Problem replacing PM for Android with Firefox

Old discussions related to the Android/mobile version of Pale Moon.
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cyberreine
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Problem replacing PM for Android with Firefox

Unread post by cyberreine » 2017-10-23, 19:43

PM is my favorite browser, both on Windows and on Android. However, Moonchild's warning about security issues has made me think about removing PM for Android and replacing it with Firefox for Android. Today I downloaded Firefox from the Play Store and installed it on my Huawei MediaPad M3 browser running Android 7. I have a file on my tablet and my phone that includes a long, well-organized list of links that I use a lot. I click on an icon that leads to that file, and the file opens in Pale Moon, in Dolphin, even, goddess help me, in Chrome. But Firefox tells me "The file at /storage/emulated/0/documents/short.html is not readable. It may have been removed, moved, or file permissions may be preventing access." I've tried several times with no success, even after rebooting the tablet. I tried putting the file on my SD card, but Firefox couldn't read it there, either. I have no idea what to do. Yes, I know, this is a PM forum, but I tried without success to post a message on Mozilla's Firefox for Android forum. I'm hoping that perhaps some kind and knowledgeable person here may understand what is happening to prevent FF from opening this file and what can be done to fix this strange problem.

If need be, I'll uninstall Firefox for Android and simply make do with Dolphin, but I'd really like a second non-Chrome browser. Firefox seemed a likely choice.

Thanks in advance for your help.
PM 29.1.1(32-bit) on Win10 Professional 64-bit

CharmCityCrab

Re: Problem replacing PM for Android with Firefox

Unread post by CharmCityCrab » 2017-10-24, 05:01

Instead of messing with the existing file, if the links are still present in Pale Moon for Android, I would use the menus to newly export the file as HTML to a download directory or something. Then, using a fresh install of Firefox for Android, use the menus to import from the new file. If that doesn't work, try exporting and importing with different file types.

If none of that works, sync PM for A with Pale Moon for Windows (Using PM's sync system), then export as HTML there in Windows, then import the HTML to Firefox for Windows, and finally sync Firefox for Windows with Firefox for Android (Using Firefox's sync system).

Now, all of these methods will mean you are sort of forking off your future FFA bookmarks from your Dolphin bookmarks instead of sharing a file, *but* if any of them work, it should make it so that both start with the list you have now. Then you can decide if you want to let them branch away from each other or manually copy over future changes to keep them synced up.

Disclaimer: I'm just "brainstorming". I haven't tried any of these methods and can't guarantee that they will work or that they won't mess up anything. Use at your own risk.

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cyberreine
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Re: Problem replacing PM for Android with Firefox

Unread post by cyberreine » 2017-10-24, 15:29

Thanks, CharmCityCrab, for your response. Though I appreciate your attempt to help, your suggestions seem to me somewhat complicated and time-consuming. Moreover, if I understand you correctly, they would freeze the html file in its present form, and so each time I modify it, I'd have to go through the same steps again. Given the fact that every other browser I've tried can open the file with a single click, I think I'd be better off simply uninstalling Firefox for Android and either keeping Pale Moon as my backup to Dolphin or finding a different non-Chrome browser to serve that function.

I might add that after I posted my message here, I tried to see whether Firefox was having problems with just this one file or with .html files in general. To my surprise, Firefox couldn't read any of the few html files I have on my tablet. All the other browsers did so easily. I have no idea why Firefox has this problem, but it clearly doesn't meet my needs, and I will simply uninstall it.
PM 29.1.1(32-bit) on Win10 Professional 64-bit

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