Firefox 3 Beta 5 file association problem

Toonses82 · 05-16-2008, 08:38 AM

I'm having a problem with Firefox 3 and its ability to remember what to do with certain files. Specifically, torrents.

I have it saved in my Firefox settings to open torrent files with Transmission. I click the link, and Transmission opens up automatically. It always works the first time, but any torrents that I try to download after that gives me this error:

"[filename] could not be opened, because the associated helper application does not exist. Change the association in your preferences."

Nothing happens to Transmission. It is exactly as it was. It has something to do with the settings in Firefox.

So I go to Preferences and click the Applications tab. However, there's nothing there and I see no way to add a new rule. Does anyone know what's going on? Am I looking in the wrong spot? I never had this problem with Firefox 2.

bardill · 05-16-2008, 11:33 AM

hi all

I have exactly the same problem with Firefox 3.0b; I open edit->preferences->Applications and can't do anything there, there is nothing listed and no buttons to add anything. The Firefox help page simply say " select file types" from the list, but the list is totally empty.
I simply can't associate any handler to my files, so I have to save them and then open from the desktop, which is very annoying. I looked around for info on this without results. Has anybody any idea on what to do? I did not have this problem with firefox 2 !

bardill

Toonses82 · 05-17-2008, 11:21 AM

Perhaps the application section is only for Firefox plug-ins? Should I be looking somewhere else?

DragonSlayer48DX · 05-17-2008, 07:30 PM

From the Firefox 3 Beta 5 Release Notes:

Quote:

Firefox 3 Beta 5 is a developer preview release of Mozilla's next generation Firefox browser and is being made available for testing purposes only.

These beta releases are targeted to Web developers and our testing community to gain feedback before advancing to the next stage in the release process. The final version of Firefox 3 will be released when we qualify the product as fully ready for our users. Users of the latest released version of Firefox should not expect their add-ons to work properly with this beta.

Please see below for an extensive list of features and enhancements found in Firefox 3 Beta 5, as well as known issues and frequently asked questions. As always, we appreciate your feedback either through this feedback form or by filing a bug in Bugzilla.

http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/f.../releasenotes/

Cheers

flyash · 05-29-2008, 02:28 AM

Hi everybody

In my case I fixed it by editing $HOME/.mozilla/firefox/mimeTypes.rdf, changing manually the path of the application.

Best regards!

Toonses82 · 05-31-2008, 03:59 PM

I found the file you speak of, but I think this may be a bit beyond my skill level. It seems that it's pointing to the correct location (/usr/bin/transmission). Is there something else that needs to be changed in order to have torrents opened by Transmission?

Code:

  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:externalApplication:application/x-bittorrent"
                   NC:path="/usr/bin/transmission"
                   NC:prettyName="transmission" />
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:externalApplication:application/x-debian-package"
                   NC:prettyName=""
                   NC:path="" />
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:externalApplication:application/x-tar"
                   NC:prettyName=""
                   NC:path="" />
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:externalApplication:application/pdf"
                   NC:prettyName=""
                   NC:path="" />
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:handler:web:http://compose.mail.yahoo.com/?To=%s"
                   NC:prettyName="Yahoo! Mail"
                   NC:uriTemplate="http://compose.mail.yahoo.com/?To=%s" />
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:root"
                   NC:en-US_defaultHandlersVersion="1" />
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:handler:application/x-bittorrent"
                   NC:saveToDisk="false"
                   NC:handleInternal="false"
                   NC:alwaysAsk="false"
                   NC:useSystemDefault="true">
    <NC:externalApplication RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:externalApplication:application/x-bittorrent"/>
  </RDF:Description>
  <RDF:Seq RDF:about="urn:mimetypes:root">
    <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:application/x-bittorrent"/>
    <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:application/x-debian-package"/>
    <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:application/x-gzip"/>
    <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:application/x-tar"/>
    <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:application/pdf"/>
    <RDF:li RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:application/zip"/>
  </RDF:Seq>
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:schemes">
    <NC:Protocol-Schemes RDF:resource="urn:schemes:root"/>
  </RDF:Description>
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:scheme:externalApplication:file"
                   NC:prettyName="transmission"
                   NC:path="/usr/bin/transmission" />
  <RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mimetype:application/x-tar"
                   NC:value="application/x-tar"
                   NC:editable="true"
                   NC:fileExtensions="tar"
                   NC:description="">
    <NC:handlerProp RDF:resource="urn:mimetype:handler:application/x-tar"/>
  </RDF:Description>
</RDF:RDF>

grahamatlq · 06-03-2008, 05:31 AM

This is what I did (it's a bit convoluted, but):

Code:

$ cd $HOME/.mozilla/firefox
$ cat profiles.ini

in here you will see the profiles.

Check the "Path=" points to a valid folder.

Most people will have a [Profile0] with Name=default with a Path=<??>.default

Go to that sub-folder (probably the only one)
e.g. if Path=k38lek41.default then:

Code:

$ cd k38lek41.default

in there you have a mimeTypes.rdf which you can edit.

Open it and search for the mime type x-bittorrent (You can google your the mime type) or just try torrent

(I was fixing shoutcast playlists which are x-scpls, less obvious!)

Change the NC:useSystemDefault="false" to NC:useSystemDefault="true".

Now it will open in whatever KDE or Gnome has set the default app and forget Firefox.

Tested in Kubuntu (KDE).

You can also change whatever you find in NC:path="..." to point to your favourite client app.

Exit Firefox with File->Quit and start again.

Like I said, It was convoluted, but it did work.

!! Be warned that there may be several entries for the same mime type. !!
I think Firefox uses the first match, but change them all to be safe.

Mail me if you need more help.