[ This is not really a good answer...]
On Wed, 1 Aug 2001, Benjamin Sher wrote:
> Dear friends:
>
> I had this problem before and somehow or other it solved itself.
>
> sher@localhost sher]$ rpm -q galeon
> galeon-0.11.3-1mdk
> [sher@localhost sher]$ rpm -q mozilla
> mozilla-0.9.2-7mdk
> [sher@localhost sher]$
>
> Galeon won't start either when I click on the Galeon desktop icon or when I
> type "galeon" as user in xterm. I even tried to start Galeon by adding
> "kstart" to the executable line: "kstart /usr/bin/galeon". Doesn't work. The
> "Galeon" icon appears for a while in the panel, the icon spins for a good
> while and then just disappears.
Generally: running 'galeon' from an xterm is usually the best way to get
better information about what error messages the program gives. As you
see, kstart tries to "protect" the user from those error messages...
>
> I went into xterm and typed "galeon". I got a message that said:
>
> "Galeon is arleady running. Will use existing version."
This usually means that there is another galeon process running
>
> (Perhaps not exactly what it the error message said but very close toit).
>
> I recall the advice I got the last time this happened (about 6 weeks ago):
> Use Xkill to kill Galeon by shutting down both "galeon" and "galeon-bin".
This is the wrong way to do it. XKill looks for a window, and tell the X
server to disconnect it from the display. This is a rather brutal way of
ending a process (kind of like sending a "hangup" signal). You generally
shouldn't use it. It it in the same department as 'kill -9' (that is:
killing a process with SIGKILL).
It also doesn't gurantee that the pocess terminates. If the process is
terribly hung, then the X server will indeed close the window, and
deallocate any resource on the X server, but the process may continue to
run without a window.
>
> I clicked on Xkill (in the KDE menu). The cursor changed to a death's head. I
> then moved it over the Galeon desktop icon and clicked. I not only killed
> Galeon. I killed ALL of the desktop icons PLUS the panel, leaving me with a
> blank desktop. I clicked on the desktop and logged out, then rebooted. Still,
> same problem. Galeon refuses to launch.
You didn't kill the galeon icon. You killed the KDE file manager
(Konquror). XKill only closes windows (and in a rather brutal way). It is
not aware of local processes, as the X server is not aware of local
processes.
>
> I typed "top" in xterm and could see no reference to galeon or galeon-bin.
What do you mean?
have you tried:
ps ax |grep galeon
or:
pgrep -v galeon
(if pgrep, Process GREP, is installed)
However, at this point I begin to suspect that indeed there is no galeon
process running, and it only left some lock file behind (netscape user
speaking)
>
> I logged out of KDE and shut down the system, unplugged the power cable,
> reconnected it, rebooted, logged back into KDE, tried once again to launch
> Galeon. Again, same problem.
OK. this time probably galeon is not running.
>
> I launched Konqueror as root, went to /usr/bin/ and clicked on "galeon". It
> brought up the Galeon welcome screen, followed by a request for creating a
> profile. So, Galeon seems to work as root. I decided not to proceed since I
> don't need or want a "root" account of Galeon.
[ I don't like running things as root. And besides, keep in mind that
root's confiuration is not totally blank, and therefore may not be perfect
for testing. In thiese cases I would suggest to create a test account and
try working from it ]
>
> This is very puzzling. Unfortunately, I have exhausted my "trial and error"
> options at this point.
OK. I admit I don't know galeon. If nobody gives you a better answer:
Galeon probably wants to have only one copy per desktop. /usr/bin/galeon
is probably a script that runs /usr/bin/gaelon-bin . Have a look at this
script and see what files it checks. Maybe galeon left a reference to the
running copy and forgot to remove it.
>
> As a last resort, before sending this message, I uninstalled galeon (rpm -e
> galeon) and reinstalled it. Tried launching it again. Still won't start.
The problem seems to lye with the user configuration files, not with the
system configuration files (because another user has managed to run
galeon). Hence the following standard debugging procedure:
If those meassures work, then the problem is somewhwere with the local
config files. You can try renaming the configuration directory of galeon
and re-running it. Hopefully it will lose all of its configuration, but
will run. The remove the newly created config directory, and try to see
what was wrong with your old config directory...
--
Tzafrir Cohen
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.technion.ac.il/~tzafrir
