Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Users and developers helping users with generic and technical Pale Moon issues on all operating systems.

Moderator: trava90

Forum rules
This board is for technical/general usage questions and troubleshooting for the Pale Moon browser only.
Technical issues and questions not related to the Pale Moon browser should be posted in other boards!
Please keep off-topic and general discussion out of this board, thank you!
User avatar
ron_1
Moon Magic practitioner
Moon Magic practitioner
Posts: 2852
Joined: 2012-06-28, 01:20

Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Unread post by ron_1 » 2021-11-08, 03:39

I just installed Devuan 4.0 on my system and tried to install Pale Moon like I did with Devuan 2.1 but it didn't work. I extracted the palemoon folder to /opt, then ran the following in the terminal:

Code: Select all

sudo ln -s /opt/palemoon/palemoon /usr/bin/palemoon
sudo ln -s /opt/palemoon/browser/chrome/icons/default/default16.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps/palemoon.png
sudo ln -s /opt/palemoon/browser/chrome/icons/default/default32.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/palemoon.png
sudo ln -s /opt/palemoon/browser/chrome/icons/default/default48.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/palemoon.png
sudo ln -s /opt/palemoon/browser/icons/mozicon128.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/palemoon.png
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/x-www-browser x-www-browser /usr/bin/palemoon 100
Then I made the appropriate desktop file and saved it in /usr/share/applications but it is not showing up in the menu. Does this have anything to do with the fact I'm trying to use the GTK2 version? Should I be using GTK3 with this newest version of Devuan?

User avatar
ron_1
Moon Magic practitioner
Moon Magic practitioner
Posts: 2852
Joined: 2012-06-28, 01:20

Re: Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Unread post by ron_1 » 2021-11-08, 14:33

Maybe this is a clue as to what is wrong. When I browse to the /usr/share/applications folder as a regular user, the palemoon.desktop icon is a blank sheet of paper. But when I browser to that folder as root, then the icon is the Pale Moon icon. I've tried another way to place the desktop file in there, but the same thing happened (what I just described). The first time I saved the file to the desktop, then opened /usr/share/applications with sudo in the terminal, and copied the file over. The second time I opened the text editor as sudo and saved the file directly to /usr/share/applications. Any ideas?

User avatar
Moonchild
Pale Moon guru
Pale Moon guru
Posts: 35481
Joined: 2011-08-28, 17:27
Location: Motala, SE
Contact:

Re: Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Unread post by Moonchild » 2021-11-08, 15:09

If you do anything under sudo, the resulting operations will be done as root. That can easily mess up file ownership and permissions.
Making the links will need the links AND the target to be accessible with file system permissions. Check your permissions flags so both are world-readable.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

User avatar
Kruppt
Apollo supporter
Apollo supporter
Posts: 47
Joined: 2018-07-23, 22:32

Re: Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Unread post by Kruppt » 2021-11-08, 15:30

Open the desktop file in a text editor and be sure you are using full path to the executive.
Another words double check your path statement to be sure it is right.
I posted a example below, but I have it installed in /usr/local.

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Palemoon-29
GenericName=Palemoon-29
Exec=/usr/local/palemoon-29/palemoon %u
Icon=/usr/local/palemoon-29/browser/chrome/icons/default/default48.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
MimeType=text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml+xml;application/vnd.mozilla.xul+xml;text/mml;x-scheme-handler/http;x-scheme-handler/https;
StartupNotify=true
Categories=Network;WebBrowser;

User avatar
ron_1
Moon Magic practitioner
Moon Magic practitioner
Posts: 2852
Joined: 2012-06-28, 01:20

Re: Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Unread post by ron_1 » 2021-11-08, 20:16

Moonchild wrote:
2021-11-08, 15:09
If you do anything under sudo, the resulting operations will be done as root. That can easily mess up file ownership and permissions.
Making the links will need the links AND the target to be accessible with file system permissions. Check your permissions flags so both are world-readable.
Am I missing something? You can't write in /usr/share/applications unless your sudo; at least I can't.

vannilla
Moon Magic practitioner
Moon Magic practitioner
Posts: 2183
Joined: 2018-05-05, 13:29

Re: Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Unread post by vannilla » 2021-11-08, 22:23

ron_1 wrote:
2021-11-08, 20:16
Am I missing something? You can't write in /usr/share/applications unless your sudo; at least I can't.
I think Moonchild is suggesting to check if the files in /opt/palemoon are all at least r--r--r--.
Even if you don't want to go the long route to check it, just run sudo chmod a+r -R /opt/palemoon and try again, maybe after restarting the graphical session.

User avatar
ron_1
Moon Magic practitioner
Moon Magic practitioner
Posts: 2852
Joined: 2012-06-28, 01:20

Re: Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Unread post by ron_1 » 2021-11-09, 01:57

So I tried by putting the palemoon folder in a place writable without being sudo and redid everything, and I still have the same issue. So then I tried Kruppt's idea and put the full path under Exec=, and that didn't work either. Then I ran vannilla's sudo chmod a+r -R, changing opt to where I had put it, still isn't working. I'm not doing anything different now than when I ran Devuan 2.1. If anybody can come up with anything else to try I will try it, but for now I'm just running it "uninstalled."

User avatar
Night Wing
Knows the dark side
Knows the dark side
Posts: 5151
Joined: 2011-10-03, 10:19
Location: Piney Woods of Southeast Texas, USA

Re: Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Unread post by Night Wing » 2021-11-09, 04:55

ron_1 wrote:
2021-11-09, 01:57
If anybody can come up with anything else to try I will try it, but for now I'm just running it "uninstalled."
I don't use Devuan. I use Mint (Xfce). This means what is below will be a little different because of Xfce.

I also run Pale Moon "uninstalled" because I do not like installing programs in Mint using the Terminal.

When using Pale Moon when it is uninstalled, I use the executable file, but it does not create a launcher icon. The launcher icon is located in the Image Files of the extracted Pale Moon folder from the tarball.

I then add a launcher in the Panel (Taskbar) using gui windows. Then I create the path from the Pale Moon folder where it is placed (in my case) Documents and then place the Pale Moon launcher icon on my Panel.

It takes quite a few steps, but it has always worked. All of this is using gui windows where I do not have to mess with the Terminal and run into problems like you're having installation wise. I've been doing it this way since January of 2014.

Can you do the same in Devuan?
Linux Mint 21.3 (Virginia) Xfce w/ Linux Pale Moon, Linux Waterfox, Linux SeaLion, Linux Firefox
MX Linux 23.2 (Libretto) Xfce w/ Linux Pale Moon, Linux Waterfox, Linux SeaLion, Linux Firefox
Linux Debian 12.5 (Bookworm) Xfce w/ Linux Pale Moon, Linux Waterfox, Linux SeaLion, Linux Firefox

User avatar
ron_1
Moon Magic practitioner
Moon Magic practitioner
Posts: 2852
Joined: 2012-06-28, 01:20

Re: Problems "installing" PM on Devuan 4.0

Unread post by ron_1 » 2021-11-10, 00:55

Night Wing wrote:
2021-11-09, 04:55
Can you do the same in Devuan?
Yes, right click on the panel, select Add to panel, then select Custom Application Launcher, then fill in the name and path, then when that's done, browse for the icon. This is on the Mate desktop.

Locked