Running Firefox from outside Save file [solved]

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kickstart
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Joined: Wed 09 Mar 2011, 23:59

Running Firefox from outside Save file [solved]

#1 Post by kickstart »

I have tried running Firefox by downloading the latest version .tar.bz2 file and extracting it to a folder in /mnt/home so the various frugal puppies on the partition can use it. Clicking on the firefox-bin file starts Firefox fine in lxpup, Slacko 5.3 and Luci 001 (3-headed dog). The intention is then to create a desktop shortcut. However clicking on the firefox-bin file in Wary, Racy and Saluki fails to start it. Can anyone give me any clues as to why this is and if it can be made to work as Racy seems best suited to my new laptop.

I like lxpup with the Mate desktop but for some reason it keeps the processor fan busy throwing out lots of heat though system monitor shows little processor activity, so Racy is my preferred puppy. I would like to use the technique of running apps outside the Racysave file if it's feasible.
Last edited by kickstart on Wed 06 Mar 2013, 16:08, edited 1 time in total.

dancytron
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#2 Post by dancytron »

It is probably missing some dependency. Try running it from the terminal in the distributions that it doesn't work in, and it should give you some kind of error message.

Wognath
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Joined: Sun 19 Apr 2009, 17:23

#3 Post by Wognath »

Try getting libc6_2.11.3-4_i386.deb from http://packages.debian.org. This worked for me in Saluki with Firefox 17 and 18. See http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=58130,

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kickstart
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#4 Post by kickstart »

Tried running from a terminal and got a command not found error.
Downloaded the libc6 deb package which installed just like a pet in Racy. Problem solved, many thanks Wognath. Haven't tried it in Saluki yet but being Racy based I imagine I would have the same successful result as you. I might try the 64 bit libc6 in Fatdog as that is another Puppy derivative that works well on my laptop.

nooby
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#5 Post by nooby »

Maybe I ask a noob question.

I am using Slacko and that one already have Firefox
but I place the .mozilla in /mnt/home/.mozilla and
then drag and drop a relative symlink into the root/
and that way it does not make the save file smaller
and smaller making me have to make it bigger to work.

That allow me to click on the Browser on pinboard

While what you suggest would not allow this?

What you suggest now would that work for a puppy
that have Chrome as the only browser and
then you don't have to use ppm to install Firefox
instead you do as described above and call it up
despite not being installed in the menu?

Pardon such naive question
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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kickstart
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#6 Post by kickstart »

Hey Nooby! I think I'm the biggest noob here.
I had a look at Chrome but I could only find it as a deb or rpm package. I tried the deb package in Racy and it installed like a pet, into the save file. It didn't work anyway, no menu entry appeared. I found the chrome.desktop file among the installed files and opened it as text. It would appear from this that the deb package is designed for the Unity desktop environment so no wonder it won't work in Racy. I think you would have to find the source code and compile it to run it in the way I described.

You should be able to get Firefox to work in Slacko following the method I used in Racy but I think you would first have to use the remove built in packages app in the setup menu to remove the original Firefox from the main .sfs file.

Then do the following. Download the latest Firefox.19.0.tar.bz2 from Mozilla website. (I downloaded to /mnt/home to keep it out of the save file). Create a directory called Apps in /mnt/home. Extract the .tar.bz2 to this new directory and you should end up with all the Firefox files in /mnt/home/Apps/firefox including the firefox-bin file which launches the program. Next go to google images and search for firefox icon. Download a suitable icon to your /usr/share/pixmaps folder.

Next open Geany and copy the following:-

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Firefox
Icon=firefox.png
Comment=Firefox web browser
Exec=/mnt/home/Apps/firefox/firefox-bin
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=X-Internet
GenericName=Firefox

Save this file as firefox.desktop in your usr/share/applications folder.
The icon name is whatever you downloaded to the usr/share/pixmaps folder, in my case it was a .png file and I simplified it to firefox.png.

The next step is to open a terminal and run "fixmenus" (without the quotes), then restart x server from the shutdown menu. When the desktop reappears you should have a nice little Firefox in your Internet menu category. You could also drag a copy of the firefox.desktop file from the /usr/share/applications folder on to the desktop if you wish.

One thing I haven't figured out is how to get Firefox to be default browser by this method. When Firefox first runs it asks if you want it to be default but in my case, though I answered yes, Seamonkey remained default. However if you have previously removed the original Firefox as I suggested (you don't want two instances of the same browser) this won't be a problem.

This method worked for me in Racy (after installing libc6 which Slacko should not require) and does not increase the savefile size significantly. Other advantages are that you don't need to configure the Firefox cache to keep it out of the savefile and you can use the latest main release update channel Firefox. I have found that a lot of pet package Firefoxes are Aurora or Nightly releases and even Firefox official pets won't update and you have to wait for the next pet release.

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Semme
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#7 Post by Semme »

You should have a *defaultbrowser* file onboard. Open and adjust..

nooby
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#8 Post by nooby »

Thanks kickstart for sharing how you do it.
I am lucky that the version of Slacko that I have
already have Firefox 17 in the Menu.
and I moved .mozilla from root to mnt/home
and then dragged the directory back and dropped
a relative symlink to it on root. Same with cache
and adobe flash? Not sure but it help to let save file
stay slim.

Chrome I have not decided on if to use Chrome
or SRWare Iron but if I use them then I will get me
an SFS and load it on the fly or to use sfs-exec that
member seaside gave us.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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kickstart
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#9 Post by kickstart »

@Semme
I had tried modifying the defaultbrowser file but I could only get the browser to open in the contents of defaultbrowser rather than the home page set in Firefox which is a bit annoying. To work around this I removed Seamonkey from the sfs file and made the browser desktop icon point to the Firefox exec in /mnt/home. I don't really need two browsers!

@Nooby
Not having experimented with your method I'm not sure how the effect on the save file compares to my method. Another advantage I have just discovered with my method is that Firefox updates normally. I have had problems with pet installed Firefox either not having the facility to update or failing to restart after an update and needing removal and reinstallation.

nooby
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Location: SwedenEurope

#10 Post by nooby »

What I use also allow the FireFox to update by itself and it just works.

I learned it from two of the regulars on the forum.
typical I only remember one of them. the other know
who he is but maybe is not for to brag. Beem mention
that he did this but I never understood how he did it
then the other guy explained it and I have used it many times now
and it works well. But I know too little. it maybe misbehave if
one have both Seamonkey, IceApe and Firefox going? :)
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

nooby
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#11 Post by nooby »

Kickstart thanks for your thread. I tried to use it
but me too noob to find a good solution.
I had FF19 running for a while but now it automatically
reverted to FF17 by loading some file it found by itself.

So I am not bright or savvy enough to set it up right.

I've spent hours on FF17 to get it as I wanted it so
I did not want to destroy that so to delete all those
back ups of FF17 I did is a no go zone :)

Just sharing my experience I don't ask for any help.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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kickstart
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Joined: Wed 09 Mar 2011, 23:59

#12 Post by kickstart »

Nooby, I think it has been more straightforward for me as I was experimenting in a clean first time frugal installation of racy 5.5 with Seamonkey removed from the racy_5.5.sfs file. There was no previous Firefox installation to confuse things and it just worked ok with no problems.

nooby
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Location: SwedenEurope

#13 Post by nooby »

Thanks yes that seems reasonable good explanation.

Still it is odd that it does not accept to stay at FF19
when I did have it. Maybe Semme is right about "safe"
what ever that is that the "safe" protect it from updating?

Are that "safe" then a kind of default that comes with the install?
I have never told it to be that safe :)
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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Insomniacno1
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#14 Post by Insomniacno1 »

Hi to all, this is an old thread but I need some expert help:)

I have been trying to get Firefox (versions up to 30) to work in Wary 5.5(i686) but eventhough the pet files I have downloaded, installs and there show up in the menu, they will not run. There is no error messages and Wary tells me that there are no missing dependencies except sqlite3(which I have installed several times now(must be a bug)). I click on the firefox menu icon and it starts to run - then nothing happens. Same thing happened with Chromium.

What am I missing, or is it just that firefox can't run on Wary?

I'm running a full install on the hdd.

Hope someone can help me:)

With kind regards

JBJ

PS. I don't have an option to install newer version from either CD or usb, since every linux I have tried comes up with kernel panic when booting - The way this puppy is installed, is that I took the hdd over in another pc and installed it there and then returned the hdd to this pc. Unfortunately that other pc decided to die yesterday, and i don't have a replacement motherboard to fix it. Bad day yesterday:(

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Insomniacno1
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#15 Post by Insomniacno1 »

Never mind - it was fixed by following Vicmz's guide from here:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 22de37f717


1) Move the Firefox folder to /opt
2) Open Geany ("edit" icon on the desktop), create a file with this information:

Code:
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Firefox web browser
Icon=/opt/firefox/chrome/icons/default/default32.png
Comment=Firefox Web Browser
Exec=/opt/firefox/firefox
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=X-Internet;X-Internet-browser;WebBrowser
GenericName=Firefox web browser


Save the file as firefox.desktop at /usr/share/applications. Then open a terminal ("console" icon on the desktop), type fixmenus, wait till the hash symbol (#) appears at the end (that means the command has finished) and restart your window manager. If you're using JWM, which is the default window manager in most Puppies, you can just type jwm -restart in the terminal window, all minimized windows will rise but don't worry, it doesn't do anything else. If you're using another WM such as Openbox, simply restart X (but save all your work before or it'll be gone!), although actually you may not need to restart X, check if Firefox appears in the menu first.

If you want to be able to select Firefox as default from the Menu > Setup > Default Application Chooser, simply type in a terminal window:

ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/local/bin/firefox

This will create a symbolic link (or symlink) at /usr/local/bin and you will be able to see Firefox in the list of the default browser section.

3) Once you have set Firefox as your default web browser, you don't need to put the Firefox icon on the desktop, click the "browser" icon and it will start any browser you have set as default. However, if you do need to put the icon of a program on the desktop, go to /usr/share/applications, shttp://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=82868&sid=d734cf7f4938875d0f204a22de37f717elect the icon of the program, and drag & drop to the desktop. You can edit the icon name by right-clicking the icon and selecting "edit".

OBS: before going to option 3, do a fixmenus from terminal, or it will not work!

Thanx vicmz, I had been looking for this and followed alot of other advices that never panned out - this one did:)

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Insomniacno1
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#16 Post by Insomniacno1 »

Oh, by the way, I suggest to run fixmenus from terminal before proceding to step 3, or it might not work(my setup). Also read this thread to the end since there are some dependencies you will need, which are not mentioned in previous post until the very end of this thread.

Maybe Vicmz can update his post:)

JBJ

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