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First prize.....

Not applicable

First prize.....

......to anyone who can solve this little conundrum. Am running Ubuntu 9 via Wubi.
I sometimes do online jigsaw puzzles that need Java so have installed the Iced Tea plug in and it works OK.
However, when I then try to search for anything in Google, the word is entered backwards e.g. Plusnet becomes tensulp. If I close down Firefox and try to reopen there is a box that says that FF is currently open and can't open another instance of it. I reboot and all is OK.
It's not a big deal really as I can leave the puzzle until before I switch off anyway but I wondered if anyone had any brainwaves as to the cause (and cure)?  Huh
20 REPLIES 20
MisterW
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 14,489
Thanks: 5,357
Fixes: 383
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: First prize.....

Poppy,
This http://support.mozilla.com/tiki-view_forum_thread.php?comments_parent seems to describe your problem ...
I'm not sure it gives a solution though!!
Edit: but this looks like a possible solution http://blog.fuseyism.com/index.php/2009/01/ ( at the end of th post )

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

artificer
Grafter
Posts: 1,850
Registered: ‎11-08-2007

Re: First prize.....

i have no solution for you poppy, ;just a tip.  there is often no need to reboot if you get a glitch in linux.  you can use ctrl-alt-bkspce to refresh x, login again and start again from there.  it's a bit quicker than rebooting because you're not restarting the whole system.
Not applicable

Re: First prize.....

Will write down the tip and give it a go so thanks for that. Tried the link MsterW but got an error - no forum indicated.
Just got an email with a link to Full Circle - issue 26 now out so am having a little read to see if I can understand any of it.
Waldo
Grafter
Posts: 473
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: First prize.....

Quote from: poppy
It's not a big deal really as I can leave the puzzle until before I switch off anyway but I wondered if anyone had any brainwaves as to the cause (and cure)?  Huh

It appears to be an iced-tea bug
One solution would be to install the (non-free) Sun Java plug-in.
Waldo
Grafter
Posts: 473
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: First prize.....

Quote from: artificer
you can use ctrl-alt-bkspce to refresh x, login again and start again from there. 

AFAIK that's been disabled in the latest X Window releases (you need to edit xorg.conf to re-enable it).
Sounds like a good excuse for learning to use something like top or ps to identify the process & kill it.
Not applicable

Re: First prize.....

Alright Waldo - you definitely go to the top of the class  Cool - I'd never have found that. At least I know that I haven't done anything wrong. Seems as if it is in various distros and, as you say, due to Iced Tea plug in. Doesn't tell us what to do though.  Sad
BTW am still ploughing my way through the Full Circle and although you will probably know all about it, I thought that I would mention that there is a very good and explanatory article on using Sun Virtual Machine with Ubuntu.  Tried before and didn't get the hang of it but this is so clear that I might have another go.
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: First prize.....

I used to get that problem in Ubuntu 8.10 (intermittently)
Closing all Firefox windows and re-opening them seemed to cure it for a while.
Since then there's been a couple of Firefox updates and I've moved on to Ubuntu 9.04.
Doesn't happen any more. Smiley

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

Not applicable

Re: First prize.....

Jeremy - you have hit the nail on the head so to speak. This too is Ubuntu 9.04 so following your hint about Firefox updates, I checked mine and it is greyed out so I think that this might be the cause of the problem - it hasn't updated. I am therefore going to go away and study how to update it to see if that cures the problem.
MisterW
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 14,489
Thanks: 5,357
Fixes: 383
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: First prize.....

Poppy,
Soory about that link , you're right it doesnt work. I'm in the office now so havent got my browsing history to go back to.
The second link works though and seems to give useful information, I'll quote it to save you the trouble
Quote
For some strange reason, yesterday Firefox decided that everything I typed was going to come out backwards. As a result, I now have a bookmark folder called siraloSnepO. I still don’t know how it happened. Closing Firefox only cured it temporarily. I knew it had to be something to do with BIDI support, but it certainly wasn’t obvious. Words were being constructed in reverse, but input was still coming from the left of the screen. In other applications, switching to right-to-left makes the cursor appear at the right of a textbox (I verified this in XChat). It seems to have stopped for the time being. I fiddled with some settings in about:config including bidi.support which I set to 3 (disable) which I think may have done the trick. Changing bidi.direction to 2 did have the effect of making text come from the right, so it wasn’t that.
I hope that has cured it. Otherwise, you might find you need a mirror to read my next blog…

Hope that helps

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: First prize.....

OK I,m on Ubuntu 9.04 - 64 bit and
I have a meta-package for Firefox where it says
Quote
This is a meta package that will point to the latest firefox package in ubuntu.
Don't remove this if you want to receive automatic major version upgrades for
this package in future.

Package version is 3.0.11+build2+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.04.1 (Jaunty-Updates)
Firefox version is 3.0.11....

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

alanf
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,931
Thanks: 78
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎17-10-2007

Re: First prize.....

Quote from: poppy
This too is Ubuntu 9.04 so following your hint about Firefox updates, I checked mine and it is greyed out so I think that this might be the cause of the problem - it hasn't updated. I am therefore going to go away and study how to update it to see if that cures the problem.

Ubuntu has its own distribution of Firefox which is updated by updating Ubuntu. Hence there is no facility to check for updates in Firefox itself. This can mean that the latest available Firefox is a few days behind the latest available release from Mozilla.
It is possible to install a Linux version of Firefox directly from the Mozilla site and maintain it apart from Ubuntu.
Not applicable

Re: First prize.....

Just a quick update after trying all ways to get rid of the problem, which is quite wide-spread apparently and is also seen in Windows FF.
Tried to update to 3.5 but after installing from the Ubuntu site references to it appear in the Synaptic Package Manager but the version in my browser is still 3.0.11 so will will have to wait until the thing updates itself. Next I uninstalled Iced Tea and installed JavaSE6. Fingers crossed but it seems to be OK at the moment.
Where I am getting into a tizwas  is installing something like a new version of Firefox. I had thought that if it was Windows I would uninstall, clean up, reboot and reinstall but it seems so difficult in Linux.
Am OK with Add/Remove of course because everything is there in the repository. Also managed to install Cairo Dock on both Mint and Ubuntu which is a Mac look-alike and is pretty nifty. Followed instructions and used the Terminal. Only problem is I have to activate it at each session - doesn't come up when you boot the computer so don't know if there is much that can be done about that - will have to take a deeper delve into the settings.
The other glitch that  I have in my Mint installation is the 'Could Not Grab Mouse' one which is also fairly common. I can get out of it by clicking on Package Manger and then anywhere on the desktop but it is pretty annoying because it happens at least once in every session. Can't find a permanent cure after researching it.
Oh the joys of Linux! (Am not giving up though).  Huh
HairyMcbiker
All Star
Posts: 6,792
Thanks: 266
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎16-02-2009

Re: First prize.....

Well with Linux, if you have installed something from the repositories then you just  need to use synaptic to remove it, search for it and right click and choose remove (or remove completely which also removed the config files) or if you installed it manually it is a bit harder depends on how it was installed, via a .deb (if so it may be in synaptic again) or from a shell script, if the later then you have to usually visit the homepage and look for removal instructions, but usually you can just upgrade without having to remove (if it needs removed then the installed will usually remove it for you).
WRT Cairo dock, I don't use that but Avant Window Manger (similar but prettier :D) if you want to auto load it at startup, click on Preferences, Startup Manager and add it there, it will then load on startup.
Not come across the 'Could Not Grab Mouse' issue what is that?
Not applicable

Re: First prize.....

I find the software manager easy enough to understand and deal with, although it is better in Ubuntu as you can see what is and isn't installed. In Mint I can't fathom this out because all it has is numbers by each item (unless I am missing something).
The synaptic manager is a bit more complicated especially when you come to remove something and you can't because of dependencies. Anyway, that isn't a problem now as the Ubuntu glitch seems to have gone away. Not done a .deb or shell download/installation so that is for another time.
Found the start up for Cairo Dock - right-clicked and the option was there.
The 'Could not grab mouse' glitch is due to the synaptic manager thinking it is running or some such thing. The message is that mouse can't be grabbed as there may be a malicious eavesdropper. It goes way back to earlier incarnations of Mint ASFAIK.
It happened again just now when I clicked on synaptic to take a look. I then have to click anywhere on the desktop, the password prompt box comes up, I enter it and that removes the problem (until the next time).
The solutions on the Mint forum do not seem to tell me how to get rid of it altogether.
Have added the Avant Window Manager (I think) and am now going to have a look.