hi leo1962:

Did you remember to disable automatic updating for Firefox after re-installing FF5 (Tools | Options | Advanced | Updates)?

Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit * Firefox 6.0 * Java 7.00

Hi leo1962

As mentioned by Imacri, disable the automatic update by going to 'Tools' -> 'Options' -> 'Advance' and select 'Ask what I want to do' option.

Closed Ver 6 and then re-install Ver 5 or 5.01. Doing this, Ver 5 or 5.01 will 'upgrade' the Ver 6.

You will find about 30 minutes later, it will ask you to 'Do you wish to update' - just select 'Ask Me Later'.

I have done this and everything is back to normal.

Just a point to note - every time you restart Firefox you will get 'Do you wish to update' notice and click on the select 'Ask Me Later' icon and Firefox will load normally.

I agree with MizLiz comments -"Nobody should have to sit at their computer and try to be a programmer. We just want the thing to WORK"

I think the online Firefox Plugin Checker joe_kpunk was referring can be found at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/. You can also get to this web page from the Firefox Add-on Manager (Tools | Add-ons) by clicking on the "Check to see if your plug-ins are up to date" link.

The Firefox Plugin Checker does not check for updates for browsers extensions such as the currently disabled Java Console extension, so I prefer checking for updates for all add-ons (i.e., both plugins and browser extensions) using the Firefox Add-on Manager (Tools | Add-ons). Just click the Update button (it has an icon that looks like a gear, just to the left of the "Search all add-ons" box) and choose "Check for Updates" from the drop-down list.

Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit * Firefox 6.0 * Java 7.00

lmacri, I have done as you have suggested.

However the +sign on the tabs is now gone, I have to double click next to a tab for a new tab to open.

Also how can I remove the grayed out extensions? There is no remove button.

When will FF6 remedy the issue relating to Java?

@leo1962,

If Mozilla doesn't do anything about this, then you need to wait 1-2 months for Java 7 Update 1 to correct this. But that would be too late as Firefox 7 stable would have been released by that time (Firefox 7 release date - 27 September).

Java do work on Firefox6. It may not be working on your box, but it definitely works.

Please follow the instructions below.

These instructions are for Linux platforms, in particular Debian.

If you are a Windows user, please continue reading: the concept is pretty much the same and I will point out what the differences are, so you will be able to do it... I hope. I warn that I don't have Windows installed at home and that I never tested the instructions below on Windows platforms.

Q: Why it is not working?

A: The 2 main reasons are: (a) you don't have Java installed and (b) Firefox wasn't able to find the correct Java installation.

Q: How can fix a Firefox installation in order to find Java?

A: You basically have to remove one symlink and recreate it, pointing to the correct Java plugin.

Q: What a symlink is and how do I do this?

A: A symlink (symbolic link) is basically a file which points to another file. Everytime an application uses a symbolic link, it is actually using the file pointed by the symbolic link.

Q: I've never heard about symbolic links.

A: That's probably you are a Windows user. Windows does not have symbolic links. The .lnk files in Windows are not proper symbolic links, technically speaking. So, these .lnk files are not replacement for symbolic links.

Q: If Windows do not have symbolic links, how can I fix Firefox installation?

A: You will simply copy the file, instead of recreating the symlink.

OK... let's have our hands dirty on it on now :)

1. Let's find where the Firefox plugins directory is:

$ dpkg -L firefox | fgrep plugins

On Debian, substitute "firefox" by "iceweasel".

On Windows, use Windows Explorer to find there Firefox is: Firefox must be under C:\Program Files\Mozilla or maybe C:\Program Files\Firefox. Try them yourself and find where the plugins directory is.

2. Find where your Java installation is:

In my specific case, I installed Java under a location of my preference.

On Linux boxes, in particular Debian, you can discover via:

$ ls -ald /etc/alternatives/java

On Windows, it must be probably under C:\Program Files\java

3. Verify if you have a versioning problem.

Windows users can skip this step.

It turns out that my /etc/alternative/java (a symlink) points to a location which does not exist anymore. It was an old version of Java that I removed by hand and I forgot to update /etc/alternatives/java in order to point to the new location.

When Firefox installs, I suppose (not sure!) that it infers the location of the Java plugin from /etc/alternatives/java.

So, I'm now fixing this.

Note: this is specific to my box! Find whatever is convenient to your box!

$ rm /etc/alternatives/java

$ ln -s /opt/JavaIDE/jdk1.6.0_25-linux-x86_64/bin/java /etc/alternatives/java

4. Fixing Firefox plugin.

a. Go to Firefox plugin folder and remove libnpjp2.so.

Windows users: find something similar to libnpjp2 under the plugins folder and remove it. NOTE: Just in case, take note of this file name, for further reference.

b. Create a symlink to the correct plugin.

We will repeat (more or less) what we have already done in step 3. Note: this example below is valid for my box in particular. Find whatever is convenient in your case:

$ cd /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins

$ rm libnpjp2.so

$ ln -s /opt/JavaIDE/jdk1.6.0_25-linux-x86_64/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so

Windows users:

Copy the libnpjp2.dll (or whatever extension it is) from the Java jre/lib/plugins folder to your Firefox plugins folder.

5. Restart Firefox

Make sure you stop all running instances of Firefox, including all popous and other dialogs which eventually you had opened. Start Firefox again.

6. Check your java installation

Visit this think:

http://www.java.com/en/download/testjava.jsp

It should work now.

If it tells you you should upgrade... well... it is already working, isn't it?

I hope it helps

Richard Gomes

Hi leo1962:

Are you seeing the greyed out extension in the Firefox Add-on Manager (Tools | Add-ons | Extensions), or are you referring to the grey button labeled "? Research" that appears next to certain plugins on the Firefox Plugin Checker on the Mozilla web site? You don't need to be concerned about a grey button on the Plugin Checker web page - it just means that the Mozilla servers do not host updates for these plugins. I have two such plugins (Windows Presentation Foundation and iTunes Application Detector) and updates for these plugins are delivered directly by the manufacturers.

Do you have any extensions besides the Java Console that are greyed out in the Firefox Add-on Manager? If there is no Remove button in the Add-on Manager that usually means that the extension came bundled with a software program and can only be removed by uninstalling the entire software package from the Windows Control Panel. For example, if you have Norton Internet Security 2011 and the Norton Toolbar extension is greyed out in the Firefox Add-on Manager, you must uninstall the entire NIS 2011 program in order to permanently remove (not hide) the toolbar extension from the Firefox browser.

As for the missing "Open a new tab" button, go to View | Toolbars | Customize and click the "Restore Default Set" button or drag the "New Tab" icon next to your existing tabs. It's also possible you accidentally dragged the "+" icon to another toolbar and just need to drag it back where it belongs. If none of this works, go to Tools | Options | Tabs and make sure "Always show the tab bar" is enabled.

Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit * Firefox 6.0 * Java 7.00

rgomes:

Most users on this thread are now wondering why the Java Console SE extension (Tools | Add-ons | Extensions) is not compatible with Firefox 6.0. The Java browser plugins (Tools | Add-ons | Plugins) still work for most people, and if they visit the link to the Java Installation Checker you mentioned in your post they often find that their Firefox plugins are working normally.

Users will likely find that most, if not all, of their Java-enabled web pages and applications also work correctly even though the Java Console SE extension is currently disabled in Firefox 6.0, as long as the Java browser plugins are currently up-to-date (v. 6.26) and working normally.

Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit * Firefox 6.0 * Java 7.00

lmacri, +Tab issue fixed thanks.

Greyed out extensions all the previous versions of Java Console, AVG and Zone Alarm.

Either way, I not that tech savvy as rgomes, I rely on Firefox when they issue an upgrade, then one would expect some previous core components such Java should run normally as with previous versions.

I am not worried about AVG and Zone Alarm not being compatible, but I have now reverted back to FF5.0 and disabled updating feature.

Thanks for your assistance, but I have to say I am disappointed in wasting my time with FF6.

Hi leo1962:

Glad to hear you got your tabs working again.

I agree with you 100%. I don't know why Mozilla has gone to this rapid release of new versions, but I'm getting really fed up with this constant troubleshooting just to get my add-ons working again. I don't know why they can't give major software companies like Oracle and Symantec more lead time so they can beta-test their extensions properly.

If this keeps up I'll be reverting back to IE 9.

Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit * Firefox 6.0 * Java 7.00

Java 6 Update 26 works fine with Firefox 6.0. It's only a useless Java extension which is disabled due to Firefox 6.0.

I had the same problem, and AVG was also disabled as it is "not compatible" with Firefox6. No need to uninstall Firefox 6 - I downloaded an earlier version of Firefox and the problem was solved. Hops this helps.

You have only to change in the Java Plugin Install file the max version number from 5.0+ to 6.0+ in Programs--->Mozilla Firefox--> Extensions:

?xml version="1.0"?

RDF xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"

    xmlns:em="http://www.mozilla.org/2004/em-rdf#"
 Description about="urn:mozilla:install-manifest"
   em:name>Java Console /em:name
   em:id {CAFEEFAC-0017-0000-0000-ABCDEFFEDCBA} /em:id 
   em:version 7.0 /em:version
   em:type 2 /em:type 
   em:hidden true /em:hidden
   em:targetApplication
     Description
       em:id {ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384} /em:id
       em:minVersion 1.0 /em:minVersion
       em:maxVersion 6.0+ /em:maxVersion
     /Description
   /em:targetApplication
  /Description      
/RDF

I have the Java 7 console extension installed in FF 6 (you can do the same for the Java 6.0.26 version):

Just checking in.

Is anyone following this thread still having problems with their Java browser plugins? You can test your Java plugins on the official Java web site here. If your Java plugins are installed correctly the Java test should report that you have the latest recommended version of the Java JRE (currently v. 6.26) and that your installation is working normally.

Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit * Firefox 6.0 * Java 7.00

Yes, the Java plugins work anyway... but there's no reason why you cannot have the Java console extension working as well. It's so easy to get it! You have only to change the max version number....

Clearly firefox has scored an own goal here. By disabling Java 6r26 I am unable to use Business Object Web Intelligence and have to resort to use the browser whose name we should not mention

I've found the best solution to the firefox worsening situation, and that's use Google, even IE8 walks all over ff now, and all the bullshit about copyright being put about by mozilla; let us decide if we want to be done for copyright abuse, it's not for you or anyone else to decide if we should or shouldn't use youtube, you are meant to be suppling a service, if you can't do it properly then butt out of the market place and make room for those who can. You are tired mozila, you are getting like MS, instead of worrying about the competition try sorting your own house out first, and produce something we can have a days use with, that doesn't crash or block the things we use ff for

I agree I can not upload my art to my galleries at imagekind .and photo4me ... firefox 6 really sucks ... and pages take forever to load . all my plugins are up to date etc . I have been trying for 2 days to get things working .. there is a lot of people having the same issue with 6 .... yes my java has been disabled also . and that is where the problem lies .. I can upload to these galleries from a desktop uploader as well as from other browsers ...... someone better fix this issue pronto ... I have wasted 2 days trying to fix a problem that isn't on my end .. and am just about ready to uninstall it ...and I am tired of setting up my add ons etc then when I upgrade firefox most of them do work ..it really pisses me off ..

OK people ...I haven't been able to upload since upgrading to firefox 6 .. and there seems to be some debate as to this being a Java problem..... after 2 days of trying to figure out the problem .. this is what I have found out:if you disable ALL your addons AND EXTENSIONS. I even disabled the JAVA PLATFORM (I have the latest JAVA installed on my comp). and start F6 in default mode you WILL NOT HAVE a problem .mine is working fine now ....I can upload to my galleries etc ..SO the problem lies in one of the add ons or extentions .. now I just have to figure out which one ...

if you install the latest JAVA on your comp that is all you need