Firefox problem after attempting to install iPlayer [SOLVED]

[Hepburn]

After spotting a shiny new download button on the BBC iPlayer, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Adobe AIR would download, but not install - said that it couldn't get access to the hard drive. So I tried this:

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sudo firefox

Ok, I know that was probably very silly, but I'm the kind of girl who'll take apart her laptop just to see what it looks like inside, hoping that it will still work once reassembled..... And I'm blonde. But I've learned my lesson!

So... Firefox has gone all weird now: it doesn't seem to be keeping any history (but pressing backspace will take me to a previous page), it doesn't load my homepage even though it's listed in Preferences, my bookmarks have disappeared (though I did find some backup files in the hidden folder), the address bar no longer automatically adds 'www' etc. to whatever I type, and the loading status bar is no longer at the bottom (although the tabs constantly have the loading icon), amongst other things.

I did this using Felicia yesterday, but I've just upgraded to Gloria and still no joy. I probably won't bother with the iPlayer desktop-thingy either now, as I don't really need it. Any help would be appreciated!

Hepburn

[emorrp1]

I have also tried the iplayer in the past, but found the downloaded quality worse than the streamed! In case you hadn't figured: running a web browser as root is just about the worst thing you could possibly do. Apart from anything else, any firefox exploits (usually javascript) will be able to completely mess with your machine.

However, I've had the missing history problem before:
1) Create a new firefox profile:

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firefox -p

2) Copy all your firefox stuff to the new profile:

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cd ~/.mozilla/firefox
cp -f *.default/*.sqlite *.NEW_PROFILE_NAME/

3) Run the new profile, check it works, make it the default.
4) (Optional) Once you can be sure everything's ok, delete the old profile

If this doesn't work, try again, but this time copy your sqlite files one-by-one to the new profile, checking inbetween (unlike the command above which copies all the sqlite stuff).

[Hepburn]

Thankyou! It worked like a charm.

Apart from anything else, any firefox exploits (usually javascript) will be able to completely mess with your machine.

Yep, I was stupid. Do you mean like evil virusy things? Having Linux and a firewalled router, I haven't exactly bothered with antivirus....


Hepburn

[emorrp1]

Yep, I was stupid. Do you mean like evil virusy things? Having Linux and a firewalled router, I haven't exactly bothered with antivirus....

Yes, linux isn't immune to any virusses that successfully target firefox, but it does significantly restrict its impact on the computer by limiting it to your home directory. I wrote a post somewhere explaining this, but now I can't find it.

[Hepburn]

Thanks, I'll have a search around for it....

Hepburn

[altair4]

A firewalled router is an excellent evildoer deterrent but it relies on the vampire rule: It will prevent unsolicited intrusions into the machines behind the router but will allow access to anyone that you invite in ( or click on when you're in a browser ).

[Hepburn]

Thanks - I think I'd only been on 'reputable' (BBC etc.) websites yesterday, so hopefully I've escaped anything dodgy. At least using Linux, the consequences of my blonde moments haven't been particularly serious yet!

Hepburn

[emorrp1]

to the best of your knowledge