Someone PLEASE help with Firefox plugins...

lumix · 03-10-2007, 12:23 PM

I've googled myself silly to no avail, but found sites that make absurd assumptions about user knowledge like:

make sure you got your symbolic links correct!

That makes me insane. I don't know what they are and I've already invested more than 20hrs. just trying to make a simple thing work.

I need to view an online lecture in my browser (already tried weasel, konq, opera and now firefox) that is streamed in RealPlayer format. I can get the video content to show up, but the "slides" do not. These are unfortunately more important than the video content.

In Firefox, I go to the plugin management and the list is empty. Absolutely no way to browse for a plugin there either. I copied nphelix.so and .xpt into the firefox/plugin and mozilla/plugin directories respectively, per some ridculously vague HowTo. Nothing.

Why is Firefox plugin configuration so vague? PLEASE Help! I have assignments due very soon!

sadiqdm · 03-10-2007, 12:26 PM

This is the most comprehensive page for plugins http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/

What Linux distro are you using?

jay73 · 03-10-2007, 12:34 PM

In short:
Which Linux?
Which media player?
Which arch (32 or 64 bit)?

Btw, a symlink is a link that points from one directory to a different one. For example, you need a file X in directory A but it's actually in directory B. You can just create a pointer in A to directory B so that any process/app that is looking for X in A is automatically redirected to B.

RevenantSeraph · 03-10-2007, 05:50 PM

Are you trying to configure a plug-in you've already installed, or are you looking for the plug-in that would make that work?

teckk · 03-10-2007, 08:53 PM

Quote:

I can get the video content to show up, but the "slides" do not.

Explain what you mean by that. If the video is working then your plugin is working. Are you talking about Flash video not working?

Post a link to the video you are trying to view. Also have you opened real player and pasted the link into it? Does it play that way?

Or are you using mplayer to play real media? Codec prob?

Need more info.

lumix · 03-11-2007, 11:12 AM

Knoppix 5.1 (Debian Sid really, I think, with extras).

I'm trying to view the lecture IN firefox. The content is RealPlayer content

Firefox is the latest.

I've already been to that site, which is where my complaint about symlinks came from.

The slides are lecture slides. I haven't the faintest clue how they're shown, but they are embedded in a second frame of the same browser window.

The mozdev site says be sure you have the xpt file in the mozilla plugins directory! Really? Where's that? I count about 5 different directories that fit that description. They made me angry when they said that; I don't like that site any more. But I'll probably have to get over it, won't I?

Thanks for the help.

lumix · 03-11-2007, 11:19 AM

Really, at the moment I'm just trying to understand how to add a plugin to Firefox. The "dialogue" that laughingly says it is intended to "manage" them, provides me with nothing but greyed-out buttons. It has some kind of absurd search feature, but it doesn't really search, really.

So if I have a plugin, for Mozilla, how do I plug it in?

jay73 · 03-11-2007, 12:13 PM

I see two possibilities:

- either something still needs to be installed

- or it was installed but the plugins went into the wrong directory; this is a common issue with firefox. I've found that with very few exceptions they are placed in /usr/lib(64)/mozilla/plugins while they ought to be in the plugins directory of firefox instead (the 64 applies to 64 bit Linux). Ifthat is he case, you can copy them over or create a symlink; personally I think the first option is the most convenient in this case:

cp /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/* /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/

If you'd like to find any and all plug-ins on your system, you can use this command:

find / -name "*plug-in*" (alternatively, find / -name "*plugin*" depending on the spelling)

Note: it is my experience that some plug-ins can conflict; at once occasion I was unable to view anything because I had both the mplayer and totem plug-in in the firefox directory.

lumix · 03-11-2007, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay73

I see two possibilities:

- either something still needs to be installed

- or it was installed but the plugins went into the wrong directory; this is a common issue with firefox. I've found that with very few exceptions they are placed in /usr/lib(64)/mozilla/plugins while they ought to be in the plugins directory of firefox instead (the 64 applies to 64 bit Linux). Ifthat is he case, you can copy them over or create a symlink; personally I think the first option is the most convenient in this case:

cp /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/* /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/

If you'd like to find any and all plug-ins on your system, you can use this command:

find / -name "*plug-in*" (alternatively, find / -name "*plugin*" depending on the spelling)

Note: it is my experience that some plug-ins can conflict; at once occasion I was unable to view anything because I had both the mplayer and totem plug-in in the firefox directory.

I have to say, I'm totally confused. Without a registry to speak of, and no path changes on Firefox's behalf, how would firefox even know to look in any of these directories? I've installed firefox and RealPlayer, is there something else I need to install or configure.

I mean, does anybody else out there see plugins show up in Firefox? How did you install it? I followed the incredibly short instructions to the letter.

HELP! PLEASE!

jay73 · 03-11-2007, 02:05 PM

Did you get any error messages while issueing the commands I suggested?

lumix · 03-11-2007, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay73

Did you get any error messages while issueing the commands I suggested?

I understood your suggestion to involve copying files only. I'm not really sure where to copy the files to. The specific directory you mention contained a .so and a .xpt file. As for symlinks, I don't know where to create one, what to link it to, or where that target should exist.

Does YOUR firefox show plugins? If so, how did you install it? This is the kind of problem that makes people say "Linux! Nah, I don't have time for that." The reason I've heard this statement:

1. windows admin 15 years

2. Network engineer 18 years

3. IT consultant 8 years.

I don't mean to direct my frustration at you, you're trying to help. I'm just damn frustrated, and it's not as though I don't have a sufficient background to delve into Linux. But never mind this, I'm just stamping my feet, really.

jay73 · 03-11-2007, 03:01 PM

Hmm, if the firefox plug-in directory really has only one so and one xpt file, then obviously you're not using a great many plug-ins. I just checked my firefox plug-in directory on ubuntu and I have about thirty items in there.

First of all, you did download the mplayerplug-in? You won't get far without doing that first.

Secondly, as I suggested, look in /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins and see whether the plug-ins are there. If so, you need to copy them over to your firefox/plugins directory. No need to make any symlinks (in case you're still wondering, symlinks are more or less the linux/unix equivalent of shortcuts under windows).

First you launch a terminal from the menu and then you become root by typing in this:

su -

Supply your root password when requested.

Then you simply copy the plug-ins from their current location to their proper destination:

cp /usr/lib/mozilla/plug-ins/* /usr/lib/firefox/plug-ins/

The * is a wildcard thing, of course; it just means "anything at all in there".

Before issueing these commands, you need to verify they have the right directories. Firefox is called Iceweasel on Debian so the proper directory could well be "Iceweasel" instead of "firefox"; in which case you need this instead:

cp /usr/lib/mozilla/plug-ins/* /usr/lib/Iceweasel/plug-ins/

Even this may not be entirely correct and you really need to get all the details right; I suggest you have a look in /usr/lib to find out what you have exactly.

You would achieve the same result by using the find function outlined in my previous post:

find / -name "*plug*"

That is: "find me any file with the string "plug" in its name that is located under the / level".

Btw, I do understand the frustration but it's just a matter of hanging on. I picked up Linux only seven months ago and I had never had anything to do with IT before that (I was a teacher of French and English; and my knowledge of windows was limited to that of the average user). I guess Debian is not the best option to start exploring Linux (although that's how I started out myself). Ubuntu makes a far better choice, really: it's Debian based only most of the configuration work has already been done for you.

lumix · 03-11-2007, 03:30 PM

Jay,

just to go over what I've already done:

/usr/lib/firefox/plugins
/usr/lib/iceweasel/plugins
/opt/firefox/plugins

all have the helix .so and .xpt files in them (or at least softlinks because cp seems to do as it pleases).

have I missed something?

jay73 · 03-11-2007, 05:54 PM

The helix link is for the helix/banshee music player; you won't be getting any visuals from that, of course.

You need to locate the mplayer directory under /usr/lib. If you can't find it, then it's not installed. Which distribution are you using exactly? I thought Debian but I see references to Knoppix too. Getting confused.

karyoker · 03-11-2007, 07:45 PM

In Mozilla just type about : plugins in the addy box (without the spaces)..

You wil get something like this.

Code:

Installed plug-ins
Find more information about browser plug-ins at mozilla.org.
Help for installing plug-ins is available from plugindoc.mozdev.org.
Helix DNA Plugin: RealPlayer G2 Plug-In Compatible

    File name: nphelix.so
    Helix DNA Plugin: RealPlayer G2 Plug-In Compatible version 0.4.0.622 built with gcc 3.2.0 on Jul 18 2006

MIME Type 	Description 	Suffixes 	Enabled
audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin 	RealPlayer Plugin Metafile 	rpm 	Yes
Shockwave Flash

    File name: libflashplayer.so
    Shockwave Flash 9.0 r31

MIME Type 	Description 	Suffixes 	Enabled
application/x-shockwave-flash 	Shockwave Flash 	swf 	Yes
application/futuresplash 	FutureSplash Player 	spl 	Yes
Adobe Reader 7.0

    File name: nppdf.so
    The Adobe Reader plugin is used to enable viewing of PDF and FDF files from within the browser.

MIME Type 	Description 	Suffixes 	Enabled
application/pdf 	Portable Document Format 	pdf 	Yes
application/vnd.fdf 	Acrobat Forms Data Format 	fdf 	Yes
application/vnd.adobe.xfdf 	XML Version of Acrobat Forms Data Format 	xfdf 	Yes
application/vnd.adobe.xdp+xml 	Acrobat XML Data Package 	xdp 	Yes
application/vnd.adobe.xfd+xml 	Adobe FormFlow99 Data File 	xfd 	Yes
Java(TM) Plug-in 1.5.0_10-b03

    File name: libjavaplugin_oji.so
    Java(TM) Plug-in 1.5.0_10

MIME Type 	Description 	Suffixes 	Enabled
application/x-java-vm 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.1.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.1.2 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.1.3 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.2 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.2.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.2.2 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.3 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.3.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.4 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.4.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.4.2 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;version=1.5 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-applet;jpi-version=1.5.0_10 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.1.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.1.2 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.1.3 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.2 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.2.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.2.2 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.3 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.3.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.4 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.4.1 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.4.2 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;version=1.5 	Java 		Yes
application/x-java-bean;jpi-version=1.5.0_10 	Java 		Yes

This has the real player and flash installed

Get the latest firefox 2.0 first

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1) Gecko/20061010 Firefox/2.0

See this thread