Hi

Is there a way to have my Java plugins and other plugins unaffected by the Fedora updates? I just updated and now discover that my Java plugins are gone.

Tj

Hello TSynergy,

Which update did you installed?

With kind regards,

Richard

Hi

There is a red button/indicator on the right corner of my Moxilla Brozer that lets me know when there are updates. I simply click on that to activate update. So answer: whatever the current update maybe.

generaly updates don't deinstall mozilla plugins unless they are mozilla updates. the solution is to keep plugins not in /usr/lib/mozilla-xxx/plugins but in /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins. mozilla checks both this locations for plugins, but the second isn't affected by version changes.

I doubt the plugin is gone the update probably blew away the symbolic link. Create a new one and you should be fine.

Hi

Thanks for your detailed reply. This interaction helps me to understand what I'm telling the computer to do. Not just mindlessly typing instructions, which can be extremely uncomfortable.

Re: Updates - I've decided that restarting my computer periodically is enough because that triggers the updates and that in the past hasn't affected the plugins.

I've since downloaded and have been using Firefox, which is a requirement of a scriptWriting program that I'm using. I also downloaded the latest Java (Jre1.5.0). I tried to establish the symbolic link while in /usr/firefox-installer/plugins folder and got these results:


[root@localhost plugins]# ln -s /usr/java/jre1.5.0/plugin/i386/ns7-gcc29/libjavaplugin_oji.so .
[root@localhost plugins]# ll
total 4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 61 Nov 16 17:23 libjavaplugin_oji.so -> /usr/java/jre1.5.0/plugin/i386/ns7-gcc29/libjavaplugin_oji.so

I've had to remove the link. Somehow Firefox crashes when the link is established. I tried searching the web to find answers but came up short.

Any ideas how to get this working.

Hello TSynergy,

You are using the wrong Java plugin (or did you compile your own Firefox).

Use the ns7 version and not the ns7-gcc29. And all thing work fine.

With kind regards,

Richard

P.S. I never have to restart to get or receive updates?

Hi

Thanks for your brief note about updates.

Now Firefox. I replaced the 'ns7-gcc29' with the 'ns7' file/folder name. The change didn't make a difference. Firefox still doesn't launch.

What is your Firefox version?

Did you made the link in /mozilla/plugins or /mozilla-1.7.X/plugins and did you checked your Firefox plugin folder. It sometimes happens that people forget to change one of the above folders.

One wrong version of a plugin can make it turn in long sleepless nights

Hi

While inside /usr/firefox-installer/plugins, I made the link by typing, ln -s /usr/java/jre1.5.0/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so .

Is that correct?

Yes that is correct.

But as Firefox also checks other Mozilla plugin folders, make sure that there is not an older version of the plugin available.

Also is your Firefox browser really installed in /usr/firefox-installer/ ?

Normally you get something like ../firefox-1.0/ after you install Firefox. And the folder ../firefox-installer looks more as the installation folder what was made after unpacking the file from mozilla.org.

With kind regards,

Richard

Hi

I have other plugin folders from former browser installations, such as /usr/lib/mozilla-1.6.3; /usr/lib/mozilla-1.6.

I searched all my folder names for a possible folder that Firefox might have created to contain its plugins. Nothing is there. The only plugins path is /usr/firefox-installer/plugins. I wonder what went wrong?

Tj

Hi
Sharing some relevant info. from http://www.crazysquirrel.com/linux/j...d_mozilla.php:

Installing the Java Plugin into Mozilla
This is just a little help page for installing the Java plugin into Mozilla under Linux. It is specifically aimed at people running RedHat 7.3 but is probably generic enough that it will work on just about any distribution

The problem with the Java plugin under Linux is that it has to be installed manually. It would be really nice if Sun would do something about this and have it determine where to install the pluging when the JVM is installed but untill that happens here are some pointers.

There are two ways to install the plugin. Either you can install it 'locally' for a single user or 'globally' for all users. I strongly recommend installing it globally for all users, if you ever get another user you will only kick yourself when you have to repeat the job for them.


Local Install
The first thing you have to do is create the pulgin directory in your local mozilla directory. To do that run this command:

mkdir ~/.mozilla/plugins

You then have to link the Java plugin module into that directory which can be done with this command (all on one line with a space at the end of the first line):

ln -s /usr/local/java/java.current/plugin/i386/ns610/libjavaplugin_oji.so
~/.mozilla/plugins/

Now here is the tricky part. Your Java installation may not be at that path but it is likely to be somewhere similar to that. It is (probably) only the 3rd and 4th sections of the path that are likely to be different. The reason for the path structure shown here will become apparent when I write the how to install the JVM / SDK page. I realize that this is putting the cart before the horse but oh well )


Global Install
This is really (IMHO) the preffered way to install the plugin. There are not really any security reasons why you wouldn't want it globally installed so save yourself some time and install it like this ;o)

There is one downside to installing it in this manner. You will probably need to re-link all the plugins should you ever upgrade mozilla (something you will probably do with frightening regularity).

The instructions for a global install a basically the same as for a local install except in this case the plugin directory is already in place. Simply link as follows (all on one line with a space at the end of the first line):

ln -s /usr/local/java/java.current/plugin/i386/ns610/libjavaplugin_oji.so
/usr/local/mozilla/plugins/

As stated in the "Local Install" section your Java install may not be in this location. If it isn't have a read of the above note. What you also may notice is that your plugins directory is not at this location. Mozilla normally installs at /usr/local/mozilla but if you have moved it you will need to enter a new path. In my case I tend to install mozilla into a directory the includes is version number so for instance 1.4 goes into /usr/local/mozilla1.4/

Note: If you have installed mozilla on Debian or via a .deb package then the mozilla plugins will be located at /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/


Post Install Testing


Now that you have got the plugin installed you can test it by going to aboutlugins in mozilla (just enter it in the address bar). You will see a list of all currently installed plugins. Alternativly go to a web site that contains a java applet. I normally use the bbc news site for this test (the front page has a Java news ticker).

Hi

Thanks!

Looks like we finally got java plugins to work with firefox. What I did seems strange and isn't in sinc with the information I've read or the directions I received from the linuxQuestion community.

Here's what I did:

Placed not one but two symbolic links

This is the link inside local host /usr/lib/mozilla-1.6/plugins:
libjavaplugin_oji.so -> /usr/java/jdk1.5.0/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so

and

This is the link inside localhost /home/tsynergy/firefox-installer/plugins:
libjavaplugin_oji.so -> /usr/java/jdk1.5.0/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so

The links are identical.
Removing the first one immediately closes any firefox browser. Then I'm back to Mozilla.

It is worth reiterating what you have pointed out to me, which is to use the ns7 folder instead of the ns7-xxxxx folder. Or at least check inside the ns7-xxxxx folder, chances are its empty. The file needed for the link is in the ns7 folder. Of course, earlier, neither options worked for me. Somehow linking twice is a solution for now. I wish I understand whats going on.

Much thanks for helping me.

Tj

honestly, how can people stand using redhat/fedora? ive been administrating a couple servers with fedora core 2 on them for the last few weeks and they are so annoying. the level of control seems so minimal. it is very similar to microsoft in the update and package management proceedures.