This howto is Obsolete
When I started this thread long ago on June 23, 2006 I never in would have thought it would last this long and help so many people. It may yet help someone. But for the majority of users this is outdated info. A 64bit Flash and Sun Java plugin are available. Granted they are still under development, but both seem to work as well if not better than the 32bit.
Its been fun, but I wont be actively supporting this thread any more. I encourage all 64bit users to move to the 64bit plugins asap.
Kilz
12/16/2008
Below left in place as a record in case someone may find it useful. Anyone still running Dapper , until its end of life date in 2011 may need this information
This script is a way to run the 32bit firefox on the amd64 version of Ubuntu. That way all plugins will work. The script works on Dapper, Edgy, Feisty, Gutsy, and Hardy.
Automated Install
This page will be making more than just Firefox available. To do that some changes were necessary.
First you need to make sure the repositories are enabled.
Second, install the Base-plugin script
The browser install files below can install other Firefox varients and are also used to upgrade to new versions.
You need to make sure the universe and multiverse are enabled before installing anything. If you are using Kubuntu look here.
Kubuntu go users may have to install ia32-libs-gtk through Adapt.
Browser Install Script (Updated 7/20/08 )
This script allows you to choose the browser you want to install from the ones on this page. It also lets you choose if you want to install the plugins by asking before the plugin is installed. You only have to run this script once. The script needs to be ran from the folder that extracts. That folder should also be on your Desktop. After running this script once you can install any of the other browsers below by double clicking on its deb file. 
*****I have just created a new script with all new versions, including Swiftweasel. The new script will work on Dapper, Edgy, Feisty,Gutsy, and Hardy.
Firefox 2.0.0.17 (updated 10/06/08 )
This is the famous Firefox browser. The binaries are from Mozilla and not repackaged Ubuntu files. This Firefox32 .deb file will update previous installs to 2.0.0.17
The deb's below are for upgrading or adding Firefox as a second browser after running the install script. Do not install the deb by itself.
Firefox32 deb (Dapper-Feisty).
Firefox32 deb (Gutsy). Do not install this deb to Hardy Heron.
Firefox 3.0.3 (updated 10/06/08 )
This is the famous Firefox browser. The binaries are from Mozilla and not repackaged Ubuntu files. This Firefox32 .deb file will not update previous installs of the 2.0 series, it installs to a new folder. It is only available for Gutsy and Hardy.
The deb's below are for upgrading or adding Firefox as a second browser after running the install script. Do not install the deb by itself.
Firefox32 deb (Gutsy-Hardy).
Swiftweasel 3.0.3 (updated 10/10/08 )
This is a new project I recently was told about. It is an optimized build of the Mozilla Firefox code with free branding. The person running the project even made the deb file for me. Please go to its web site and take a look for yourselves.
The deb's below are for upgrading or adding Swiftweasel as a second browser after running the install script. Do not install the deb by itself.
This version is built on Ubuntu according to its build config. I plan on adding it to the install script as a main option. But you can download it now and install it if you want. There is now a version for Gutsy-Hardy and Feisty. The 3.0 version is not available for Dapper Drake. All 2.0 versions are available from the Swiftweasel site on Sourceforge.
Hardy
for Intel processors and one for AMD.
Gutsy
for Intel processors and one for AMD.
Feisty
for Intel processors and one for AMD.
Dapper- Dapper cant use 3.0, 2.0.0.14 is still avilable for it.
for Intel processors and one for AMD.
Repository
Swiftweasel also has a repository. After adding the repository if you installed debs with the script or downloaded them from this page. You may have to uninstall swiftweasel and reinstall it in synaptic to get automatic updates.
IceCat 2.0.0.12 (Updated 4/27/08 )
Due to some non free things that are in Firefox and restrictions Mozilla places on its binaries. The GNU.org has made a totaly free (as in beer and freedom) compile of the Firefox code. I have made deb files of it in case you want to use it. It is a lot faster than the normal Firefox builds. Originally named Iceweasel, it is now named IceCat.
The deb's below are for upgrading or adding Iceweasel as a second browser after running the install script.
IceCat32 2.0.0.12 (Dapper-Feisty) deb file.
IceCat32 2.0.0.12 (Gutsy-Hardy) deb file.
Flock 1.1.1 (updated 4/11/08 )
Flock is a fork of Firefox that adds a lot. It offers blogging and picture tools. It is released under the GPL and is Free as in freedom and as in beer.
The deb's below are for upgrading or adding Flock as a second browser after running the install script.
Flock32 1.1.1 (Dapper-Feisty) deb file.
Flock32 1.1.1 (Gutsy-Hardy) deb file.
Other Plugins
I will be adding other plugins over time. This will help make this a one stop howto for setting up 32 bit Firefox on AMD64.
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is a .pdf viewer. It is possible to have it open .pdf files inside Firefox. But its a memory hog, isn't free as in freedom, and isn't necessary as Ubuntu has pdf viewers installed by default. But it is free as in beer and some people need it in some cases.
First off download Adobe Acrobat and save it to your desktop or move it there if you have files saved to another location.
Code:
cd ~/Desktop
tar -xzvf AdobeReader_enu-7.0.5-1.i386.tar.gz AdobeReader
cd ~/Desktop/AdobeReader
sudo ./INSTALL
It will tell you how much space it will use and the path it will install to , press Enter
It will say the directory doesn't exist do you want it to make one, press y
It will ask if you want to install the plugin, press y
It will ask if you want the automatic install , press n
It will ask if you want to do a manual install, press y
It will give you 3 choices, pick 2. Perform user-specific installation (Mozilla/Firefox/Netscape)
It will install the plugin, and bring you back to the 3 choices, choose 3. Quit
The plugin is installed, restart Firefox. When you next try to open a pdf you may get an error, dont worry, click ok. Then it will ask you to agree to an EULA. Then it will open Acrobat up in Firefox.
If you already have Adobe Acrobat installed or something goes wrong try this. Make sure to change <username> to your username.
Code:
sudo cp -r -p /usr/local/Adobe/Acrobat7.0/Browser/intellinux/nppdf.so /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins/
sudo chown -R <username>:users /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins/nppdf.so
If you keep geting a "PPKLight" error, this command will solve it. The file is not nessasary and causes errors.
Code:
sudo rm /usr/local/Adobe/Acrobat7.0/Reader/intellinux/plug_ins/PPKLite.api
Alternate Java
The 1.6.0.6 java in the Hardy repositories may have issues logging into secure sites like banks. The 1.6.0.5 plugin from Sun is reported not to have these issues. To install it.
To install java from sun web page:
1. Uninstall the java package the script installs. In a terminal type
Code:
sudo apt-get remove sun-java6-jre ia32-sun-java6-bin
2. Download jre-6u5-linux-i586.bin, saving it to your desktop. If you save files in a different location you will need to edit the following commands, or move the file to your desktop.
3. Open a terminal and type
Code:
cd ~/Desktop
chmod 777 ./jre-6u5-linux-i586.bin
./jre-6u5-linux-i586.bin
3. Move the extracted folder
Code:
sudo mv ~/Desktop/jre1.6.0_05 /usr/local/java
4. Update the java plugin link
Code:
sudo rm -f /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins/libjavaplugin_oji.so
sudo ln -s /usr/local/java/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins/
5. Restart Firefox 32
How to get Help
This Thread is over 100 pages long, it is quite old. In order to make the best use of my time I have decided to write some guidelines.. If you dont read this section and dont provide the information I may not be able to help you.
1. If you notice a problem after install close all browsers. Only start the 32bit version and see if the problem is still there.
2. Turn off all desktop effects (Beryl, compiz and compiz fusion) and restart the browser.
3. If the problem remains go over the manual howto steps to make sure everything is as it should be.
4. Apply the fixes in the common problems area.
If the problem continues. Do not PM me. Make a post. In the post make a short description of what isnt working. Also provide this information
1. What you are running (Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu)
2. Your version of (Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu)
3. The exact name of the tar.gz file you downloaded.
4. Open the Browser, click Help then About Firefox. Copy the bottom section starting with "Mozilla/5.0" and paste it into the reply.
5. Provide the reply to
Code:
ls -al /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins
6. If its a Flash issue
Code:
/ls -al /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
If you make any post be prepared to reply to it a few times while working out the issue. If you plan on disappearing and never replying, dont even post.
Common Problems (All Versions of Ubuntu)
Firefox
Before reporting any issue make sure that when you start 32bit Firefox that all other browsers are closed. Since 64bit and 32bit Firefox share a settings and profile folder, and only one profile can be open at one time. When you have 64bit firefox open, no matter what menu item or launcher you click a 64bit firefox window will open.
Errors
Error 1
Code:
ERROR: ld.so: object '/usr/lib32/libpangohack.so.0' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
Ignore this error.
If a plugin doesnt seem to work, and typing in the address bar of the browser dose not list them try this making sure to replace USERNAME in the following command with the name you use to login with.
Code:
sudo chown -hR USERNAME:users /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins
Unmet Dependencies ia32-libs
Users with any of the following errors during install are directed to this post.
The ******* in rthe following error is a wildcard that represents any package name.
Code:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
********: Depends: ******** but it is not going to be installed
or
Code:
******** depends on ia32-libs; however:
Package ia32-libs is not installed.
Email Links
You must setup what program is called for some things. There is a post on the settings for email here, and this one is for making the "open" in the downloads window to work.
Printing
This post may be able to help users print from the browsers in this howto. Printing from 32bit browsers is not supported by this howto. If this link dose not help you print to a file, then open the file and print it.
Other Languages
The Firefox32 howto can not guarantee support for other languages. But Ubuntu user tkrisz has a solution to the languages problem that has worked so far. See his post for further details.
Sound
If you have tried all the other fixes for sound in flash. Close all browsers and open programs. Open a terminal and type in Then start Firefox and see if flash has sound. If it dose you may have to do this to make sure that other applications are not using the sound card.
KDE Appearance
Some themes may look bad, especially for users running KDE. This deb may help. After installing you will need to restart the browser. Also please realize, Firefox32 is created, built, and maintained by a user, not a developer. The whole purpose of Firefox32 is to make plugins work, not to make it blend into the system. That may be beyond my ability. Minor differences in the appearance of Firefox 32 vs the 64bit browser the developers completely integrated are to be expected.
If you would like to complain, please direct your complaints to the Ubuntu developers who refuse to offer a 32bit browser to 64bit users and expect 64bit users to use a browser without plugins.
Flash Sound
Finally to make sure sound works with flash use this command, make sure to change <username> to your username.
Code:
chown -R <username>:users /home/<username>/.macromedia
Then download and double click on this package to install it.
If you are still haveing problems try this
Code:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/libesd.so.0 /usr/lib/libesd.so.1
and
Code:
sudo apt-get install alsa-oss
Feisty common problems
Connection
Some people who install the Fiesty script will find that the browser and other 32bit applications cant access the internet. This is because of ipv6 support. It is possible to disable ipv6 and everything will work (to me it seems faster to).
for ubuntu
1. gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/aliases
2.Comment out this line: alias net-pf-10 ipv6
3.Save the file
4.gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
5.Add this line: blacklist ipv6
6.Save the file and restart your computer
for kubuntu
1.kdesu kate /etc/modprobe.d/aliases
2.Comment out this line: alias net-pf-10 ipv6
3.Save the file
4.kdesu kate /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
5.Add this line: blacklist ipv6
6.Save the file and restart your computer
You must reboot for changes to take effect.
Errors
Another Feisty Error that I have seen a few times is this one.
Code:
Gtk-WARNING **: Locale not supported by C library.Using the fallback 'C' locale.
To fix it, Go Here and download the ia32-libs-gtk package, double click on the .deb file and let gdebi install it. Afterwards please rerun the install script as half the packages did not install because this dependancy was not installed.
Error 2
Code:
/usr/local/firefox32/firefox-bin: error while loading shared libraries: libgobject-2.0.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Go here and here to download the packages to make sure they are installed.
Appearance
Feisty will require you to do some extra setup. You do not have to do this if you are installing to Dapper or Edgy.
Download the gtk-qt-engine package to your desktop.
Open a terminal
Code:
cd ~/Desktop
sudo dpkg -x gtk-qt-engine_0.71~svn20070224-0ubuntu3_i386.deb ~/Desktop
sudo cp ~/Desktop/usr/lib/gtk-2.0/* /usr/lib32/gtk-2.0
sudo mkdir /usr/lib32/kde3
sudo cp ~/Desktop/usr/lib/kde3/* /usr/lib32/kde3
sudo rm -rfd ~/Desktop/usr
Hardy common problems
Connection issues
Since the 3.0 beta and Firefox32 share a settings folder. Those that install the 32bit Firefox32 bay have to disable ivp6. This is not an issue with the Swiftweasel packages.
In the address bar type In the filter type ipv6, right click on the line that says network.dns.disableIPv6 and select togle.
Restart the Firefox browser.
Problems with addon's
Firefox32 2.0.0.* and Firefox 3.0 are sharing a settings folder. Uninstall Firefox32 2.0.0.* . Use Swiftweasel32 or Firefox32 version 3.0.
Secure Applets
Some secure applets may need an extra package installed
sudo apt-get install lib32nss-mdns
Missing Icons for some themes
As pointed out by darthcloud. Open a terminal, enter the following.
Code:
gksudo gedit/usr/local/bin/firefox32-3
Change this line
linux32 /usr/local/firefox32-3/firefox $@
to
/usr/local/firefox32-3/firefox $@
Save the file and restart your browser.
The Old Howto
The old manual howto is avilable for download. It is no longer supported. It is hopelessly out of date and will not work on the newer releases of Ubuntu (Gutsy-Hardy) Use at your own risk. No support is avilable for it.
Adv Reply
Originally Posted by JoWilly
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