Firefox local homepage will not display at startup - SORTED

Hi. I have an annoying little problem... (revised)

I have an AA1 and I am running Firefox 2.0.0.14 under Linpus. It is the SSD version - no disk

I have a local homepage which I have created. It has just simple HTML links on it.
The page is at: Documents/links/index.htm

I can set it as my homepage either by:
a) navigating to it with file manager and opening it
b) navigating to it with Firefox
- and then setting it as my homepage
- either way it is referenced by Firefox as: file:///mnt/home/Documents/links/index.htm

1) If I start Firefox before Connection Manager establishes whether I have a WiFi connection I get the error:

• File not found
  Firefox can't find the file at /mnt/home/Documents/links/index.htm
  etc....

But once the connection is established I can bring my home page up OK.

2) If I turn my WiFi off I get the same error at startup until the Connection Manager determines that there is no connection, then I can bring the page up.

This is really annoying as my homepage has useful info on it. It doesn't happen with Firefox on my Windows machine.

It even happens when my home page is totally blank - no html code - no nothing whatsover!

The clue sems to be the 'mnt' in the address stored by Firefox. This seems to be connected to the disk having to be 'mounted' - and that doesn't happen until Connection Manager has done it's work.

Any ideas? Simple language please - I am a Linux virgin (but except for this one problem I am thrilled to be free of Microsoft at long last!)

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

Did you check the settings within Firefox to be sure that your home page is set correctly?

I know nothing of linpus and I do not know what mnt/home is but it sounds like the behavior of ad-ware.

Hopefully someone else will chime in. I did a quick google search on mnt/home and came up with nothing. Isn't there a forum dedicated to Linpus?

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

garretp. thanks for getting back to me, but this is a linux thread.

sorry - not with you. yes, my homepage is set as the homepage - that is why i called it my homepage. and isn't linpus the standard linux distro for the AA1? and no, that address is the location of my homepage.

But I liked your post about ide-usb adaptors - i wondered what people were talking about when they said they hooked their HDD or CD up to the AA1. Maplin do one here in UK - A25AT - £5 off this month. Sadly Maplin say Linux is not supported - I wonder why that is - I would have thought it was just a h/w device?

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

I admit I know nothing of Linux. What I meant by forums is not these forums that cover all things AA1, I mean a forum that is dedicated to nothing but Linux. Like www.linuxforums.org Just found that with google. I would suggest posting this over there as I am sure it will get much more attention.

As for the mtn/home, if that where on a windows machine I would be leery of a virus Like I said, I know nothing of Linux

And yes that IDE adapter is awesome. I sure did wish it worked it 2.5HDD's but no biggie

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

Thanks garrettp.

Yes Linux is a steep learning curve, but I'm so thrilled to have escaped the clutches of Microsoft! And the AA1 is real fun to use - especially down at the pub...

What's the problem with 2.5HDD's? - I have a 2.5 adaptor, but come to think of it it plugs onto an IDE connector on the motherboard, so you would need a gender bender to use it

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

i have some of those adapters too. In I ran a laptop hard drive in a few Desktops as the main drive.

I think the USB to IDE adapter does not have enough juice to start the 2.5"HDD. There is the 4 pin molex power adpater for larger drive and CD Roms but nothing for the 2.5" drives

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

It looks like a problem with the location of your file.
1. Is /mnt/home/Documents/links located on your AA1?
2. Is /mnt/home/Documents/links/index.htm readable by you (as a normal user)?
3. Is the location you're entering file:///mnt/home/Documents/links/index.htm?

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

Hi RockDoctor

Thanks for getting back to me. The answer to all 3 Qs is yes.

I used File Manager to open my homepage from My Disk:///Documents/links/index.htm
Then in Firefox in the Homepage bit I clicked 'Use Current page' to set that as my homepage.

The problem seems to be during this startup timeslot where AA1 is deciding if there is WiFi available or not.
If I start Firefox during that period I get The 'File not found' error, and I get the same error when I click the Homepage icon - until AA1 has made a decision about WiFi - then when I click the homepage icon my homepage comes up

BUT if I start Firefox AFTER it has decided that WiFi is available (or not) my homepage pops up

It really is bugging me!

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

Strange. My home page file, home_sweet_home.html, is located in my home directory (/home/a). When I click on my Firefox icon, it runs, and the address bar displays file:///home/a/home_sweet_home.html. The /mnt/home/Documents/ prefix on your home page's filename looks unusual. Can you shut down your wireless connection and then, unconnected to any network, bring up your home page file in mousepad? If so, I'm afraid I'm out of ideas.

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

The answer to that is yes!

You are using Linpus and the supplied filemanager Thunar 0.9.0? I can't understnd your addressing structure - why is mine so different?

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

I am using neither Linpus nor Thunar.
What happens if, with wifi down, you do the following:
1. Open Mousepad
2. Enter the following (just cut and paste it):

Code:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<html>
   <head><title>Home Sweet Home</title></head>
   <body style="background-color: #c2a36d; ">
      <div align="center"><h1>Home Sweet Home</h1></div>
   </body>
</html>

3. Save as /tmp/home.html
4. Open Firefox
5. Enter, in Firefox's address bar: file:///tmp/home.html

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

Come on guys - this is an AA1 Linux forum. I have stated that I am running the standard distro - Linpus - so let's have a solution that fits it...

If you don't have Linpus you don't understand the problem, so please don't waste my time replying !!!

As for entering a new home page - what is the point? - it hasn't any of my links on it!
- I am perfectly happy with my own homepage, I just hate having to wait until after Connection Manager has finished its work before my page will display !

And yes - as I have said already - the problem even exists with an entirely empty homepage...

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

I suspect your problem is with AUFS. Your using /mnt/home/ suggests to me that the file is on an SD card in the expansion slot. I had similar problems finding files on the SD card, depending on which path I used for access. I resolved my problems by symlinking the directories on the SD card to the SSD at /home/user/. For you this would be:
ln -s /mnt/home/Documents/links/ /home/user/Documents/links
(all on one line)
This creates a symbolic link called "/home/user/Documents/links"
pointing to "/mnt/home/Documents/links/". A symlink is sort of like a Windows shortcut except that it's a first-class filesystem object, not just a construct of the UI.

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

Thanks jerryp, but the file is on my main SSD - not an SD card, and I haven't got a home/user

I have an SSD AA1 running Linpus. When I use File Manager (Thunar 0.9.0), I navigate to my index file in the SSD and the path shows up in the Navigation bar as:
My Disk:///Documents/links

Then when I double click to open the file with Firefox, it appears in the Firefox Navigation bar as:
file:///mnt/home/Documents/links/index.htm - so where does the mnt come from?

A linux friend says that 'mnt' is a temporary mount directory, but whether I open my homepage from filemanager or navigate there from Firefox File|open file, the result is the same - this damned 'mnt' is in there

Being a Linux newbie I'm afraid I don't understand the remainder of your post - it looks like a command line - but where do I put it in?

This problem is doing my head in, but I'm off on holiday tomorow (Hurray!). Hopefully someone has a simple solution by the time I return!

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

Hi freddie

Not sure I have any solution to your problem but maybe the following might help.

If I understand you correctly you have created a HOME page on the SSD and this appears under directory /mnt/home/documents. The /mnt/home directory is a "Virtual" directory that has been created on the Aspire to merge the physical directories of the SSD and any SD card inserted in the LH slot. Now if you do not use an SD card you may be saying "what has this got to do with my problem?"

If you look under File System in Thunar you will see a directory called "Home" (not to be confused with /mnt/home), click on this then User and open Documents (/home/user/documents, a physical directory on the SSD). You should find your HOME page there. Is it possible to set up Firefox to use this as the link to your HOME page? Incidentally it does not matter on which of these 2 directories you create your HOME page as it will appear in either.

My reason for suggesting this is as follows;
I understand the /mnt/home directory (Virtual) is created by the use of software called "Auf's" and if so may well be created each time the Aspire is booted. If my assumption is correct I have no idea where in the boot process this merge actually takes place but I do know that I cannot access very much until the Connection Manager has done its work.

In your original post you did suggest the /mnt/home may be the problem and I hope what I have said above may help to provide a solution or at least a confirmation that until Connection Manager has finished you will get nothing.

Best wishes

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

Since your file isn't on an add-on SD card, I'd agree with solpuerto, change the path to file:///home/user/Documents/links/index.html
I suspect that AUFS has not completely initialized when you first start FF.

/mnt/ is just a convenient place to put mount points, so if you plug in a USB stick it will show up as /mnt/<something>, where something is usually the volume label.

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

Hi JerryP

In your last post you said,

/mnt/ is just a convenient place to put mount points, so if you plug in a USB stick it will show up as /mnt/<something>, where something is usually the volume label.

When you insert a USB Stick it does not show up as /mnt anything.
/mnt has a particular reference to a directory in the Aspire and does not contain the contents of any mounted USB stick. In the Tree view of Thunar the USB stick will appear on its own with its Volume label. The contents of the USB will also appear in the /media directory again under its Volume label.
As I have said before /mnt/home is created by merging the contents of the LH SD card and the /home/user directory. If you mount an SD card in the RH slot it's contents will not appear under /mnt/home just as the USB will not.

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

solpuerto,

/mnt is typically as a mountpoint for filesystems that are automatically mounted via /etc/fstab
/media is typically used for external devices that are automagically mounted

Once upon a time not too long ago, /mnt was inded used as media is typically used today

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

RockDoctor

Could you explain your post, are you agreeing or disagreeing with me?
Are you talking about the Aspire with Linpus or some other system?
There is only one /mnt directory in the Aspire and this thread has been talking about how /mnt/home is used in the Aspire.
In the Aspire the /media directory is used to display data held on any USB or Card mounted in the Aspire.

 

Re: Firefox local homepage will not display at startup

1. yes
2. yes
Even Linpus is flexible. When I was running Linpus, I had at least half a dozen directories under /mnt for mounting local filesystems. I'd also, for various reasons, mount removable media or local iso files directly on /media rather than in a directory under /media. What you're describing is the default behavior for Linpus - absolutely nothing wrong with that, although it would help if you identified it as such.

For the record, my Aspire has 6 /mnt directories. Each has a /mntHome, but none has a /mnthome.