Howto Install 32 bit Firefox with Flash w/sound and Java for AMD64

[Kilz]

I installed the ia32-lib-firefox package after installing Iceweasel. Still works fine besides the plugins issue I told you about.

Im going to be making all plugins for all browser debs im making point to /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins. The ia32-lib-firefox package creates the folder along with adding files. The new plugin script Im making will install ia32-lib-firefox to.
Then all forefox based browsers(firefox, flock, iceweasel), and maybe opera will be avilable as debs. That way users will only have to install one set of plugins. Also the scripts will not need to be rewritten each time a browser upgrades.

[fatsheep]

Im going to be making all plugins for all browser debs im making point to /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins. The ia32-lib-firefox package creates the folder along with adding files. The new plugin script Im making will install ia32-lib-firefox to.
Then all forefox based browsers(firefox, flock, iceweasel), and maybe opera will be avilable as debs. That way users will only have to install one set of plugins. Also the scripts will not need to be rewritten each time a browser upgrades.

Sounds good. As long as the browsers are not dependant on each other.

[Kilz]

Sounds good. As long as the browsers are not dependant on each other.

Its done. I finished redoing the howto today and making all the deb files and scripts.
The browsers are not dependant on each other. But 64bit users can now have any of the browsers on the front page installed with a few clicks. The plugin script installs the plugins and libraries. It only needs to be installed once. Then all the browsers can use them.
I am having problems with Opera, but its not a biggie if that falls through. I might also have to make a kubuntu deb for firefox32.
This will save a lot of work, as now its just packageing the deb file when a new version is released.
If this works out Im going to do the same thing with extensions and search engins for the search box.

[finite9]

Thanks for the script, this is really what I needed I only got one problem: I already had Blackdown Java installed, and the script installed its own over the top of mine, then apt-get complained that the index database was broken and that I needed to do apt-get install -f to fix it. It then proceeded to re-install java.

I suppose that if I hadn't installed Java first for amd64 then I wouldn't have this problem? All seems to work now though.

[Kilz]

Thanks for the script, this is really what I needed I only got one problem: I already had Blackdown Java installed, and the script installed its own over the top of mine, then apt-get complained that the index database was broken and that I needed to do apt-get install -f to fix it. It then proceeded to re-install java.

I suppose that if I hadn't installed Java first for amd64 then I wouldn't have this problem? All seems to work now though.

Ill take a look at it.

[fatsheep]

Good work, this is coming along nicely. However, I have a few suggestions concerning the scripts:

#1: In the readme it says to use the command line to run the script as root. While this does work, it's not necessary. All commands that are prefixed with "sudo". All the commands in the script that need to be run as root are prefixed with sudo so really you can just double click on the script, and hit run in terminal. Or if you like using the terminal:

cd ~/Desktop/base-plugins
./base-plugins

OR

~/Desktop/base-plugins/base-plugins

#2: If it were me, I'd put in some line breaks and comments to make the script easier to read and edit but that's up to you.

#3: Relative paths would save you the trouble of typing out the full path names and allow users to successfully run the script in any directory they choose, not just the Desktop. For example, take these two lines:

sudo cp -r -p ~/Desktop/base-plugins/install_flash_player_7_linux/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins/
sudo cp -r -p ~/Desktop/base-plugins/install_flash_player_7_linux/flashplayer.xpt /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins/

They work but why type out the full path? We are already in the ~/Desktop/base-plugins directory so all we need is:

sudo cp -r -p ./install_flash_player_7_linux/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins/
sudo cp -r -p ./install_flash_player_7_linux/flashplayer.xpt /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins/

Basically the "." just means that we are dealing with a file (or folder in this case) inside the current working directory (which is ~/Desktop/base-plugins). Or it could be ~/Desktop/Documents/Files/base-plugins... It really doesn't matter since the path is relative, not absolute...

#4: Variables make your scripts easier to maintain and save you typing. For example, since we end up referring to the /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins directory a lot in the script we could just declare a variable at the beginning:

plugins="/usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins"

Now instead of typing "/usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins", we can just type $plugins. Using this variable the previous example could just be:

sudo cp -r -p ~./install_flash_player_7_linux/libflashplayer.so $plugins
sudo cp -r -p ~./install_flash_player_7_linux/flashplayer.xpt $plugins

#5: This isn't really that important but if you want to get rid of the ~"Can't get working directory" error at the end of the script then you can.

This error happens when this command is executed:

sudo rm -fdr ~/Desktop/base-plugins

The reason is because we are deleting the current working directory. To avoid the error, we just navigate to the parent directory of base-plugins (~/Desktop):

cd ..

(".." = parent directory)

and then delete base-plugins folder:

sudo rm -fdr base-plugins

Since the current working directory is outside of the base-plugins directory, there is no error.

#6: When you double click on the script and select "Run in Terminal" , it works fine but the terminal always closes RIGHT after the script finishes. To keep the terminal open after the script finishes just include this command at the very end of the file on its own line:

read

Hope you find (some of ) this info useful,

-sheep

[Kilz]

Good work, this is coming along nicely. However, I have a few suggestions concerning the scripts:

#1: In the readme it says to use the command line to run the script as root. While this does work, it's not necessary. All commands that are prefixed with "sudo". All the commands in the script that need to be run as root are prefixed with sudo so really you can just double click on the script, and hit run in terminal. Or if you like using the terminal:



OR




#2: If it were me, I'd put in some line breaks and comments to make the script easier to read and edit but that's up to you.

#3: Relative paths would save you the trouble of typing out the full path names and allow users to successfully run the script in any directory they choose, not just the Desktop. For example, take these two lines:



They work but why type out the full path? We are already in the ~/Desktop/base-plugins directory so all we need is:



Basically the "." just means that we are dealing with a file (or folder in this case) inside the current working directory (which is ~/Desktop/base-plugins). Or it could be ~/Desktop/Documents/Files/base-plugins... It really doesn't matter since the path is relative, not absolute...

#4: Variables make your scripts easier to maintain and save you typing. For example, since we end up referring to the /usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins directory a lot in the script we could just declare a variable at the beginning:



Now instead of typing "/usr/lib32/firefox32/plugins", we can just type $plugins. Using this variable the previous example could just be:



#5: This isn't really that important but if you want to get rid of the ~"Can't get working directory" error at the end of the script then you can.

This error happens when this command is executed:



The reason is because we are deleting the current working directory. To avoid the error, we just navigate to the parent directory of base-plugins (~/Desktop):


(".." = parent directory)

and then delete base-plugins folder:



Since the current working directory is outside of the base-plugins directory, there is no error.

#6: When you double click on the script and select "Run in Terminal" , it works fine but the terminal always closes RIGHT after the script finishes. To keep the terminal open after the script finishes just include this command at the very end of the file on its own line:




Hope you find (some of ) this info useful,

-sheep

Thanks fatsheep, the script I use is basicly the one I started with long ago. I have learned a lot since then. There have been things added and removed, but I have never rewriten it. I was planing on doing that in the near future (a week or 2). I think some of the improvements you have sugested will be done then.

[cfishburn]

I have a newbee problem. I clicked on your link to base-plugins and then I am
asked if I want archive to open it or send it to disk. What do I do?
thanks in advance, because I may need more help

[Kilz]

I have a newbee problem. I clicked on your link to base-plugins and then I am
asked if I want archive to open it or send it to disk. What do I do?
thanks in advance, because I may need more help

Its best if you save it to disk and then right click on it and choose extract here. It will make a folder with the script and a redme file with instructions.

[finite9]

stupid question: Can I use this script on a 32-bit system as well? It would make installing all plugins etc a breeze even on a 32-bit system.