You are currently viewing a snapshot of www.mozilla.org taken on April 21, 2008. Most of this content is highly out of date (some pages haven't been updated since the project began in 1998) and exists for historical purposes only. If there are any pages on this archive site that you think should be added back to www.mozilla.org, please file a bug.

Skip to main content

Troubleshooting Netscape 6 for Solaris

The purpose of this page is to diagnose problems with Netscape 6 for Solaris. If you have experienced a problem, there is a chance you will see a description of that problem here. Note that this is not a general troubleshooting page for Netscape 6 on Windows, Linux, or Macintosh, nor is it intended to help with Netscape Communicator 4.X.

Many thanks to: Chris Mcafee, Dan Mosedale, Ashutosh Kulkarni and Rich Burridge.

For information about build issues for Solaris, please visit this page.

Hints about upgrading to Solaris 8

CONTENTS

Browser: General

Problem:
I have a problem with Netscape 4.X. What do I do? 		Solution:
This is not the troubleshooting guide for you; this troubleshooting guide is for Mozilla (and applies to Netscape 6 on Solaris). Please visit this link for support on the Solaris port of Netscape Communicator 4.X, or visit this link for reporting bugs with Netscape Navigator or Communicator 4.X.
Problem:
I'm using Solaris 2.5.1 or Solaris 2.6, and Netscape 6 won't start for me. It says that I'm missing "librt.so.1". What's up with that? 		Solution:
Netscape 6 for Solaris is supported only on Solaris 7 or later. The library in question is not available until Solaris 7. Netscape 6 Solaris as produced by Sun will not run on versions of Solaris previous to Solaris 7. If you really need the Mozilla browser technology on your old version of Solaris, you might try nightly builds of the Mozilla open source browser, which are built by mozilla.org and run on Solaris 2.5.1 and later.

Problem:
Trying to launch the browser, an empty browser window comes up.

Solution:
Try these things:

  • Check your proxy settings if you're inside a firewall; you may need to set proxies to get outside your organization's firewall.
  • Make sure you launch the browser by typing "netscape", not "netscape6".
  • Run the Netscape debugging script "netscape_debug" instead of "netscape", and look at the debugging messages.
  • Add more swap space, then re-run the browser.

Problem:
The browser will not launch; an error message says "Internal error: unavailable temporary resources". 		Solution:
Increase the swap space on your computer:
  • su to root
  • Type mkfile -v 100m swapfile_name
  • Type swap -a swapfile_name
Problem:
Segmentation fault on application startup while loading the profile. 		Solution:
A previous version of Netscape 6 might have been run, or a version of the Mozilla open source browser. Netscape 6 and Mozilla create a ~/.mozilla directory which stores browser preferences and other information. Before final release, the formats of some files in this directory changed, causing compatibility problems. To fix this problem, perform the following steps:
  • Type mv ~/.mozilla ~/.mozilla.old
  • Restart the browser
Problem:
Certain key combinations such as Control-Up_Arrow or Control-Right_Arrow cause the application to crash with a segmentation fault. 		Solution:
Some Control- and ALT-key modifier combinations are known to crash Netscape 6 or Mozilla. See Bugzilla bug 59455 for more information. This problem will be fixed in a future release.
Problem:
HTML pages that use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) display incorrectly if the CSS tags have IDs that start with hyphens and digits. Leading hyphens and digits should be ignored, but are not. 		Solution:
This is a known problem; see Bugzilla bug 12385 for more details.
Problem:
If you click OK in the Location Dialog box when trying to download a file, the application crashes. 		Solution:
Select a directory from the file chooser list when the Location Dialog box appears. The application will not crash. This problem occurred in Netscape 6 or Mozilla Preview Release 3, and was corrected for the FCS release. Upgrade to Netscape 6 or Mozilla FCS.
Problem:
I am unable to delete history entries. 		Solution:
This is a known problem. See Bugzilla bugs 62117 and 62114 for details.
Problem:
Copying the Bookmarks Folder onto itself crashes the application. 		Solution:
This is a known problem; see Bugzilla bug 61172 for details.
Problem:
A warning message appears on the shell output: "Gdk-WARNING **: shmat failed!" 		Solution:
This is not a bug. Netscape 6 or Mozilla prints a lot of debug messages. In the FCS product, these messages appear only if you run the netscape_debug start-up script. The message indicates a shortage of shared memory available to the application. The application will still run, but a little more slowly.

If you've built with the --enable-x11-shm option to configure in order to speed up performance, you may see the "Gdk-WARNING **: shmat failed!" error message. In some versions of Solaris, the default per-process limit for allocating shared-memory segments is 6. When this error occurs, GDK stops using shared memory at all. Mozilla functions just fine, but it does not speed up. To work around this problem, add the line: 

 set shmsys:shminfo_shmseg = 10
to /etc/system and then reboot your machine. See Bugzilla bug 10498 for details.
Problem:
The application does not start. 		Solution:
Try moving the ~/.mozilla directory. If that does not work, try moving the ~/.netscape directory to ~/.netscape.old, then restart the application. Netscape 6 or Mozilla will try to migrate your Netscape 4.X preferences the first time Netscape 6 or Mozilla is launched. A Netscape Communicator 4.X preference may not have been migrated correctly, causing the error.
Problem:
The Editor application does not support the Publish feature. 		Solution:
This feature was available in Netscape Communicator 4.X but is not in Netscape 6 or Mozilla. This is an Enterprise Client feature that was dropped for reasons of expediency in shipping the Netscape 6 or Mozilla consumer-oriented browser.
Problem:
Graphics are not as good as expected. The colors are speckled, as if having colormap problems. 		Solution:
If you are using an eight bit display, Netscape 6 or Mozilla will not perform as well on an eight bit framebuffer as it will with 24-bit color. There is no intended support for this by Netscape. Switch to a 24-bit visual if possible. Make sure your framebuffer hardware can handle 24-bit graphics.
Problem:
Netscape 6 does not launch, but instead returns the following error:

nsNativeComponentLoader: GetFactory(/opt/netscape6/components/libwidget_gtk.so) Load FAILED with error: ld.so.1: /opt/netscape6/mozilla-bin: fatal: libgtk-1.2.so.0: open failed: No such file or directory. 		Solution:
Run the shell script netscape to launch the browser, rather than netscape6. The netscape shell script correctly sets up your LD_LIBRARY_PATH and other environment variables so that all necessary shared libraries (such as the GTK shared library mentioned in the problem statement) can be found.
Problem:
Where is the "about:plugins" feature? In Netscape Communicator 4.X, I could find out which plugins the browser had installed by choosing About Plug-ins from the help menu. I do not find that menu item in Netscape 6 or Mozilla. 		Solution:
To get that information type about:plugins in the URL text field of your browser window (i.e., the text field in which you usually type a URL when you want to navigate to a site on the web, such as http://www.sun.com.
Problem:
The browser has popped up a window that has no controls on its title bar, so I can't see how to make it go away. How can I remove this window? 		Solution:
If you are running in the CDE environment, you can press the F4 key while holding down the ALT key. This key sequence (ALT-F4) will make the window go away.
Problem:
The browser does not seem to remember visited links (i.e., places I have been before). 		Solution:
Quit the application, remove the history.dat file in your $HOME/.mozilla directory, and re-start the browser.
Problem:
What can be done about undefined symbol _XlcCompileResourceList at runtime: error in Solaris 2.6?		 Solution:
Use the following workaround: 
       Edit the file : /usr/openwin/lib/locale/iso8859-1/XI18N_OBJS
       Remove the line 
         < XOM     xomEuro            _XomGenericOpenOM # XOM_open
       Add the line 
         > XOM     common/xomLTRTTB   _XomGenericOpenOM # XOM_open
This is a known problem; see Bugzilla bug 17221 for details.
Problem:
Mozilla fails at startup time with a "Wrong Architecture" error.		 Solution:
Download a recent version of the 2.6 recommended patch cluster. Mozilla is unlikely to function well without this patch cluster.
Problem:
What can be done about a "Gdk-WARNING **: can not create input context with specified input style." error message?		 Solution:
If the error message is a result of clicking on input fields when the input method is disabled, install one of the following OS patches:
Solaris 2.6 Solaris 7 Solaris 8
SPARC 106040-14 (or higher) 107636-04 (or higher) 108773-02 (or higher)
x86 106041-14 (or higher) 107637-04 (or higher) 108774-02 (or higher)

For patch access, access http://sunsolve.Sun.COM/pub-cgi/show.pl?target=patches/patch-access

Browser: Installation

Problem:
Installed the XPInstall version of Netscape 6 or Mozilla (the "no root access required" version) as root, now Netscape 6 or Mozilla does not launch. 		Solution:
This is a known problem. The best solution at present is to run the XPInstall installer as the user that will be running the application, not as root. Remove your entire Netscape 6 or Mozilla installation, then re-install. Also, mv ~/.mozilla ~/.mozilla.old before re-starting the browser.
However, if you have already installed the browser as root but would like to run as another user, simply run the browser as root the first time, browse a couple of sites, then quit. You should subsequently be able to run that browser as a non-root user.
Problem:
The SVR4 installer ("pkgadd" version) does not install; it complains that patches are not installed on your system. Where can I get those patches? 		Solution:
The necessary patches for Solaris 7 and Solaris 8 are on the Netscape 6 or Mozilla download site. See The Netscape Solaris web page.
Problem:
After installing the XPInstall version, the application will not launch. 		Solution:
The XPInstall installer does not check that your system has the necessary patches. If installing with this method, download necessary patches from The Netscape Solaris web page and install them, then install Netscape 6 or Mozilla.
Problem:
While installing with the XPInstall version, a message appears saying that the installer cannot install certain .xpi files. 		Solution:
The computer is low on swap space. The XPInstall version requires substantial swap space to run to completion; increase system swap space as mentioned earlier in this document.
Problem:
Installing a patch in the Netscape 6 or Mozilla package makes Japanese Input Method often crash. 		Solution:
This is a known problem; the problem is that the patch bundle distributed on the Netscape 6 or Mozilla Solaris site does not have the latest versions of all patches in the bundle. You can get the latest version of that patch yourself by visiting the SunSolve Patch Access web site here. Here are Patch-ID# of the latest version available now. Please get proper one according to your Solaris operating environment.
  • 108773-06: Solaris 8 SPARC
  • 108774-06: Solaris 8 X86
  • 107636-05: Solaris 7 SPARC
  • 107637-05: Solaris 7 X86
We will be updating the Netscape 6 or Mozilla Solaris download site as well to resolve this problem.
Problem:
During installation of the required patches, patch 106300-XX will not install. 		Solution:
This patch is a shared library patch for 64-bit C++. It requires you to have the package SUNWlibCx to be installed on your system. Install that package, or continue with patch installation without installing patch 106300-XX.
Problem:
I'm running on a SunRay and have installed the XPInstall version, but I need to install the necessary patches. How do I do that? 		Solution:
Contact your system administrator, who should install those patches for you on the SunRay server.
Problem:
I would like to install Netscape 6 or Mozilla on a file server, somewhere other than /opt where the ns6install script tries to install by default. How can I specify where I would like to install the product? 		Solution:
If you want a root installation on a server you can bypass or modify the ns6install script to specify an install location:

# pkgadd -d `pwd` -R SUNWns6jp SUNWns6 SUNWns6l

If you do this manually, you will have to make sure to remove any old versions of these Netscape 6 or Mozilla packages, and install any needed patches.

Browser: Proxy Configuration

Problem:
Automatic Proxy Configuration does not work if trying to use the Netscape Communicator 4.X PAC file as-is. 		Solution:
The Netscape 6 for Solaris Release Notes contain instructions on how to work with automatic proxy configuration. Better yet, use manual proxy configuration; automatic proxy configuration isn't supported in Netscape 6 or Mozilla. For more information about this problem, see Bugzilla bug 53080.

Browser: Plugins

Problem:
Placing plugins in your ~/.mozilla/plugins directory does not work. 		Solution:
This is a known problem: Netscape 6 or Mozilla does not look in this directory for plugins. When installing a new plugin, install it into the plugins subdirectory of your Netscape 6 or Mozilla installation.

Browser: Secure Sites

Problem:
  • Cannot access sun.net
  • Cannot access a secure web page.
Solution:
The problem is with some web servers that do not support TLS (Transport Layer Sockets, also known as SSL version 3.1). The Java Web server is one such web server. To work around this problem, follow these steps:
  • From the Tasks menu, select "Privacy and Security", then choose the sub-menu "Security Manager".
  • Click on the tab labelled "Advanced", then when the Advanced panel appears, click on the label "Options".
  • Remove the check beside the "Enable TLS" checkbox, then click the "Close" button.
  • Quit the application and re-start.

Browser: Mail

Problem:
Mail does not come up correctly. 		Solution:
Your Netscape Communicator 4.X preferences may not have migrated correctly. Quit the application and type netscape -installer, then set your Mail and News preferences by hand.
Problem:
Drag and drop of an E-mail file to a Mail folder crashes the application with a segmentation fault. 		Solution:
This is a known problem. This will be fixed in a future release. For more information, please see Bugzilla bug 58915).
Problem:
Send yourself an E-mail message with a text attachment (assuming you have not configured your browser to recognize .txt extensions). Use Netscape 6 or Mozilla Messenger to receive the E-mail. Click on the paper clip icon to open the attachment. An "Open/Save Attachment" dialog appears. Choose the the "Open it" option and press the button labelled "OK". I dialog labelled "Downloading" appears, offering two choices. Choose "Open using". Type "/usr/bin/vi" in the text field that appears. Netscape 6 or Mozilla Preview Release 3 does not allow this. (BUG Number 1).
There is a "Choose..." button to the right of the text field that is dead. Click on the button. A file dialog entitled "Choose Viewer" will appear. Navigate to "/usr/bin". Then single click on the "vi" entry in the dialog. Click the Open button. "/usr/bin/vi" should be in the text field in the "Downloading" dialog. Click the "OK" button in that dialog. No vi (BUG #2). 		Solution:
Both are known bugs. The first bug is Bugzilla bug 49787; the second bug is Bugzilla bug 57810.
Problem:
Any Mail manipulation that involves more than two folders causes a segmentation fault. Just clicking on three mail folders is enough. 		Solution:
This is a known problem. For more information, see Bugzilla bugs 61752 and 61642.
Problem:
Open Netscape 6 Messenger, click on "Drafts in Local Folders", click on "Sent in Local Folders". The application crashes. 		Solution:
This is a known problem that was seen in Preview Release 3 but is fixed in Netscape 6 FCS. Upgrade to Netscape 6 or Mozilla for Solaris FCS.
Problem:
LDAP support is missing. 		Solution:
Yes, we know. So does Netscape. Really. This feature will is an Enterprise Client feature and will be in a future release. For developments within the mozilla project on LDAP support visit http://www.mozilla.org/directory/. For more details about this, please see Bugzilla bug 36557.

Browser: Java Integration and Extensions

Problem:
Which version of Java Plug-In works with Netscape 6? If I download my own copy of Java Plug-In, does it automatically make itself available for use by Netscape 6? 		Solution:
The earliest version of Java Plug-In that works with Netscape 6 is 1.3.0_01. You can get it from the java.sun.com site by following this link. Note that at the time this tip was written (January 11, 2001), 1.3.0_02 was about to be shipped but was not yet posted to the java.sun.com web site. You should get that version if you can, as it is recommended over the 1.3.0_01 version.

And no, the JRE will not automatically make itself available to Netscape 6 Solaris when you install it. However, doing so is simple: make a symbolic link from $MOZILLA/plugins/libjavaplugin_oji.so to $JRE/plugin/$ARCH/ns600/libjavaplugin_oji.so (where $ARCH is either sparc or i386). Launch the browser and it should do the rest.
Problem:
Launching Pluglets crashes the browser. 		Solution:
Remove component.reg from /opt/SUNWns6 or wherever you installed Netscape 6 or Mozilla. Then try bringing up Netscape with /netscape file:///opt/SUNWns6/javadev/misc/test.html. There is a Bugzilla Bug against this; see bug 61786. This problem shows up after you install the package and try bringing up Pluglets for the first time.

Browser: Instant Messaging, Other Extensions

Problem:
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) doesn't work in the browser. 		Solution:
A couple of possible causes:
  1. You don't have an AIM account
  2. You are behind a firewall
If you are behind a firewall (certainly the case for Sun employees within its internal corporate network), you will need to configure AIM to work through SOCKS. Go to the browser Preferences panel and select the "Instant Messenger" category, subcategory "Connection". Check the box labelled "Connect using proxy", then choose "SOCKS 5" as your Protocol. Contact the system administrator in your area for details on which SOCKS proxy server and proxy port to use and whether authentication should be used. . If you have already tried to run AIM, you will now need to quit and re-start the browser; if you haven't tried yet, it should now work.
If you don't have an AIM account, you can get one by going to The AOL web site and registering for a free AIM ID.