HowTo Install the Latest Firefox in Ubuntu (Ultimate HowTo)

[jclmusic]

i tried the script posted on here, but with no success. however, i discovered an alternative way of doing it for those who are having the same problem :)

1. uninstall firefox using synaptic package manager

2. download the firefox 2 for your language/region from www.getfirefox.com

3. uncompress it to /opt/firefox or your home directory or anywhere else if you prefer. (remember /opt/firefox requires sudo)

4. update any launchers, menu launchers, preffered applications settings etc to point to /opt/firefox/firefox or where you unpacked it.

it should now work :)

[jclmusic]

found an easier way!

there is an autopackage available from www.autopackage.org :)

[aysiu]

i tried the script posted on here, but with no success. however, i discovered an alternative way of doing it for those who are having the same problem :)

1. uninstall firefox using synaptic package manager

2. download the firefox 2 for your language/region from www.getfirefox.com

3. uncompress it to /opt/firefox or your home directory or anywhere else if you prefer. (remember /opt/firefox requires sudo)

4. update any launchers, menu launchers, preffered applications settings etc to point to /opt/firefox/firefox or where you unpacked it.

it should now work :)
That's essentially what the script does... except for uninstalling the Ubuntu Firefox.

[rev_b]

Firefox 2.0.0.1 was released and may seem a minor update, but it seem to have some important fixes.

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/known-vulnerabilities.html#firefox2.0.0.1

An update isn't still available in the repositories, and I searched the forums for how to update to 2.0.0.1, but found nothing. So I tried to get the job done and I found a way that works well, so I want to share.

Just download firefox-2.0.0.1.tar.gz from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Just extract the archive to where you want to run it (I installed it in my ~/ folder), it'll create a folder named firefox

To run it just double-click "firefox" in ~/firefox folder, or update your menu launcher properties. It'll run version 2.0.0.1 and it will still get your settings from the 2.0 version from your ~/.mozilla hidden folder.

To get full functional plugins, just delete ~/firefox/plugins and make it a link for /usr/lib/firefox/plugins

ln -s /usr/lib/firefox/plugins ~/firefox

You may also like to make offline content to open with FF 2.0.0.1. Just right click a html file, for instance, select properties -> open with -> Add -> Use a custom command -> Browse and point it to ~/firefox/firefox

This surely isn't an expert guide for installing, but it worked for me and it's a very safe way to run the latest firefox version, as you are only running it from your home folder, so no messing arround with system files.

Check for Updates menu is now active, I don't know if it'll work fine for further versions.

Hope this will be usefull for someone.

[ovidescu]

That worked just fine for me. Thank you, I was really looking for a way to upgrade to 2.0.0.1

Ovidiu

[rev_b]

It's not actually an upgrade, but a way to have 2.0 and 2.0.0.1 installed at the same time, and running 2.0.0.1. I guess one could really upgrade the default 2.0 version, but I really don't feel confortable messing arround with system files.

The correct way would be 2.0.0.1 be added into repositories, and making the upgrade with Synaptic/apt-get. It'll eventually happen (I think), meanwhile firefox guys made the 2.0.0.1 tar.gz very simple to run.

The only trick is replacing the "plugins" folder with a symbolic link as stated. Just copying the files won't work because many files in /usr/lib/firefox/plugins are already just links and they'll be broken in the copy process.

[paparucino]

The correct way would be 2.0.0.1 be added into repositories, and making the upgrade with Synaptic/apt-get. It'll eventually happen (I think), meanwhile firefox guys made the 2.0.0.1 tar.gz very simple to run.

I've 2.0.0.1 in my synaptic, so I think it's in the repos since I aded nothing to the sources.lists

[jclmusic]

That's essentially what the script does... except for uninstalling the Ubuntu Firefox.

i had problems with the script. maybe it's just me, but if not, i thought i should help others :)

that howto is kind of useless now i found that autopackage, but i'll leave it there in case people have problems with autopackage too.

[grizzly]

how come one the most popular open-source apps needs an how-to for upgrading whereas a closed-source app ( Opera) provides various deb's for each major and testing release immediately . The testing or weekly are released every week!!.

http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/

[paparucino]

how come one the most popular open-source apps needs an how-to for upgrading whereas a closed-source app ( Opera) provides various deb's for each major and testing release immediately . The testing or weekly are released every week!!.

To tell the truth, I installed ff2.0.0.1 without changing anything. Synaptic made the job. :-)

[rev_b]

2.0.0.1 is available in feisty repositories, but, at least for me, I can't see it on edgy ones; it says I have the latest version available (2.0) and won't let me upgrade.

PS: I confirmed it right now. I have feisty installed in a VMWare machine and firefox version in the repos is 2.0.0.1. Edgy is still 2.0...

[paparucino]

PS: I confirmed it right now. I have feisty installed in a VMWare machine and firefox version in the repos is 2.0.0.1. Edgy is still 2.0...
May be someone forgot to update the Edgy repos or someone thinks it's no ncessary to udate a near to the end release :D

[chetroia]

Yea I agree what does it take to install FF updates ? I am running Edgy too but having to wait this long for updates that fix security issues is crazy. This is what Microsoft does. People are depending on Ubuntu to do the work for updates and new users relay on this too they dont want to drop to bash shell to run commands to install the update manually. They need to consolidate the different gui,s for doing updates too. EX use Aitomatix for this use Synamtec for that apt-get this yum that. Lets have choice but make the tools to have everything then not all thest different tools that you need to spend endless time on internet to find them or odd names to apt-get then try find the icon somewhere in ur menu...
](*,)

[DnasTheGreat]

Yes... I seem to recall reading something about one of the holes fixed in Firefox 2.0.0.1 caused a few people lose all the mail in their Gmail accounts. That's... really... bad...

Come on, we're not like Microsoft! I don't know Ubuntu's packaging policy (it doesn't seem that you like to put major upgrades in repositories... can't say I agree much with that, but whatever.) but a security update is a security update.

And really, how much time could it take? Firefox compilation takes about an hour on my Gentoo box. Only the first few minutes of which need to be supervised. The build system can't have changed any from 2.0 to 2.0.0.1, so the scripts that built 2.0 with Ubuntu patches would still work. And 2.0.0.1 is in feisty, so even if they did change, one could use their setup. A little sanity check here and there (the code probably didn't change much) and a few minutes to make a deb and then you've improved the security of thousands of boxes out there.

One of the things I've always loved about Linux is that the package manager takes care of all the nuances of installation and package maintainace for me. But what's the use if I have to manually hunt down and install even security updates?

A sampling of all the distribution packaging websites I am aware of shows that every distribution that offers Firefox 2 offers 2.0.0.1. I don't see any excuse for why Ubuntu is lagging behind now.

[rev_b]

Maybe too busy getting Feisty out in time?

Anyway *maybe* one could get FF 2.0.0.1 to install altering /etc/apt/sources.list to feisty repositories and installing only firefox... Anyone brave enough to try? ;) Or maybe run firefox as root and see if the check for updates menu is active, it should update itself.

I'm sugesting this because I'm on a windows machine at work, so I can´t try these. Running firefox as root and to see if it updates itself would be one thing I would try now, I didn't think of it before.

And yes, I agree security patches for browser should be top priority in repositories update list.

[Poka64]

Maybe too busy getting Feisty out in time?

Anyway *maybe* one could get FF 2.0.0.1 to install altering /etc/apt/sources.list to feisty repositories and installing only firefox... Anyone brave enough to try? ;) Or maybe run firefox as root and see if the check for updates menu is active, it should update itself.

I'm sugesting this because I'm on a windows machine at work, so I can´t try these. Running firefox as root and to see if it updates itself would be one thing I would try now, I didn't think of it before.

And yes, I agree security patches for browser should be top priority in repositories update list.

You can't update through the update that Firefox uses because the Ubuntu build is different

[n3Cre0]

Hmm I just updated my firefox trough a script (if anyone needs it i'll look up the link) but I would love to get it updated trough Synaptec.

Is there any way how I can get feisty updates (like firefox 2.0.0.1) trough synaptec/updata-manager without it breaking my edgy installlation?

Would adding the feisty repos work?

[DnasTheGreat]

Feisty seems to use a newer glibc. I got a dependancy problem with it when I tried to download the feisty deb manually. And glibc upgrades tend to be rather prone to breakage, so I didn't really want to download that and the other system-wide dependancies that may have changed in Feisty. (Hence them only being updated when the distro updates.) Besides, it shouldn't be this much work for a security upgrade on a browser. :) The method in this thread is adequate, but misses out on some of the convenient patches that were added. (Vanilla Firefox is somewhat Windows-y.)

[david.rahrer]

This really is confusing to me. How is this supposed to work? From what I have read, 2.0.0.1 is an important security update. Wouldn't this normally be a priority in the Repos? I get update notices for much less important software than Firefox.

[rev_b]

I tried and it's possible to upgrade edgy firefox 2.0 to 2.0.0.1 using feisty repositories.
I've tried this on a virtual machine edgy installation, so try it at your own risk.

Quick and dirty way:

open a terminal and paste
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list


Go to search -> replace and replace "edgy" with "feisty". Save the file. (maybe it's a good idea to back it up first).

Launch synaptic, hit reload and search for firefox. You'll see version 2.0.0.1. Mark for upgrade and it'll install FF 2.0.0.1 with all needed upgraded dependencies.

Exit synaptic and replace your sources.list with your backup, or revert the process, i.e., lauch gedit and replace "feisty" entries with "edgy" - if you let it be, update manager will try to upgrade all your system to feisty!!

Launch firefox - you have 2.0.0.1 running.

[n3Cre0]

Just substituted edgy with feisty.

Will tell you if it works lol

EDIT: It didn't...

[papers]

This worked very good for me.

1. Open terminal and start firefox like this: sudo firefox.

2. Open help menu in Firefox and choose look for updates.

3. When Firefox has confirmed the update 21906 then..

4. Start your filemanager in terminal with this command; sudo nautilus --no-desktop --browser

5. Browse to your homefolder and show hidden files, ctrl+h.
look for .mozilla/firefox/somenumbers.default , change read/write permissions for any
file or folder thats been changed to root to be owned by you again.
It's often extensions you have to change.

6. All done!

[david.rahrer]

It was my understanding that the FF version in Ubuntu is customized. Wouldn't your method force the standard update over this custom install (i.e. sudo firefox, etc)? If this were possible, then wouldn't the default Firefox update be enabled from the beginning?

I'm trying to learn how all this works. Assuming that important security updates like this one for Firefox are supposed to be supplied to Ubuntu installs, who is responsible for the actual work of updating the repositories? Is this something individuals can do and submit for approval, or is there a process controlled by someone else? I've only recently started using Ubuntu on the desktop and I'm concerned about how this should play out. Thanks for any help understanding this.

[nu2this]

This worked very good for me.

1. Open terminal and start firefox like this: sudo firefox.

2. Open help menu in Firefox and choose look for updates.

3. When Firefox has confirmed the update 21906 then..

4. Start your filemanager in terminal with this command; sudo nautilus --no-desktop --browser

5. Browse to your homefolder and show hidden files, ctrl+h.
look for .mozilla/firefox/somenumbers.default , change read/write permissions for any
file or folder thats been changed to root to be owned by you again.
It's often extensions you have to change.

6. All done!
Didn't work for me in Edgy.

[nu2this]

I think the reason for the delay is the Mozilla guys have to approve the Ubuntu Fx upgrade
has to do with protecting the Fx trademarks. Neither I nor Mozilla want a version of Fx that would do nasty things.

[DnasTheGreat]

Ah. That makes sense.

Hmm... but that's really really ugly... I understand that MozCo wants to protect their trademark but this shouldn't stand in the way of users' security.

Why can't they say that if some patches were approved for one release, they'd be fine for future ones, or at least for security bugfixes? I understand that some patches may break or act weird with minor changes to code here and there, but it's probably the distributor's responsibility to do a sanity check on the patches anyway, and the minor possibility of a distributor purposefully putting out a version of Firefox that happened to do nasty things with a patch that was previously good is worth getting security updates out to all users. After all, having to okay every single release of every single distribution (that doesn't decide to change the name) is very bad for your users. I thought part of the idea of OSS was to promote that idea that the interests of the users have higher priority than those of corporations.

Of course, this doesn't eliminate the possibility that a security patch _does_ break a portion of a pre-okayed patchset (and that the distributor catches it), since then you'd have the go through the review process again, but at least it would put out 99% of such collisions.

Sigh... why can't "don't be stupid" be properly drafted into legalese... would solve a lot of problems in the world. ;)

(Or, even better, they could upstream the Linux patches so that vanilla Fx isn't so Windows-y and works on our platform... as I understand it, the majority of distributions use the same patchset, or have a lot in common at least.)

Besides, personally I think they're a bit more vicious than necessary. Many FOSS apps have trademarks. Linux is a trademark, in fact. But you never hear of any problems with that. I doubt Torvalds is personally okaying every single Linux distro out there...


Is there any official word on this delay? Because I can't consciously reccommend a distro to friends (or myself for that matter) if they don't get their security patches on time.

[Hairy_Palms]

IIRC the security patches from the latest version are put into edgy-security its only the added features that dont get into edgy.

[veli]

Very useful thread.
I'd like only to mention that you could also use the builds of SWIFTFOX. Download to your home directory and follow the directions in the first post.

But run the following command:

ln -s /usr/lib/firefox/plugins ~/swiftfox

It works.

[mastergunner]

How do you install Firefox in to Kubuntu?

[rev_b]

How do you install Firefox in to Kubuntu?

Exactly the same way. Kubuntu and Ubuntu are just diferent names for the same system with different desktop managers. Same steps for Kubuntu.

[speedwell68]

I tried and it's possible to upgrade edgy firefox 2.0 to 2.0.0.1 using feisty repositories.
I've tried this on a virtual machine edgy installation, so try it at your own risk.

Quick and dirty way:

open a terminal and paste
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list


Go to search -> replace and replace "edgy" with "feisty". Save the file. (maybe it's a good idea to back it up first).

Launch synaptic, hit reload and search for firefox. You'll see version 2.0.0.1. Mark for upgrade and it'll install FF 2.0.0.1 with all needed upgraded dependencies.

Exit synaptic and replace your sources.list with your backup, or revert the process, i.e., lauch gedit and replace "feisty" entries with "edgy" - if you let it be, update manager will try to upgrade all your system to feisty!!

Launch firefox - you have 2.0.0.1 running.

This worked a treat for me. Thanks.

[rev_b]

Very useful thread.
I'd like only to mention that you could also use the builds of SWIFTFOX. Download to your home directory and follow the directions in the first post.

But run the following command:

ln -s /usr/lib/firefox/plugins ~/swiftfox

It works.

Very nice. I tried swiftfox 2.0.0.1 Athlon 64 optimized and it works just fine, and seems much faster than default firefox build. I'm using swiftfox instead, now.

[svitj]

I forgot to tell you, this is the only text I got by using the script.
So I don't what to enter.

The most recent release of firefox is detected to be 2.0. Please make sure this is correct before proceeding. (You can confirm by going to http://www.mozilla.com/) Is it correct [y/n]? y
Please choose the localization (language) for firefox. Enter the number of your choice from the list below.
Enter your choice of localization:

Just the same here!! I don't get the list with the code numbers.. Ad if I try, any number:

"Your input is not in the range of available localizations. Please try again:"

[apapww]

Thanks ever so much. (http://hk.yahoo.com). (http://www.ec2biz.com). (http://www.rthk.org.hk). (http://www.ads28.com). (http://www.ec2biz.com). (http://www.top1.com.hk). (http://www.ads28.com)

[r!ots]

hey guys.

ages ago i installed firefox manually in /opt/firefox.
i was wondering recently why my firefox version always stayed the same although it was updated by synaptic.
today i upgraded to edgy eft and still i didn't have firefox2.0. only then i realised i had two versions installed and the links in my /usr/bin directory pointed to the one in /opt/firefox that didn't get updated by synaptic.
i changed the links so they are pointing to /usr/lib/firfox and now i'm running firefox2.0.

now my question:
how do i uninstall the old firefox in /opt/firefox ?
do i just remove it by typing
sudo rm -rf /opt/firefoxor do i have to care about any links, personal data or anything like that?

[towsonu2003]

hey guys.

ages ago i installed firefox manually in /opt/firefox.
i was wondering recently why my firefox version always stayed the same although it was updated by synaptic.
today i upgraded to edgy eft and still i didn't have firefox2.0. only then i realised i had two versions installed and the links in my /usr/bin directory pointed to the one in /opt/firefox that didn't get updated by synaptic.
i changed the links so they are pointing to /usr/lib/firfox and now i'm running firefox2.0.

now my question:
how do i uninstall the old firefox in /opt/firefox ?
do i just remove it by typing
sudo rm -rf /opt/firefoxor do i have to care about any links, personal data or anything like that?
please refer to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FirefoxNewVersion

[eeried]

sudo rm -rf /opt/firefox

Yes it's that simple! Just before deleting the firefox dir make sure you've saved your plugin dir so you can copy the plugins files into your /usr/lib/firefox/plugins except for your soft link to Java if you have that plugin: the link must be made afresh from the java dir to your new firefox plugin dir.

You can also remove your old firefox icon from the taskbar
cheers :guitar:

[towsonu2003]

Yes it's that simple!

I have to disagree. Many users who installed the new version of Firefox used this document: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FirefoxNewVersion (either manual or script version)

which diverts all kinds of information from the older to the newer version of Fx. So it's a good idea to follow the removal instructions at that page.

[Canis familiaris]

How do I stop dpkg to stop updating my firefox 1.5?

[aysiu]

How do I stop dpkg to stop updating my firefox 1.5?
Lock it in Synaptic (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2076216#post2076216).

[siwli]

Just the same here!! I don't get the list with the code numbers.. Ad if I try, any number:

"Your input is not in the range of available localizations. Please try again:"

Hi, I had this problem too. The problem was that my version of Ubuntu is german. If you have a look at the script (for example with gedit or any other editor), somewhere it says
# Get available localizations
and in the line underneath is a long command with wget and other stuff. The problem is the 'grep directory' part.
I tried out the first part of the command (the wget ftp.... part) and had a look at the output. The word 'directory' did not appear in the output, instead there was the word 'Verzeichnis' which actually means directory in german.
So if you change the script so that it contains the word for directory in your language, you can run it.

Here is the exact line, I highlighted the spot to change (in my editor, it was line 49):

LOCALIZATIONS=( `wget -q -O - ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/$VERSION/linux-i686/ | grep "Directory" |grep -v "xpi" |awk '{print $7}' | awk -F\/ '{print $10}'`)

[shankru85]

thanks for the tipshttp://ubuntuforums.org/images/smilies/smiley-faces-80.gif

[Dragon43]

Thanks to all in this thread. I finally got FF 2.0.0.1 running on my 6.06. Many helped and a big 'Thank You' to all.

After I got some other things about my net connection straightened out, the http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/firefox link worked for me. It was still a bit confusing, but with enough tries, I got it.

When they say to 'save to the desktop', they mean it.

The 'locations' request was confusing because the window was so small that I missed for a while the list in it to pick from and I had no idea what 'locations' they were talking about and that I had to use a number. ( Real Newbie here.)

A lot of patience is needed as some things go kinda slow and there is no indication that it is still working.

But it all worked out in the end.

Just noticed that the 'spell checker' does network in 'fast reply' but does in the 'advanced' window. Hummmmm

Off to make my next mistake....

[immanueloffice]

I followed the tutorial - thanks - it all worked!

One thing that seems to be missing is how FF will now update itself. At the beginning of the tutorial it says:
You will no longer get automatic updates for Firefox through the repositories (but Firefox itself has a built into auto-updater, see below for how that works).
But I can't see that anywhere in the tutorial.

When I'm in my new FF2, the Help->Check for Updates is still greyed out. So, I'm worried I'm not going to be notified of updates. Options for updating are also greyed out in Edit->Preferences.

Any idea what I can do to change this?

Thanks!

[aysiu]

When you do need to update, close Firefox, press Alt-F2, type gksudo firefox and then check for updates and install them. After you're prompted to restart Firefox, go ahead and restart it. Then close it again.

Finally, open it again as a regular user.

When you open Firefox with gksudo go to only check updates (and your homepage, if you have one). Do not visit any other sites.

[immanueloffice]

Excellent - thanks. I guess that's what happens when you don't use the distro to install updates. :)

[aysiu]

I've removed this part from the original post: Automated with extras - Automatix is a program that allows for easy installation of a lot of popular software. If you want not only Firefox but also Flash, Java, and a lot of other popular proprietary plugins, Automatix may be a good choice for you. There are also other automated scripts for popular and/or proprietary software if you don't like Automatix (Easy Ubuntu (http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/overview.html) and BUMPS (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=181248)), but I don't think they install the latest Firefox.
http://www.getautomatix.com
Apparently, Automatix upgraded Firefox to 1.5 for Breezy but no longer does Firefox upgrades for Dapper or Edgy. It does have Swiftfox, though.

[davidgarcin]

If I start Firefox as su, enable automatic Firefox updating in the Preferences, then restart Firefox as a normal user, the automatic updating option is still checked. Will Firefox auto-update now when I run it as a normal user, or will it still not have the privileges?

[davidgarcin]

Nope, won't work. See this post: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2269706#post2269706

[DJ_Peng]

I tried the script for installing Firefox, but I was disappointed that the update feature is broken unless your run Firefox as root. I finally documented my install method, and while you have to manually fix your plugins the updates and everything else works as Mozilla intended. This way you can work with beta and nightly builds without jumping through any additional hoops once you get it installed.

How to install Firefox in Ubuntu to get ALL of the functionality (link removed because that blog is no longer online)

No, this isn't a knock of the great script from the Psychocats site, I just think if the developers worked as hard as they did to get the update mechanism working the least they could expect from Linux distros is that it works without making the users have to take extra steps.

[aysiu]

This appears to be a combination of the manual and manual with no integration methods outlined in the thread I merged yours with.

If you view as bothersome occasionally launching gksudo firefox to install updates, you can always just use the script and then change ownership of the /opt folder to your user: sudo chown -R djpeng:djpend /opt/firefox Then the updates will work regularly... at least for your user. Some people like to keep the owner as root for /opt/firefox as an extra layer of security.

[DJ_Peng]

Thanks for the merge. I wasn't sure if I should *** it as a new thread or start a new one. The big problem in having to run it as root is if you're running nightlies or betas you want to be able to get the newest versions pretty quickly. I hadn't thought of changing the ownership of the folder, but I don't like changing permissions outside of my home folder. I do wish there were a better way to deal with this other than a script. The developers really busted their hump getting the new update mechanism put together.

[aysiu]

Well, in essence, with your method, it's practically the same thing. By extracting the .tar.gz in and running Firefox out of your home folder, you're doing a passive change of ownership.

The only difference is it being in /home/username/firefox instead of /opt/firefox

From a security/convenience standpoint the two methods are equivalent.

But it's all about choice. If that choice gives you more peace of mind or comfort, then go for it.

[izak]

Hi

I installed firefox 2.0.0.3 using the manual version on the site https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FirefoxNewVersion.

It worked once when I checked it, but after I restored my old data using the recommended

cd ~/Desktop/ffsettings
mv * ~/.mozilla/firefox/*.default

I get an error window when I try to launch either the new or the old firefox:

"Firefox is already running, but not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or resart your system."

I restarted but still get the same message. Any suggestions? I do not want to use the script, because I want to avoid downloading the 10Mb file at home where I only have dailup...

Thanks for the useful thread.

[izak]

I've now removed the new Firefox using the manual instructions given. I accidentally did a second "rm /usr/bin/firefox" afterward so I decided to just completely reinstall the old Firefox though synaptic. I still get the same warning:

"Firefox is already running, but not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or resart your system."

but now it appears in a window with the the old Ubuntu Firefox logo. Have I completely broken my system?! Please help!

I tried completely removing Firefox using synaptic and then reinstalling after restarting my system, but still I get the same message. And there is no mention of Firefox in the System Monitor.

[DJ_Peng]

You will need to delete the lock files from your Firefox profile directory. You can get the skinny at http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_in_use.

[ciscosurfer]

If you get an error message that says Firefox or Swiftfox is already running, you can kill the process and then restart the app. Or, you can simply logout, log back in and try again. If this still doesn't take care of the process, then reboot and start again.

[DJ_Peng]

Actually I've had times where I've had to use the info on the page I linked to because no amount of rebooting would let me start Firefox. This especially can happen if you're in Firefox when your computer crashes. Such as when a feline decides to brush against something and dump the power. It's been known to happen, and yes, the feline still lives. 8)

[izak]

Thanks for the great link, DJ_Peng! Indeed, no amount of restarting was fixing the problem. I had managed to both screw up the relative pathname in firefox's profiles.ini AND had firefox1.5 runnning when I backed up the settings resulting in a .lock file.

Apperntly completely removing firefox though synaptic doesn't remove the local user configurations, because that was what was messing things up..

Browsing from firefox 2 in ubuntu with ease now:D

[ubuntubrian]

I'm running Dapper PPC and so I downloaded the source file. I can get the package to build but not to run and I suspect that it's because it is conflicting with 1.5. Is there a way to combine the building from source instructions on the Mozilla website with the Ubuntu How To and get a custom built FF2 to run on PPC?
Here's my quote from the PPC Forum:
"I have been checking the forums and Mozilla site to try and get Firefox 2.0 installed and running. So far I have downloaded the source code and tried, successfully (at least no errors) to build it. I followed the instructions here:
http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs..._Build_Options
I got Sunbird up to the latest version using these instructions.

However it seems that Firefox is not so simple as so many other packages depend on it:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FirefoxNewVersion
"Warning: If you use this guide, do not remove the Ubuntu version of Firefox. Doing so will break the following packages: Yelp (help viewer), Epiphany, Gnome-app-install (Add Applications), Liferea, Blam and any application requiring the Gecko rendering engine."

On Bugzilla:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/dapper-backports/+bug/68158
They say that it is possible to build a Firefox 2.0 as Firefox2 and run it alongside 1.5 to avoid breaking packages but they don't say how to do this.

It seems possible to build the FF2.0 from source and run it alongside 1.5 but I am not knowledgable enough to do so. I know that the "FirefoxNewVersion" instructions apply to prebuilt debs so that won't work.
I would think the 2.0 version could be built into another directory and renamed but that is beyond me. Can anyone help?"

[1sttimer]

I installed ubuntu 6.06 on my HP laptop computer. The program it's self works great, but after I updated ubuntu my Firefox internet program stop working. When I clicked on the firefox icon i got a message that said that it is already running but not responding. Firefox never appears. I have restarted my compute to reset firefox but it changed nothing. I have heared that this problem is due to improper shut down of firefox .I would appreceate any help or sugestion that anyone can give me so that I can get back on the internet.

PS I have no proble update ubunto I just don't have use of the internet.


Thanks Ed:confused:

[aysiu]

Press Alt-F2 and paste in this command: killall firefox-bin Then try again to launch Firefox.

[Catalyst2Death]

You could also try this:
https://www.ece.auckland.ac.nz/it-support/wiki/LinuxProblems#Firefoxrefusestostartbecauseitisalre adyrunning

I had this problem too, theres a file which gets messed up in the firefox settings that you have to delete, but I can't remember where its at...

The above link should work, but it may not because it was written for Debian, not ubuntu

[1sttimer]

I have tried to unlock fire fox as you described but that path doesn't exist on Ubuntu. I feel it would be easer to install a new Firefox and remove the old one, what say you. I am new and dumb in regard to Ubuntu so please make the solution as painless as possible


Thanks, Ed

[DJ_Peng]

Any chance you'll have a tutorial (info) for those who prefer not to opt-in to Firefox 3 Beta that will be in the released Hardy? Especially info on how to preserve their Fx2 profile so Fx3 doesn't trash it in case they try Fx3 and decide they'd rather use Fx2 as long as it's supported?

[aysiu]

Any chance you'll have a tutorial (info) for those who prefer not to opt-in to Firefox 3 Beta that will be in the released Hardy? Especially info on how to preserve their Fx2 profile so Fx3 doesn't trash it in case they try Fx3 and decide they'd rather use Fx2 as long as it's supported?
If you download the .tar.gz for Firefox 2.0 and manually install it, you should be able to use that instead of Firefox 3.0 Beta.

It also may not hurt to back up your ~/.mozilla folder before you upgrade.

[DJ_Peng]

You do realize that if someone does a distro-upgrade to Hardy and decides they want to use Firefox 2 that Firefox 2 won't be able to use the profile that Firefox 3 used, right? That's a long known issue among the Firefox testing community.

[aysiu]

You do realize that if someone does a distro-upgrade to Hardy and decides they want to use Firefox 2 that Firefox 2 won't be able to use the profile that Firefox 3 used, right? That's a long known issue among the Firefox testing community.
That may be an issue for many people. Personally, I've had no problems switching back and forth using the same profile, but then I don't really use extensions any more.

I guess my recommendation was more for if you didn't want to use Beta Firefox 3 at all.

[DJ_Peng]

You're actually the first (or possibly 2nd) person I've heard that had zarro issues. Unfortunately most people won't know they don't want to use Firefox 3 until after they've used it. Otherwise they won't know how much has been changed (and not necessarily for the better).

[aysiu]

You're actually the first (or possibly 2nd) person I've heard that had zarro issues. Unfortunately most people won't know they don't want to use Firefox 3 until after they've used it. Otherwise they won't know how much has been changed (and not necessarily for the better).
So they should back up the ~/.mozilla folder then.

[quill3033]

[QUOTE=aysiu;1963105]What's the issue?
Ubuntu updates its software versions every six months with a new release. Mozilla, however, upgrades Firefox every month or two--sometimes every week--with security patches or new feature-based releases. Ubuntu often includes security patches with its own versions a day or a week after Mozilla releases their patches, but many Ubuntu users are impatient and would prefer to install the latest version of Firefox from Mozilla and use that instead of the Ubuntu build of Firefox.



My question is - I still have Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper and apparently Firefox 1.5.0.12eol - is that updated sufficiently by Ubuntu to be comparable/equivalent to the latest version of Firefox? If so, I really won't bother downloading latest version separately.

[aysiu]

[QUOTE=aysiu;1963105]What's the issue?
Ubuntu updates its software versions every six months with a new release. Mozilla, however, upgrades Firefox every month or two--sometimes every week--with security patches or new feature-based releases. Ubuntu often includes security patches with its own versions a day or a week after Mozilla releases their patches, but many Ubuntu users are impatient and would prefer to install the latest version of Firefox from Mozilla and use that instead of the Ubuntu build of Firefox.



My question is - I still have Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper and apparently Firefox 1.5.0.12eol - is that updated sufficiently by Ubuntu to be comparable/equivalent to the latest version of Firefox? If so, I really won't bother downloading latest version separately.
It'll be updated with security updates until June 2009, but it will not have the same features as Firefox 3.0.

[quill3033]

thank you for replying so quickly :-)

Ok, I'm not so worried about Firefox 3 - and from what i've seen in the forum, it sounds like some people don't even like some of the changes but. I'm at uni doing distance education and they have finally decided to support Firefox as a browser but the minimum is version 2.

I've actually done quite well (even with dial up) uploading things etc and even when they weren't supporting it but I guess I'd like to know whether 1.5 is equivalent to Firefox 2 if i'm getting the dapper updates.

[aysiu]

thank you for replying so quickly :-)

Ok, I'm not so worried about Firefox 3 - and from what i've seen in the forum, it sounds like some people don't even like some of the changes but. I'm at uni doing distance education and they have finally decided to support Firefox as a browser but the minimum is version 2.

I've actually done quite well (even with dial up) uploading things etc and even when they weren't supporting it but I guess I'd like to know whether 1.5 is equivalent to Firefox 2 if i'm getting the dapper updates.
No. It isn't Firefox 2.0.

All you're getting is security patches for Firefox 1.5.

Is there any reason in particular you want to stay with Dapper?

[quill3033]

No. It isn't Firefox 2.0.

All you're getting is security patches for Firefox 1.5.

Is there any reason in particular you want to stay with Dapper?



I guess I think don't mess with a good thing and it seems to me to be more stable than the other versions that seem more cutting edge but that might need me to be a bit more savvy about computers. There seem to be a lot of people on these forums who are real programmers and who just know heaps more. Having said that, I'm writing this message via the Ubuntu 8.04 LTS cd version (uninstalled just using it in RAM to have a go) and it definitely seems faster surfing the internet with it so...

Also the fact that I have downloaded a lot of programs I'm used to and I'm really comfortable with... you know - questions like will it work with the printer, camera etc (though from looking at synaptic it seems to have the printing part covered
Also don't like the idea of upgrading every six months.

I will install version 8.04 side by side with the old one and if it
really grabs me I'll make the full move.

My ideal will be to get another hard disk and use it for downloading each new version.

But also it's just that 6.06 has been so wonderful and after having a MS computer that kept freezing on me this is just heaven and I didn't want to risk it.

[aysiu]

You don't have to upgrade every six months. You can upgrade every two years to the new LTS (Long-Term Support release). Ubuntu 6.06 is LTS, and so is 8.04.

You can also install Firefox 2.0 on Ubuntu Dapper by following these instructions:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FirefoxNewVersion

Just make sure you download 2.0 and not 3.0 beta.

[quill3033]

yep, i'll eventually install 8.04 but i'll wait a few months until the little glitches are resolved. I've just seen the postings on various probs and I don't have the time to resolve them. Plus, using the cd live user thingy, the desktop bar is not the one i've grown to looove. It's great for opening programs and whatever left right and centre and for doing searches. If only the first choice was *not* amazon.com and was google or answers, it would be absolutely perfect.
RE installing firefox, the link you gave me is a bit difficult to follow and copying and pasting gave me a funny message from the terminal about how one of the items didn't exist.... so I think i'll just download it from the website and see.

[quill3033]

Sorry, made a mistake in last post. Will do the ubuntuzilla option rather than the tutorial. If you'd like detailed feedback as to how the tutorial could be improved I'm happy to do a write up about what is not immediately understandable from a lay lay person's viewpoint. thanks for your help. :-)

[aysiu]

Instead of giving feedback, just edit it. It's a Wiki.

[quill3033]

hi,

I used Ubuntuzilla to install Firefox 2 and the latest Thunderbird and it's worked really well. Thank you.

as for editing - I don't know enough to edit - I do know what I'd like to know that isn't in a particular set of instructions.

I'm waiting on a couple of books to learn a bit more - I prefer books to threads for background and to get a picture of what things are.

Thanks again.

[aysiu]

I did a little cleanup on the Wiki entry. It was extremely old and assumed people were using Breezy or Dapper and firefox 1.* instead of 2.*. It also had a lot of convoluted instructions and things not related to installing the Mozilla build of Firefox.

[DeadlyFishy]

What if I want to install Firefox 2.0.0.20 ?

[aysiu]

What if I want to install Firefox 2.0.0.20 ?
Firefox 2 isn't supported any more.

[DeadlyFishy]

I know that it doesn't get updates and whatnot, but are you saying that Firefox 2 is impossible to install? I just can't stand Firefox 3..

[aysiu]

This may help you:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=7173686&postcount=10

[DeadlyFishy]

This may help you:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=7173686&postcount=10

Thanks much! :D

[jcm1107]

How to install Firefox in Ubuntu to get ALL of the functionality



I was searching this forum and want to inform staff that this link just takes you to an advertisement and should be removed.Thanks.

I also could ask what I was searching for in the first place. I want to know if I can have two separate Firefox programs running on my computer? I wanted to have on with a lot of plugins and one with bear minimum of plugins for speed. I also want to say that the install with no integration in the first post didn't do that for me, it just launched my current firefox, that is the same as typing "firefox" in a terminal.Thanks!!

[DJ_Peng]

Thanks for pointing that out to me. Unfortunately I shut down that blog quite a while ago and it seems some cybersquatter has placed some adverts at my old URI. I checked the Internet Archive and they didn't snag any of my content from that site so I'm afraid my post has gone to the great bit bucket in the sky.

As far as running two versions of Firefox at one time, I'm afraid that's impossible due to the fact that both versions would run an app called "firefox". The bottom line is that when you launch a second version the OS simply looks at what's running, sees an app called "firefox" is already running, and simply opens a new window for the app already started. The only way around that may be to use a virtual machine to run a different version of Firefox in.

[jcm1107]

Thanks for pointing that out to me. Unfortunately I shut down that blog quite a while ago and it seems some cybersquatter has placed some adverts at my old URI. I checked the Internet Archive and they didn't snag any of my content from that site so I'm afraid my post has gone to the great bit bucket in the sky.

As far as running two versions of Firefox at one time, I'm afraid that's impossible due to the fact that both versions would run an app called "firefox". The bottom line is that when you launch a second version the OS simply looks at what's running, sees an app called "firefox" is already running, and simply opens a new window for the app already started. The only way around that may be to use a virtual machine to run a different version of Firefox in.


That is exactly what it was doing and thanks for letting me know it isn't possible. I know that opening firefox is just the same as typing firefox in a terminal and that opens the current version. I did go on my brothers guest account (which I never use) and there were few plugins there so I guess I could use a different user account to if I want a lighter firefox or a different version. If someone finds a better way of doing this please let me know. I just want a fast light firefox and a seperate one that has alot of plugins and functions. Right now I am using a lot of plugins, so I need to get another install with no plugins that I can configure separate. Thanks:p

[andyba]

You can install firefox in wine and it runs perfectly.
So you have 2 different firefoxes. :)

I first wanted to recommend installing Opera or Konqueror as a second browser but I have discovered recently that google adwords doesn't work in any of them.

So for linux currently there is no alternative but firefox. Unfortunately.

[DJ_Peng]

Actually if you still have the Linux "installer" for Fx2 you can simply extract it and run it. There's a readme in the .tar.gz. You won't be able to run it while Fx3 is running, but I strongly recommend having another browser handy anyway in case you need two different browsers running at once. My personal fav since deciding I don't like Fx3 is GNOME's Epiphany.

[von Stalhein]

I'm not sure how I accomplished it (probably because I am uber clever!) but I have 2 versions of FF.

I've one Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090624 Firefox/3.5that executes from /usr/lib/firefox/firefox and one Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.3) Gecko/20090910 Ubuntu/9.04 (jaunty) Shiretoko/3.5.3 that executes from ../lib/firefox-3.5.3/firefox.sh

The first one has all the extensions, themes, bookmarks etc. that I use all the time, but the other one is the one that's automatically updated through Synaptic.

How do I make the later version adopt the profile from the earlier one? Then I can remove the one that doesn't update.

TIA

[DJ_Peng]

You can specify a specific profile (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager) with firefox -profilemanager. In your case you'd probably run /lib/firefox-3.5.3/firefox.sh -profilemanager

[von Stalhein]

You can specify a specific profile (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager) with firefox -profilemanager. In your case you'd probably run /lib/firefox-3.5.3/firefox.sh -profilemanager

Thanks awfully DJ_Peng!!

Neither of those worked first off, but I know a variation will do the trick :). I will let you know what did.

[DJ_Peng]

Glad it was helpful. I had to run the profile manager last week when my Fx3 profile got borked and just loading up a page to snag some videos took forever.

[von Stalhein]

Glad it was helpful. I had to run the profile manager last week when my Fx3 profile got borked and just loading up a page to snag some videos took forever.

Partly sorted.

I managed to get the profile updated to the new 3.5.3 and it works fine.

Unfortunately I've lost the capability to open hyperlinks from Thunderbird.

This has happened before, and I've always managed to get it back - it's been two nights so far and I've not cracked it. I'm mildly annoyed atm.

I've opened about 15 threads on these forums with various remedies but no luck so far.

[Footer]

Unfortunately I've lost the capability to open hyperlinks from Thunderbird.

Did your search include this thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=60427

Specifically post #3? I know it's an old thread but it's worth a try. I had the same trouble a long time ago but over time, my computing habits have changed (I use Gmail exculsively vs. ThunderBird) and this is no longer an issue for me.

Let us know what fixed it for you!

[DJ_Peng]

I can't help you there. I switched to Evolution over a year ago and have no problems opening links. But then I also use Epiphany as my default browser so my knowledge of Firefox may not be quite the best available.

[von Stalhein]

Did your search include this thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=60427

Specifically post #3? I know it's an old thread but it's worth a try. I had the same trouble a long time ago but over time, my computing habits have changed (I use Gmail exculsively vs. ThunderBird) and this is no longer an issue for me.

Let us know what fixed it for you!

I can't help you there. I switched to Evolution over a year ago and have no problems opening links. But then I also use Epiphany as my default browser so my knowledge of Firefox may not be quite the best available.

Thanks lads :-)

Yes, I have tried every variation listed in about 15 threads without luck. I'm a bit cranky as I've fixed it before, but can't remember the "magic bullet" for my particular set up.

I just tried links in Evolution by sending myself a test message containing a url - it works. Hmmmmm - just need to find the same process in TBird.....

I'm not overly fussed on any mail client, but I like to think that I can mostly make all the stuff on this box work like it's supposed to.

Yes, I am delusional!!

[Footer]

Yes, I am delusional!!

Nah, not delusional, just persistent! It's working on my box, and I was just digging through some 'cheat sheets' I keep and found this:

----------------------------------------------------

To config thunderbird to use firefox for it's links:
In Thunderbird
Edit->Preferences
then go:
Advanced->General

Click on 'Config Editor' and on editor check for a key:
network.protocol-handler.app.http
(you can make it if it doesn't exist) RightClick on the Config Editor Background and:
1. From the pop-up menu, select "New".
2. From the next pop-up menu, select "String".
3. In the pop-up dialog box "Enter preference name", enter "network.protocol-handler.app.http" No Quotes
4. In the pop-up dialog box "network.protocol-handler.app.http" enter ~/swiftweasel/swiftweasel (/usr/bin/firefox)
and OK finish

----------------------------------------------------

I think I found that on the forums here somewhere and made a note of it. You've proabably already tried that but thought I'd pass along anyway.

Good luck!!!

:)

EDIT: DOH! I looked at post #3 again in the link I provided earlier and it's basically the same thing except the method above is via TBird while post #3 has you edit the file manually. Oh well, I'm pretty sure that's what worked for me way back when. :)

[von Stalhein]

I tried to get some interest from http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1224279 without luck yet.

The last post (mine) pretty much outlines what I've done so far to restore the linky goodness.

And failed dismally.

[von Stalhein]

Did your search include this thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=60427

Specifically post #3? I know it's an old thread but it's worth a try. I had the same trouble a long time ago but over time, my computing habits have changed (I use Gmail exculsively vs. ThunderBird) and this is no longer an issue for me.

Let us know what fixed it for you!

I tried to get some interest from http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1224279 without luck yet.

The last post (mine) pretty much outlines what I've done so far to restore the linky goodness.

And failed dismally.

Aww, I dunno - it just came back :( or should that be :) ??

I have been in XP playing IL2 1946, maybe it got jealous or something.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy it's functional, I'm just curious as to which step fixed it.

FWIW, the config file entries are as follows: -
user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.ftp", "/usr/bin/firefox-3.5");
user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.http", "/usr/bin/firefox-3.5");
user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.https", "/usr/bin/firefox-3.5");

It will be interesting to see if they are borked by the next ff update.

[Footer]

Don't you just love it when things fix themselves? :)

Yup, it will be curious to see what the next version of FF does. Or perhaps it's a TBird udpate? Who knows. Too many moving parts.

:)

[kyle2595]

What is the difference between the Ubuntu built Firefox and the Mozilla one?

[cataztrophe]

thnx for your tips!
really helps :D

[JakeLawrence]

Has there been a tutorial on how to install Firefox 3.6.3 on Karmic?

[aysiu]

Has there been a tutorial on how to install Firefox 3.6.3 on Karmic?
Yes.

Quick copy-and-paste terminal instructions:
http://ubuntuzilla.sourceforge.net

More involved point-and-click instructions:
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/ubuntuzilla

[JakeLawrence]

Thank you very much!

Being a 64-bit user, can I still install Firefox's 32-bit builds and still maintain a semblance of stability?

[aysiu]

You know, I moved this to "Outdated tutorials" for a reason.

If you want up-to-date info, please visit this thread:
Firefox optimization and troubleshooting thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1193567)