spec: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-25.0.1-partial-24.0&os=win&lang=en-US, final URI spec: http://download.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/25.0.1/update/win32/en-US/firefox-24.0-25.0.1.partial.mar
[22:06:17.888] AUS:SVC Downloader:onProgress - progress: 14112/12529206
[22:06:18.094] AUS:SVC Downloader:onProgress - progress: 300000/12529206
--
[22:07:18.153] GET http://download.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/25.0.1/update/win32/en-US/firefox-24.0-25.0.1.partial.mar [HTTP/1.1 206 Partial Content 261ms]
[22:07:18.161] AUS:SVC Downloader:onProgress - progress: 307300/12529206
[22:07:18.360] AUS:SVC Downloader:onProgress - progress: 600000/12529206
--
[22:08:18.419] GET http://download.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/25.0.1/update/win32/en-US/firefox-24.0-25.0.1.partial.mar [HTTP/1.1 206 Partial Content 234ms]
[22:08:18.397] AUS:SVC Downloader:onProgress - progress: 602920/12529206
[22:08:18.599] AUS:SVC Downloader:onProgress - progress: 900000/12529206

If I understand correctly, it downloads 300KB every minute?

Comment 6

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

That is correct.

Also, a background check is performed approximately every 12 hours. What you initiated in the error console is a background check. Could you install the old version and wait a day without opening the about window to see if it automatically updates?

Comment 7

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

No response to comment #6 for over two months. Resolving wfm