Firefox in 3.8

[stevef]

It depends on what you are prepared to try to keep the machine going given that support is time limited.

Trying version 4.8 wouldn't cost anything but time.

If you have to stick with 3.8 you can investigate further into why firefox is broken.  If as seems possible it was a kernel upgrade then one thing to try is booting from an earlier kernel to see if it allows firefox to work again. 

Going from memory and what I would have tried if I didn't have the option to upgrade to 5.x

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.

If you don't see a Grub loader screen when you boot try tapping the 'shift' key (for BIOS) or 'esc' key (for UEFI) very early in the boot process before the Linux kicks in to see if you can catch it. Then choose an earlier kernel as above.

If you can't catch Grub loader using shift or esc keys then it might be necessary to boot normally and find a file /etc/default/grub which can be edited to force a grub screen to show itself.

[Frobozz]

I'm pretty much a n00b on Linux, even tho I've used it for years, so fiddling with the kernel is right out.

Here's my usual Linux experience:

I take my XP & Windows 7 laptops, which are 32-bit only, and put Linux on them,
I do the same on an old P4 PC, and on at least one virtual machine.
( only my laptop was on 3.8 the VM's and P4 are still on Lite 1.0.8 )

This goes fine for a while, then some update breaks the machine, and I have to start all over from scratch.

EDIT: Oh, and it doesn't shut down right either, neither on the VM or the laptop. Have to pull the plug.

[stevef]

Same happened to me.  I had a laptop running 3.8 and Firefox wouldn't start up - no error messages.

It worked normally the day before and is routinely updated every morning.  If I recall correctly there was a kernel upgrade in yesterday's list and that would be my suspect.  You could try booting with the previous kernel.  Not sure how easy this is would be under LL 3.8 - maybe select the advanced options on the GRUB screen and if it works I think you can opt out of future kernel changes.

Given that 3.8 is end of support in April 2021 after trying a few things to revive firefox under 3.8 I decided to invest my time in upgrading my machine to 5.2 but your machine spec might be on the edge for running 5.  LL 4.8 is good until April 2023.

Having been bitten I need to start creating a restore point daily before updating.

[Frobozz]

After update yesterday, Firefox will not start.

My netbook ( Eee PC 900, 1GB Ram, 32bit only CPU) runs 3.8 32bit

Firefox ran after an update 2 days ago, I believe the FF was V84.0.2

Installed 3.8 on a Oracle VirtualBox 6.1.16, now & updated and the exact same results, FF won't open.

Don't know what to do now.