Could not launch Adobe Reader in Firefox

theAdmiral · #1 25th July 2009, 01:20 AM

When trying to open an Adobe *.pdf file from Firefox, I get the following error:

Quote:

Could not launch Adobe Reader 9.1.2. Please make sure it exists in PATH variable in the environment. If the problem persists, please reinstall the application.

How do I resolve this, please? How do I place it in PATH variable in the environment?

Thank you,
theAdmiral

PabloTwo · #2 25th July 2009, 02:03 AM

Adding the path to the Adobe Reader binary to your $PATH, or, better yet, just creating a symbolic link to it in a directory that is already in your $PATH environment variable, won't help you view .pdf files with Adobe Reader from within Firefox. What you are missing is having installed the Adobe Reader plugin for Firefox.

Use any text viewer of your choosing and have a look at the file:

/path/to/Adobe/Reader9/Browser/HowTo/ENU/Browser_Plugin_HowTo.txt

That will tell you the command line commands to use to run the install script that will install the Firefox plugin.

Edit: To add an application menu item to launch Adobe Reader directly, I prefer to create a symlink to the binary rather than add the path to it to my $PATH invironment variable. First:

Code:

sudo ln -s /path/to/Adobe/Reader9/bin/acroread /usr/bin/

And Second:

Code:

sudo cp /path/to/Adobe/Reader9/Resource/Support/AdobeReader.desktop /usr/share/applications/

If you don't have sudo setup for yourself, then just 'su' to root before issuing those commands.
I'm somewhat guessing you installed Adobe Reader using the rpm package. If so, the "/path/to/" will be "/opt/". If you installed AR from another package format, the location of where you installed it to and the exact file paths may vary from my examples, but the proceedure is the same.

theAdmiral · #3 25th July 2009, 01:42 PM

I am pretty much fed up with this attempt. I think I would like to go back to using Okular. How do I uninstall all versions of Adobe Reader and set Okular has my default *.pdf reading program, and get Firefox to use it, too?

Thanks,
theAdmiral

PabloTwo · #4 25th July 2009, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theAdmiral

I am pretty much fed up with this attempt. I think I would like to go back to using Okular. How do I uninstall all versions of Adobe Reader and set Okular has my default *.pdf reading program, and get Firefox to use it, too?

Thanks,
theAdmiral

How you remove Adobe Reader depends on how you installed it in the first place.
How many versions of Adobe Reader do you have installed? Without knowing what you've done in the first place makes it difficult to assist you to 'undo' what you've done.

If you've installed AdobeReader from their repository in rpm package format, then, as root in a terminal:

Code:

rpm -e AdobeReader*

If you've installed Adobe Reader from a *.bin package, probably the easiest way is to just remove the directory, or directories if you have more than one installation, where it is installed, then check the directories:

/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/
~/.mozilla/plugins/

and look for any file named nppdf.so and delete it if it exits (which you probably won't find). If you're running 64 bit x86_64 and AdobeReader Firefox plugin is named something other than nppdf.so, which it is for 32 bit x86 installs, then I don't know what that filename would be.

If the file /usr/bin/acroread exists, delete it
If the file /usr/share/applications/AdobeReader.desktop exists, delete it.

As for Ocular, I have never used it and don't know anything about it. Someone else will have to offer you assistance with that.

theAdmiral · #5 25th July 2009, 10:29 PM

I am presuming that the knowledge for this removal is critical. I have two installations of Reader. One of them, the latest, is a bin install. However, it has been so long since the first one that I don't remember if it is bin or rpm or other. How can I tell?

PabloTwo · #6 26th July 2009, 02:03 AM

Well, firstly, do you even have the Adobe repo installed?

Code:

yum repolist

If adobe-linux-arch is'nt in the list, then it's a sure bet you don't have an earlier install from an .rpm package of Adobe Reader. Note here: they did offer an rpm package for Linux at one time that contained nothing more than the .bin package, which you had to install the same if you had just downloaded the .bin package in the first place.

If you do have the Adobe repo installed, you may only have used it to install the flashplayer plugin. To check for an installed Adobe Reader rpm package:

Code:

rpm -qa | grep AdobeReader

If you get no result from that, then you're earlier Adobe Reader, which might actually be "Acrobat Reader from before Adobe bought Macromedia, was also surely a .bin install.

If you're not sure now where each installation is installed on your directory, then do this:

Code:

su -c updatedb
locate acroread

The 'updatedb' command might take a little while to complete. Let it finish. That should report the locatation of each instance of the 'acroread' binary, and a handfull of other stuff, telling you where it's installed, so you'll know which toplevel directories that are unique to the Adobe Reader installs to delete to remove them.

RupertPupkin · #7 26th July 2009, 03:31 AM

Why not just use the PDF Download addon for Firefox? The options let you specify whatever PDF reader you want (Acrobat Reader, evince, okular, etc).