Thunderbird doesn't open Firefox 1.5 from a link

[dude67]

I have read several posts in this forum, but no help yet, so I desided to open up a new thread.

 

I have Mandriva 2006, KDE 3.4, Firefox 1.5.0.1 and Thunderbird 1.5. I've obviously installed Firefox from tarballs as the distro specific version is a vintage model of 1.0.6 and therein lies the problem. I've changed the shortcuts to point to the new Firefox, but I've overlooked something. All the links from TBird are opened in FF 1.0.6. I cannot make links in TBird messages to open in Firefox 1.5.0.1.

 

I removed the olde FF version 1.0.6 with

urpme firefox

The FF 1.5.0.1 remained operational so I expected T-bird to follow links in FF, but no. Now all the links open up in Konqueror. Not the result I was looking for... [sigh]

 

I read this thread: https://mandrivausers.org/index.php?showtopic=30251

Following the instructions in that thread I moved Firefox to /usr/local/ -folder (I used to keep FF in /usr/bin/) and corrected the links to this new version.

# ln -s /usr/local/firefox/firefox

Now I can open Firefox in the console by typing "firefox" - something I wasn't able to do before.

 

So there we are: I have the latest Mozilla FF and TBird running but they don't "talk to eachother"... What am I missing? How can I make a link between hyperlinks in TBird messages to FF 1.5.0.1? I believe this must by system-issue (Mandriva/KDE) as there is nothing in TBird settings that relate to my problem.

 

Any suggestions and all the help you can give is greatly appreciated.

- edit: typo -

[daniewicz]

Control Center

KDE Components

Component Chooser

Web Browser

[dude67]

Control Center

KDE Components

Component Chooser

Web Browser

Brilliant, thanks! It worked. I knew I could trust someone here to come up with the solution. I'll buy you a virtual beer. Cheers!

[daniewicz]

[scarecrow]

Setting Firefox as default, per Daniewicz suggestion, will lead you to many annoyances.

Thunderbird 1.0.7 needed some manual editing ( a file named all.js, if I can recall well), but for Thunderbird 1.5.0 things are easy/straightforward:

Fire up thunderbird, and go

Edit-preferences-Advanced-Config Editor...

Add there a new string (if it does not exist)

network.protocol-handler.app.http

and give it the value

firefox

(since you have already created the symlink)

Also, create another string:

network.protocol-handler.app.https

and give it also the same value,

firefox

Restart Thunderbird, and you are done.

 

For doing "the opposite" - that is, passing "mailto" links from Firefox to Thunderbird:

Open Firefox, and type in the address bar "about:config"

Create a new string (if it doesn't exist), named

network.protocol-handler.app.mailto

and give it the value

thunderbird

(of course if you don't have "thunderbird" in your system path, then either create a symlink or give the full patch/actual executable name).

Restart Firefox, and you are done again.

Edited April 2, 2006 by scarecrow

[dude67]

Thanks scarecrow for the heads-up. I don't know exactly what the annoyance would have been, but I added the two lines in the config as per your advice.

Edited April 2, 2006 by dude67

[scarecrow]

I don't know exactly what the annoyance would have been...

 

Firefox would substitute Konqueror, even for some filebrowsing and KDE VFS jobs, which is not desirable.

By the way, I do have a question of my own here, but I'd better start it in a new thread.

Regards.

Edited April 2, 2006 by scarecrow

[dude67]

OK; thanks for the explenation. Just asked to learn...

 

Anyway the opposite is something I do need to do. I did the mailto line in the config of Firefox, but still need to create the symlink.

 

I guess I'll be basically doing the same to thunderbird as I did to FF, but I think I'll take a back up of all the mailboxes I have built there (four altogether) before I start moving folders (mv). Is there a simple way to back things up - I believe in Windows there is a programme for backing up TBird folders and settings (Mozilla back up... or something like that). I don't think I've seen that for linux.

 

I'll be crying for help if I manage to loose any mailboxes (specially my wife's :o )

[scarecrow]

Just copy the folder /home/dude67/.thunderbird somewhere... everything is in there.

 

And by the way nothing will be moved, eveything will stay where-it-is.

Edited April 2, 2006 by scarecrow

[dude67]

OK - thanks again! I managed to link T-Bird to Firefox' mailto: link and T-Bird starts up just by typing "thunderbird" in the Konsole.

 

I did move the programmes to /usr/local/ from the /home/user/programmes/ directory. Both FF and TB and they seem to work OK.

[scarecrow]

I did move the programmes to /usr/local/ from the /home/user/programmes/ directory. Both FF and TB and they seem to work OK.

This means you had initially installed the programs locally from the mozilla.org tarballs, and not from the Mandriva RPM's?

Edited April 2, 2006 by scarecrow

[aioshin]

Setting Firefox as default, per Daniewicz suggestion, will lead you to many annoyances.

Thunderbird 1.0.7 needed some manual editing ( a file named all.js, if I can recall well), but for Thunderbird 1.5.0 things are easy/straightforward:

Fire up thunderbird, and go

Edit-preferences-Advanced-Config Editor...

Add there a new string (if it does not exist)

network.protocol-handler.app.http

and give it the value

firefox

(since you have already created the symlink)

Also, create another string:

network.protocol-handler.app.https

and give it also the same value,

firefox

Restart Thunderbird, and you are done.

 

For doing "the opposite" - that is, passing "mailto" links from Firefox to Thunderbird:

Open Firefox, and type in the address bar "about:config"

Create a new string (if it doesn't exist), named

network.protocol-handler.app.mailto

and give it the value

thunderbird

(of course if you don't have "thunderbird" in your system path, then either create a symlink or give the full patch/actual executable name).

Restart Firefox, and you are done again.

 

thanks for this tip scarecrew.. really helps

[scarecrow]

thanks for this tip scarecrew.. really helps

 

You're welcome.

Actually I have found out because on PCLOS Texstar had made two RPM's for passing links from FF to TB and vice-versa, and those RPM's are still for 1.0.7. I wondered why he hadn't updated them for the current 1.5.0.X versions, and I realized that both are actually obsolete, for the reason(s) posted above... :P

Edited April 3, 2006 by scarecrow

[dude67]

This means you had initially installed the programs locally from the mozilla.org tarballs, and not from the Mandriva RPM's?

I couldn't find any up-to-date RPMs out there...

 

I did install the versions (of both FF and TB) that were on the Mandriva 2006 Free DVD, but they seemed to be a bit older versions. I wanted to update them, but couldn't find any RPMs that would have been 1.5.0.1 (for FF) and 1.5 (for TB).

 

Then I couldn't find a way to update the current 1.0.6. FF to 1.5.0.1 (or for TB 1.5)... So I tar-balled them both. Is there an easier and better way to do it?

[scarecrow]

So I tar-balled them both. Is there an easier and better way to do it?

The SeerOfSouls unofficial repo has both Firefox 1.5.0.1 and Thunderbird 1.5.0 binaries- both backported from Cooker.

I don't trust their repo, but I have nothing better to suggest if you insist using Mandriva and being "up-to-date". The other solutions (both better, IMO) are 1. rebuilding the Cooker src.rpm on your system, and 2. compiling both from source. But both aren't that easy to do.