Firefox and Thunderbird doesn't start

[slamelov]

Hi

I use Firefox and Thunderbird, but since last software update (I think it was yesterday), an error appears when I try to launch them:

santiago@d1:~$ firefox
XPCOMGlueLoad error for file /usr/lib/firefox/libxpcom.so:
libxul.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Couldn't load XPCOM.
santiago@d1:~$ thunderbird
XPCOMGlueLoad error for file /usr/lib/thunderbird/libxpcom.so:
libxul.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Couldn't load XPCOM.

Any help?. I have tried to reinstall firefox, but the problem persists.

Thanks in advance.

[Spadge]

Update again and see if it's still a problem. I just updated mine and it's fine.

[slamelov]

Do you mean sudo apt-get update?

[dmeyer]

sudo apt-get update

Refreshes repos

sudo apt-get upgrade

Updates software

So you need to:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

[Snowhog]

sudo apt-get upgrade isn't as beneficial as sudo apt-get dist-upgrade (recommended).

upgrade
upgrade is used to install the newest versions of all packages
currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
/etc/apt/sources.list. Packages currently installed with new
versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no
circumstances are currently installed packages removed, or packages
not already installed retrieved and installed. New versions of
currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without
changing the install status of another package will be left at
their current version. An update must be performed first so that
apt-get knows that new versions of packages are available.

dist-upgrade
dist-upgrade in addition to performing the function of upgrade,
also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions
of packages; apt-get has a "smart" conflict resolution system, and
it will attempt to upgrade the most important packages at the
expense of less important ones if necessary. So, dist-upgrade
command may remove some packages. The /etc/apt/sources.list file
contains a list of locations from which to retrieve desired package
files. See also apt_preferences(5) for a mechanism for overriding
the general settings for individual packages.

[slamelov]

Upgrade or dist-upgrade does not work, still the same error.

[dmeyer]

Purge the Thunderbird/Firefox packages and then re-install! If this still doesn't work you can just download the binary packages from Mozilla's website.

By the way, one of dist-upgrade's disadvantages is that it switches repos for packages. This is good and bad. Good because as it says, "intelligently" manages your packages allowing you to always have the latest packages. However, there are a few down sides: you don't always want packages from unofficial repos for security or stability reasons. I might be wrong about this but that is how it was sort of explained to me.

[Snowhog]

"it switches repos for packages."

No, it doesn't. The only repositories 'used' are the ones specified in your /etc/apt/sources.list file, and any other sources file(s) in the /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory.

[dmeyer]

No, it doesn't. The only repositories 'used' are the ones specified in your /etc/apt/sources.list file, and any other sources file(s) in the /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory.

Ooh thanks for clarifying that for me! Guess I always had it wrong then. I'll definitely use/push dist-upgrade more. I was always cautious of it as I thought it would change the repos of packages and I always felt that I should keep as many packages as core repo packages where possible. Now I know I can safely use dist-upgrade even with a ton of repos added and not fear core things breaking!

Learning something every day!

[Snowhog]

Keep in mind, that using dist-upgrade 'can' result in packages being removed (if apt determines doing so is necessary to complete the dist-upgrade). I always do package management from the console so I have the opportunity to see what is going to change -- what will be installed; upgraded; held back; removed. If in doubt, I opt to not continue.

[dmeyer]

Yeah I also prefer the terminal. Well now I understand why people complain that Muon or something else disappeared after updating their system. Anyways, enough of this tangent, lets just wait for the OP to get back to us so we can help him with his problem.

[SteveRiley]

We need to see the output of

ll /usr/lib/firefox

to properly diagnose this. On my machine, the file libxpcom.so is present.

I've seen such errors occur even if the file is present but is of the wrong architecture type. So let's also check that. Please show the outputs of these commands:

uname -a

dpkg -l | egrep 'firefox|thunderbird'

apt-cache policy firefox

apt-cache policy thunderbird

[slamelov]

Purge the Thunderbird/Firefox packages and then re-install! If this still doesn't work you can just download the binary packages from Mozilla's website.

By the way, one of dist-upgrade's disadvantages is that it switches repos for packages. This is good and bad. Good because as it says, "intelligently" manages your packages allowing you to always have the latest packages. However, there are a few down sides: you don't always want packages from unofficial repos for security or stability reasons. I might be wrong about this but that is how it was sort of explained to me.

But... How I do that?. I mean, purge Firefox/Thunderbird packages

[SteveRiley]

But... How I do that?. I mean, purge Firefox/Thunderbird packages

Please perform the diagnostic steps I listed first. I've added two more since I first wrote the post. This will ensure that we have an accurate picture of what's on your system.

[slamelov]

santiago@d1:~$ uname -a
Linux d1 3.5.0-18-generic #29-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 19 10:27:31 UTC 2012 i686 i686 i686 GNU/Linux
santiago@d1:~$ dpkg -l | egrep 'firefox|thunderbird'
ii  firefox                                  17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1               i386         Safe and easy web browser from Mozilla
ii  firefox-globalmenu                       17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1               i386         Unity appmenu integration for Firefox
ii  firefox-locale-en                        17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1               i386         English language pack for Firefox
ii  firefox-locale-es                        17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1               i386         Spanish; Castilian language pack for Firefox
ii  kubuntu-firefox-installer                12.04ubuntu1                               i386         Mozilla Firefox installer for Kubuntu
ii  thunderbird                              17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1               i386         Email, RSS and newsgroup client with integrated spam filter
ii  thunderbird-globalmenu                   17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1               i386         Unity appmenu integration for Thunderbird
ii  thunderbird-locale-en                    1:17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1             i386         English language pack for Thunderbird
ii  thunderbird-locale-en-gb                 1:17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1             all          Transitional English language pack for Thunderbird
ii  thunderbird-locale-en-us                 1:17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1             all          Transitional English language pack for Thunderbird
ii  thunderbird-locale-es                    1:17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1             i386         Spanish; Castilian language pack for Thunderbird
ii  thunderbird-locale-es-ar                 1:17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1             all          Transitional Spanish language pack for Thunderbird
ii  thunderbird-locale-es-es                 1:17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1             all          Transitional Spanish language pack for Thunderbird
santiago@d1:~$ apt-cache policy firefox
firefox:
  Instalados: 17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1
  Candidato:  17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1
  Tabla de versión:
 *** 17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1 0
        500 http://ftp.rnl.ist.utl.pt/pub/ubuntu/archive/ quantal-updates/main i386 Packages
        500 http://ftp.rnl.ist.utl.pt/pub/ubuntu/archive/ quantal-security/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     16.0.1+build1-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ftp.rnl.ist.utl.pt/pub/ubuntu/archive/ quantal/main i386 Packages
santiago@d1:~$ apt-cache policy thunderbird
thunderbird:
  Instalados: 17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1
  Candidato:  17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1
  Tabla de versión:
 *** 17.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.10.1 0
        500 http://ftp.rnl.ist.utl.pt/pub/ubuntu/archive/ quantal-updates/main i386 Packages
        500 http://ftp.rnl.ist.utl.pt/pub/ubuntu/archive/ quantal-security/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     16.0.1+build1-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ftp.rnl.ist.utl.pt/pub/ubuntu/archive/ quantal/main i386 Packages
santiago@d1:~$