Firefox not remembering it's the deault browser

[Orflovir]

You could try uninstalling it, but maybe it is a dependency. Or you could temporarily mv the binary adding .bak to the end of filename to see what happens if app is not found.

Thank you. I tried temporarily renaming the binary, when I now try to open a browser-based help function, I get this error:

Unknown error code 100
Could not find the program '/usr/bin/wslview'
Please send a full bug report at https://bugs.kde.org

So it still tries to open WSLView...

[rab0171610]

Wow, sorry to hear that. Good to know tho. Go ahead and mv it back. Any chance it can be uninstalled?

[Orflovir]

I'm getting a bit closer now, I think.

sudo apt remove wslu got rid of wslview. Trying to open a browser-based help file from another application now does start Firefox, as it should.

One problem solved, however, a new one immediately appears: Firefox gives a File not found error.

Just to make sure, I checked to see if the help files are actually there (in /usr/share/sgt-puzzles/help/en/ in the example I've just been trying). They are there and opening them in a text editor shows the files are fine, but any attempt to open them in Firefox gives the same error. Is this possibly some over-eager sandboxing at work that doesn't let Firefox access system files?

At least getting rid of wslu did solve other problems. I had an issue where an attempt to browse local files from within Steam wouldn't do anything. That seems to work perfectly after removing wslu. I still have no idea why it was ever on my system. I certainly didn't install it on purpose.

[arsivci]

In that case, I have no idea why it's appearing on my Kubuntu system. I don't have any Windows installation anywhere near it. ;-)

Now, that's spooky.

[rab0171610]

Like I said, I am away from my machine, but is there any chance of browsing to right binary installed by snap in system settings when setting it as default browser? That is to say make sure the firefox option listed there is pointing to the right file. I had this happen that the firefox it was pointing to was /usr/bin/firefox and i needed it to point to /usr/bin/firefox-bin. You may try that just to make sure by using the browse option in the dropdown to find the right firefox binary, just to eliminate the possibility the firefox option listed there even exists. It has happened to me that it was not valid until I added it correctly. Maybe doesnt apply to your situation. Just a thought. I don't know what the snap binary is called or where it is located, mine was just an example that applied only to me. Yours is probably different.

[arsivci]

I'm getting a bit closer now, I think.

sudo apt remove wslu got rid of wslview. Trying to open a browser-based help file from another application now does start Firefox, as it should.

One problem solved, however, a new one immediately appears: Firefox gives a File not found error.

Just to make sure, I checked to see if the help files are actually there (in /usr/share/sgt-puzzles/help/en/ in the example I've just been trying). They are there and opening them in a text editor shows the files are fine, but any attempt to open them in Firefox gives the same error. Is this possibly some over-eager sandboxing at work that doesn't let Firefox access system files?

At least getting rid of wslu did solve other problems. I had an issue where an attempt to browse local files from within Steam wouldn't do anything. That seems to work perfectly after removing wslu. I still have no idea why it was ever on my system. I certainly didn't install it on purpose.

Probably something you installed depended on it. It is a legitimate package after all:

utn@kudra:~$ apt policy wslu
wslu:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 3.2.3-0ubuntu3
Version table:
3.2.3-0ubuntu3 500
500 http://tr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/universe amd64 Packages
utn@kudra:~$

[rab0171610]

Ok hopefully you will get it resolved soon!

[rab0171610]

For troubleshooting purposes you could try reinstalling it now to see if it still interferes with firefox being the default browser. . .

[jlittle]

The file controlling this is meant to be "mimeapps.list". I have 2, .config/mimeapps.list and .local/share/applications/mimeapps.list. (Some snaps have their own, but I think they just affect the snap they belong to.) According to the desktop spec there might be files named kde-mimeapps.list or plasma-mimeapps.list, but the Kubuntu I'm on atm, 21.10, doesn't have any.

[Orflovir]

Thank you. I only found .config/mimeapps.list on my system and it looks fine, showing Firefox as the default browser as it should. Firefox itself still doesn't think it's the default browser, but I can live with that issue as long as it doesn't actually interfere with anything.

However, after I booted this morning and let Kubuntu install some updates, wslu was back and interfering again.
The mimeapps.list file is still showing Firefox as normal, but when any app tries to open a browser window, it tries starting wslview.

When I got to removing wslu again, I noticed that doing so also removes the package gimp-help-en. When I do so and then try to install that package again, it wants to install wslu alongside it. Could this be part of the problem that causes wslu to appear on my system in the first place?
Wslu is not listed as a dependency of gimp-help-en, but it does depend on having a browser installed. Perhaps the system not properly recognizing Firefox as a browser makes it think it might need wslu instead?
https://packages.ubuntu.com/jammy/gimp-help-en shows that it needs a browser and lists possible choices. Wslu is one of the options. Just to try something, I decided to install another browser from that list before trying to install gimp-help-en, to see if it stops pulling in wslu alongside it. First I tried Chromium, that didn't work, but then I realized that Chromium is also a snap package. Then I installed elinks, and that did the trick! Apparently, snap browsers do not fulfill the dependency on a browser, but any non-snap browser does.

I tried actually using Gimp's help function next, of course. The good thing is that elinks does not hijack the default browser choice, like wslview does. Firefox opens as expected. The bad thing is that Firefox is still unable to access help files like this (that are not located in your home folder), I get the same error as before: Firefox can’t find the file at /usr/share/gimp/2.0/help/en/index.html.

At least all this does answer rab0171610 's troubleshooting question: when wslview is back, it is straight back to acting like it's the default browser.


Edit: I found the dependency issue is a bug that has already been reported: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...p/+bug/1971763

[rab0171610]

I am wondering if a symlink from /snap/bin/firefox to /usr/bin/firefox

sudo ln -s /snap/bin/firefox /usr/bin/firefox

would be enough to trick gimp or the system into recognizing snap firefox as the default browser?

[claydoh]

I wonder if this is related:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...u/+bug/1971757

If so, it might get more attention if anyone having issues related to this click the "this bug effects me" link at the top of the bug report.

[arsivci]

Hi.
After upgrading to 22.04, the new Firefox doesn't remember it's the default browser and keeps asking to be made so every single time it starts, although I agreed the first time. I checked in the system settings and there too it's the default browser.
Not a huge problem but an annoying one.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

After snap Firefox, weird things might happen. For example, I have two Firefox entries in default apps, one pointing to a removed snap (I think) and the second one with no icon, to binary from Mozilla. See if you have another entry for FF. It's a long shot but...

[Fernando]

After snap Firefox, weird things might happen. For example, I have two Firefox entries in default apps, one pointing to a removed snap (I think) and the second one with no icon, to binary from Mozilla. See if you have another entry for FF. It's a long shot but...

Most oddly, I actually have two entries pointing to the same snap (apparently)

[papapenguin]

I had this problem and switched the default browser as done here as well...

After snap Firefox, weird things might happen. For example, I have two Firefox entries in default apps, one pointing to a removed snap (I think) and the second one with no icon, to binary from Mozilla. See if you have another entry for FF. It's a long shot but...