https links don't--T/B problem SOLVED! AT LAST!

[dougmack]

Requested answer from Mozilla forum, but got nothing.  Perhaps someone here can tell me how to make https links in email messages open in Firefox.  (I have tried the various suggested remedies
that Mozilla provides, but without result. Snapping on an https link in an incoming mail simply does nothing.  The only way to open the link is to copy it and paste it into the address line of Firefox.

Thanx, guys--doug

[dougmack]

Requested answer from Linux list--was referred to Google.  It looks like this has been a problem for a long time, and nothing I found solved the problem, including the message from
Thad Floryan excoriating me for not looking in Google first.
Can't somebody high up in PCLOS get a hold of Mozilla and make them fix this?  Please?

doug

[Just17]

I sent the below link to my gmail account; it arrived in T/bird; clicked on it and it opened in Firefox

https://startpage.com/

I have never noticed a problem as you describe. T/bird 16.0.1; Firefox 16.0.1

.....  or maybe I misunderstood the problem?

[TerryN]

This is probably not a Mozilla "fault" as such.  More likely a configuration problem.
Open a terminal and run (paste) the following command

Code: [Select]

gconftool-2 -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command
Let us know the result.

Terry.

[dougmack]

Here's the result of your code:
[doug@Linux1 ~]$ gconftool-2 -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command
/usr/lib/firefox-16.0.1/firefox %s

There are a bunch of suggestions Google came up with, from various forums.  None of them worked for me.  Looking at the Google results, it appears that people have
been having trouble along these lines since version 3.x; one poster said the problem started with the upgrade to that 3.x version. (Don't remember what "x" it was.)
someone else said that Mozilla just doesn't give a damn about fixing it.

I have been using Thunderbird since KMail (SuSE) screwed up and started printing some messages in Thai, or some such script.  That's problably 4 years ago! I'm going to try Sylpheed, since the screenshot I saw looks a lot like T/B.  And I guess I'll try Konqueror for the browser. If none of this works out, I'll have to see where I go from there.  Meanwhile, if there is a cure for T/B and
F/F, I'd like to keep using them.  Thanx for all inputs!

--doug

[Just17]

Here's the result of your code:
[doug@Linux1 ~]$ gconftool-2 -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command
/usr/lib/firefox-16.0.1/firefox %s

I would have expected

/usr/bin/firefox %s

which is a link to the other

 

[dougmack]

I do have firefox in /usr/bin. It appears to be a link Also in /usr/lib, where the actual file seems to live. . Don't know what %s means. I don't know anything about gconftool--there is
no useful help for it, and no man page at all. "Linux in a Nutshell" doesn't know it either.

I tried sylpheed.  I am probably missing some setup information, but I get no graphics in the received email at all, like from TigerDirect, or LLBean, or whatever--just text.
If that's the way it works, I definitely will not use it. OTOH, it passes the https link to Firefox.  (I thought I set it up to pass the link to Konqueror, but I must have been mistaken.
Anyway, that verifies that the problem is with Thunderbird, not F/F. 

I installed all the multitude of files for clawsmail, and I'll see how that goes.

Still rather have T/B working properly!

--doug

[YouCanToo]

Here's the result of your code:
[doug@Linux1 ~]$ gconftool-2 -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command
/usr/lib/firefox-16.0.1/firefox %s

I would have expected

/usr/bin/firefox %s

which is a link to the other

 

This is what I got for the results

[dwmoar@localhost ~]$ gconftool-2 -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command
www-browser %s
[dwmoar@localhost ~]$

and I am not having problems opening a https link from Thunderbird.

[dcwbis]

I seem to get this problem every time I update Thunderbird / Firefox.
This solution has worked for me:

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,66306.msg576956.html#msg576956

[TerryN]

This is what I got for the results

[dwmoar@localhost ~]$ gconftool-2 -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command
www-browser %s
[dwmoar@localhost ~]$
and I am not having problems opening a https link from Thunderbird.

www-browser %s is also my preferred option as it lets the Desktop Environment decide what the "default browser" is.  Most DEs have somewhere where "Default Apps" are set and you can check the function by opening a terminal and running

www-browser https://startpage.com

and the page should open in a browser.
Nevertheless firefox %s or /usr/lib/firefox-16.0.1/firefox %s should still work (as long as the version is correct in the latter ... more on this below).

It is worth doing Andy's procedure mentioned by dcwbis  in the previous post as it also ensures that the setting which allows https to be handled at all is set.

I seem to get this problem every time I update Thunderbird / Firefox.

You will always get the problem when updating if you say "yes" when prompted to make firefox/thunderbird the default browser/mailer by those apps.   This is because they store the full path (including the version) in the config string, which means if you update it will stop working until you manually intervene to correct the string.

FWIW my recommendation is to:
1) turn OFF any "Always check if firefox/thunderbird is the default browser/mailer" in the preferences
2) Set the handlers for http and https to be www-browser %s

Code: [Select]

gconftool-2 --type string --set /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command "www-browser %s"
gconftool-2 --type string --set /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command "www-browser %s"
Using these settings I have never had a problem with clicking links in TB even after updating.

Terry.

[dougmack]

I have set "always check" off for ages now.  I forget what it was supposed to cure. What do you mean by "handlers" in number 2?  Where do I find that to set it?
Thanx--doug

[TerryN]

I gave the 2 commands to use in the code box (gconftool-2 --set).  Paste them into a terminal window.
Also don't forget to try the other procedure mentioned in reply #8 as you may have TB set to not pass https to an external handler.

Terry.

[dougmack]

I seem to be having a little problem with the language  here.  I don't know what "handlers" means, and I don't know what "code box" means, or where it might be.
Could you be a little bit more specific, or something?  Thanks--doug

[TerryN]

This is the code box

Code: [Select]

gconftool-2 --type string --set /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command "www-browser %s"
It gives a command which needs to be entered in a terminal window just like you did in reply #4.  If executed successfully there will be no output, you'll just be returned to the command prompt.  (If an error message appears, tell us what it is)  
Then repeat what you did in reply #4 to check the result.

Re "Handlers":  Thunderbird is a mail reader.  It's not it's job to display web pages.  So when you click on a link it passes that job to another program to handle (hence handler).  For http/https links that handler would be a web browser.

Terry

[dougmack]

Glory be, Terry!  It worked!  Here's what the terminal looks like:

doug@Linux1 ~]$ gconftool-2 --type string --set /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command "www-browser %s"
[doug@Linux1 ~]$
[doug@Linux1 ~]$ Code:
bash: Code:: command not found
[doug@Linux1 ~]$
[doug@Linux1 ~]$ gconftool-2 -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command
www-browser %s

Thank you, Terry.  Problem SOLVED!