Ubuntu freezes after firefox loads applet

[mark veldhuis]

Binary package hint: firefox-2

I am using this version of firefox on Gutsy:

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.12) Gecko/20080207 Ubuntu/7.10 (gutsy) Firefox/2.0.0.12

Sun JAva 6 Web start is installed and up-to-date

Most applets work fine, but when I open some sites,
( like this one: http://fergusmurray.members.beeb.net/Trochor.htm)
the applet seems to start working, but then freezes. The mouse pointer moves, but clicking does not work.
No keyboard commands work. I have to press the power button to log out, and the system workes fine after log in.

I tested this on several users (on one computer) with the same result. I have a dual boot machine and the problem did not arise in Vista.

What I would have liked to happen is that ubuntu gave me a possibility to interrupt the :wild: applet,
and/or a clue for how to solve the problem,
and/or to see a message that I have to install a new Java version, etc etc.

I hope this bug report will help to make Ubuntu even better!

greetings, Mark

(I have another display related issue, that I filed under Open Question #28066 https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/28066)

[Matti Lindell (mlind)]

This is more likely a Java issue than firefox issue. What java plugin are you using with firefox?

The site you reported to have issues with works without problems with firefox3 and sun-java6-plugin.

[mark veldhuis (mooz123)]

Hi Matti,

thank you for your response. My Java plugin version is Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_03-b05, (from about:plugins).

I am a relatively unexperienced linuxite, so it took some time to check that I have not the latest version, and tried to install jre-6u5-linux-i586.bin. It did not register according to about:plugins. I will try further, it seems to be difficult according to http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4526569. After that I will update to say if the problem was solved.

It is good to hear that firefox 3 can deal with it, but since it is an alpha version, I am a bit hesitant to switch to it yet. Thanks for the help!

Mark

[mark veldhuis (mooz123)]

Hi,

I installed upgrade 5 with some help that i found on http://jmtdstoc.blogspot.com/2008/03/ubuntu-710-sun-java-16005-manual.html:

$cd /home/jorge/Desktop
$sudo sh jre-6u5-linux-i586.bin
$sudo mv -f jre1.6* /opt/jre1.6
$sudo ln -s /opt/jre1.6/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/firefox/plugins

(this time I wanted to know exactly what I was typing in and what it would do, and I found an helpful site: http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/linux/cmd/)

Apparently upgrade 5 is not in the repository yet, and this is a manual install. I have now Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_05-b13.
(upgrade 3, that I had, is the recommended version)
Unfortunately, this does not solve the freeze problem, I needed to reboot the computer by pressing the power button for a while.

I will now try with firefox 3 and see if it solves the problem.

learning as I go, Mark

[mark veldhuis (mooz123)]

I installed firefox 3.0 and linked the plugin directory from mozilla to it. I am now using Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_03-b05.

Result: the testpage ´trochoidery´ above does not register correctly. The page freezes, so does firefox 3.0 This also for other users on my computer, so no clear relation with my other display isue.
However, I CAN interrupt firefox 3 without rebooting, so that is an improvement.

I am not sure how to continue, shall I lift this question to another forum, or can I keep posting it as a bug?
your comments are wellcome.

[mark veldhuis (mooz123)]

I need some help how to continue

[mark veldhuis (mooz123)]

this is not a bug

[mark veldhuis (mooz123)]

I reinstalled Ubuntu, all problems solved