Firefox in 3.8

[stevef]

Moltke - I couldn't get 'apt-mark hold version' to work.  Have you tried it ?

I had set it on my 3.8 32 bit system when still on 4.4.0.201 but it subsequently downloaded and upgraded version to 4.4.0.202 when upgrading through the GUI regardless.

GregO - There's no need to delete 4.4.0.202.  GRUB will remember your selection and will continue to boot it provided the lines

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GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
#GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true
are in /boot/grub/grub.cfg

[Moltke]

You can also mark the working kernel as held, so it doesn't get updated with the system, until you know it's safe to do so. Open the terminal and type

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sudo apt-mark hold linux-image-working-kernel-version-here press enter and type your password when asked. From that moment on,  whenever you update/upgrade LL 3.8, the kernel won't. Hopefully, some time soon you'll be able to update/upgrade it, when that happens, unmark it with

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sudo apt-mark unhold linux-image-working-kernel-version-here.

Hope this helps!
 

[firenice03]

@Frobozz
So - I checked prior to updating - and it had been 300+ days since last update sooo....

After the update - Lite Tweaks and FF did not launch, though Chromium did.. Could see the "hour glass" as if it was trying, also shutting down seemed to hang.. (4.4.0-202)

To work around after booting LL - Arrow down on the GRUB screen to "Advanced Options for Linux Lite.."
Choose another kernel (beside 4.4.0-202) mine was 4.4.0-177
After booting you should be able to access FF and Lite Tweaks - from Lite Tweaks > Kernel Remover you can remove the 4.4.0-202 kernel -- so you don't default by accident...

This is probably the most straight forward way around and without potential damage to the system..
Booting to previous kernel via grub
Use Lite Tweaks select Kernel Remover to remove 4.4.0-202 and/or any other kernels *make sure to grab each of the series (there may be 3 per)
- Lite Tweaks will not display the IN USE kernel (as long as your in a working) therefore wont be able to delete - I like to keep 2 or 3...

While in your system you can use the following command to check kernel version..

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uname -r

[GregO]

From the Grub loader menu at boot select advanced options.  This should show a choice of available kernels.  Select an earlier one and let it boot to see if it fixes the new issues.

This worked, Thanks.

Should 4.4.0.202 be removed?

Was able to access the grub loader when rebooting and set 4.4.0.201 to boot. Firefox worked normally and the system shut down using Menu-> Log Out -> Shut Down cleanly.

Will leave this version as the default for the time being.

Same here.

[GregO]

From the Grub loader menu at boot select advanced options.  This should show a choice of available kernels.  Select an earlier one and let it boot to see if it fixes the new issues.

This worked, Thanks.

Should 4.4.0.202 be removed?

Was able to access the grub loader when rebooting and set 4.4.0.201 to boot. Firefox worked normally and the system shut down using Menu-> Log Out -> Shut Down cleanly.

Will leave this version as the default for the time being.

Same here.

[Frobozz]

I'll leave it to someone more knowledgeable to elevate this bug report.

Myself with the netbook, I just wiped it & re-installed 3.8 foregoing updates.

Manually updated firefox it's now 84 and seems to work fine so that's where I'll keep it.

I'll keep the broken 3.8 VM around to see if a future update fixes the problem.

A bit bummed out, imagining tons of working laptops going into landfills over this....

[LinuksLajt]

I too have a 32-bit Acer One with LinuxLite 3.8 as the only OS. I was relying on Install Updates and Lite Tweaks for all updates, and until this kernel 4.4.0.202 everything worked perfectly (but with no software from unsupported sources). Now I know to use Install/Remove Software selectively and to create a restore point beforehand. Now my kernel is sitting at 4.4.0.194, and the only one offered in Install/Remove Software is the faulty 4.4.0.202. I do not know of a method to get an in-between kernel.

Since this is a kernel issue, and not a Firefox one, I was wondering if the topic should be referred to another forum. Is the bug likely to be fixed in a later, supported 32-bit kernel? Not everyone has the luxury of dedicating a 64-bit machine to LinuxLite (tried double boot, did not like it), so I am sorry there are no later 32-bit releases than 3.8.

[stevef]

As an experiment I updated the Acer One including the 4.4.0.202 kernel.

After reboot with 4.4.0.202 firefox doesn't start and trying to shutdown via Menu-> Log Out -> Shut Down just returned to desktop.

Ran poweroff from the console - this began a shut down which paused for 6 minutes.  After 360 sec I saw 4 error messages related to firefox and 4.4.0.202 including the word 'taint' with reference to the kernel version but the shut down completed.

Was able to access the grub loader when rebooting and set 4.4.0.201 to boot. Firefox worked normally and the system shut down using Menu-> Log Out -> Shut Down cleanly.

Will leave this version as the default for the time being.

[stevef]

Just gone through how to get to the grub loader on an Acer One-722 with BIOS running 32 bit Linux lite v3.8 which is normally updated weekly so isn't yet on 4.4.0.202.

Boot as normal, open a terminal and edit the grub control file with

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sudo nano /etc/default/grub
change the following three items

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GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=false
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0
save file with CTRL o

exit nano with CTRL x

apply changes with

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sudo update-grub
Reboot. There should be a visible 10-0 countdown. Press 'shift' to bring up the GRUB loader.
Arrow down to advanced and press return to show all the kernels available on disk
Select 4.4.0.201 (assuming the problem is with 4.4.0.202)

[tek10]

The fault lies in linux-generic 4.4.0.202 and its dependent packages. They break not only Firefox, but also Install Updates and Lite Tweaks, so far as I can tell. Lessons learned: do not install updates blindly, and make a restore point before doing them. The solution for me was to go back to the most recent restore point, unfortunately a few months old, then update packages in small groups using the Install/Remove Software, making a restore point after each update. Now only four packages 4.4.0.202 are left, and I am not touching them. But Firefox works.

This is a serious bug in the basic Linux packages. Should maybe be referred to another forum.

  I too believe this is the problem. Firefox didn’t work, system wouldn’t shutdown, some terminal commands worked and others didn’t. It prevented my hardware setup from being able to access the Grub menu at startup and I didn’t have a recent restore point.

Since Thunar worked, I backed up all my files from the home directory and migrated to Lite 5.2 with a clean install. Was planning to do so on that system before April 1 anyway.
 

[firenice03]

@firenice03

Your sig shows you still have a 3.8, is it running? If so, does yours work?

Should I post this up in the bug fix forum?

@Frobozz
I'll fire that one later this eve - I don't use it regularly, but what the heck...

[LinuksLajt]

The fault lies in linux-generic 4.4.0.202 and its dependent packages. They break not only Firefox, but also Install Updates and Lite Tweaks, so far as I can tell. Lessons learned: do not install updates blindly, and make a restore point before doing them. The solution for me was to go back to the most recent restore point, unfortunately a few months old, then update packages in small groups using the Install/Remove Software, making a restore point after each update. Now only four packages 4.4.0.202 are left, and I am not touching them. But Firefox works.

This is a serious bug in the basic Linux packages. Should maybe be referred to another forum.

[Frobozz]

@firenice03

Your sig shows you still have a 3.8, is it running? If so, does yours work?

Should I post this up in the bug fix forum?

[firenice03]

@Frobozz
You may want to...
See if Firefox supports 32bit OS - I believe Chrome dropped support sometime ago...
- if so you may need to switch to a 32bit supported browser...


I gave a look on Mozilla's page - https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/84.0/system-requirements/
Perhaps an outdated library??


You can file a bug with Mozilla - https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/

[Frobozz]

Again, n00b here, I just find another distro when these things break down like this.

I live in the country, basically dial-up speed, gotta drive far to a public library to download an ISO.

MUST be 32 bit, and 3.8 was the last 32 bit.