Firefox extension could not be installed because of a connection failure
As Windows booted, I got a message to upgrade 1PW which I did. Then I started getting messages that my Firefox (49.0.1) extension was out of date and to upgrade it. I tried but kept getting this message: "The add-on could not be installed because of a connection failure." So I followed the advice of one of the support pages here at AgileBits and uninstalled the extension. Then, from the desktop console, I tried to install the Firefox extension. I got the download page, and the warning message; I clicked to allow. And then got the same message. I tried disabling Windows firewall; no joy. It seems very odd that right after upgrading the desktop 1PW, the extension had a connection failure. Also nothing else seems to have the problem. So right now I don't have the extension installed at all. The previous version of the extension was, as I remember 4.5.? Not sure but it was installed in June, 2016. I depend heavily on the extension and hope we can get it straightened out. Thanks so much. -G. PS. I can't post this because it requires a category but won't let me select one. This is a bad day, technology wise. :'(
1Password Version: 4.6.1.616
Extension Version: n/a (that's the problem)
OS Version: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
Sync Type: n/a
Referrer: forum-search:1PW desktop upgraded fine but Firefox extension could not be installed because of a connection failure
Comments
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Hi @gorham,
Do you have BitDefender or Avast? If yes, they're blocking the installation, which is why you're getting the failure message in Firefox.
Try this method to install it manually: https://support.1password.com/cannot-install-extension/#firefox
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Hi Mike. Long time no "see".
No I don't have either of those. Would something suddenly start blocking it? I had the perfectly good previous version until 5 minutes before this all happened. Anyway, I followed the instructions for manually installing it and it worked! It's 4.6.0 and there's no nag so I guess that's the latest version for Windows. Hope it doesn't happen again but I'll know what to do if it does. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
-G.
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Hi @gorham,
You should be seeing the 1Password extension version 4.6.1, not 4.6.0. Can you double check on that?
These two were the most popular anti-malware solutions blocking our extension install but yes, any anti-malware solution can start suddenly blocking the extension files out of nowhere. The fact that it worked manually means you do have a third party involved blocking it. It just happens to be that we don't release extension update that often, so you wouldn't see this issue until now.
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Having the exact same issue. I followed the same action as Gorham, that is uninstalling, but trying to get the new extension was impossible. I do not use either of the two mentioned AV products, but have ESET Smart Security installed. Will try turning off ESET and if that does not work I'll then try your support link.
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Hi @BobArch2,
Did you follow the instructions in my link that I gave Gorham? https://support.1password.com/cannot-install-extension/#firefox
You have to download the XPI file manually and then install it into Firefox rather than trying to download from our site.
Disabling ESET won't disable it fully, it'd still work on some levels to protect you, that's why it won't be enough but it is not needed to do this.
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Yes, I did try the link... more than once. Not sure how to download the XPI file manually, but will try again.
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:smile: That's great to hear, thanks for updating us here.
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"None found" was the response. Curiouser and curiouser.
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That is strange. Maybe do a reboot, it sometimes help.
The only thing I can think of is that ESET is blocking the updates as well.
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Reboot did nothing. I installed successfully in Opera. And the latest version did come up in that browser. Wouldn't that indicate it's not ESET?
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Ah. True enough. Mike, it's a later version than what I had. Can I risk riding with 4.6 for now? I ask because I broke my arm last Monday and have been doing all this one handed. If I can wait a bit to conquor the evil that has befallen my 'puter, I'd be most happy.
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@gorham: As long as no one else has access to your system, 4.6 will be fine for now. The authentication changes we've made in the latest version are to defend against a specific attack which can be performed by another user. While important, if you're not sharing it with others (either locally or remotely), then it should be okay to hold off briefly. But it's definitely best to update as soon as you're able both for security and filling improvements, and we're here to help in any way we can. :)
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I had the exact same problem and use ESET. I did the manual install and it worked fine.
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I tried manually installing the .xpi file as MikeT described in the above link (Oct 8) by following the directions exactly. It failed to work for me. Firefox would not accept the .xpi file, when dragging it to the Extensions page.
Using 1Password 4 Beta at present, while trying to sort out my Mac Licence issue.
OS - Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit PC
Browser - Firefox 49.0.1 with Kaspersky Internet Security1Password helper has worked OK until recently it will not update - "Connection failure". Text box keeps reminding me** incessantly** the need to update my 1P Helper - but it will not update.
The only previous problem I had with Helper, was that sometimes it could not be found. But when the main 1Password software was opened, Helper miraculously appeared and worked well.
Would someone please advise another way to update my Helper, or kindly offer another solution.
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@OldDawg: Ouch! It sounds like something is not only blocking the connection between 1Password and the browser, but even preventing the extension from being installed manually in Firefox. Do you have "security" software or other extensions which may be interfering? Let me know what you find!
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Hi Brenty,
Yes I have Kaspersky Internet Security installed but this has not been an issue in originally installing 1P Helper or for any of the updates in the past. I also use Spybot S&D but only on demand and also Malwarebytes free version also only on demand. They are not running and are not real time protection. The Kaspersky is my only real time running security software.So I don't see anything that could be blocking my Helper.
Could it be that I am currently using 1Password Version 4.6.0.BETA-615 ?
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@OldDawg: In our testing, recent versions of Kaspersky seem to coexist just fine with 1Password, but it's certainly been a problem in the past — and of course this could change again at any time in an update. Can you tell me which version you're using? Definitely update 1Password to the current version and try disabling Kaspersky temporarily to see if it makes a difference. Otherwise it may simply be that your Firefox profile is damaged if you still can't install it.
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As long as no one else has access to your system, 4.6 will be fine for now. The authentication changes we've made in the latest version are to defend against a specific attack which can be performed by another user. While important, if you're not sharing it with others (either locally or remotely), then it should be okay to hold off briefly. But it's definitely best to update as soon as you're able both for security and filling improvements>
Right. Fortunately I'm the sole user of this machine.
But, in light of @OldDawg 's similar issues, I'm wondering what, in this new version, developed an antipathy for ESET or whatever is causing it. Like @OldDawg , my 1PW, upgrades and extensions have worked fine until now. What triggered that I wonder.
-G.
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The way 1Password connects to the 1Password browser extensions hasn't changed. We have implemented an interesting security feature that is meant to protect the connection by encrypting it.
Still, we've seen an uptick in issues with ESET in recent days that we can't explain because from our perspective nothing really changed.
Can you contact ESET about this?
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Hello, I am experiencing the same exact kind of problems, including the inability to update once I reinstall version 4.6.0. I opened another thread about this but I thought I'd report here too!
No security software to blame for it on my side:
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@gorham: Indeed. 1Password definitely doesn't have anything against ESET. It's antivirus-agnostic. ;)
However, anything that interferes with 1Password's ability to connect securely to its browser extension will prevent that from functioning. We don't want to transmit your sensitive data if there's something in the middle intercepting communications, and ESET and Avast are two suites I'm aware of that do just that: using a self-signed certificate to decrypt secure traffic — "SSL/TLS filtering" for the former, "Web Shield" for the latter. I'm not implying they're doing anything malicious, but the fact remains that when these are enabled, your secure connections are not anymore (for example, sending payment information to a shopping site).
@Qutrit: I'll reply in the other discussion, rather than trying to to carry on the same conversation in multiple places. :)
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ESET and Avast are two suites I'm aware of that do just that: using a self-signed certificate to decrypt secure traffic — "SSL/TLS filtering" for the former, "Web Shield" for the latter. I'm not implying they're doing anything malicious, but the fact remains that when these are enabled, your secure connections are not anymore
But did this just change; or did you just become aware of it? I ask because of how well 1PW and ESET have "gotten along" for years.
-G.
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BTW, I noticed in another thread that a firewall could cause problems. I'm not even sure what constitutes a firewall these days but here are my "security guards": Malwarebytes Anti-malware, Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit, ESET Nod AV, Windows Firewall and a hardware firewall within my NetGear router.
I'm hoping there's not an issue here because I'm pretty sure I don't want to change those.
One other thing though. I recently had issues with ESET (and still do to some extent) where it wouldn't scan and would crash my system. I explored a few other AV packages and found problems with the Malwarebytes apps in most of them. So I totally and completely (and manually) cleaned all vestiges of ESET from my system and registry and installed the latest ESET. It now works ... mostly. I do sometimes have to tweak it to get it to scan individual files. But 1PW functioned throughout all that process; its problems didn't start at all until that upgrade business on October 8 - the beginning of this thread.
I just wandered through my ESET setup and realize there are about a thousand (seems like) settings to play with. I'm attaching a PDF of what I think might be relevant areas to explore but I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. I haven't tinkered with it other than to try to keep it out of Malwarebytes' way.
No I'm not. This board doesn't allow PDF or ZIP files. So I'm attaching five small screenshots.
Bleah!! I HATE technology sometimes!
-G.
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@gorham
Thank you for the information and your comments.I was in contact with ESET yesterday and a few minutes ago and tested the latest version of ESET Smart Security thoroughly on two of my testing systems today.
My findings are with the exception of silently blocking the installation of the 1Password Firefox add-on, all features in 1Password, including
- updating to the latest versions of the extension,
- updating 1Password 4 to version 4.6.1.616,
- and going through the authorisation process for the extension,
work fine. My contact at ESET—a very friendly and knowledgeable person, by the way—wasn't sure what's causing the extension installation issue either, especially if there's no log of a blocking incident.
They suggested temporarily disabling the entire Web Protection component, or the Firewall component, or both, temporarily and to check if it helps. I'm had to remove ESET temporarily but I will test this again in a bit.
Anything you find might help us solve this.
Thank you!
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Oh my! When I did the manual thing a few days ago, apparently it was v. 4.6.0 not 4.6.1. I just discovered it when I went to go through the manual process again. 8-) So, without doing anything to ESET or anything else, I did the add-on install and it worked. I'm now up to date.
Many, many apologies for wasting your time. Mea culpa.
-G.
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