Why don't java apps work with Firefox 3.6 on Ubuntu Linux 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)
Java applications, like WebEx and Map of the Market, don't work for Firefox 3.6 on Ubuntu Linux 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). The problem appears to be that no valid java plugin is installed.
URL of affected sites
Krejt Përgjigjet (2)
I have a solution to this problem that worked for me for Firefox 3.6.3 on Ubuntu Linux 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) 32 bit kernel. For other flavors of Linux you may find some of the steps relevant.
The basic problem is that there's no compatible version of Java in the Firefox plugins directory. Since Firefox 3.6 uses a new version of the Java Plugin API we need a compatible version of the Java library. See: http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/firefox_newplugin.xml
As near as I can tell, OpenJDK, which is preferred "Open Source" version of Java favored by Ubuntu developers, doesn't have the required interfaces, so Sun Java is required. See the discussion of this issue as well as the solution proposed by kmb42vt, which is reproduced here, on this page: http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/jamies-random-musings-10006480/ubuntu-1004-lucid-lynx-and-java-10015534/
1) Go to System --> Administration --> Software Sources, and select the "Other Software" tab. Drop down and check "http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid partner" and then click "Close". Then click "reload" to accept the offer to reload the software sources.
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2) Then go to System --> Administration --> Synaptic Package Manager, and enter "sun-java6" in the quick search box. Drop down to sun-java6-plugin and mark it for installation. It will drag in a batch of other software pacakges for a total of 103 Mbyte of software to install. Click "Apply" to download the software.
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3) That's it! It is *not* necessary to symlink the java library into the Firefox plugins directory. After I installed the packages, Firefox 3.6.3 automatically picked up the right library, without even requiring me to restart Firefox. I verified this by opening "about:plugins" and my favorite app requiring java, Map of the Market. I was also able to install and setup WebEx (which I needed).
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You can try Map of the Market at:
http://www.smartmoney.com/map-of-the-market/?afl=yahoo
or run a simple Java Tester at: http://javatester.org/version.html
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Further info: I checked, and libjava* is not symlinked anywhere under /usr/lib/firefox* (which includes {firefox,firefox-3.6.3,firefox-addons). It appears that Firefox auto-detected that a valid verison of java was available and picked it up. (Note that the version of firefox I'm running is from a Ubuntu package, not straight from Mozilla, so it may have additional stuff added.)
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(Note: you can download and install Java directly from Sun from this page: http://www.java.com/en/download/linux_manual.jsp?locale=en&host=www.java.com:80 and then follow the manual installation instructions on this page: http://java.sun.com/javase/6/webnotes/install/jre/manual-plugin-install-linux.html If you do that, you probably want to use the package manager to remove OpenJDK and icedtea6-plugin first. I haven't tried this approach since I prefer to use the package manager to keep track of software.)
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More info on my config:
Linux temp 2.6.32-21-generic #32-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 16 08:10:02 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux Mozilla Firefox for Ubuntu canonical - 1.0 Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.2.3) Gecko/20100423 Ubuntu/10.04 (lucid) Firefox/3.6.3
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Final note: I opened this as an issue, but only because I solved the problem and wanted to be able to post the solution. Because this is already solved, please disregard the fact that "The next generation Java plug-in for Mozilla browsers." is listed as one of my plugins.
Thanks for this. You solved my problem. This was driving me crazy. I forgot to reload the partner sources, a key part to finding the correct update.