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Thunderbird Portable won't update when on network drive

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May 8, 2023 - 10:35am
#1
Leasty
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Thunderbird Portable won't update when on network drive

I'm running standalone Thunderbird Portable 102.9 on a network drive (CIFS) from my Windows 10Pro machine. Runs fine, but I can't get it to update using the standalone method. It's the only portable app I use regularly so don't have the PortableApp platform installed.

When I download and install the latest version - 102.10.1 in this case but it's been like this since at least 102.* - it installs okay as far as I can tell, but when I go to start it it just hangs. I get the initial splash screen, but then nothing. No activity on the NAS and no TB tasks showing in task manager even after waiting for an hour or more just in case. I have tried this multiple times with reboots of both the PC and of the NAS the drive is mapped to - same result.

However, if I copy my TB installation folder from the NAS to a physical local drive and then install the update, it all works. I can then copy the installation folder back to the NAS and it runs fine from the shared drive.

More background: I have the TB installation running from my "M:" drive which is mapped via a Windows share (CIFS) to my Synology DS215+ . The userid in use has full access (admin) to that mapped drive and I have no other problems accessing data on that drive. I have been running like this for many years, but the problem only started since I moved from version 91 to 102.0 and has happened at every update since.

Can anyone offer any insights or solutions for me?

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May 9, 2023 - 3:22pm
John T. Haller
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Likely Thunderbird Itself

We haven't made any changes in our launcher that should effect things. It could be that Thunderbird's updater doesn't like updating on a network share anymore. Some apps have issues with it as it is not something that's tested for (with them expecting to run from Program Files and all). It could be an incompatibility with the updater in connection with thunderbird.exe launched with the -profile switch. Or it could be Thunderbird running with a custom Windows appid which we set via the registry to allow it to be pinned to the taskbar properly with the PA.c Platform.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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May 13, 2023 - 4:06pm
(Reply to #2)
Leasty
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Thanks for the reply John.

Next time I do an upgrade, if I get the same problem I'll take pre and post backups of the Thunderbird folder and the registry for both attempts at the upgrade and see what the differences are between the working and non-working upgrades. Maybe that will give some idea where the issue lies.
Also tempted to do a fresh install of TB to see if that makes a difference - could try that just using a couple of my accounts.

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May 13, 2023 - 4:12pm
(Reply to #3)
John T. Haller
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Platform to Update

If it's the only portable app you use, you could use it in conjunction with the PA.c Platform but only launch the PA.c Platform when Thunderbird needs an update. When a portable app is installed with the platform in the correct location, it doesn't need to always be launcher by the platform.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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June 18, 2023 - 6:48am
(Reply to #4)
Leasty
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Auto Update failed (again)

It appears that Thunderbird Portable on my network drive updated itself yesterday. It wouldn't start this morning - just hangs after splash screen. I have AutoUpdate set to "Ask", but it appears to have updated anyway.
I copied the installation over to a USB drive (twice), started it from the USB drive and all fine! Then copied it back to my network drive again and still all fine. So it seems that the update does work to some degree, but it just doesn't start the first time afterwards.

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