My firefox has gone weird

[silverlynx925]

Using Linux Mint XCFE.

Today my pages are minimized and there is no way to maximize them, no X in the right corners so that I can't axe any pop up pages, the menu button doesn't work and neither do bookmarks.

It was fine yesterday and I didn't change anything....today I refreshed ff hoping that would work but it's just the same after the refresh.

Help please?

[cee-dee]

See what happens if you press Alt + spacebar (that's both together) and then press X.

[otherego]

Hi, SL.

Is that still Mint 13 on the old laptop you upgraded a year or two back?

If so, then support for Mint 13 ended in April, and it might be a good idea to move on to something that still gets security and other updates.

IIRC, you had an old laptop which couldn't run "non-PAE" software. If that's the case, then I don't think you'll be able to upgrade to a current version of Mint. LMDE might be worth a look; looks a little too clever for my taste! - you'll find more on the Mint site:

https://linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

Firefox has made a few fairly major changes recently, and you might have fallen foul of these with your outdated machine. I don't know what CD is trying to get you to do, but I'm sure it could be useful.

Trouble is, you'll still be on an ancient version of Firefox. The current Firefox (from the Mint repositories, rather than the beta versions) is 55.0.2. (You might like to back your Firefox profile up before upgrading Mint/Firefox/ your computer - no going back from version 55, apparently. Not something I'e ever worried about, and I can't remember how to do it - a simple matter to look it up on the internet.)

If you're still running Mint 13 and your processor is one of the dreaded old non-PAE monsters, the simplest thing would be to treat yourself to a more modern machine and run a current version of Mint (or whatever you prefer).

I find the old Thinkpad T61 runs beautifully with Mint 18, and recently picked on up for about forty quid. Some sellers ask a lot more, and anyway, you might prefer something newer. Just a bit of personal experience - you don't need a shiny new machine to run a current edition of Mint which'll give you another three years or so, and might even be capable of upgrading to the next version.

In the short term, it might be feasible to back all your data up somewhere safe, then wipe the hard drive and install something compatible but more modern. I've recently messed about with antiX (the "legacy" version for old kit), and liked it very much. It used to be quite "manual," but looks easier now - and I think it supports non-PAE processors.

Post back if you want to discuss further!

[silverlynx925]

Thanks both,

cee dee  - I tried Alt Spacebar X and nothing happened but thanks was worth a try.

oe - my first Linux was my old desktop which wouldn't run anything except Mint 13 maya, that's still going but really really slowly.....I only use it to print my orders as it's conveniently still attached to the printer. Perhaps I might try the antiX on that at some point as I'd like to keep it going if possible. The LMDE says it's for experienced users so I think that counts me out.

The laptop I'm referring to has Mint xfce which I was convinced had longer support than the maya but perhaps I've confused that  with something else.  I'm using it now, my window has no header and it's like typing through a letterbox as the page is tiny and I still can't open the firefox menu.

I think there may be other issues as well, today I tried to boot it from a live disc and it won't do it,  the hinges are on the way out and the battery doesn't hold charge any more. You're right it is pretty old so perhaps it is time to move on...gulp.  It was £25 from a car boot a couple of years ago and has served me well. Tonight I found a laptop with local collection and am going for it...just waiting for the seller to get back to me. It's windows 8.1, ugh....

[otherego]

If you get that laptop, don't despair. Windows 8.1 has its merits, from the little I've seen of it.

A couple of things - do some research before you set it up. Look (deeply) into privacy settings if you value that sort of thing, and into "telemetry" updates to uninstall. (As I understand it, MS has incorporated some of W10's spyware telemetry software to improve the user experience into W7 and 8 via updates.)

Don't let it con you into logging in with a Microsoft account - set up a local user account for everyday use instead!

I'd be inclined to hang on to W8.1 in case you like any of the programs you get with it, but dual-boot with something like Mint 18. It would be a shame to find, after a while, that you seem to have fallen back into the clutches of something nasty.

Must run. Best of luck with the new machine - looking forward to hearing more!

[silverlynx925]

Thanks oe...I got it this morning and am exploring it 🙂 It's much smaller and lighter than my old dinosaur Toshiba laptop...it's an Acer Aspire E11.

I'm happy with it so far and will use it as is for now, I'll have a look at the newer Linux that are available and dual boot as you suggest later, after kicking and screaming about giving up my windows xp all that time ago I now find I prefer Linux....

My son has 8.1 so I am kind of familiar with it...my phone is Windows 10 (ugh, I know, it was all I could find when I needed one).

Off now to try putting some photos on it.....

[otherego]

From a quick internet search, that looks like a nice little machine. A worthy successor to the great old Eee PCs, Acer Aspire One (I think), MSI Wind and so on - those marvellous little netbooks which fell from favour for some reason.

I'd be unable to resist trying to upgrade it to Linux, of course, but I dare say W 8.1 has its merits. If you do decide to try the dual-boot approach, you might like to research installation to this machine a little carefully. I've yet to own anything that modern, but you'd need to deal with UEFI/secure boot (worry about that as and when...) All quite achievable.

You might also like to research creating recovery media for it, in case anything should go wrong, and how to recover the Windows installation key. All best done soon, before trouble strikes, whether you intend to dual-boot or not. Not a concern with Linux, of course *ahem*...

Have fun with it, though. It looks great.

[silverlynx925]

Ok thanks will look into recovery. I've only had older machines before too, as you will know haha. No rush to put Linux on I will take my time researching first.

I think I got a bargain.