Ubuntu
firefox-3.0 package

Firefox will not open with two instances of X

Bug #238029 reported by Xepra on 2008-06-07

This bug report is a duplicate of: Bug #308605: [MASTER]Firefox is already running message. Edit Remove

Affects		Status	Importance	Assigned to	Milestone
	Mozilla Firefox	Invalid	Unknown	mozilla-bugs #223105
	firefox-3.0 (Ubuntu)	Incomplete	Medium	Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: firefox

Using 8.04, dual displays, and nvidia drivers with two instances of X11 running (a separate desktop on each monitor) firefox will not open on both monitors.

When firefox is started on the second monitor it gives an errors saying that it is already running and the existing instance needs to be shutdown. This greatly reduces the utility of two monitors.

Other Suggestion:

This would probably be incredibly difficult with the current implementation of gdm/X11/compiz, and would only work on multiple displays of the same resolution, but it would be much more useful to have one instance of X11 running with the same cube displayed on each monitor. Rather than just clone the display, however, allow each monitor to shift workspaces independently. If both monitors happen to be on the same workspace then the image is cloned. If a window on one monitor is moved to the workspace that is displayed on the other monitor then it will show up on that monitor. The monitors just become two different camera angles of the same cube.

Revision history for this message

Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek) wrote on 2008-12-24:

Thank you for your bug report. This bug has been reported to the developers of firefox on https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=223105 . The response from the developers is to use
The answer in the MozillaZine Forums is to use
export MOZ_NO_REMOTE=1
or
setenv MOZ_NO_REMOTE 1
on the systems. The referenced Mozilla bug report is marked as resolved/fixed.

Please continue to report bugs you find.

Changed in firefox:
status:	New → Invalid

Revision history for this message

Fabián Rodríguez (magicfab) wrote on 2009-03-13:

Charlie, please read the full bug report upstream before marking this invalid.

Someone there reports setting the environment variable not working, which is consistent with what I see in Intrepid and using an external display.

The --no-remote command line parameter is cited instead.

Changed in firefox:
importance:	Undecided → Medium
status:	Invalid → Incomplete

Revision history for this message

Fabián Rodríguez (magicfab) wrote on 2009-03-13:

Error message Edit (179.2 KiB, image/png)

Using --no-remote on each of two separate instances of firefox didn't work either.

I am using Intrepid with nvidia binary drivers, external display is set as "Separate X Screen".

The exact error message is:

Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system.

I've also attached screenshots of the error and X settings using nvidia-settings.

Revision history for this message

Fabián Rodríguez (magicfab) wrote on 2009-03-13:

X settings with nvidia-settings Edit (247.1 KiB, image/png)

Revision history for this message

Fabián Rodríguez (magicfab) wrote on 2009-03-13:

Sorry I forgot to add that I am using nVidia GeFore Go 6150, driver is version 173.14.12.

Looking forward to have other confirming this with Intel / ATI / other.

Revision history for this message

Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek) wrote on 2009-03-13:

Somehow, those comments from 2006 on an upstream report marked:
"Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME "
did not strike me as going to get the report worked again. I have read the report several times. If we can get confirmation on this report, we could send it upstream as a new report. Perhaps because this is dual monitors, it will get a different reponse?

Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater) on 2009-03-15