Hi Otto, sorry to hear about this problem.

Have you done a normal shutdown and restart of your Mac since this problem started, to clear file locks and complete any pending updates? I suggest that as the first step in cases where it seems Firefox can't access data normally.

Could you let us know what you get when you run the "Verify Integrity" function. That's here:

Open Firefox's Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
• (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Return

Near the bottom, there is a section titled Places Database -- that's the file which stores history and bookmarks. Click the button labeled Verify Integrity. There may be a 10-15 second delay before results appear.

If all is well, the report that appears below the button should start with:

> Task: checkIntegrity
+ The places.sqlite database is sane
+ The favicons.sqlite database is sane

Does yours say that, or something else? You can select and copy the report, and then paste it into a reply for review and comment.

Thanks for trying to help me out jscher2000, much appreciated.

Mac Restart did not resolve the problem. 69.0.2 just arrived & installed: issue persisting.

Firefox debugging tools have come a long way. First time using that option but it is such a great idea to have. My results:

   > Task: checkIntegrity
   - Unable to check places.sqlite integrity: Error: Error(s) encountered during statement execution: 
   > Task: invalidateCaches
   - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
   > Task: checkCoherence
   - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
   > Task: expire
   - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
   > Task: originFrecencyStats
   - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
   > Task: vacuum
   - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
   > Task: stats
   - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.
   > Task: _refreshUI
   - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task.

So houston we have a problem, I guess. Should I file a bug in bugzilla or do we continue debugging here?

Well, unfortunately, if places.sqlite is damaged/corrupted, the usual remedy is to remove it and let Firefox start a new one. Firefox should apply your last bookmark backup to the file but there's no history backup.

You might want to try making new bookmark backups first. There are two available formats, and I suggest making both:

• "JSON" backup: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer
• "HTML" export: Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks

Did the HTML backup.

Then the json backup.

"the usual remedy is to remove it and let Firefox start a new one"

I followed http://kb.mozillazine.org/Locked_or_damaged_places.sqlite to do that. Not sure if there is a more current KB on support.mozilla.org?

That did it. The bookmarks returned after a bit and address bar suggestions are working again as expected.

Thanks so much for your help.

PS: Sidenote on the json backup option KB:

The json option is confusing as the KB seems outdated. I tried following but the icons do not match up. If I press the "library" icon (the one that seems to show books with the very right book leaning against the three other books) and select bookmarks > show all bookmarks which seems to translate to "Manage bookmarks" in german (wrong translation for german or outdated KB?), I can then not find the "Import and backup" icon. There are now two arrows for that button and I think that is a recent design change. So could be the case that the KB uses the old icon? Can you or documentation department update that KB to match the current Firefox implementation?

Hi Otto, thanks for the updates.

I hadn't noticed the icon change. For a while, there was a freeze on adding screenshots to Knowledgebase articles so I think a lot of them probably are out of date now. If you end up having a lot of free time, you can make updates using the "Editing Tools" in the left column.

Seems someone already updated the icons for https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them . If it was you, thanks a lot!