# Firefox disabled all add-ons



## Roddey (May 4, 2019)

I noticed that mouse zoom wasn't working in Firefox so I went to my add-ons and all my extensions have been disabled. I am getting a message that my extensions can not be verified by Firefox so there being disabled. I can not download any extensions either because I get a message that says "Download failed. Please check your connection". All other web sites work ok. All my extensions were fine with the new firefox(version 57 to the newest one) until today. Even ublock origin is disabled. Any one else have this happening?

Themes are also disabled. Somehow I am not verifying 3rd party extensions.. I have never had this happen in all the years of using firefox.


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## eidairaman1 (May 4, 2019)

Roddey said:


> I noticed that mouse zoom wasn't working in Firefox so I went to my add-ons and all my extensions have been disabled. I am getting a message that my extensions can not be verified by Firefox so there being disabled. I can not download any extensions either because I get a message that says "Download failed. Please check your connection". All other web sites work ok. All my extensions were fine with the new firefox(version 57 to the newest one) until today. Even ublock origin is disabled. Any one else have this happening?
> 
> Themes are also disabled. Somehow I am not verifying 3rd party extensions.. I have never had this happen in all the years of using firefox.



Restart the system


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## chaosmassive (May 4, 2019)

its known issue, currently being fixed by dev
apparently it is caused by expired intermediate signed certificate, dev either forgot or something to renew it
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1548973

__
		https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/bkfjts

if you want your add on back, you can install firefox nightly and import your profile


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## Roddey (May 4, 2019)

Ok I just read the bug report. Thanks for the info.


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## HossHuge (May 4, 2019)

Just happened to me as well.  I'm to high to deal with it now.  I'll read this in the morning and play some games.


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## chaosmassive (May 4, 2019)

right now I am using FF nightly build as temporary workaround as developer version do not enforce signature check on add-ons


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## erocker (May 4, 2019)

I'm temporarily trying out Opera. Ublock seems to work with it.


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## Roddey (May 4, 2019)

I got the add ons working by doing this "In Developer Edition or Nightly, enter about:config into the location bar and push enter. Heed the warning and proceed to search for xpinstall.signatures.required and set it to *false*. "
Then I added a couple add-ons that I need. Like mousezoomer, really need that one. Fixed for now


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## natr0n (May 4, 2019)

I got this too. wtf

watching a youtube cooking video and get a giant fkn ad thinking wtf. See ublock origin is gone. go to install and firefox says "Download failed. Please check your connection. "


fkn bullshit

All my addons are gone and I cant remember some.


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## Chomiq (May 4, 2019)

66.0.3 here, no issues.


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## biffzinker (May 4, 2019)

natr0n said:


> I got this too. wtf
> 
> watching a youtube cooking video and get a giant fkn ad thinking wtf. See ublock origin is gone. go to install and firefox says "Download failed. Please check your connection. "
> 
> ...


This worked for me to re-enable addons.


> To re-enable all disabled non-system addons you can do the following. I am not responsible if this fks up your install:
> Open the browser console by hitting ctrl-shift-j (might need to set *devtools.chrome.enabled* to enable in about:config)
> Copy and paste the following code, hit enter. Until mozilla fixes the problem you will need to redo this once every 24 hours:
> 
> ...


https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19824410



Chomiq said:


> 66.0.3 here, no issues.


I'm on 66.0.3 as well it took a couple hours for me browsing to show my addons disabled.


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## HTC (May 4, 2019)

natr0n said:


> I got this too. wtf
> 
> watching a youtube cooking video and get a giant fkn ad thinking wtf. See ublock origin is gone. go to install and firefox says "Download failed. Please check your connection. "
> 
> ...



Not gone: merely disabled.



Roddey said:


> I got the add ons working by doing this "In Developer Edition or Nightly, enter about:config into the location bar and push enter. Heed the warning and proceed to search for xpinstall.signatures.required and set it to *false*. "
> Then I added a couple add-ons that I need. Like mousezoomer, really need that one. Fixed for now



This worked for me as well, but doing it turned the addons on by itself: no need to add anything further.


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## Russ64 (May 4, 2019)

I had same today. I uninstalled FF and did a clean install of latest version and had to reinstall my 3 extensions. Looks okay now.


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## bug (May 4, 2019)

Arch pushed an update today and I'm trouble free. Using the Developer Edition though, no idea of that makes a difference.


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## erocker (May 4, 2019)

Mine's all back to normal again. I didn't have to do anything.


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## Nuckles56 (May 5, 2019)

Likewise with me

EDIT: It just took a long time to decide that my add-ons weren't verified


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## Divide Overflow (May 5, 2019)

I uninstalled Firefox and reinstalled it.  Ver 66.0.3 64 bit
Still unable to download and install uBlock Origin extension.


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## sam_86314 (May 5, 2019)

Ublock Origin and Dark Reader stopped working on my phone today. Really hope they fix it soon or give us the option to disable the certificate check.


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## natr0n (May 5, 2019)

Got a fix for you guys needing adblocker.

Install adguard within windows or android its free for like 2 weeks as well. Enough time for firefox to fix there sh!t.


https://adguard.com/en/welcome.html


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## IceShroom (May 5, 2019)

66.0.3 here.
No uBlock Origin or any extensions. 
Hopefully mozilla will tend to this matter fast.


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## sam_86314 (May 5, 2019)

66.0.2 on my phone with the extension issue.


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## HossHuge (May 5, 2019)

erocker said:


> Mine's all back to normal again. I didn't have to do anything.




I literally read your post and then saw that mine was back at the same time.


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## HTC (May 5, 2019)

HossHuge said:


> I literally read your post and then saw that mine was back at the same time.



Attempted to restore "xpinstall.signatures.required" in about:config to "true" again and it disabled my addons: returning it to "false" re-enabled them back.


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## erixx (May 5, 2019)

add ons are cancer


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## s3thra (May 5, 2019)

I'm using Firefox 66.0.3 on Kubuntu 18.10. Simply going to *about:config* and setting *xpinstall.signatures.required* to *false* instantly brought back my add-ons.


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## sam_86314 (May 5, 2019)

s3thra said:


> I'm using Firefox 66.0.3 on Kubuntu 18.10. Simply going to *about:config* and setting *xpinstall.signatures.required* to *false* instantly brought back my add-ons.


Worked for me on Android with 66.0.2.


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## steen (May 5, 2019)

Signature flag works in dev/nightly/linux/android. Release Windows builds get a hotfix via studies privacy option. Don't remove addons, just enable studies else you'll lose all configs.

https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2019/05/04/update-regarding-add-ons-in-firefox/


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## Regeneration (May 5, 2019)

What's this nonsense about studies and about:config tweaks? Why can't Mozilla release a proper hotfix?

None of the workarounds solved the problem on Firefox for Windows.


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## Ebo (May 5, 2019)

All my extentions are working again withoout having to do anything.


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## Regeneration (May 5, 2019)

The hotfix is deployed by Mozilla's background spyware system ("Allow Firefox to send technical and interaction data to Mozilla").

If you have it disabled ("Allow Firefox to install or run studies"), or for some reason it doesn't work, since it runs in the background when it wants to.

Just download the following with another browser, and install it manually (Add-ons > Settings button > Install add-on from file...)

https://storage.googleapis.com/moz-...xpi-intermediate@mozilla.com-1.0.2-signed.xpi

Then navigate to about:config, Search for "app.update.lastUpdateTime.xpi-signature-verification", change it to 1556957497 and restart Firefox.

Source: Mozilla


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## SoNic67 (May 5, 2019)

Regeneration said:


> Just download the following with another browser, and install it manually (Add-ons > Settings button > Install add-on from file...)



Thank you for the research and fix, this worked in Windows.

This whole fiasco just pushed me to Brave...
If I could export the passwords saved in Firefox I would just stay on Brave. On Android is even sensibly faster.


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## IceScreamer (May 5, 2019)

No issues noticed on my part, 66.0.3 64bit.


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## Regeneration (May 5, 2019)

SoNic67 said:


> Thank you for the research and fix, this worked in Windows.
> 
> This whole fiasco just pushed me to Brave...
> If I could export the passwords saved in Firefox I would just stay on Brave. On Android is even sensibly faster.



Funny that you mention Brave. That's the 2nd reason to hate Mozilla.

Couple of years ago, Mozilla forced its CEO (Brendan Eich) to resign because he made a small personal donation to a political party against same-sex marriage.

People found out about the donation, made some fuss over it, so the company pushed him out and then he founded Brave.


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## SoNic67 (May 5, 2019)

I might keep using it, I like the speed on Android.
Tested on my PC using Web Basemark 3.0 on Firefox and Brave. This episode was the kick in the ass that I needed to move to another browser.
Brave:


Firefox:


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## Regeneration (May 5, 2019)

Chromium-based browsers use DirectWrite to render text and its a bit blurry compared to GDI text rendering.


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## Vayra86 (May 5, 2019)

erixx said:


> ads are cancer



Fixed


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## dj-electric (May 5, 2019)

SoNic67 said:


> Tested on my PC using Web Basemark 3.0 on Firefox and Brave. This episode was the kick in the ass that I needed to move to another browser.


I am honestly convinced by now that the cake of browser users divides by people who use Brave, and the rest who haven't heard about it yet.
I have no idea how i am ever going to use any other browser


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## Russ64 (May 5, 2019)

I may go back to Google Chrome if the new MS Edge using Chromium is not as good, but for now I will stick with FF.  I looked at Brave but noticed that it says "In a future version of the browser, the company has proposed adopting a pay-to-surf business model."


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## rtwjunkie (May 5, 2019)

natr0n said:


> I got this too. wtf
> 
> watching a youtube cooking video and get a giant fkn ad thinking wtf. See ublock origin is gone. go to install and firefox says "Download failed. Please check your connection. "
> 
> ...


I got this too.  If you go to the options where add in and extensions are, there is a list of uninstalled ones.

This will get fixed.  I’m staying with FF.  I might add, by the way, it’s strange.  It only happened on W8.1 rig, not W10 machine.


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## natr0n (May 5, 2019)

rtwjunkie said:


> I got this too.  If you go to the options where add in and extensions are, there is a list of uninstalled ones.
> 
> This will get fixed.  I’m staying with FF.  I might add, by the way, it’s strange.  It only happened on W8.1 rig, not W10 machine.



Using 8.1 as well all systems 5-6 systems in house affected.


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## SoNic67 (May 5, 2019)

Regeneration said:


> Chromium-based browsers use DirectWrite to render text and its a bit blurry compared to GDI text rendering.


I didn't noticed that. 4k monitor here.


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## erocker (May 5, 2019)

erixx said:


> add ons are cancer


You prefer ads.. that aren't metaphorical cancer?


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## FYFI13 (May 5, 2019)

I'm on Firefox 60.6.1esr (64-bit), it did happen like to everyone else.





Disabled signature checking for now and it's back to "normal".


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## Bones (May 5, 2019)

Noted whenever I try to download an ad blocker it says the download file is corrupt even after resetting xpinstall. 
In fact any ad blocker I try to get whether a direct add-on to the browser or a typical install scheme it does this so I'm thinking there's a _"wittle"_ more to it all here. 

Note I said thinking, not that it's actually so.


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## Wavetrex (May 5, 2019)

Seems that an update has been released.

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/66.0.4/


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## natr0n (May 5, 2019)

Wavetrex said:


> Seems that an update has been released.
> 
> https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/66.0.4/




https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Yes, it works now. I got the link from here less confusing.


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## rtwjunkie (May 5, 2019)

natr0n said:


> https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
> 
> Yes, it works now. I got the link from here less confusing.


This was perfect!!!


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## INSTG8R (May 6, 2019)

natr0n said:


> https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
> 
> Yes, it works now. I got the link from here less confusing.


Thank you! I read this thread the other day and only last night mine finally barfed...


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## lexluthermiester (May 6, 2019)

Fix released. Update and the problem goes away.


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## NightOfChrist (May 6, 2019)

The funny thing was I discovered that signing/expired certificate issue when I read Mozilla's blog (my habit, I did it on regular basis) and I checked the addons for my Firefox (66.03) and nothing was out of ordinary. I was like, really, so what is the problem, because there is nothing to see here. The moment I went back to read the blog, Firefox immediately warned me that all addons have been disabled. I checked the addons and yes, they were disabled. All of them.

I fixed the issue by installing the .xpi hotfix issued by Mozilla (the same one @Regeneration posted before) although I got it from one of my friends who got the hotfix through Studies. I disabled Firefox data collection so I could not use Studies to get the hotfix. All my addons were enabled instantly as soon as I installed that hotfix long before Mozilla issued an official update (66.04) for users who disable Firefox data collection (and Studies, since it's part of the data collection). Although it worth mentioning that xpinstall.signatures.required in all my Firefox (66.03 and 56.02) is always set to false, not sure it helped or not. Well, at least I didn't have to wait for official fix or update or enable data collection or Studies.


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## erixx (May 6, 2019)

erocker said:


> You prefer ads.. that aren't metaphorical cancer?


Not understanding the message here, but maybe mine also was not the clearest! I can't adapt to add-ons, I prefer standalone software. the only add-on I have is a dark mode.


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## Space Lynx (May 6, 2019)

erocker said:


> I'm temporarily trying out Opera. Ublock seems to work with it.



Just curious but have you tried Vivaldi (ublock origin works on vivaldi)?  I like it better than Opera.  I just downloaded Microsoft Edge Canary (the chromium based version of Edge), its a stand alone download, its so fast... holy crap lol  sooo fast it is unbelievable, but I don't think addons work on it yet, I haven't tried yet


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## bug (May 6, 2019)

erixx said:


> Not understanding the message here, but maybe mine also was not the clearest! I can't adapt to add-ons, I prefer standalone software. the only add-on I have is a dark mode.


So you'd rather have AdBlocker as a standalone app? That doesn't make much sense.


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## lexluthermiester (May 6, 2019)

lynx29 said:


> I just downloaded *Microsoft* Edge Canary (the chromium based version of Edge)


Hard pass



erixx said:


> Not understanding the message here, but maybe mine also was not the clearest! I can't adapt to add-ons, I prefer standalone software. the only add-on I have is a dark mode.


Plugins are what make modern browsers great! Why would you limit yourself in such a way?


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## Space Lynx (May 6, 2019)

@lexluthermiester I'm just experimenting with it, I would never use it as a daily driver.  Vivaldi with ublock origin is my daily driver.


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## Bones (May 6, 2019)

I just removed and reinstalled it, issue was fixed.


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## John Naylor (May 6, 2019)

The problem was well identified on the web site... I noticed it Saturda morning ... did a search found the explanation.   I have studies turned off but have no issue with the studies feature,  Mot folks who didn't het fixes right away was because they didn't read the whole paragraph.   Studies is a feature mozila uses to diagnose problems so that fixes are actually fixes.   They find the root of the problem, "create a study" specifically targeted at collecting data about a specific problem such that when putting together a fix, the fix hopefully doesn't fix only a % of  users.  If ya concerned about this, you should be way more concerned about MS telemetry and Google / Chrome.

It was a PITA for 2 days having to see ads everywhere and having no "restore editor field".   Things that worked:

1.  reinstalling a backup from Mozbackup utility.  It puyt the add on functionality back but unfortunately... only for about 30 minutes before mozilla detected the expoired certificate again.

2.  Doing the study ... of course, the default behavior for studies is that the study will be downloaded in 6 hours; go in about;config and change the default 21,600 seconds to 60 and it picked up right away.

3.  Just waiting till the patch in 66.04 was released.


Things that did not work:

1.  Deleting your add ons and reinstaling them .... this put them back at default and lost all customizations, white lists etc.  If it worked, it was only cause you got the update in the interim.

2.  Uninstall / reinstall.  As above.


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## Gasaraki (May 6, 2019)

Yeah, I've been searching the web for a solution. Newest version fixes this issue. GO to help, about firefox, to update.


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## John Naylor (May 6, 2019)

It was installed when I woke up this morning


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## erocker (May 6, 2019)

lynx29 said:


> Just curious but have you tried Vivaldi (ublock origin works on vivaldi)?  I like it better than Opera.  I just downloaded Microsoft Edge Canary (the chromium based version of Edge), its a stand alone download, its so fast... holy crap lol  sooo fast it is unbelievable, but I don't think addons work on it yet, I haven't tried yet


Actually yeah! But I completely forgot about it! I think I stopped using it a ways back due to some sort of dual monitor video issue at the time but I'll give it a go again.


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## Steevo (May 6, 2019)

Firefox, tolling their death bell one mistake like this at a time.


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## lexluthermiester (May 7, 2019)

Steevo said:


> Firefox, tolling their death bell one mistake like this at a time.



Let's face facts, it was a simple error, easily fixed. Hardly an earth shattering failure..


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## INSTG8R (May 7, 2019)

Steevo said:


> Firefox, tolling their death bell one mistake like this at a time.


Let me guess, Chrome is awesome right?


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## R-T-B (May 7, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> Let's face facts, it was a simple error, easily fixed. Hardly an earth shattering failure..



Pretty much summarizing my feelings.

Was it stupid?  Sure.  But those that tell you it means anything more than standard human error have an axe to grind.  Beware.



INSTG8R said:


> Let me guess, Chrome is awesome right?



Chrome, Oh Google Chromium!  Give me back my WebKit!

-Ceaser after discovering the browser wars.

Relevant real historical quote:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest#Aftermath

And real historical engine:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit


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## Caring1 (May 7, 2019)

Steevo said:


> Firefox, tolling their death bell one mistake like this at a time.


death knell 
even if you are wrong on both accounts.


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## Space Lynx (May 8, 2019)

erocker said:


> Actually yeah! But I completely forgot about it! I think I stopped using it a ways back due to some sort of dual monitor video issue at the time but I'll give it a go again.












						Vivaldi browser now syncs Chroma device lighting with website colors
					

In amongst the usual updates and new features, the browser's latest release (2.5) includes Chroma integration, which means the lighting on your Chroma-enabled Razer devices will dynamically...




					www.techspot.com
				




vivaldi now works with chroma sync too ^^


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## AsRock (May 9, 2019)

Isn't this down to Mozilla disabling Dissenter which disables a lot of other add-ons ?.


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## bug (May 9, 2019)

AsRock said:


> Isn't this down to Mozilla disabling Dissenter which disables a lot of other add-ons ?.


What? It's been a week and you didn't bother to read anything about this yet?


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## HTC (May 10, 2019)

Finally got firefox updated yesterday: 1st, i changed *xpinstall.signatures.required* again to *true* in *about:config* and then upgraded via terminal, and the add-ons "magically" returned.

Up until this point, i had *xpinstall.signatures.required* set to *false*.


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## erpguy53 (May 10, 2019)

that's because Mozilla issued newer versions of Firefox like 66.0.5 and 60.6.3 ESR a few days ago which should completely fix the disabled addons problem


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## AsRock (May 13, 2019)

bug said:


> What? It's been a week and you didn't bother to read anything about this yet?



Sadly skimmed though it and just hearing about Dissenter  made me wounder a little is all. Sorry for having a really busy week.


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