libxul.so cannot open shared object file

[Sheldon Hall]

I am using firefox on ubuntu 12.04 and the current installed binary is firefox_38.0+build3-0ubuntu0.12.04.1_amd64.deb. STarting firefox from the dash fails and I get the error message:

XPCOMGlueLoad error for file /usr/lib/firefox/libxul.so:
/usr/lib/firefox/libxul.so: cannot open shared object file: Timer expired
Couldn't load XPCOM.

when attempting to start from the command line. I have not done anything recently other than run apt-get dist-upgrade and do not know what could be causing this.

[Ubuntu Warrior (davidmacdonald)]

I am having same issue as of this morning Firefox will not work. Get the following:
david@MainSqueeze:~$ firefox
XPCOMGlueLoad error for file /usr/lib/firefox/libxul.so:
/usr/lib/firefox/libxul.so: cannot open shared object file: Timer expired
Couldn't load XPCOM.
david@MainSqueeze:~$

I tried to reinstall Firefox

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Chris (cacarpenter89)]

On RHEL, but found this report through a search. Issue started for me this morning, as well. Disabling Sophos allowed firefox to start.

[Chris Bridge (chrisbridge44)]

I have exactly the same error message on 14.04, and have also tried simply reinstalling firefox but nothing changed.

I have version 38.0+build3-0ubuntu0.14.04.1 installed

[Mike Driscoll (qike)]

I had Firefox open this morning on Xubuntu 14.04 , but it became unresponsive. I attempted to restart it and got the same error message as the OP mentioned. Reinstalling Firefox did not do anything. I also attempted renaming the .mozilla folder in case my profile got corrupted, but that didn't do anything either. Firefox doesn't appear to load to a point to create a new profile.

[Mike Driscoll (qike)]

Uninstalling Sophos Antivirus fixed the issue on my Xubuntu box

[Ubuntu Warrior (davidmacdonald)]

Don't have Sophos installed

[Zotex26 (pr0329)]

Same exact problem here with both Firefox 38 and Thunderbird (both don't start anymore, on a terminal the same messages as above are returned) on Ubuntu 14.04. Started about 6 hours ago. Please help.

[Zotex26 (pr0329)]

Uninstalling Sophos fixed my problem with Firefox and Thunderbird also!

[DUPREZ (c-duprez)]

Hi all.
I have exactly the same issue, and for me, it is a Sophos AV problem.
To stop the Sophos active scan, launch the following command in a terminal :
sudo /opt/sophos-av/bin/savdctl disable

Once it is done, FF and TB are back !

[Ubuntu Warrior (davidmacdonald)]

sudo /opt/sophos-av/bin/savdctl disable

Worked for me. I thought I didn't have Sophos installed but it was lurking in the /opt directory

[Ken-Old-Unix-Guy (kemartin)]

I am having a similar problem. The savdctl disable worked. This however disables sophos anti-virus.
Is someone contacting sophos? Running without an active 'av' is a bad idea.

Thanks

[MarkB (mrburdett)]

Just been in touch with some Sophos Contacts, they are aware of the issue and are working on a fix

[Chris Coulson (chrisccoulson)]

Apparently it should be fixed https://twitter.com/SophosSupport/status/615527819934707712

[Sheldon Hall (sheldonkhall)]

I can confirm this is fixed for me now. Thanks!

[Rednet (arhgs2014)]

i confirm i still have this bug