Firefox 1.5 Java, Flash, Real, Adobe, extensions (32-64bit)!
 

I've been using Mandriva since January and I thought I'd contribute something back to this distro.

NOTE ON x86_64 DISTROS!
You should do this if you have Mandriva 64-bit distro since Java, Macromedia, and Firefox seem to work ok only in 32-bit mode. There isn't a Java plugin for 64-bit or a flashplayer

So this is my first HOWTO, that will teach you how to have the best browser online, I will complete this howto later, but this few steps should be enough

1) don't worry about RPM updates for firefox, java, flash player, real player (even adobe acrobat). Just download the official release at www.getfirefox.com, and install it from source. It's as easy as installing in on Windows
I have Firefox 1.5 installed at /home/programs/firefox-1.5.0

2) Understand were firefox loads the plugins from. If you want Firefox 1.0.6 (the one that came with Mandriva 2006) and Firefox 1.5.0 to use the same plugins, all you have to do is link the Firefox 1.5.0 plugin directory to the Firefox 1.0.6 directory
In my example all I do is this
# cd /home/programs/firefox/
# mv -v backup backup.original
# ln -sv /usr/lib/mozilla-firefox-1.0.6/plugins/ ./

3) For Java, visit http://www.java.com, download the rpm.bin, installation is very easy

4) for flash, visit http://www.macromedia.com, download and install the plugin, again, very easy

5) for real player, visit http://www.real.com, install Real Player for Linux (RealPlayer10Gold.bin)

6) Download Adobe Acrobat reader from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
Installation should also be very easy

7) you can double check your plugins directory, here is a list of mine (I've highlighted the ones I've instaleld myself):
flashplayer.xpt*
libflashplayer.so*
libjavaplugin_oji.so
nphelix.so
nphelix.xpt
nppdf.so
You can also launch firefox and enter this in the URL field:
about:plugins

*Updated March 8th
8) Now go to www.getfirefox.com and install the following extensions:
Adblock (block ads from the pages you want)
Adblock Filterset.G Updated (auto-update adblock rules)
Colorful Tabs (do you need an explanation for this?)
Fasterfox (browse pages faster)
Forecastfox (check the weather in your city)
FoxyTunes (control amarok from firefox)
NoScript (control which pages have JavaScript permission)
PDF Download (choose to either read or save to disk a PDF file)
BetterSearch (thumbnails for Google searches, cool!)
DownThemAll (download files even from previous firefox sessions)

Extensions for webmasters
Adsense Preview
Web Developer

***NEW***
Bookmark Synchronizer III - I use both Linux and Windows on my machines since those OS are meant for different purposes. Windows is very good for video games (allthough I've been able to play several EA Sports titles on Linux, but this is for another post) but horrible for security. So sometimes I use Linux (ex. bank, paypal...) and to work mostly. But sometimes I do use Windows, or I use a computer that's not at home and I want my bookmarks to be the same everywhere

For this issue you need Bookmark Synchronizer III. When you finish installing it, you need to restart Firefox, then go to:
Bookmarks->Synchronize Bookmarks.
In the Basic Tab, check the FTP option
Enter the following information:
Host: ftp.yoursite.com
User: ftpuser
Password: blabla
Patch: /xbel is fine

Since I have a webserver all I did was create a 'bookmarks' user, assigned a password and then I make sure the following checkboxes are enabled:
Auto download on startup
Auto upload on exit
Cancel uploading if the folder has not been modified
Merge new data into current bookmarks (very usefull the first times you do this)

That way when I use firefox 1.0.6 or firefox 1.7 on Mandriva, or Firefox 1.7 on Windows, or Firefox 1.0.7 at my office's server (SuSE) I always have my bookmarks up to date.

9)please note that mplayer plugins and all the other plugins installed from URPMI should also be available since your plugin directory is actually the same as the one that came with Mandriva 2006

10 Now go to:
System -> Configuration -> Configure your computer
In the Mandriva Linux Control Center, select System -> Select the application menu layout and change... and select 'System Menu' when prompted.
Select Environment -> All Environment so that your changes will affect KDE, GNOME and any other window manager.
Now go to Internet -> Web Browsers and click on Add Application

Here is what I entered in order to have a new shortcut for Firefox 1.5
Name: Firefox 1.5
Long Title: Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0
Command: /home/programs/firefox-1.5.0/firefox

In KDE you can even use the Quick Launcher Applet, and then add the new Firefox 1.5 application to the taskbar. You can also use the Configure your desktop KDE control panel in order to assign a hotkey to your new firefox binary. Just go to System -> KHotKeys

I hope you find this HOWTO usefull

I suppose this topic should be stickied and I've asked the mods to.

We just need to expand some of the details a little

floppy

I figured this out after a few days (and nights) of head scratching. Started downloading firefox 1.5 the while waiting found this thread. I should have checked LQ first. Less head scratching, more hair.

Today I will check adblock plus to see if I edit my original post

My favorite extension is foxytunes since I can control amarok from firefox, and I also like the better search one since I can preview all the websites

Today I updated my previous post, with a HowTo install Bookmark Synchronizer III, extension that will allow you to use the same bookmarks in your house, home and while travelling, you can download them from a remote FTP server

A quick correction (I haven't thoroughly read the whole thing) there is a 64-bit java plugin for firefox, it's from BlackDown. However, without the Flash plugin as well, 64-bit firefox is limited (though I deal with it personally by not bothering with a flash enabled site). I've tried the openflash, but had very little (none) success with it, so I don't necessarily consider it an option.

I'll sticky this, let's try to keep it updated as things progress. Nice work! I'd like to see some expansion on installing those plugins, and maybe an easier way than going to the official websites, some mandriva repository that has them pre-rpm'd (maybe write up how to do both)

Cool

Yeah but again you have to enable a special repository, and for instance macromedia will still not work
And if you develop something in Java, and you download the 64-bit SDK, then you will need to deal with the compatibility issues of Eclipse in 64-bit, Jbuilder... I don't think it's worth it yet

Allthough Java in 64-bit will be for a different post.

One advatange is that the mplayer plugins will work

In Mandriva 64-bit you can install firefox in 32-bit mode, and use the included firefox in 64-bit mode

So you can have both browsers, and if you want, you can install the Java Runtime Environment in both 32-bit and 64-bit

But really, installing your own 32-bit firefox is the easiest solution

I also tried openflash and every *flash* solution in the repository, they did played flash movies but none of those plugins really worked

When I have time I will provide very good details about the installation of Java, Flashplayer...

If somebody could do this for me that will be great

edit: Hmmm, perhaps should have finished trying this before commenting.

Hey two problems.

When I try and perform this command as per Step two I get this:

I'm running Mandrake 2005 LE on a Compaq Armada M700 Laptop with a 600mhz PIII processor.

What am I doing wrong?!

Thought about doing starting a new thread, but figured I'd give this one a shot first. It has to do with sound and macromedia flash. I currently run 2005LE on my Desktop and 2006 on my laptop. In order to get firefox to play sounds from flash, I normally edit my startup of firefox to insert artsdsp prior to calling firefox. It works fine in 2005LE, however int 2006 firefox crashes evertime I hit a page with flash.
Above is an example of how I started firefox. As you can see, I also tried soundwrapper, but everytime I go to a site (including slashdot with its flash adds), it crashes or locks up firefox. It looks like arts changed some function interally, but what do I know.

Anyone successful in getting sound out of flash?

I appreciate any help.

Pete

I have tried this with an AMD x86_64 and I get no response from firefox. Let me elaborate. I have installed Mandiva 2006 x86_64 on an a machine running an AMD 3500+ 64 bit processor. After dowloading the GZ distribution of Firefox from Mozilla and extracted the files I get no response when I try to start Firefox. However, when I run Knoppix from a live cd on the same machine and install firefox in the same way it runs without any problems. Is there an issue with the CPU 64 bit architecture running the Mandriva 64 bit environment?

Cheers

thanks for that topic, but dont bother urself with downloading all that stuff cause Mandrake 2006 comes with most that stuff (Firefox, KSIRC and much more

I am new to Mandriva and Linux in general, so this is probably a question that comes with a stupid answer, but still.

I'm using Mandriva One 2006 LiveCD. I have it installed to my hard disk, so I'm not using the CD anymore.

Mandriva One came with Firefox 1.0.6, and I want to update it to 1.5.*, but 1.0.6 doesn't have an auto-update feature. When I download the source tar file and extract it, I then try to run it and get this error message:

/usr/local/firefox/firefox-bin: error while loading shared libraries: libstdc++.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

I've tried other sites to find out what is wrong, and I've been told that I'm missing a library, and that it should be easy for me to get it installed, but I can't seem to get it. I was told to use #urpmi libstdc++5, so I enter it in the console, and it starts a new line on the console, and I try opening Firefox again, with the same results.

I've tried looking through Mandriva for the package, but I need to be a Club member to access their service, and I'm not, nor can I on my budget.

Is there anyway to get this library installed, and how can I do it?

Thanks,
KWierso

Can the points be elaborated somewhat
 

I am a newbie to Linux(Mandrake 10.1 official version). I need to have java installed on my system as my webct wont run otherwise. I was wondering if you can elaborate on somepoints as to how to install it, cause i did not find it too simple. Your effort would be much appreciated.
thanx

Thanks for the HOWTO, I found this really useful and have Firefox 1.5 installed. I did not understand the 32 v 64bit mode issue. Is firefox 1.5 32bit then?

The only problem I had was that my users /tmp directory ownership and group got changed to root and I could not download any files in this directory until I changed it back.

pburn: What was your problem when installing Java? The only change from the java web site instructions I found was that the file was called 'jre-1_5_0_07-linux-i586.bin' instead of 'jre-1_5_0-linux-i586.bin'. I used the manual self extracting file.

Hey friends, well i use suse 10.1 and mandriva 2006 on same system. well as a matter of fact i feel that mandriva is a bit slower than suse. the application load up time and the performance is not upto the mark with 10.1. well is there any thing i can do so that the speed and performance tweaks up.
By the way i have a intel p4 1.7MHz with 400MB of Ram.