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How can I revert to an earlier version of Thunderbird? 31.1.2 is giving me bugs.

  • 18 replies
  • 10 have this problem
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  • Last reply by danq

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Thunderbird has been working great for me for years. I'm on a Windows 7 desktop computer.

The new version 31.1.2 got auto-installed yesterday, and now I have the popup window to "Add Security Exception" happening all the time, even with different mail servers (Yahoo and Google). I can't believe that both Yahoo and Google simultaneously had their certificates go out of date. So I think the problem is in Thunderbird.

I've submitted a bug report on Bugzilla, but for now I'd just like to revert back to version 31.1.1 (or whatever preceded 31.1.2). How can I do this?

Thunderbird has been working great for me for years. I'm on a Windows 7 desktop computer. The new version 31.1.2 got auto-installed yesterday, and now I have the popup window to "Add Security Exception" happening all the time, even with different mail servers (Yahoo and Google). I can't believe that both Yahoo and Google simultaneously had their certificates go out of date. So I think the problem is in Thunderbird. I've submitted a bug report on Bugzilla, but for now I'd just like to revert back to version 31.1.1 (or whatever preceded 31.1.2). How can I do this?

Chosen solution

Here is all the old versions.

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/

Go down the list and find the version that you want to run. I am still on 24.6 and holding until v31 gets its mess straightened out. There was a general release of 24.7 before v31 but I did not load it and know nothing about it. Everything between 24.7 and 31 is beta and you can run at your own risk.

Then find the version for your operating system which looks like win32 for you.

Then pick a language like en-US for us English.

Then run the exe file.

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Chosen Solution

Here is all the old versions.

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/

Go down the list and find the version that you want to run. I am still on 24.6 and holding until v31 gets its mess straightened out. There was a general release of 24.7 before v31 but I did not load it and know nothing about it. Everything between 24.7 and 31 is beta and you can run at your own risk.

Then find the version for your operating system which looks like win32 for you.

Then pick a language like en-US for us English.

Then run the exe file.

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I have the popup window to "Add Security Exception"

Did you bother to check why you'd get the exception prompt? There must a reason for it, and I don't think it's due to a bug.

I can't believe that both Yahoo and Google simultaneously had their certificates go out of date.

Neither can I. Both, Yahoo and Google work fine here when checking mail with Thunderbird.

So I think the problem is in Thunderbird.

What makes you believe that? This forum would be swamped with complaints if that was a general problem. The problem is much more likely on your end.

I've submitted a bug report on Bugzilla

What for?

for now I'd just like to revert back to version 31.1.1

I doubt this will fix your problem. Please state what error message you get for the Google and Yahoo certs.

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Well, reverting to 31.1.1 did not fix the problem.

Did you bother to check why you'd get the exception prompt? There must a reason for it, and I don't think it's due to a bug.

How would I check?

So I think the problem is in Thunderbird.

What makes you believe that? This forum would be swamped with complaints if that was a general problem. The problem is much more likely on your end.

Since the update was very new - and I had done nothing to my knowledge that should have caused the problem, I thought that many people would be seeing the problem.

I doubt this will fix your problem. Please state what error message you get for the Google and Yahoo certs.

You were right. I have attached a screen shot of the error message. It's the same for both Yahoo and Google.

I don't get any other message, but Thunderbird has become EXTREMELY slow at downloading new messages.

Modified by jay46

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Please attempt to add an exception at the bottom of the error pop-up & inspect the certificate (see the attached screenshot for instructions).

Which issuer information does the certificate contain?

Do not confirm the security exception, just look up the cert's issuer.

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Here is a screen shot of the specific part of the certificate you outlined.

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If this is something specific to my computer, maybe I need to re-install? But if I un-install Thunderbird and re-install, will I have to re-do all my account settings? Will I lose my mail history?

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maybe I need to re-install?

No, no need to re-install.

Can you post a screenshot of the entire Certificate Viewer window, not just the issuer part?

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Aha! When the first window pops up saying that there's a problem with yahoo, then the certificate is a Google certificate. When the window pops up saying there's a problem with Google, then the certificate is a Yahoo certificate. I have no idea how or why this is happening.

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Here's the whole page.

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Can you provide a screenshot of the 'Details' tab as well?

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Here it is. I didn't know which specific details you might want.

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Just to confirm, the last two screenshot are for the same cert, right? In other words, in the 'General' tab you see a cert for pop.googlemail.com, while in the 'Details' tab you do see a cert for pop.att.yahoo.com. Please confirm.

In that case your certificate store may have become corrupted. Try to fix this: - find the location of your profile

 Help (Alt-H) - Troubleshooting Information - Profile Folder - Open Folder

- this should open your profile folder in Windows Explorer - close Thunderbird - locate the file cert8.db and delete it - start Thunderbird

Did the problem go away?

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    • sigh** that did not solve the problem.

I can't be sure of the correlation of the different screens I posted earlier, but here are the three screens all from one instance of the error warning.

Note that the initial screen says that the location is Yahoo but "The certificate belongs to a different site..." And indeed the Certificate View and Details screens show google instead of Yahoo.

If it makes a difference, I have been allowing the exception on a temporary basis (un-checking the permanent box) in order to receive mail.

Also, if it makes a difference, I have five accounts set up in Thunderbird, and this seems to be affecting only two of them (one Yahoo and one Google, obviously).

Modified by jay46

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This is really odd. Are you running some sort of security software trying to scan your incoming and outgoing messages? Anti-virus software sometimes attempts to intercept secure connections to the server.

You may scan your computer for malware.Even though the symptoms do not look like a typical malware problem, but better safe than sorry.

Can you post your Troubleshooting Information? Help (Alt-H) - Troubleshooting Information

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I think I have it solved now. What I did was to first turn off the automatic checking for new messages. Then I closed and restarted Thunderbird, and I turned off the SSL/TLS security on both of the accounts that I suspected of being swapped. Then I closed Thunderbird and rebooted the computer. Then I re-enabled the SSL/TLS security and re-enabled automatic checking for messages.

So far, no error messages!

Thank you, christ1, for your help. I would not have thought to try those steps without your encouragement.

Is there a way to mark this thread "Solved"?

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There should be a 'Mark as Solved' button in that thread, if you are logged in with the same user name as you used when you started that thread.

You may already have inadvertently marked the thread as 'Solved' with the 'downgrade to an earlier version' suggestion, which I still think was a bad idea.

You may also close the bug you opened in Bugzilla for this.

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Yes, I've closed the bugzilla report as Resolved, and I've re-installed the latest version of Thunderbird with no problem.

Thanks again.

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christ1 said

I have the popup window to "Add Security Exception" Did you bother to check why you'd get the exception prompt? There must a reason for it, and I don't think it's due to a bug. I can't believe that both Yahoo and Google simultaneously had their certificates go out of date. Neither can I. Both, Yahoo and Google work fine here when checking mail with Thunderbird. So I think the problem is in Thunderbird. What makes you believe that? This forum would be swamped with complaints if that was a general problem. The problem is much more likely on your end. I've submitted a bug report on Bugzilla What for? for now I'd just like to revert back to version 31.1.1 I doubt this will fix your problem. Please state what error message you get for the Google and Yahoo certs.