How can I achieve a clean reinstall of the stock browser

General
#1

In the course of the last update (4.4.0.68 to 4.4.0.72) on my XA2 Ultra I managed to destroy the proper functionality of the stock browser, probably by deleting files in .cache.
At the moment I only see Desktop versions of web sites and cannot switch.
I tried to uninstall and reinstall the browser with
devel-su
pkcon remove sailfish-browser
but it was not possible, because “it would break the system”.
Is there a way to repair the browser?

#2

pkcon install --allow-reinstall sailfish-browser

1 Like
#3

Thank you for your answer. This indeed triggered a reinstall of the browser. Unfortunately I’m still stuck with Desktop web sites. Does someone have an idea how this could be fixed?

#4

Unless you removed things as root it’s unlikely reinstalling will fix it.

Try renaming .local/share/org.sailfishos/browser/.mozilla instead.

#5

I did not delete as root.
When I rename the indicated folder and start the browser the folder is newly generated and nothing changes.
I also experience freezes of the browser.

#6

Did you restart lipstick?

#7

No. So the right order would be
-rename .local/share/org.sailfishos/browser/.mozilla
-restart lipstick (e.g. with sailfish utils)
-start browser
?

#8

Yes, i think the booster preloads stuff and needs to be restarted, which i think, happens when you restart lipstick

#9

Here are a few more tips:

#10

I think I tried all proposed measures, to no avail.
Would it help if this prefs.js file referred to at Browser crashing on launch since yesterday - together.jolla.com was replaced manually with one from a different device?
Or is it technically impossible?

#11

Make a backup or just rename the file and test it. I would backup(and delete) or rename everything that is browser related uninstall the browser. Restart and check for remaining browser files. Then reinstall sailfish-browser and sailfish-browser-settings.

#12

I will try that, but how can I uninstall the browser?

#13

Pkcon remove sailfish-browser sailfish-browser-settings

#14

I recently did this and it works just fine. I just backed up the .local/share/org.sailfishos/browser/history.jscon and bookmarks.json files.

#15

when I do that I get “severe error, this request will cause the system to crash” (my translation from german)

#16

My problem is fixed by following this advice from a different topic:>

Thanks for reporting this. It would be helpful if you could test with a fully clean profile.

Since all the browser profile data is stored in /home/defaultuser/.local/share/org.sailfishos/browser/, you can do this by moving this folder to a different location and then rebooting your device.

cd /home/defaultuser/.local/share/org.sailfishos/
mv browser browser.bak
devel-su reboot

All of your browser data will be lost, but you can restore it once you’ve finished testing like this:

cd /home/defaultuser/.local/share/org.sailfishos/
mv browser browser.bak.bak
mv browser.bak browser
devel-su reboot

Note that this isn’t without risk: you may end up losing all your browser-related data. So if this concerns you then best not to try these steps. Also note that the rebooting is a necessary step.

However, if you are in a position to try it, it would be helpful just to rule this out.

Thanks to everybody who contributed to the solution of my problem!

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