Computer Issues: Firefox & DVD

Computer Issues: Firefox & DVD

Billybob

Member #3,136

January 2003

I've got two nagging issues with my system. Hopefully someone can help

1) Firefox killed itself. I was running the latest 1.5 version. One time when I started it, it said it had finished updating which seemed fine at the time but then I noticed all my bookmarks were gone, settings were reset, and the window always started up filling only half the screen.
Well I fixed my settings, and didn't really care about the bookmarks so that was okay. However, it continued to start up with the window only filling half the screen. Even if I maximize Firefox and close it, the next time I start it it opens up with that half window.
So, I downloaded 2.0 in hopes it would fix the problem, but no go. At least I'm finally on 2.0, but I've still got that nagging half-window thing. Any ideas?

2) I got a DVD burner recently. Seems to work okay, I've watched some DVDs on it and such. One major problem though is that when it's in use it makes my system unstable. For example, booting up with a DVD in the drive has the possibility of locking up the system. This happens either after I log into Windows, or even at the login screen itself. Any ideas what's up? It's a Samsung drive, SATA.

Danke sehr!

kentl

Member #2,905

November 2002

FireFox: Try the safe mode alternative here.

BAF

Member #2,981

December 2002

1) For Firefox, I'd say uninstall it, make sure it's Program folder is deleted, and also nuke it's folder in Application data and reinstall.

2) Is there a disc in the drive? I have a SATA Plextor drive. It doesn't make my system unstable, but my system will totally lock for 2-3 seconds if I insert a DVD (presumably while it reads the DVD to try and recognize it or something).

BAF.zone | SantaHack!

kentl

Member #2,905

November 2002

Quote:

1) For Firefox, I'd say uninstall it, make sure it's Program folder is deleted, and also nuke it's folder in Application data and reinstall.

He should first try my suggestion. Yours is a last resort suggestion. If he doesn't care about any of his settings and stuff, then of course the "black box" way of problem solving (erasing it all and reinstalling) is the easiest.

GullRaDriel

Member #3,861

September 2003

1)Uninstall firefox, kill the directory if it stays, go in regedit and kill all the firefox entries you see.
2) Check if there are firmware upgrade for your burner. Also tell the bios that the first disk to boot is the hard drive (it will forbid mad boot loading). I do not know nothing else to do. It is a strange problem that I have never experienced on my laptop.

EDIT: For fireox I second Kent before trying the nuking.

Here is the problem solved, from his links:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/ said:

Corrupt localstore.rdf
From MozillaZine Knowledge Base
(Redirected from Window position not remembered at startup - Firefox)

This article deals with Firefox issues caused by a corrupt localstore.rdf file, which may include:

* Changes to the toolbar reset themselves after you close Firefox and start it up again
* Window size or position not remembered at startup
* Bookmarks appear in the Bookmarks Manager but not in the main menu and can't be edited [1]
* "Add Bookmark" dialog not working [2]
* Firefox 1.5: Search engines missing from the Search Bar and unable to add new engines (Firefox 2 users, see this article)

These problems can be fixed by using either of the following methods (any toolbar customizations will be gone when you restart Firefox):

Safe Mode method: Exit Firefox completely and then restart Firefox in Safe Mode. A window called Firefox Safe Mode with some troubleshooting options will appear. Select the option "Reset toolbars and controls" and choose "Make Changes and Restart".

Alternate method: Exit Firefox completely, open the Firefox profile folder (Windows users, read this for help finding it) and delete the file "localstore.rdf". Caution: Do not delete the localstore.rdf file in the Firefox program installation folder by mistake [3].

"Code is like shit - it only smells if it is not yours"
Allegro Wiki, full of examples and articles !!

BAF

Member #2,981

December 2002

From what he says, it has nothing to do with the boot order:

Quote:

This happens either after I log into Windows, or even at the login screen itself.

But yeah, try Kent's suggestion first, and use mine as a last resort.

Gull: Does FF even make registry entries? I don't know either way, but I don't think it makes anything too important in the reg.

BAF.zone | SantaHack!

Billybob

Member #3,136

January 2003

Fixed the Firefox issue. Thanks! Now I'm not angry every time I start Firefox

As for the drive, apparently there is a firmware update (released January '07), but I don't know how to apply it. All I get is a BIN file. Any ideas?

It's an SH-S183L from Samsung.

EDIT:
Actually, I found the update program. Only problem now is that it says "Flash Cmd Failed" when I try to use it. >:( Guess I'll email Samsung and see if they ever respond to me.

Michael Jensen

Member #2,870

October 2002

I had a machine, where if the cd-rom was doing anything it could make the system reboot -- first thing it then did on reboot was read the disc while counting the memory and bam it would probably reboot again -- sometimes it took 5 minutes to get a disc back -- no I didn't have a paperclip.

Strangely, I replaced the drive, same symptoms occured.
Replaced the IO card (new IDE raid card), it fixed nothing.
Ripped the cd-rom/io card out, and replaced with a SCSI card/SCSI drive -- this also fixed nothing...

I think the machine's onboard DMA controller might have been damaged... so it's probably completely unrelated to your issues.

If your machine works with non-sata dvd burner then I'd recomend using that, I've had nothing but unreliability and bad experiences with SATA drives, and would never, at this point in time, opt to install CD or DVD on a SATA interface, IDE is more than fast enough. Preferably if you want the ultimate stability, an external firewire drive is the way to go.

edit: As for the browser problems, upgrade to IE?