Restoring windows that disappeared after restart? Topic is solved

Users and developers helping users with generic and technical Pale Moon issues on all operating systems.

Moderator: trava90

Forum rules
This board is for technical/general usage questions and troubleshooting for the Pale Moon browser only.
Technical issues and questions not related to the Pale Moon browser should be posted in other boards!
Please keep off-topic and general discussion out of this board, thank you!
User avatar
Deadgye
Moongazer
Moongazer
Posts: 10
Joined: 2020-11-06, 23:59

Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by Deadgye » 2022-01-06, 00:40

I had three windows of Pale Moon, each with their own variety of tabs. I updated Pale Moon and restarted the browser, no problems. I then installed the Stylem extension from the the add-on page, which caused the little blurb to appear for another browser restart, which I clicked to restart.
However when Pale Moon restarted this time there was only one window, as if the other two had poofed into non-existence. The surviving window also had a new tab opened at https://github.com/Lootyhoof/stylem/wiki .
My History -> Restore Previous Session button is grayed out. In my History -> Recently Closed Windows menu there are three windows, all of which are single tab windows I had closed before I updated Pale Moon. In my History -> Recently Closed Tabs menu there are only a few tabs I had closed from the surviving window prior to updating the browser.

Am I screwed, or is there anything I can do to salvage the missing windows/tabs? Even just a list of what the tabs were would be good enough. I can't leverage my History because it's been days since I've used or refreshed many of the tabs in the spirited away windows.

User avatar
moonbat
Knows the dark side
Knows the dark side
Posts: 4942
Joined: 2015-12-09, 15:45
Contact:

Re: Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by moonbat » 2022-01-06, 01:18

Use bookmarks, they exist for a reason :roll: . Keeping hundreds of tabs/windows open and then depending on session manager isn't a solution.
"One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them and in the darkness BIND them."

Image
Linux Mint 21 Xfce x64 on HP i5-5200 laptop, 12 GB RAM.
AutoPageColor|PermissionsPlus|PMPlayer|Pure URL|RecordRewind|TextFX

User avatar
Deadgye
Moongazer
Moongazer
Posts: 10
Joined: 2020-11-06, 23:59

Re: Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by Deadgye » 2022-01-06, 03:19

Finally found my profile directory after re-figuring out the AppData folder is named "Moonchild Productions" and not "Pale Moon". The sessionstore.bak contents were a little bit weird (See bottom of post). Thankfully there was a previous version/restore point from new years eve that has the tabs I couldn't remember. Don't know why, considering my system up time is about to hit 23 days, but I'll take it.
moonbat wrote:
2022-01-06, 01:18
Use bookmarks, they exist for a reason :roll: .
I can't exactly bookmark every page I leave open for an extended period of time, especially since I often don't know I won't be getting back to the tab for a while until after the fact. Also, bookmarks don't save the transient forward/back history nor your location on the page. Not to mention the overhead, cleanup, and clutter would be a nightmare; them being mostly out of sight would result in me constantly forgetting they exist; etc.. If I had enough time to manually track everything then the tabs probably wouldn't be building up in the first place, haha.
Alternatively: One of the windows that went poof contained less than a dozen tabs that were practically in-use; A bookmark for each page I had open of an already-bookmarked wiki doesn't really make sense. Sure I remember those tabs so they aren't lost forever, but it would still be an annoying timesink getting them all opened and edited again. (Ironically I only updated and installed the extension to try and see if I can automate deleting page elements instead of needing to inspect elements and delete the wiki sidebar node for each page I open.)
moonbat wrote:
2022-01-06, 01:18
Keeping hundreds of tabs/windows open and then depending on session manager isn't a solution.
On the contrary. When you have a browser startup preference configured to "Show my windows and tabs from last time" then I expect dependability; Windows disappearing for seemingly no reason after a restart would be a bug to me. I do agree, though, that keeping hundreds of tabs/windows open can be akin to playing russian roulette. Luckily it was my secondary and tertiary windows that went poof and not my primary window.

What was weird in the current sessionstore.bak file is that the missing windows partially exist:

Code: Select all

{
  "windows": [{
      "tabs": [{...entries omitted for brevity...}],
      "selected": 28,
      "_closedTabs": [{...entries omitted for brevity...}],
      "busy": false,
      "width": 1316,
      "height": 842,
      "screenX": 206,
      "screenY": 178,
      "sizemode": "normal"
    }, {
      "tabs": [],
      "selected": 6,
      "_closedTabs": [{...entries omitted for brevity...}],
      "busy": false
    }, {
      "tabs": [],
      "selected": 9,
      "_closedTabs": [{...entries omitted for brevity...}],
      "busy": false
    }
  ],
  "selectedWindow": 1,
  "_closedWindows": [{...entries omitted for brevity...}],
  "session": {
    "state": "stopped",
    "lastUpdate": 1641427212614,
    "startTime": 1634948046550,
    "recentCrashes": 0
  },
  "scratchpads": [],
  "browserConsole": false
}

User avatar
moonbat
Knows the dark side
Knows the dark side
Posts: 4942
Joined: 2015-12-09, 15:45
Contact:

Re: Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by moonbat » 2022-01-06, 08:52

Deadgye wrote:
2022-01-06, 03:19
When you have a browser startup preference configured to "Show my windows and tabs from last time" then I expect dependability;
A regular commuter car speedometer is graded upto 200 or 220 mph - doesn't mean it is necessarily capable of consistently driving at that speed.

You're not the first person with this weird habit - how exactly do you divide time between 200 different tabs (that's a lower number, I've seen people quote having tab counts in 4 digits), let alone recall back and forward positions for all of them? What exactly is this use case that requires hundreds of open tabs across multiple windows and browser exit/restart cycles instead of closing each one when you're done with it? And then complain that the browser is running slow or hogging memory. Given how bloated and poorly coded webpages are, with memory leaks over time and scripts hogging CPU cycles, having several of them open all the time is not something this or any browser is designed for. Or if you find another one that can preserve your sessions perfectly and consistently, please use that instead.
"One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them and in the darkness BIND them."

Image
Linux Mint 21 Xfce x64 on HP i5-5200 laptop, 12 GB RAM.
AutoPageColor|PermissionsPlus|PMPlayer|Pure URL|RecordRewind|TextFX

User avatar
Moonchild
Pale Moon guru
Pale Moon guru
Posts: 35474
Joined: 2011-08-28, 17:27
Location: Motala, SE
Contact:

Re: Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by Moonchild » 2022-01-06, 11:47

Even if you feel like hitting the star on the address bar is "too involved", you can still use browsing history to recall pages you have recently visited as well.

Please be aware that open tabs is a volatile state. There is no guarantee that your session state will at al times be preserved, even if you tell the browser to restore that state on startup. Due to the complexity of storing a full session state for each tab (including tab history, views, etc.) that is only to be considered a best effort. The moment you don't have a clean shutdown of the browser for whatever reason (and that can be many) your session data may be incomplete, corrupted or lost.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

User avatar
SanAequitas
Moongazer
Moongazer
Posts: 13
Joined: 2019-01-16, 22:19

Re: Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by SanAequitas » 2022-01-15, 16:45

moonbat wrote:
2022-01-06, 08:52
You're not the first person with this weird habit - how exactly do you divide time between 200 different tabs (that's a lower number, I've seen people quote having tab counts in 4 digits), let alone recall back and forward positions for all of them? What exactly is this use case that requires hundreds of open tabs across multiple windows and browser exit/restart cycles instead of closing each one when you're done with it?
There's a lot of stuff I come across that I may want to get into when I have time later, but don't necessarily want to make a permanent bookmark out of.
- Artist website with neat imagery
- Recipes I want to copy into my Notepad recipe list, but don't have time right now to copy it, and clean it up / edit out the life story.
- Longish youtube videos to watch when I have time
- Couple info sites on how to fix a RAW drive
- Couple forum posts on suggestions for fixing poor Victoria (the motorcycle that doesn't currently run)
- Links to purchase the stator, solenoid, other parts that MIGHT be the fix once I have time to pull the bike apart
- Completionist walkthrough for Mass Effect, map guides for Borderlands
- Kegging/pressure kegging info
- Couple tabs on fixing ATT's stupid crap where they don't whitelist Sony phones on the 5G network, even though they have the capability.
- News site, with a bunch of tabs of recent articles to go through (main ones that cycle in and out)
- VA/DEERS info that I need to do this week
- Kittens Game that my buddy just showed me.

And that's just some of them. Not stuff I need to save forever, just stuff to go through and currently somewhat use. My bookmark bar is already full of sites that I go to often for different things, so anything saved goes in a bookmarks folder that isn't easily sorted and organized...

User avatar
Moonchild
Pale Moon guru
Pale Moon guru
Posts: 35474
Joined: 2011-08-28, 17:27
Location: Motala, SE
Contact:

Re: Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by Moonchild » 2022-01-15, 17:36

I'd say pretty much all of that is bookmark material. Remember that deleting a bookmark when you no longer need it is just as easy.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

User avatar
SanAequitas
Moongazer
Moongazer
Posts: 13
Joined: 2019-01-16, 22:19

Re: Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by SanAequitas » 2022-01-15, 18:19

Eh I don't really use bookmarks for temporary go-back-to marking, I use them for stuff I'd want to save long-term. I probably should sort them better (even the stuff already bookmarked), but that's a lot of effort now that I have so many saved in 'unsorted' folder :/

Lucio Chiappetti
Astronaut
Astronaut
Posts: 654
Joined: 2014-09-01, 15:11
Location: Milan Italy

Re: Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by Lucio Chiappetti » 2022-01-15, 19:18

An alternative to bookmarks (which I recommend and use A LOT as said in previous posts, both in the bookmark menu and in the bookmark toolbar ... where I have among others a "Volatile" and a "Truly volatile" folders :D ) would be to use a session manager addon (I use Session Manager 0.8.1.14). This keeps a stack of half a dozen "past sessions" plus named sessions. It may happen that I open the browser for occasional navigation, and next time I return to the previous, semi-permanent or semi-volatile :D session). In the past I also saved named sessions which I needed to use during teleconf.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. (G.B. Shaw)

User avatar
back2themoon
Moon Magic practitioner
Moon Magic practitioner
Posts: 2371
Joined: 2012-08-19, 20:32

Re: Restoring windows that disappeared after restart?

Unread post by back2themoon » 2022-01-15, 22:55

Either create a "Temp" bookmarks folder and save/organise your "to check" stuff there, or use the Save-To-Read extension (to be found in the CAA) which will neatly do that in one click.

Locked