As the topic states - I can't get Java plugin for firefox working under suse 10.2 64bit. Java works under Konqueror, but not under Firefox. I figured that it might be because I have 64bit java, but 32bit Firefox, so installed the 64bit version. That didn't help, probably because java plugin is 32 bit and there is no 64bit plugin in the java repo. I tried making symlink to /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun-1.5.0_update10/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so under ~/.mozilla/plugins directory, but with no result. On the console I keep getting this message:

VM did not start up properly
Could not read ack from child process
Plugin: Java VM process has died.
plugin: java process died due to signal 11
Could not start JavaVM!

Any ideas?

There is no 64-bit Java plugin as of yet and the 32-bit plugin won't work with a 64-bit browser. You need to use a 32-bit browser.

Well, I had 32 bit browser all the time - it didn't work either. Is it because java was 64bit?

This is what Sun says about their 64-bit Java, "use 32-bit version for applet and Java Web Start support" You can't use 32-bit libraries with 64-bit applications ore vice versa. You need to use the 32-bit Java AND the 32-bit browser.

That's just great :/ Thanks for info. I hope they will fix it.

But why does it work under Konqueror then? Does it have it's own implementation of java?

Konqueror does not use a java plugin, just the Java Environment. That's the salvation for 64-bit systems when there is a java applet you just have to see. There is also no Flash plugin (gnash works pretty well), or Windows codec package for 64-bit. That all goes for Windows as well as Linux. 64-bit OSes are becoming the norm, and I expect to see those applications soon.

It all has to do with whether or not you have the java plugin file *.so symlinked correctly. I find the only way to make it work, and it does, is download the 32bit from mozilla, install it to a nonstandard folder (so you don't have to search all the lib and lib64 folders), then copy or install the plugin to it's directory. It's pretty confusing to try and fish around all the mozilla and firefox folders installed by yast to figure out what you've actually done.

I have to redo my install tonight, so I'll document the steps and report back

I believe symlink is correct. When it wasn't it was giving me "can't find very_long_path_to_java_plugin_file" on the console. Well, I guess I have to use konqueror for java aplets, but that's a bit annoying. Luckily flash plugin works perfect under 32 bit firefox.

I totally forgot something. You have to use jre 1.4.2. jre1.5 is 64 bit. I had to re-install myself today. Here's what I did:

Uninstalled firefox via yast.

Reinstalled firefox from yast, which for opensuse 10.2 is 32 bit by default even if you have 86_64 kernel.

Then, through yast uninstalled jre-1.5.0 and installed jre-1.4.2.

Then symlinked the the plugin while within the browser plugin folder


>cd /usr/lib/browser-plugins/

>ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.4.2/plugin/i386/ns4/libjavaplugin.so

Restart firefox and then type aboutlugins in the address bar to check results. worked for me today.

sorry about that, totally forgot about having to use jre-1.4.2

Well, I'm a Java developer, so using older version of RE is out of the question. When I go to about: plugins it tells me that Java Plugin is enabled, however there are no extensions assigned to it (screenshot). Maybe there is a way to assign them manually somehow?

The package for java plugin in SUSE 10.2 is java-1_4_2-sun-plugin.
If you install this package the java plugin for Firefox will be installed and the symbolic link will be made automatically. Of course, Firefox has to be installed from SUSE package.
Here is how the link looks like in /usr/lib/browser-plugins after the plugin installation
libjavaplugin_oji.so -> /usr/lib/jvm/java-1_4_2-sun-1.4.2_update12/jre/plugin/i386/ns610-gcc32/libjavaplugin_oji.so

Notice that the link is pointing **/i386/ns610-gcc32/ directory,NOT */i386/ns4 as jasondodd said above.

Crap, I can't install the package. When I select java-1_4_2-sun-plugin for installation and java-1_5_0-sun-plugin for deinstalation I get dependancy errors. Yast tells me that java-1_5_0-sun-devel_update10_4.1.x86_64 can't be installed because there are no providers for java-1_5_0-sun == 1.5.0_update10-4.1 for java-1_5_0-sun-devel_update10_4.1.x86_64. As a solution Yast suggests to remove java-1_5_0-sun-devel. I also get the same error with pattern:non_oss_java-10.2-145.x86_64. I'm confused :/ Can anyone give me a hint with this?

killy9999,

Well, I don't see any Java package with name of java-1_5_0-sun-plugin or java-1_5_0-sun-devel_update10_4.1.x86_64 in my system.
Why don't you uninstall all java 1.5 package and install them again after installation of 1.4 plugin.

I see 4 packages for java 1.5 in openSUSE 10.2 x86_64.
java-1_5_0-sun
java-1_5_0-sun-alsa
java-1_5_0-sun-devel
java-1_5_0-sun-jdbc

I had no problem with uninstallation of java 1.5 on my system using YaST. I uninstalled all java 1.5 packages because I don't think I need them. All applications that I use require 32bit java so 1.4.2 is enough.

For flash plugin, I installed java-1_4_2-sun, java-1_4_2-sun-alsa and java-1_4_2-sun-plugin.
I don't think java-1_4_2-sun-alsa is necessary for flash plugin thoguh.