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Firefox won't launch mac OS 10.9.5

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by LuckyD

LuckyD
LuckyD
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Hi all,

I was having major problems with Firefox so set it to refresh, and system crashed DURING refresh. Since then I get missing profile error: Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible. And then it just won't launch.

I have followed prompts to uninstall, download and reinstall. Same error and refusal to launch!

I have tried using Terminal to access profile manager and get this reply: No such file or directory.

I don't have a recent backup, so at this point would be happy to create a new profile. I just can't even get it to do that.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

(For what it's worth: during the crashed refresh a folder was created on desktop called "Old Firefox Data") Not sure what it's doing, so I've left it there.)

Cheers all.

Hi all, I was having major problems with Firefox so set it to refresh, and system crashed DURING refresh. Since then I get missing profile error: Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible. And then it just won't launch. I have followed prompts to uninstall, download and reinstall. Same error and refusal to launch! I have tried using Terminal to access profile manager and get this reply: No such file or directory. I don't have a recent backup, so at this point would be happy to create a new profile. I just can't even get it to do that. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! (For what it's worth: during the crashed refresh a folder was created on desktop called "Old Firefox Data") Not sure what it's doing, so I've left it there.) Cheers all.

All Replies (4)

cor-el
cor-el
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  • Top 10 Contributor
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You need to locate the profiles.ini file and delete this file or use the Profile Manager to create a new profile.

See:

This is usually caused by a problem with the profiles.ini file.

You can use one of these to make Firefox create a new default profile or recover an existing profile:

  • Delete the profiles.ini file to make Firefox create a new (default) profile
  • Use the Profile Manager to create a new profile
    If you still have an existing profile then click "Choose Folder" in the Profile Manager and browse to the location of a lost profile to recover this profile
    https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Managing+profiles

You should find the profiles.ini file in this hidden location:

  • Windows: %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\
    *C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/
  • Linux: ~/.mozilla/firefox/

If clearing the profiles.ini file isn't working then also check the location of the cache files.

  • Windows: *C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • Mac: ~/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/
  • Linux:~/.cache/mozilla/firefox/
LuckyD
LuckyD Question owner
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Hi cor-el,

I have tried that already. Neither ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/ nor ~/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/ show up when I search my system

What next?

Thanks again!

cor-el
cor-el
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In Mac OS X v10.7 and later, the ~/Library folder is a hidden folder.

LuckyD
LuckyD Question owner
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Thanks cor-el! Up and running on firefox again!