Ubuntu
firefox package

Firefox 3.6.23 does not always exit fully

Asked by tadiv

Recently I have had occasional trouble with the current version of Firefox completely exiting when I use the X button on the window to exit the application (I have not tried other ways as this method is my habit). Later, befoe a reboot, I'll try to launch it either from an email link or via the launcher and I'm told that Firefox is already running and that I need to exit it before starting a new instance... In the most recent case, a ps -ef revealed:

tadiv@tadiv-desktop:~$ ps -ef | grep fire
tadiv 2818 1 3 15:03 ? 00:00:29 /usr/lib/firefox-3.6.23/firefox-bin
tadiv 2883 2818 1 15:05 ? 00:00:08 /usr/lib/firefox-3.6.23/plugin-container /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so 2818 plugin true
tadiv 3258 3230 0 15:18 pts/0 00:00:00 grep fire

I have to kill the process (in this case "kill 2818") then I can start a new instance... The flashplugin is not always there, but is sometimes. Also, this does not happen every time, just sometimes - I have not discovered a pattern yet. Are others finding this problem? Is there a fix available or coming in a release?

Thanks,
Tom

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actionparsnip
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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Can you give the output of:

lsb_release -a; apt-cache policy firefox

Thanks

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tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#2

Here it is (or do you need it during the failure?)...
tadiv@tadiv-desktop:~$ lsb_release -a; apt-cache policy firefox
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS
Release: 10.04
Codename: lucid
firefox:
  Installed: 3.6.23+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.10.04.1
  Candidate: 3.6.23+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.10.04.1
  Version table:
 *** 3.6.23+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.10.04.1 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-updates/main Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu4 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main Packages
tadiv@tadiv-desktop:~$

Tom

Revision history for this message
Best actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

If you run;

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable; sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get -y upgrade

Maybe firefox 7 will help

Revision history for this message
tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#4

I'll give that a try...

Thanks,
Tom

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tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#5

Is there a way to fall back if this does not help?

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Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#6

Yes, you can downgrade back to the version of Firefox provided with your system:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable

Revision history for this message
Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#7

By the way, the problem you're experiencing looks like bug 872714. I would encourage you to visit that bug page and see if it resembles your situation. If it does (for example, you were using Flash 11), then you should subscribe to the bug, and also indicate that it affects you using the green "This bug affects..." link near the top of the bug page.

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tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#8

Thank you everyone - I have not had this issue since the update to Forefox 7. Thanks also, Eliah, for the how-to in falling back if I decide to do that...

Tom

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tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#9

Thanks actionparsnip, that solved my question.

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tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#10

Trying to fall back, I get:

tadiv@tadiv-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package ppa-purge
tadiv@tadiv-desktop:~$

Any suggestions? (I did do the update, it seemed like a lot to paste here)...
Tom

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#11

Can you give the output of:

lsb_release -a

Thanks

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tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#12

tadiv@tadiv-desktop:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS
Release: 10.04
Codename: lucid
tadiv@tadiv-desktop:~$

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#13

use software centre and remove the PPA there

Revision history for this message
tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#14

Errr... I don't understand what you mean - sorry...

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#15

In software centre, there is a place to edit repositories. You can remove the PPA there

Revision history for this message
Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#16

Removing the PPA in Software Sources will *not* downgrade Firefox!

In Lucid, ppa-purge is provided in the backports repository. If you don't want to enable the backports repository, you can just install the .deb package for the current version of ppa-purge, from https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ppa-purge. Or here's a direct download link for it: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/ppa-purge_0%2Bbzr46.1%7Elucid1_all.deb

If you have disabled the Firefox PPA in Software Sources, you'll have to re-enable it before ppa-purging it. If you have deleted it from the Software Sources, then please let us know, as then we'll have to provide different instructions for downgrading Firefox. (Or just put the Firefox PPA back, and then ppa-purge it...)

Assuming you still have the Firefox PPA enabled, you can downgrade Firefox by installing ppa-purge as just described, then running these commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo ppa-purge ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable

Revision history for this message
tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#17

Eliah -

Thank you, this allowed me to fall back to 3.5 (really 3.6.23)...

Tom

Revision history for this message
Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#18

@tadiv
I'm curious--what problems did you experience with Firefox 7.0.1? (Or did it turn out not to solve this problem after all?)

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tadiv (tadiv-comcast) said : 		#19

I did not like the new screen layout (such as the home button all the way to the right and which I now seem to be stuck with) but the bigger issue was slow response on various web pages - primarily ones with enough content that you have to scroll down to see what it not initially displayed... I would click the scroll bar or roll my mouse wheel and sit and wait - sometimes 10 - 20 seconds before there was a response...

Revision history for this message
Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#20

@tadiv
It might be possible to fix the responsiveness problem, if it is specific to some websites or specific to your user account. If you're interested in trying Firefox 7.0.1 again and trying to fix those problems, then please post a new question about that (https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+addquestion), and feel free to post a link to the question here, and also to subscribe me to the new question.