Using the latest Firefox in Lucid 5.28

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torgo
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Using the latest Firefox in Lucid 5.28

#1 Post by torgo »

I'm now at the "advanced beginner" stage with Puppy - I know just enough to be dangerous, and I'm dipping my toes in the water of making my own SFS and PET files.

Lucid 5.28 is still my main Puppy, mainly because of all the software available.

One catch: there haven't been browser updates on the News page or in the repositories for a long time. Firefox will no longer automatically update itself from the last pet file (v13) to the current version (as of today, v19.0).

But for anyone else like me that hasn't become a guru of pet development yet, there's also a quick and dirty way to set up Lucid with the latest Firefox:

1) install the older Firefox pet file (v13), available through QuickPet from the Lucid News page or from the Lucid repository in PPM.

[EDIT: this is assuming you're using a fresh save file/install. If you're already running v13, make a backup copy of your bookmarks before proceeding.]


2) download the tar.bz2 file of the latest Firefox. (It's easy to find - when you open v13, the "welcome" page will tell you that you're out of date and steer you to download the latest tar file.) Save it somewhere - any available free storage space will do.

3) Open the tar.bz2 file that you just saved, select all, and extract. (You should get a folder called firefox with a bunch of other folders and other files in it.)

4) Open a ROX file window, go to /usr/lib, and delete the firefox folder.

5) Copy the firefox folder from the extracted tarball to /usr/lib to replace the one you just deleted.

Firefox is now the latest version. The list of installed packages in PPM will still say v13, but you'll be running the new version.

6) To bypass all those messy GetFlash issues: if you get the tar.gz of the last Flash player from Adobe, you really only need one file from it. Find the "libflashplayer.so" file in the tar archive, extract it, and copy it to the /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins folder. You now have Flash.

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Semme
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#2 Post by Semme »

Torgo- :wink: NICE! Simplify this by extracting the dwnld to /usr/lib- it'll effectively overwrite the current install.
  • 3) Open the tar.bz2 file that you just saved, select all, and extract. (You should get a folder called firefox with a bunch of other folders and other files in it.)

    4) Open a ROX file window, go to /usr/lib, and delete the firefox folder.

    5) Copy the firefox folder from the extracted tarball to /usr/lib to replace the one you just deleted.

torgo
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#3 Post by torgo »

Good call, Semme.

I split it out into separate steps partly to avoid any possible issues where things have slightly different names, leaving extra junk in the folder. I figured that completely deleting the v13 folder first would avoid those issues.


Strictly on my own system, I wanted to have the folder from the tarball saved independently on the hard drive. So I extract it first and then copy it.

But for everyone else, it makes a lot more sense simply to extract it straight to /usr/lib and not have that extra folder hanging around on the hard drive or USB drive.

Great suggestion!



(Something amusing to play around with - Firefox runs just fine if you extract it to wherever and click the binary from the extracted folder. It's pretty much a portable app.

So if you have tarballs from v13, v15, v18, v19, etc, you can keep them all in their own separate folders and run whatever version you like. I have no idea why anyone would want to do this, but you can.)

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Semme
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#4 Post by Semme »

I see your point about file names and leftover bulk. Having rethought this I think I prefer the method you outlined. For me I'm just a wee bit :D reckless. :wink:

Hey, and ya know.. FF, TBird.. there are LOTS of binaries available that run portable..

torgo
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#5 Post by torgo »

Semme wrote:Hey, and ya know.. FF, TBird.. there are LOTS of binaries available that run portable..
That's one of the reasons I'm now dipping my toes into the SFS and pet packaging waters.

Calibre in particular was an eye-opener. Puppy needs a great e-book reader like Calibre, but every "installation" method failed - and made a mess of the save files I had created to try it.

But in the end, simply extracting the tarball and running it as a portable app works great.


If anyone is wondering about the other browsers... Opera is available as a .deb file that installs just fine with petget.

Chrome and Iron are also both available in .deb form, but those don't work so well. Petget reports that they're being added to the "utility" menu rather than internet, but they don't show up in Utility either. Clicking their executable files gives an error message saying that they won't run as root and that you'll have to run them as another user. Copying the Chrome deb file's contents over the files from the v19 pet didn't work either.

Maybe they'll work as Fido, but I stopped there.

But Firefox and Opera work, so Lucid fans do have options for staying up to date. Long live Lucid.

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Semme
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#6 Post by Semme »

Code: Select all

chromium-browser --temp-profile

Code: Select all

chromium-browser --user-data-dir=/root/.config/chromium "$@"
The first is OK for testing. The second you name'n adjust based on experimentation and need. Chrome is similar..

torgo
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#7 Post by torgo »

Thanks - a lot of the things I'm trying to learn are still way over my head (like getting a working version of Libre Office 4 - Micko's script isn't working for that one). But other things aren't so bad. One step at a time...


The latest 32-bit .deb file of Iron (downloaded directly from SRWare) does work using the --user-data-dir trick.

For anyone who wants Iron, download and install the.deb file. Then go to /usr/share/applications, right click on "iron.desktop" and select "open as text".

The "Exec" line will read something like:

Exec=/usr/share/iron/iron


Add "--user-data-dir" to the end of the line (after a space) so that it reads:

Exec=/usr/share/iron/iron --user-data-dir

and save the file.

Iron will then run just fine - click on the iron.desktop file, or drag it to the desktop to create a shortcut icon.




Google had a 404 error earlier today when I tried to download the latest .deb file for Chrome. I'll try it again later tonight.




[Update - it works for Chrome too. Get the 32-bit .deb file and open with petget to install it. Then go to /opt/google/chrome and open the file google-chrome.desktop as text.

Add --usr-data-dir before the %U in the Exec line (the one around line 108, not the one in the "incognito" section at the end of the file) and save.

The google-chrome.desktop file is now a working launcher.]

futwerk
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#8 Post by futwerk »

Great job Torgo, I have installed it in lucid 528-005 and it works fine. Nice of you to post your procedure.

hollywood
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Thanks.

#9 Post by hollywood »

Thanks for this, I was just trying to figure this out because my Firefox used to auto-update, this method worked perfectly, and I updated my flash too, however had to put the flash file in /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin to get it to update properly. Do you have a method to run the latest Java as well? Otherwise the versions here are almost up to date.

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tallboy
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#10 Post by tallboy »

I have upgraded to two versions of FF 18 (01 and 02?) in LupuPlus_5.2.8, that had the same problem.
When I opened a new tab, with the Plus-button in the tab toolbar, or Ctrl-t from the keyboard, I get a new page with a funny grey pattern with 6 squares on the desktop. There was also a delay before I could start writing an url in the new tab. Is this a known problem?

I switched back to FF 12, which works OK (after moving the tab toolbar from the top!). One thing that was good in v18, was playing html5 movies.

tallboy
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Semme
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#11 Post by Semme »

Meaning you went from which to which during upgrade? Too big a jump caused problems.

Fresh installing eighteen is your best bet and should clear up any deviations..

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tallboy
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#12 Post by tallboy »

Semme, sorry, I expressed myself incorrectly. I played around with several old FFs that I have downloaded to my USB HD earlier, mostly from the lucid repo, as part of a LupuPlus_5.2.8 remastering setup. I usually remove the old FF completely before installing a new one, but I also tried an update from within FF, with the same results. I never save any bookmarks, so configuring a new FF only takes me seconds anyway. The lag time before being able to enter an url into a new tab's addressline in the FF18, was extremely annoying! :x

tallboy
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Semme
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#13 Post by Semme »

Then I guess ya know 19's out?

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tallboy
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#14 Post by tallboy »

I haven't tried it yet, I think I read it needs some newer libs than those in 528? Besides, I saw i comes with a built-in pdf reader. I cannot function without my Xpdf and pdftk, so I'm not thrilled by that.

tallboy
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tallboy
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#15 Post by tallboy »

torgo wrote:So if you have tarballs from v13, v15, v18, v19, etc, you can keep them all in their own separate folders and run whatever version you like. I have no idea why anyone would want to do this, but you can.)
They can be kept in a separate sessions on a live multisession DVD, so as not having to save to the puppy every time a new version comes along, but keep it slim for faster booting. You just mount the session afterwards and click the FF. Brilliant!

tallboy
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Semme
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#16 Post by Semme »

So.. prefs >> apps >> highlight PDF >> dropdown >> use other >> done! Fine on 528..

Javelin Dan
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#17 Post by Javelin Dan »

Here’s an admittedly much lower tech solution for non-code writing dullards like me. There are a number of on-line repositories for Pet Packages available by simply Googling “Pet Packages for ___ (insert your Puppy here)

nooby
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#18 Post by nooby »


1. I get a new page with a funny grey pattern with 6 squares on the desktop.
2. There was also a delay before I could start writing an url in the new tab. Is this a known problem?
1. I have this too. If one have Noscript addon then it is white or gray.
But without Noscript then these 6 squares have the latest six
pages you have visited.

2. I did not notice any such delay or I have forgot about it
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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Semme
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#19 Post by Semme »

Dan- unless FF won't update, the opening post is easier and assures the current build. No need to uninstall anything.

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