[Bug 1232312] [NEW] Firefox cannot back up or save bookmarks

[Kevin O'Gorman]

Public bug reported:

I am finally getting around to curating bookmarks that have accumulated
since I was running Caldera -- perhaps as much as 20 years.  Mostly I'm
getting rid of massive duplication of folders and bookmarks.  I've been
saving backups copies as I go to allow me to recover if I do something
stupid.

Suddenly, backups no longer work.  From "show all bookmarks" -> "Import
and backup" i can select either backup or export and all seems normal,
but no backup is actually created.  If I watch carefully, I can see the
requested file being created with size 0, but it disappears within a few
seconds.

Since I have several profiles, I am able to verify that the
places.sqlite file can be moved to a different profile, the bookmarks
move with it, and the problem goes with it too.

The file is about 10 MB, and not in a format for the ubuntu pastebin.
If I cannot attach it, I'll need instructions.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: firefox 24.0+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-53.81-generic-pae 3.2.50
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-53-generic-pae i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
AddonCompatCheckDisabled: False
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu17.4
Architecture: i386
BuildID: 20130911160237
CRDA: Error: command ['iw', 'reg', 'get'] failed with exit code 1: nl80211 not found.
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'SB'/'HDA ATI SB at 0xfe200000 irq 16'
   Mixer name	: 'Realtek ALC892'
   Components	: 'HDA:10ec0892,1462d693,00100302'
   Controls      : 43
   Simple ctrls  : 20
Card1.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:1 'NVidia'/'HDA NVidia at 0xfe080000 irq 25'
   Mixer name	: 'Nvidia GPU 0b HDMI/DP'
   Components	: 'HDA:10de000b,10de0101,00100200'
   Controls      : 24
   Simple ctrls  : 4
Channel: Unavailable
Date: Fri Sep 27 17:19:32 2013
DefaultProfilePlugins:
 Shockwave Flash - /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so (adobe-flashplugin)
 IcedTea-Web Plugin (using IcedTea-Web 1.2.3 (1.2.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.3)) - /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-i386/jre/lib/i386/IcedTeaPlugin.so (icedtea-7-plugin)
DefaultProfilePrefSources:
 prefs.js
 [Profile]/extensions/foxmarks at kei.com/defaults/preferences/prefs.js
ForcedLayersAccel: False
IfupdownConfig:
 auto lo
 iface lo inet loopback
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 12.04.1 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release i386 (20120817.3)
IpRoute:
 default via 10.0.0.1 dev eth0  proto static 
 10.0.0.0/24 dev eth0  proto kernel  scope link  src 10.0.0.149  metric 1 
 169.254.0.0/16 dev eth0  scope link  metric 1000
IwConfig:
 lo        no wireless extensions.
 
 eth0      no wireless extensions.
MarkForUpload: True
MostRecentCrashID: bp-2889a5a4-381b-4bc0-91ef-13bf32130626
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 LC_COLLATE=C
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
Profile0Plugins:
 Shockwave Flash - /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so (adobe-flashplugin)
 IcedTea-Web Plugin (using IcedTea-Web 1.2.3 (1.2.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.3)) - /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-i386/jre/lib/i386/IcedTeaPlugin.so (icedtea-7-plugin)
Profile0PrefSources:
 prefs.js
 [Profile]/extensions/foxmarks at kei.com/defaults/preferences/prefs.js
Profile1Plugins:
 Shockwave Flash - /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so (adobe-flashplugin)
 IcedTea-Web Plugin (using IcedTea-Web 1.2.3 (1.2.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.3)) - /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-i386/jre/lib/i386/IcedTeaPlugin.so (icedtea-7-plugin)
Profile1PrefSources:
 prefs.js
 [Profile]/extensions/foxmarks at kei.com/defaults/preferences/prefs.js
Profile2Plugins:
 Shockwave Flash - /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so (adobe-flashplugin)
 IcedTea-Web Plugin (using IcedTea-Web 1.2.3 (1.2.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.3)) - /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-i386/jre/lib/i386/IcedTeaPlugin.so (icedtea-7-plugin)
Profile2PrefSources: prefs.js
Profile4Plugins:
 Shockwave Flash - /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so (adobe-flashplugin)
 IcedTea-Web Plugin (using IcedTea-Web 1.2.3 (1.2.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.3)) - /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-i386/jre/lib/i386/IcedTeaPlugin.so (icedtea-7-plugin)
Profile4PrefSources:
 prefs.js
 [Profile]/extensions/foxmarks at kei.com/defaults/preferences/prefs.js
Profiles:
 Profile0 - LastVersion=24.0/20130911160237
 Profile1 - LastVersion=24.0/20130911160237
 Profile2 - LastVersion=24.0/20130911160237
 Profile3 (Default) - LastVersion=24.0/20130911160237 (In use)
 Profile4 - LastVersion=24.0/20130911160237 (In use)
RelatedPackageVersions:
 adobe-flashplugin 11.2.202.310-0precise1
 icedtea-7-plugin  1.2.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.3
RfKill:
 
RunningIncompatibleAddons: False
SourcePackage: firefox
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 09/20/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: V1.2B5
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: 970A-G45 (MS-7693)
dmi.board.vendor: MSI
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: MSI
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrV1.2B5:bd09/20/2011:svnMSI:pnMS-7693:pvr1.0:rvnMSI:rn970A-G45(MS-7693):rvr1.0:cvnMSI:ct3:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: MS-7693
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: MSI

** Affects: firefox (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: apport-bug i386 precise

** Attachment added: "bookmarks file"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1232312/+attachment/3846225/+files/places.sqlite

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Title:
  Firefox cannot back up or save bookmarks

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