Firefox 2.0 -> Firefox 3.0 -> 2.0 -> 3.0
Thursday, January 15th, 2009Back when Firefox 3.0 came out, I downloaded it to try it out. At the time, several of the extensions I use did not support Firefox 3, so I promptly downgraded again. Since Firefox 2.* just got end-of-life’d, I figured it was time to update to 3.* for real. I did so at work with no problem, but had to spend several hours tonight getting 3.* working correctly at home. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get 3.* to recognize my new bookmarks since my initial install.
I tried new profiles, deleting default profiles, uninstalling, reinstalling, and just about everything else I could think of. I finally stumbled across the answer after lots of frustration. Turns out Firefox 3.* changes the serialization format for bookmarks. When I’d initially installed 3.0, a new bookmark file had gotten created. Every new version above 3.0 looks for the places.sqlite file before the traditional bookmarks.html. To make Firefox 3.* re-import from 2.* you need to manually delete the places.sqlite file from your profile directory. WARNING: You will loose any bookmarks you’ve added in Firefox 3.* before switching over for good.
This is probably an edge case, but I thought I’d mention it for anyone else who stumbles into the same situation. As of this time, I do not know of a way to merge a changed bookmarks.html into a places.sqlite database you want to keep. If you make changes to both, I think you’re going to loose one set or the other.
FYI, if you’re interested in why the serialization format changed, go read about Places (advanced usage, technical design). Its a major new feature in Firefox 3.0.