Firefox 3 Beta Downloads Always Open in the Same Application

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been using Firefox 3 Beta 5 quite a bit lately. When I used the Downloads dialog to Open Containing Folder for a document I had downloaded, Firefox asked me what program to use to open file links. Naturally, I selected the application for opening documents, oowriter. Bzzzt! Wrong answer.

Now, it wants to use oowriter to open every file and folder. Firefox wasn't really asking for which application it should use to open a file, but a file link. So, I should've picked a file manager such as Konqueror, Dolphin, Thunar, etc. To fix this, go to Preferences (in the Edit menu on Linux), then Applications and scroll down to file in the Content Type column. In the Action column, select Use other... from the drop down list and choose your favorite file manager. Since I'm using Kubuntu, I chose Dolphin since it's lighter and loads more quickly.

Is your Applications list empty? You can fix that problem by reading my previous post, "Firefox 3 Beta Applications Preference Empty on Kubuntu / Xubuntu".

Firefox 3 Beta Applications Preference Empty on Kubuntu / Xubuntu

I've been checking out Firefox 3 Beta 5 since it's the default browser in Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. When I went to Preferences and looked in the Applications section to fix the action for the file content type, it was empty. That's not good.

If you're running into the same problem, there's a very easy fix for it. Open your favorite package manager (Adept is the default one for Kubuntu) and install the firefox-gnome-support package. A few other support packages will be installed to resolve dependencies. Then, restart Firefox and all will be well.

OpenOffice.org Doesn't See New Fonts on Ubuntu Linux

On one PC, I'm running Kubuntu Linux Feisty (haven't upgraded it to Gutsy yet). It already had the Bitstream Vera (ttf-bitstream-vera) and DejaVu (ttf-dejavu) font packages installed but not the MS fonts that Windows users are familiar with. So, I installed the msttcorefonts package to add Times New Roman, Arial, Trebuchet, etc., to OpenOffice.org.

After installing the new font package, the font drop down list in OpenOffice.org's toolbar showed all the new fonts. However, when modifying a style, very few fonts appeared in the Font tab. Even the Vera and DejaVu fonts were missing despite the fact that they had already existed in the system prior to my adding the MS fonts.

After much digging online, I found a quick and easy fix on the Ubuntu Forums. Simply run the following on the command line:

sudo fc-cache -fv

I couldn't find a man page for fc-cache but it essentially refreshes the central font cache so applications can use the fonts.

Bingo! All the fonts suddenly appeared in the OpenOffice.org style editor without even having to restart the editor.

Dell Latitude X1 Runs Slowly: Cure

Do you have a Dell Latitude X1 ultra-portable notebook computer and find that it seems to run slower than usual at times? I encountered the same performance problem and found a cure for the mysterious sluggishness a few months ago.

The Latitude X1 is passively cooled. In other words, it has no fan to blow away the heat generated by the CPU the way mainstream laptops do. Instead the heat is distributed through the bottom of the case. You may have noticed how hot the bottom of the laptop can get.

Without a CPU fan, what happens when the processor gets too hot? It slows down. As a survival mechanism, the CPU's clock rate will decrease in order to reduce the amount of heat being generated. Usually, the clock rate will be cut in half. As a result, everything will run more slowly. The X1 will do this even if it's set up to always run at maximum clock rate and is plugged into a power outlet.

The solution to this slow down is quite simple: Cool the bottom of the laptop. This can be done in any of a number of ways including buying a laptop cooler (the rectangular-shaped plate with fans in it) or, if you have an external keyboard and monitor connected to it, flipping the computer over so that heat more quickly dissipates into the air. Leaving the laptop on your lap, desktop or blankets (for those who like to compute in bed) will just exacerbate the heat build up and keep the CPU running at less than full speed during moderate to heavy workloads.

VirtualBox USB Proxy Service on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon

When accessing the settings dialog in VirtualBox on Ubuntu/Kubuntu 7.10 Gusty Gibbon, I would get the error, "Could not load the Host USB Proxy Service (VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND). The service might be not installed on the host computer." I found a variety of fixes from different forums and blogs so here's a consolidated guide to resolve the issue based on my installation of VirtualBox 1.5.6 on Kubuntu 7.10.

1. Open the file /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh with your favorite text editor (be sure to use sudo or open as root so that you have write permission).
   
   
2. Look for the following comment:
   
   # Magic to make /proc/bus/usb work
   
   
3. Remove the hash mark, #, from the four commands (mkdir, domount, ln, mount) following that comment. The result should look like the following:
   
   #
   # Magic to make /proc/bus/usb work
   #
   mkdir -p /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs
   domount usbfs "" /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs -obusmode=0700,devmode=0600,listmode=0644
   ln -s .usbfs/devices /dev/bus/usb/devices
   mount --rbind /dev/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb
   
   
4. Save the file and run it with sudo (or as root) appending the parameter "start" to the end:
   
   sudo /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh start
   
   
5. Next, create a new user group called usbusers. On Kubuntu, you can do this with the User Management tool in the KDE Control Center.
   
   
6. Add your username, and anyone else who uses VirtualBox on the computer, to the usbusers group. Save the changes.
   
   
7. Open the file /etc/udev/rules.d/40-permissions.rules (again, using sudo or as root).
   
   
8. Change the following lines:
   
   # USB devices (usbfs replacement)
   SUBSYSTEM=="usb_device", MODE="0664"
   
   to
   
   # USB devices (usbfs replacement)
   SUBSYSTEM=="usb_device", GROUP="usbusers", MODE="0664"
   
   
9. Save the file.
   

Now it should work fine and you don't even have to reboot.

Fix Firefox Crash: Part 2

Previously in the post, Fix Firefox Crash with Yahoo Mail, I covered a very simple way to eliminate a very frequently occurring crash problem due to a conflict between ad blocking addons and a module installed by Yahoo! Instant Messenger.

That fix significantly reduced the crashes that I encountered. However, I was still getting occasional crashes under the same circumstances with Yahoo! Mail. But, I've tracked that down and, so far, seem to have alleviated all the crashes.

I've been using two different ad blocking addons for Firefox, AdBlock and AdBlock Plus, though not on the same operating system. On the computer that was still having a crashing problem, which was running Windows XP, I had AdBlock installed. Switching to AdBlock Plus made the difference.

So, should you just switch to AdBlock Plus and not use the previous fix? Not so fast. The previous fix works even if you don't use any ad blocking add-on. So, start with it first.

Have other helpful fixes for Firefox or improvements to this fix? Post it in the comments.

Firefox Can't Download Anymore

Yesterday, someone at work was having a problem where his Firefox would no longer download files. The Downloads dialog was empty but Firefox refused to downloading anything even when selecting to save manually.

This is usually caused by a corrupt completed-downloads file. Here's how to fix this download problem:

1. Close Firefox
   
   
2. Open your favorite file manager and go to your profile folder:
   
   Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\your_Windows_login_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\a_bunch_of_letters_and_numbers.profile_name
   
   Linux: ~/.mozilla/firefox/a_bunch_of_letters_and_numbers.profile_name
   
   
3. Delete the file named downloads.rdf
   
   
4. Start Firefox
   

That's all, folks!