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When I install Google Earth from the *.bin file from the Google website, it will run the first time from the start button that appears on the splash screen after the installation is complete.
When I try to run it subsequent times from the menu, the Google Earth interface loads, but the main window never populates with the picture of the globe and the program does not respond to commands. It just lies there.
If I remove it (sudo rm [path]/googleearth) and reinstall it, it will do the same thing--run once, then make a rude gesture to me.
I tried removing it and installing the package from Medibuntu (which I learned about here), and that won't even run the first time. It will load the interface but stops short of loading Google's picture of the earth.
AFAIK Google Earth doesn't show much in terms of errors, maybe running the command from a terminal window will spit out errors, hints or clues. Else check if there's any crash logs in your ~/.googleearth/crashlogs/ directory.
AFAIK Google Earth doesn't show much in terms of errors, maybe running the command from a terminal window will spit out errors, hints or clues. Else check if there's any crash logs in your ~/.googleearth/crashlogs/ directory.
No crashlogs or crashlogs directory, but there was this file, shown with a broken link:
instance-running-lock
Maybe the problem is that, instead of not starting properly, the previous instance isn't shutting down cleanly and leaving stuff behind.
After I exited it using File-->Exit, I checked ~/.googleearth. There was not lock file left behind.
I started it again and it did not run, with the same symptoms I described in the first post. After I exited the program (File-->Exit), I again checked ~/.googleearth. This time a lock file was left behind.
I still have no idea what's going on (or not going on), but the leftover lock file seems to had nothing to do with it.
The "instance-running-lock" appears to be a symbolic link, linking to the last process Id it ran with. If you can run 'sudo [path]/googleearth' OK then Googleearth has a permission problem. If you run a desktop with Compiz/Beryl or Xfwm/Metacity compositing, try switching off desktop effects and see if that works. Else it might be a video problem related to the card, driver or libraries. Posting HW specs then could help.
You wrote "When I install Google Earth from the *.bin file from the Google..."
How the heck did you do it?
I try running the bin from a command line and get the following:
Quote:
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing Google Earth for GNU/Linux 5.0.11733.9347..............................................................
You don't seem to be running an X server (no DISPLAY set).
Google Earth and its installer both require X11.
Aborting...
You wrote "When I install Google Earth from the *.bin file from the Google..."
How the heck did you do it?
I try running the bin from a command line and get the following:
Running Ubuntu 9.04 on an HP Pavilion.
If you're installing as root -- don't. It's designed to be run by an ordinary user and breaks all the *n*x application conventions by installing everything under $HOME. Yuck!
@frankbell If you have any firewall running, try disabling it. GE has firewall requirements I haven't been able to figure out yet and they seem to keep changing. First run maybe "phones home" over different ports from subsequent runs ... ??? Long shot but might be worth trying.
If you're installing as root -- don't. It's designed to be run by an ordinary user and breaks all the *n*x application conventions by installing everything under $HOME. Yuck!
Thanks for the input, got it working. Your right it's a dumb thing to put it in $HOME, must be the MS brain trying to comprehend Linux.
@frankbell If you have any firewall running, try disabling it. GE has firewall requirements I haven't been able to figure out yet and they seem to keep changing. First run maybe "phones home" over different ports from subsequent runs ... ??? Long shot but might be worth trying.
Thanks for the suggestion.
(five minutes later)
No luck.
I also tried installing it as user, as the other poster suggested. No luck.
I've installed it as root on other computers and had it run just fine.
I have run it successfully on other computers, both running Linux and That Other OS, with firewalls. As a rule of thumb, I don't put computers on the internet without a firewall and an AV. I don't care what the OS is.
It's hardly a big issue, as I consider it to be more a toy than anything else. But I do like to make stuff work.
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