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bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex server)

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:15 am
by ginahoy
When I opened Firefox earlier today, I got a pop-up warning asking if I want FF to be my default browser. That's odd since FF has always been set to be the default browser. I selected OK and forgot about it. Then later something really odd happened. I clicked on a fedex tracking link in an email (from within Thunderbird) and it opened my Plex Media Server web portal in Firefox (redirect to localhost:32400). I tested several other email links, same result.

At the time I was troubleshooting Plex client app failing to find Plex server, but I never changed any Plex server settings. I navigated to the Firefox Preferences / General tab and sure enough, it was no longer the default browser. Again. Once I clicked "Make Firefox your default browser", email links in T'bird worked normally again.

I'm confused. How can Firefox losing 'default browser' status possibly cause email hyperlinks to redirect to localhost:32400 in Firefox? The expected behavior would be for the links to open in a different browser (although I don't have another browser installed on this machine). Moreover, what could cause Firefox to lose default browser status to begin with?

If it happens again, where can I check the current default browser in xfce? Firefox only reports if it's the default, or not.

Re: bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex ser

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:19 pm
by mint4all
ginahoy wrote: Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:15 am ... If it happens again, where can I check the current default browser in xfce? Firefox only reports if it's the default, or not.
Greetings! Your default app settings are @ WhiskerMenu > "AllSettings" button > "Personal" section > "PreferredApplications" > "Internet" tab ... Aside from that, i regret that i can't help you much with figuring out what might have reset your default app settings :(

Re: bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex ser

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:53 pm
by ginahoy
Thanks for reply. Preferred Applications / Web Browser is set to "Debian Sensible Browser". That's odd, I just checked Firefox again it it reports it is the default browser. How can that be? And what is Debian Sensible Browser anyway?

Re: bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex ser

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 3:26 pm
by MtnDewManiac
ginahoy wrote: Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:53 pmwhat is Debian Sensible Browser anyway?
What is Debian Sensible Browser?

Regards,
MDM

Re: bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex ser

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 6:14 pm
by ginahoy
Ok, in the thread linked in the previous comment, I found this:
the "Debian Sensible Browser" is just what is considered the default. The program sensible-browser is actually only a script that calls up an installed browser. It's not a browser itself.
That explains why Firefox is the default even though Preferred applications shows 'Debian Sensible Browser', but I still have no idea what caused email links to open to Plex's local web page, and Firefox to lose its default status.

I noticed in Network Settings, the DNS server is set to 127.0.1.1. The Linux support rep over in the Plex forum says that's wrong and may explain why my Plex app on Roku can't find the Plex server. He said the host DNS Server setting should point to my router's LAN IP address. I tried that but it reverts to 127.0.1.1 after reboot, apparently by design, according to comments I found in the Ubuntu forum. In any case, that didn't resolve the Plex connectivity issue.

All of this somehow related. Best I can tell, all of this started when I upgraded to the most recent Plex version. The Plex rep has given up, saying he can no longer support me since I'm inexperienced with Linux. I haven't had a recurrence of the email link redirect, but I need to dig deeper into the Plex connectivity issue since it's still broken. I think the best way to do that would be to post a separate query in the LM Networking sub-forum.

Re: bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex ser

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:53 pm
by MtnDewManiac
ginahoy wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2018 6:14 pmThe Plex rep has given up, saying he can no longer support me since I'm inexperienced with Linux.
LOL. I don't suppose I can fault that logic, at least if the support (and/or application) was free. But it must have been frustrating to hear/read.

I would love to use Plex, since my television has it and I have a lot of audio and video files on my computer that I'd like to hear/view on my television. But the whole not being able to simply install it on the computer, run both it and the television's app, then immediately start listening to and watching my computer's content on TV thing scares the willies out of me. Right now, both devices are functional :rolleyes: . I have been known to overcome the functionality of a device by attempting to do a thing that everyone else seems to think easy, so when I read about someone actually having trouble, well....

I can successfully copy and paste - but only 83% of the time ;) .

Regards,
MDM

Re: bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex ser

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:47 pm
by ginahoy
I've been running Plex on my XP machine for years. I don't have that much content on my PC but it's nice to be able to access it from any TV in the house! I'm still running the legacy version on my XP machine. I only load it when I want to watch something. Otherwise, that system goes to standby when I'm not using it. The 2006 vintage CPU seems to hold its own, but some mp4 files do occasionally bring it to its knees.

The most recent version of Plex doesn't require CPU to do real-time transcoding, which is a big advantage (it uses almost no resources), and the user interface is a lot slicker. It auto-loads on boot-up, so as long as my Linux box is not switched off or asleep, my media library is available on any of my four Roku devices. I'm hoping someone has figured out a way for the Plex client app to wake up the server if its asleep. My Linux Plex has run flawlessly until last week, so maybe you should give it a test run.

BTW, you mentioned audio files... I'm not very happy with the way legacy Plex (the one running on my XP machine) serves audio files. I occasionally download mp3 podcasts that I listen to when I'm cooking or other busy work and if you don't listen to the whole thing at one sitting, it doesn't save your place. The next time, it starts over again. So I have to remember to write down where I leave off and when I return to finish that episode, I have to fast-forward to the timestamp where I left off. I don't think I ever tried to serve an audio file on my Linux box, so I don't know if that's been resolved. I would check it now if it weren't for the client device connectively bug-a-boo I've been chasing. Sigh :(

Re: bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex ser

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 1:07 am
by MtnDewManiac
ginahoy wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:47 pmThe most recent version of Plex doesn't require CPU to do real-time transcoding, which is a big advantage
Is this even a thing, these days? My television is three years old, was a bargain model when new (I shopped by price :roll: )... And, when I stick files on a USB whatzit and plug it into the back of the TV, I don't pay any attention to the file type - because 99.9% of the time, whatever it is, plays. Some of the non-playing files have even choked VLC, so I assume they were either corrupted or just not created properly, so this probably raises the percentage of valid video files that play correctly even higher.

I remember unpacking the television, and hoping the documentation (hoping there was documentation) listed the file types that it'd play, so I didn't have to guess at what would and what wouldn't - and then never having reason to actually seek that information out.

That audio file issue would annoy me, too. I listen to podcasts, too, and some of them can be rather lengthy.

Regards,
MDM

Re: bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex ser

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 2:55 am
by ginahoy
MtnDewManiac wrote: Thu Mar 22, 2018 1:07 amIs this [transcoding] even a thing, these days?
The last Plex version that runs under XP (0.9.9.14, released in 2013) can only render a handful of video formats natively. I can't recall which ones, but it must rely on the CPU to transcode the most common formats like .mp4 and .avi.

If you PM me, I'll let you know if the current version has a better audio player once I get my connectivity issue sorted. BTW, I wouldn't let my woes discourage you. I seem to be a magnet for unusual computer anomalies :lol:

Re: bizarre cause & effect: after Firefox loses default browser status, email links redirect to localhost:3240 (Plex ser

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:10 am
by MtnDewManiac
What I was asking is, why doesn't this software simply send the file to its counterpart on the television, and that in turn feed it to the television, which would then play it just like it would if the file was copied to a flash drive and that plugged in to the tv?

I must be missing something. Or else this is yet another example of software that does a really simple thing in an overly and unnecessarily complicated way, in order that its developer can "justify" its existence.

I guess I'll just keep copying the files to my little flash drive. Maybe I can get someone who is still able to get around without hobbling to stand on a chair and plug it into the back of the tv for me.

Everything is way too complicated. If someone wrote a linux app that killed flies, it would surely involve a howitzer instead of a fly swatter.

Regards,
MDM