Firefox or Chromium thinks it's already running

Problem: firefox will not start and the message you get is something like this one:

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

First question - are you sure it is not true?  Are you logged in somewhere else?  Did you leave yourself logged in remotely?  If so, please try to close that session.1) If not, or if the problem persists read on.

Most likely there is a lock file preventing the browser from starting.  That lock lives in the profile sub-directory of a ~/.mozilla directory. Alternatively, your browser may have become a zombie process. Either way, there is help, read on.

I have created a script called unlock-firefox. It looks for a running firefox and any lock file(s) and offers you the option to remove it(them).  Try and see. Open a terminal and enter the command ``unlock-firefox``.

If you still have problems after running the script, write me.

-Greg — Greg Priest-Dorman 2011/02/21 06:47

Chromium will not start and you get a warning message like this one:

 The profile appears to be in use by process 10159 on host tl172.  If you are sure no other processes are using this profile, delete the file /home/hopper/.config/chromium/SingletonLock and relaunch Chromium.
The profile appears to be in use by process 10159 on
host tl172. If you are sure no other processes are using
this profile, delete the file /home/hopper/.config/
chromium/SingletonLock and relaunch Chromium.

First question - are you sure it is not true? Are you logged in somewhere else? Did you leave yourself logged in remotely? If so, please try to close that session.2) If not, or if the problem persists read on.

Most likely the last time you ran chromium either it crashed or you logged out without closing it and it did not exit properly. Either way there is a lock file preventing the browser from starting. Unlike firefox, the chromium message actually tells you what to do. Alternatively we have an in-house script that will also take care of this problem.

The script is called unlock-chromium. It looks for a running chromium browser and any lock file(s) and offers you the option to remove it(them). At a command prompt in a terminal enter the command ``unlock-chromium``

If you still have problems after running the script, write me.

-Greg — Greg Priest-Dorman 2011/02/21 06:47 current


1) , 2)
You can terminate processes remotely, see:kill_a_process