[ecrane]

I have a bone stock Mini 9 with the Dell loaded Ubuntu and noticed the green update arrow this morning. I proceeded to download the updates which appeared to be sucessful. However the web browser icon is missing now and when I click on ithe browser in the application list I get an error saying it's not present or something similair. (I'm at work now and don't have the device with me.) I do have an icon for something called the "launcher" it's a spring looking thing. I did note during the download information that Firefox 3.6.6 didn't load and I suspect that is part of the problem. The device does connect to the internet as my e-mail works.

How can I regain my browser? Thanks for any help. As an aside, I'm a complete novice with Ubuntu, this is the first issue I've had.

[reflex]

Open a terminal window, then run "firefox". Any helpful error messages?

[ecrane]

Originally Posted by reflex

Open a terminal window, then run "firefox". Any helpful error messages?

ok, I'm at home now and can mess with the computer. Here's the situation since the "update" process this morning:

web browser icon missing on task bar. It it's place is an icon called the "launcher" which looks like platform with a spring beneath it.
When you try to start the browser in the Applications Menu I get this error message failed to execute child process "a browser" (no such file or directory)

Per your suggestion I opened the terminal and entered firefox. This causes the browser to open with two open tabs. The first has the following in it:

browser.startup.homepage=http://en.us.dell.yahoo.com
startup.homepage_override_url=http://en.us.dell.dell.yahoo.com
startup.homepage_welcome_url=http://en.us.dell.yahoo.com

the second windows contains the browser as it appeared before the update. Clearly this method works but I'd like to get the icon back with a more typical manner of launching the browser. Hope this is enough to help.

[pappysfella]

Originally Posted by ecrane

When you try to start the browser in the Applications Menu I get this error message failed to execute child process "a browser" (no such file or directory)

Per your suggestion I opened the terminal and entered firefox. This causes the browser to open with two open tabs. The first has the following in it:

Sounds a bit like the paths changed between versions, and the shortcut pinned to the task bar still has the old properties. Does launching the browser from the *.desktop file in /usr/share/applications work fine? Sounds a bit like the shortcut you were using wasn't managed by the installer, so it got orphaned when you did the upgrade.

[ecrane]

Originally Posted by pappysfella

Sounds a bit like the paths changed between versions, and the shortcut pinned to the task bar still has the old properties. Does launching the browser from the *.desktop file in /usr/share/applications work fine? Sounds a bit like the shortcut you were using wasn't managed by the installer, so it got orphaned when you did the upgrade.

thanks for your suggestion. I can't locate the /usr/share/applications location to try it however. Yes, I'm a novice with Linux/Ubuntu. Thanks to some suggestions on the Ubuntu Dell Linux Forum to another user with the same post upgrade issue I was able to get the browser icon back on the top panel and it will start from there again. Still a no go from the applications menu however. This computer is a "toy" I bought so I could mess with a Linux operating system. I guess it's easy if you know how, but I find Linux very opaque with odd commands etc. Kind of like it was with DOS.
I don't mess with the computer daily as it's not critical it runs, but I would like to lick this. Worse come to worse I can reload the OS and start over I suppose.

[Isthmus]

Just delete the launcher and reinstall it. Firefox should still be showing in your start menu correct? If you launch from there it should work, correct? If so the problem is with the Launcher's path. Just remove the launcher and install a new one. To do this follow the following instructions:

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https://help.ubuntu.com/7.04/user-gu...launchers.html

Adding a Launcher to a Panel

You can add a launcher to a panel in one of the following ways:

From the panel popup menu

Right-click on any vacant space on the panel, then choose Add to Panel. The Add to Panel dialog opens.

To create a new launcher, select Custom Application Launcher from the list. A Create Launcher dialog is displayed. For more information on the properties in this dialog, see the section called “Launcher Properties�.

Alternatively, to add an existing launcher to the panel, select Application Launcher from the list. Choose the launcher that you want to add from the list of menu items.

From any menu

To add a launcher to a panel from any menu, perform one of the following steps:

Open a menu that contains the launcher. Drag the launcher on to the panel.

Open the menu that contains the launcher from the panel where you want the launcher to reside. Right-click on the title of the launcher. Choose Add this launcher to panel.

From the file manager

To add a launcher to a panel from the file manager, find the .desktop file for the launcher in your file system, then drag the .desktop file to the panel.