“… I’m using Ubuntu 9.04… the “Check for Updates” in Firefox is grayed out and apt-get does not upgrade Firefox… I’m stuck at 3.0.18, how can I get upgraded?…”

This is an issue, I’ve encountered before. The newest versions of Firefox are not yet in the repositories, and the “Check for Updates” is disabled on purpose. I tried upgrading Firefox via PPA’s on a couple occasions, butthe updates failed and I ended up with broken packages! In my opinion, the following steps might serve as a safer way to upgrade.

In your existing Firefox version (3.0.18), install the following extension manager, named FEBE, in case something happens to your extentions, you’ll be able to reinstall them:

FEBE: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2109

Use FEBE to backup your extensions.

Also, just in case something happens to your saved passwords, you can back those up as well with an extension named “Password Exporter”: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2848

Backup up your passwords.

Finally, don’t forget to backup your bookmarks in case something goes wrong.

In a Terminal, run the command:

which firefox

You should see this answer displayed:

/usr/bin/firefox

This guide is based on the pathing above. If the steps below are not followed properly, then this will not work! ALWAYS make sure you have BACKUPS of data you do not want to lose, in case something in your system goes terribly wrong.

Now, let’s use the Terminal to move into Ubuntu’s temporary (working) directory:

cd /tmp

Download  Firefox 3.6 for Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty):
wget “http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.6&os=linux&lang=en-US”

(The above is for the North American version, you can change that to meet your needs).

Extract the contents:
tar xvjf firefox-*.bz2

We are going to copy the new version of Firefox to a directory called “firefox-3.6″ (instead of “firefox”), this way we can  revert back to the original Firefox 3.0.18 is needed.

Copy the executable to /usr/lib/:

sudo cp -r firefox /usr/lib/firefox-3.6

Move the older version (3.0.18) to “firefox.old”:
(This way you can revert back to it if needed)

sudo mv /usr/bin/firefox /usr/bin/firefox.old

Create the links to the correct verion of Firefox will run:

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/firefox-3.6/firefox /usr/bin/firefox-3.6
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/firefox-3.6 /usr/bin/firefox

Now open Firefox and you should be running version 3.6. If not, then some of the steps above were not followed (or Firefox was not in “/usr/bin/firefox”).

If you ever need to revert back to your older version of Firefox, you can run the commands below in a Terminal:

Backup the existing:
sudo mv /usr/bin/firefox /usr/bin/firefox.bak

Now restore the older version:
sudo mv /usr/bin/firefox.old /usr/bin/firefox

You should notice that your settings, bookmarks, passwords are all intact (as they are stored in your user profile – /home/<username>/.mozilla). We backed them up just in case there was an issue.

I hope this helps!

First off, there some other applications I use, namely:

xVidCap. This facilitates screen capturing video so that I can create tutorial videos. After which ffmpeg can be used to convert the captured video to flv format for web streaming.  If you’re interested, they have a couple instructional videos: Video 1 and Video 2. To install it, the command is:

sudo aptitude install xvidcap

Also, to be able to quickly find the differences between file versions I use TkDiff File Comparison and Meld. Both allow me to open different versions and display where files differ. These are particularly helpful if you access files from different locations and then need to troubleshoot changes. To install:

sudo aptitude install tkdiff

sudo aptitude install meld

In my personal case, this became more useful when I tried out Unison. As explained on the Unison web site:

“…Unison is a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows. It allows two replicas of a collection of files and directories to be stored on different hosts (or different disks on the same host), modified separately, and then brought up to date by propagating the changes in each replica to the other…“

While I’m mentioning Unison, I should point out that I had a horrible experience with it (Note: I did not read the manual). In my opinion it’s a great idea, and I am truly waiting for the latest versions, however I did have issues (which I have not been able to resolve yet):

It advertises that synchronization can also occur between Linux and Windows systems (or Linux to Linux systems).

My reality with regards to Windows :

• Linux can connect to Windows, but then the connection is lost with an error message after supplying the correct password.
• Window can connect to Linux and does begin searching for changes, but then the application freezes, becomes unresponsive, network traffic is almost zero and CPU load shoots to 100% if you try to stop.
• For it to work the same version needs to be installed on both machines.
• Compiling from source did not work on Ubuntu 8.04 as it indicated there were errors in the make file (yet the sudo aptitude install unison-gtk command does succeed – So I know all dependencies and libraries are already available)
• Currently it does not work. (However other solutions like rsync etc. work without any issues or much hair pulling).
• There is no option to delete a profile.
• Importantly, the FTP synchronization option is not available.

I really hope I can get this going – But it’s slow as it’s taken me almost 5 hours to try and get it working – to no avail. I wish there would be the same updated versions for all platforms available as packaged binaries (I think this would make things easier).

imgSeek is another useful tool that manages graphic collection and has the unique search capability where you can provide a rough sketch of the image you are looking for – And the results will be returned. No more having to use tags! In my opinion that is a great feature. You can view the screenshot of the search feature.

Many of the other web design and development related tools are also Firefox extensions:

Codetch allows me to edit files right inside Firefox. It’s a little bit like Bluefish.

Copy Plain Text gives you the ability to copy and paste text without all the formatting.

W3C CSS Validator does exactly that – validate that your CSS is formatted to the correct standards.

CSSViewer allows you to hover your mouse around a web page and see a small box that clearly shows all the CSS element in effect for any object or area.

EditCSS allows you to edit the CSS of any web page in real time and see the immediate changes, then you can simply copy and paste the change into your final style.css file.

Firebug is a robust extension that allows you to live debug and monitor CSS, HTML, JavaScript, etc. actions and results. It’s a good tool for troubleshooting issues.

Web Developer provides a tool bar with lots (and lots…) of development tools! If you’re only going to check one of these extensions, this is the one to look at!

Side note: I’ve often been asked what the “Ubuntu Firefox Modifications” extension does (as there is no ability to edit the preferences for it). It’s function is to allow installation of Firefox add ons via the Ubuntu package manager, however I’ve not played with that yet.

Finally, one issue I’ve found very helpful is to tweak how Firefox operates, in other words making it function faster. The video below provides a good guide to tweaking Firefox for speed improvements:

Hopefully the revisit of this topic helps answer questions as well as improving the web developer and designer productivity in an Ubuntu Linux environment.

Side note: As I’ve mentioned before, the upkeep of this site is a financial burden (but I think this blog does provide value to the community), as such I often collaborate on web projects to help with the server fees etc., which lead to the discussion at hand.

One particularly vexing issue we discussed was how IE positions DIV elements (via CSS) compared to other browsers such as Firefox, Opera etc. A site structure that looked great in other browsers often presented design challenges when using IE. Of course many of the Firefox fan boys were quick to jump in and say “don’t design for IE”, I think that is somewhat unrealistic, even though I’d love :) to comply (I’m smiling here). A case in point, if the client uses IE, the finished site has to work properly in IE as well. ;) In terms of browser adoption, many of you might find this resource helpful: Browser Statistics. According to the W3schools.com statistics, in March of 2008, IE comprises 53.1% of web users and non-IE browsers are used by 41.6% of users. Hence the importance of cross browser compatibility.

A specific issue encountered, that motivated me to post Part 1 (the introduction and ground work) was that the designer uses a Windows 2000 platform and unfortunately he cannot install any IE browser greater that IE6 (the buggy one). One pertinent observation was the viewing of the site via browsershots.org. For those not familiar:

“…Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service created by Johann C. Rocholl. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the BrowserShots central server… ” where you can see how your site looks on the large, growing number of browsers available. That is one tool I suggested he use to garner an understanding of how different browsers render (because Windows 2000 could not move beyond IE6).

As he (the designer) also uses Apple, I assumed that perhaps he could make use of a Linux box in his network which would allow him to view all versions of IE without having to upgrade his existing Windows to XP. Open source does have it’s benefits! :) IE on Linux you ask? Yes, on Linux. last year I bumped into a great tool that someone sent me. It’s called IEs 4 Linux and here’s what they have to say:

“…IEs4Linux is the simpler way to have Microsoft Internet Explorer running on Linux (or any OS running Wine).
No clicks needed. No boring setup processes. No Wine complications. Just one easy script and you’ll get three IE versions to test your Sites. And it’s free and open source…“

and

“…Who is the target public? WebDesigners that want to move to Linux but still need to test their sites on IE, People who have to open IE-only sites.

The IEs installations are smaller than usual because they include only the necessary files to have a good test browser (there is no Outlook, Media Player etc)…”

Their IE7 is currently working in Beta here: http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Beta

So… Here’s the game plan.

I’ll be using Shuttle box to install Linux and VirtualBox. VirtualBox will be used to install different versions of Linux (and perhaps Windows too), with which applications, settings, etc. can be installed or changed without damaging the the primary OS. I think it’s a great tool for any web developer or designer as it allows for maximum viewability (is there such a word?), without having to boot up an extra PC or reboot the existing PC to a different OS. Here’s what we’re going to use:

Software:

Linux (Ubuntu 8.04): http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

VirtualBox: http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

IEs 4 Linux: http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Installation

Hardware:

1) Shuttle SN68SG2 Socket AM2 Barebone – NVIDIA 7025, Audio, Video, PCI Express, Gigabit LAN, USB 2.0, Firewire, Serial ATA, 250 Watt Power Supply.

2) AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Processor ADA4200CUBOX – 2.20GHz, 1MB Cache, 1000MHz (2000 MT/s) FSB, Windsor, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket AM2, Processor with Fan.

3) Kingston 1024MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz Memory (2 of these for 2GB).

4) Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB Hard Drive – 7200, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM.

The above is a bit hard financially, (it’s at a cost of $473 CAN), but worthwhile because I can put it to very good use (in great part because of VirtualBox). Besides, someone already gave me a used monitor, keyboard and mouse.

I’ve done my best to check Linux compatibility, and I don’t think I’ll have much issues in terms of this.
Part 2 of this post will describe any OS installation problems an solutions I may have encountered. It will also provide the installation steps I took for VirtualBox (they are very easy). And as a side note I’d also like to install XvidCap (so I can show videos of some things in future posts).

As always, please feel free to comment as I often find I learn a lot from all of you!

Cheers!
:)

Update: Part 2 of this post is here: Browser Problems – Creating a Linux Based Virtual Box – Part 2 of 2

[tags]shuttle, linux ,ubuntu, video, network, drivers, fix, how to, SN68SG2, ethernet, virtualbox, marvell, envyeng, nvidia[/tags]

“Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system.”

error message again, and was looking for a quick fix (as I’d been logging into terminal each time to fix it without rebooting). To my surprise, the issue was way easier to fix than expected! All you’ll need to do is remove two files “lock” and “.parentlock”. I found the complete solution using Google here: How to fix “Firefox is already running” error.

What I find personally amusing about this is how I’m usually stumped with the little things instead of the “big” things. Maybe it’s just me. ;)

Happy Easter everyone!
:)

I installed the Firefox 3 Beta (Version 3.0b3 as of this post) on my Ubuntu Box and… damn… Flash is not working again!
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

It’s a quick(er) fix though (Firefox just needs the link to flash plugin):

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so /usr/lib/firefox-3.0b3/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so

** For those who did not install Flash in the first place, just do this to get it:

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

Update: If you are having trouble with sound playing in one application (Rhythumbox for example) and flash in another (YouTube for example), but have no sound in the flash player, take a look at this fix: Playing Music & Not Getting Sound in Flash?

“…PulseAudio as your audio backend (which Hardy does by default), you need to have libflashsupport installed…“

sudo su

IPV6 is an Internet protocol. Currently most applications use IPV4 and this can cause conflicts which slow down your system.
Complete the following to disable it.

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/bad_list

and type this in:

alias net-pf-10 off

Then save the file.

Speed up Broadband Internet by editing the appropriate configuration file and adding the following information. – Or, you can use a tool called PowerTweak from here: sourceforge.net/projects/powertweak

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

The first four line deal with window size and you need to enter numbers that are best for you (because these ones may be too high). Here is what I mean by this:
Computers communicate by sending packets of data back and forth. When they connect with each other to send these packets they use the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol).

Your computer could begin the connection with a small package size, then the other computer might respond with a larger one. In turn your computer will reduce (scale down) the size of the package (to a bit more that your original package size). The other computer again responds with a larger packet size. This cycle continues until your computer or the responding computer meets their maximum package size.

If you choose a windows packet size that is too big, you will notice slower broadband performance (524288 works for me). If you notice a slow down, then reduce your window size.
The largest size you can use is 65536, however these are the three settings that seem to work best:

524288
262144
131072
Which are all multiples of 1024 (or 1K).
Now add the following to the end of the file:

net.core.rmem_default = 524288
net.core.rmem_max = 524288
net.core.wmem_default = 524288
net.core.wmem_max = 524288
net.ipv4.tcp_wmem = 4096 87380 524288
net.ipv4.tcp_rmem = 4096 87380 524288
net.ipv4.tcp_mem = 524288 524288 524288
net.ipv4.tcp_rfc1337 = 1
net.ipv4.ip_no_pmtu_disc = 0
net.ipv4.tcp_sack = 1
net.ipv4.tcp_fack = 1
net.ipv4.tcp_window_scaling = 1
net.ipv4.tcp_timestamps = 1
net.ipv4.tcp_ecn = 0
net.ipv4.route.flush = 1

After adding these line you do not need to reboot, instead just reset the file by issuing this command:

sudo sysctl -p

After completing this, you should notice improved web surfing speed. If not, remember to go back and adjust your TCP window size and try again.

Part 2 of this article, which contains more technical information, can be found here: ubuntulinuxhelp.com/speed-up-your-internet-connection-in-ubuntu-linux-part-2/