Hyperlinks from external applications don't work [SOLVED]

[Brian49]

Somehow I've recently lost the ability to open my web browser (Iceweasel 6.02) from hyperlinks in external applications; when clicking on a link, nothing happens. The problem is system-wide, so it seems unlikely to be down to application-specific settings (e.g. in my mail client). As far as I can tell, I've taken all the necessary steps to make Iceweasel my default/preferred browser (preferred applications dialog, "alternatives" settings, Iceweasel preferences). I've spent ages searching the Web for answers, without success. Can anyone here very kindly suggest a solution, please? LMDE tracking Unstable, with most updates installed. Many thanks.

[ugh]

Have a look at ~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list
Alternatively, you could try adding a new user and see if the problem exists there as well. If not, it's some configuration for your current user.

[Brian49]

Thanks for responding.

The only relevant entry I can see in mimeappslist is:

application/x-mswinurl=iceweasel.desktop

The problem persists when I log in as a different user, except that I get an error message saying "Cannot open link: this location is not supported".

Edit: I've finally figured it out - I needed to reinstall the gvfs-backends package. Hyperlinks are working now.