Trouble running firefox

Hi all, have just been given a aspire one netbook for xmas. The other day I closed down the netbook, went to use it the next day to log onto internet. When I tap on the browser button it seems to think about opening but doesnt then if i tap it again it say firefox is already running in another window (which its not, that i can see) and says I should end unreponding programmes or restart system.

I have tried re-starting netbook but same thing happens again. This is the first time i have used a netbook with this linex system used to windows. Next tried ctrl,alt,del to try and end non responding programmes like in windows. Ended anything that showed as firefox this still hasnt solved the problem. really dont know what else to try.....any other ideas.

Cheers Mark

 

First, have you changed anything on the machine since you got it (like installed Firefox 3)?

Second, let's see whether the system can find a Firefox instance. Get to a terminal (alt-f2, type 'terminal' in the box and click 'run') and then enter this command into the terminal:

Code:

ps ax | grep fire

The command asks the machine to get all the running processes (that's the 'ps ax' bit) then filter the output to show only those lines containing 'fire' (that's the 'grep fire').

You will get a response in which one line will read something like
26433 pts/1 R+ 0:00 grep fire
(not exactly that but the end will be the same); if you get more than that then please copy the whole response and post it here.

The odd thing is that a reboot should have sorted it out if it was a Firefox process which had 'stuck' for some reason, so these steps may not help in the end, but they will at least eliminate some options! There's one more thing I think it might be, but let's try the easier options first.

 

Thankyou for such a quick offer of help, i followed the instructions and got a series of figures but am unsure what to do with them.

this is what i got.

3207? Ss 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/lib/firefox-2.0.0.14/firefox -UIlocale en-GB
3288? S 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/lib/firefox-2.0.0.14/run-mozilla.sh /usr/lib/firefox-2.0.0.14/firefox-bin -UIlocale en-GB
3293? Sl 0:00 /usr/lib/firefox -2.0.0.14/firefox-bin -UIlocale en-GB
6436 pts/0 0:00 grep fire

I havent changed anything on the netbook I'm a bit of a dunce with this never used anything else but windows. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Cheers Mark

 

Right, that lot is telling you what other firefox processes are running. Now we need to kill them off!

Get a terminal running again, and type this:

Code:

kill -9 3207
kill -9 3288
kill -9 3293
ps ax | grep fire

You may recognise that last line- it's the same as last time. It should now come up with only one line of response: if it does, then that confirms that you've got rid of all the other firefox processes.

Then try Firefox again, and see what happens. If it runs, then we are probably there!

If it still claims there's another copy running, then we're down to my final option, which is that it's left a 'lock' file in your fiefox profile folder: Firefox can do this if it closes uncleanly for some reason. It's not that hard to get rid of it, but let's see if this works first.

 

Hello again thankyou for your help I typed each of those commands in and then the grep fire bit and it did come back with one line of commands.

Exited out and clicked the browser icon again it did nothing so clicked again and it came back with the same message about it already running etc....

again thanks for your help.

 

Ok, let's see if you've got a lock file in your profile directory.

First, repeat what you've already done: use the terminal and enter

Code:

ps ax | grep fire

and then do the 'kill' command son each of the process numbers it brings up, just like last time. The numbers will be different this time round.

Now let's see about that lock file. We can do this in the terminal or graphically; let's use the graphical means this time.

Start My Files, and in the address bar (where it says 'My Files///) add ".moxilla" to the end of that bit and press enter. You should get a listing of the .mozilla directory in the window. Now double click the firefox directory; you should see a couple of things listed, one of which will be a directory with a name ending in .default. Double click that directory, and look for a file called 'lock'. If it's there, delete it.

Now try Firefox again!

 

Again thankyou for your help i have killed off the process and then went into the mozilla file and found the lock file and deleted it. tried firefox again but unfourtunatly it still isnt opening up do i need to restart the computer after killing the processes.

Sorry to be a pain

 

You shouldn't need to, but it may help. Check that the lock file hasn't reappeared before restarting.

If you restart and still have the problem, please then open a terminal and run firefox from there (just type 'firefox' and press enter. It should send any detailed error messages to the terminal - just copy whatever you get after typing 'firefox' in the terminal and paste it into a post here.

 

ok i pressed alt f2 and ran terminal then typed firefox and enter, nothing has come up in the screen, really confused now. would the best thing be to try and get an external cd/dvd drive and just reset to factory settings?

Thankyou for your help and patience this evening

 

You're welcome!

I really don't know what else can be causing this issue; a "recovery" might be the best thing. If you loook on the forums there are instrcutiosn for how to do the recovery using a USB stick - but do be careful as some people seem to have had trouble when making the USB key.