firefox won't connect-SOLVED

Hi, I'm new to Linux. I have made a bootable USB. I have accessed my Windows 7 computer with the OS 15 on a trial basis (not installed on the hard drive). I have been able to connect to my Wi-Fi but Firefox tells me that it can't access any of my attempted websites (Google, Zorin downloads etc).
I went back into the Windows side, installed Firefox and gave it access through my Firewall.
Opened up Zorin but still the same as above-Wi-Fi but no Firefox.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks for your help
SOLVED

This is a new one.
Could you try the suggestions made on this site:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1145311 ... ter-update
and let us know if they work?

Thanks so much for the response. I did the following:
Change proxy setting, in about:preferences Network Settings. I tried the options "no proxy", "Auto-detect proxy" and "Use system proxy" (the latter was the default).
In about:config I set the "network.dns.disableIPv6" to TRUE
In about:config I set the "network.dns.disablePrefetch" to TRUE
and then
go to about:profiles
note the name of the current profile
quit Firefox
start Files
control+h to enable viewing of hidden files
go to ~/.cache/mozilla/firefox
rename the current profile folder to xxxx.default.HOLD
restart Firefox

I have also disabled Add-Ons and Refreshed Firefox but still have the same issue-Server Not Found. BTW, it took me about 30 minutes to figure out what "about:" was talking about!! Yes, I'm new.

Thanks again but am I on the right track?

gtlacey wrote:Thanks again but am I on the right track?

Well...no... 'Cuz you didn't get it working.

Everything you did, it sounds like you did correctly but it happens to not be the needed solution.
When it comes to LiveCD to test the OS before installing, for any distro, strange things can sometimes happen. These problems do not persist after installation. It's just that every operating must be read off of a CD in order to use it.
What you MAY try doing on the LiveCD is open a terminal, remove firefox and then "reinstall" it.

Code:

sudo apt-get update

If the issue is, in fact, the network connection, you will know it if the above update fails.
then:

Code:

sudo apt-get remove firefox

Code:

sudo apt-get install firefox

This may cause the necessary dependencies to be written to disk, allowing FF to work properly.

The only thing I understood was your comment that it didn't work!-pretty good! I have no LiveCD, I downloaded the files from Zorin onto a USB. Where do I access CODE: SELECT ALL? I tried in FF as well as the search box bottom left-hand corner

gtlacey wrote:I have no LiveCD, I downloaded the files from Zorin onto a USB.

This is still considered a LiveCD, even though in modern systems users are often using a USB.

gtlacey wrote: Where do I access CODE: SELECT ALL?

The code tags are like the quote tags used on the forum. They act as separators between comments to make it easier to differentiate them.
The portion within the code tags:
sudo apt-get remove firefox
is the part you want to use.
"sudo" means "SuperUser Do" as in "Do this" (Just SuperUser is "su"). APT is "Advanced Package Tool." "apt-get" is the users command line backend for APT.
So what we get is "SuperUser account do package removal with Package Tool on Firefox".
sudo apt-get remove firefox
or in code tags:

Code:

sudo apt-get remove firefox

To install:
sudo apt-get install firefox
or in code tags:

Code:

sudo apt-get install firefox

It was One Year ago that I migrated from Windows to Linux using Zorin. I remember the confusion of learning something new very well. Using the command line (or terminal) took some getting used to. It was intimidating because it seemed like you had to learn a lot of code or something.
But actually, the command line is quite easy. You don't have to learn a lot of code. Once I got the hang of it, now I use the command line for the vast majority of operations, from converting files from one extension to another (changing png images to svg images), copying and moving files, examining the system, changing directories... It is simpler, faster, more intuitive and more effective. As well as safer.

One of the first things you need to setup in live mode, regardless of boot media, is the network connection - if it is not showing up then you may have hardware that is not compatible with Zorin / Linux in general - or more to the point, the driver needed is not present in the kernels modules. This can sometimes be the case even for Ethernet.

Aravisian wrote:

gtlacey wrote:Thanks again but am I on the right track?

Well...no... 'Cuz you didn't get it working.

Everything you did, it sounds like you did correctly but it happens to not be the needed solution.
When it comes to LiveCD to test the OS before installing, for any distro, strange things can sometimes happen. These problems do not persist after installation. It's just that every operating must be read off of a CD in order to use it.
What you MAY try doing on the LiveCD is open a terminal, remove firefox and then "reinstall" it.

Code:

sudo apt-get update

If the issue is, in fact, the network connection, you will know it if the above update fails.
then:

Code:

sudo apt-get remove firefox

Code:

sudo apt-get install firefox

This may cause the necessary dependencies to be written to disk, allowing FF to work properly.

Aravisian, thank you for your explanation. I have found the terminal Yeh! I deleted FF and tried to reinstall it, however, I got 12 ERR notices along with 12 Failed. The Failed notices were archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/bionics, packages.zorinos.com and ppa/launchpad.net/zorinos/apps, drivers, patches and stable. Also a notification that some files have failed to download. They have been ignored or old ones used. I get the same notices when I try to get update
Now, when I try to open FF I get an error-Failed to execute child (No such file or directory).
The little Wi-Fi icon in the right-hand tool bar says "Network", when I hover the mouse, without disclosing the name of the network.
Thanks again for your help

Swarfendor437 wrote:One of the first things you need to setup in live mode, regardless of boot media, is the network connection - if it is not showing up then you may have hardware that is not compatible with Zorin / Linux in general - or more to the point, the driver needed is not present in the kernels modules. This can sometimes be the case even for Ethernet.

Thanks for this. However, the little Wi-Fi icon in the right-hand tool bar says "Network", when I hover the mouse, without disclosing the name of the network. When I click on the icon it shows the name of my network and gives me a "Disconnect"
option.
Thanks again for your help

gtlacey wrote:Aravisian, thank you for your explanation. I have found the terminal Yeh! I deleted FF and tried to reinstall it, however, I got 12 ERR notices along with 12 Failed. The Failed notices were archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/bionics, packages.zorinos.com and ppa/launchpad.net/zorinos/apps, drivers, patches and stable. Also a notification that some files have failed to download.

Ok, so this means that you are Not Connected to the internet- and that explains your trouble (Don't worry about having uninstalled Firefox, once you are connected, you will be able to open a terminal and "sudo apt-get install firefox" and solve that pretty quick.

gtlacey wrote:Now, when I try to open FF I get an error-Failed to execute child (No such file or directory).

This means Firefox is not installed.
We could expect this one since it was removed in an earlier step.

gtlacey wrote:The little Wi-Fi icon in the right-hand tool bar says "Network", when I hover the mouse, without disclosing the name of the network.
Thanks again for your help

Ok, are you saying that the icon does not show your network to connect to when you hover over it? Or are you saying you are not disclosing the name of your network, but you are seeing it listed?

Ok, are you saying that the icon does not show your network to connect to when you hover over it? Or are you saying you are not disclosing the name of your network, but you are seeing it listed?

The network is hidden, when I connect, it connects and then disconnects. If I connect to create new Wi-Fi networks the little window in the top right hand corner tells me that I'm connected. If I then hover over the icon it just says Network.

gtlacey wrote:

Ok, are you saying that the icon does not show your network to connect to when you hover over it? Or are you saying you are not disclosing the name of your network, but you are seeing it listed?

The network is hidden, when I connect, it connects and then disconnects. If I connect to create new Wi-Fi networks the little window in the top right hand corner tells me that I'm connected. If I then hover over the icon it just says Network.

Ok... let's try seeing if turning off IPv6 helps.
Open a terminal and enter in the following:

Code:

sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1

Code:

sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1

Reset your internet.

Then try again in terminal

Code:

sudo apt-get update

and see if you get a bunch of errors and failures to download. If not and you get a successful update, you are connected and do the

Code:

sudo apt-get install firefox

If not connected, come back and say so and we will keep troubleshooting.

MAGIC! It works. I even turned it all off and rebooted and it worked again. This has been quite a journey and you have taught me a lot. Thank you for your time and help although I also realise that this is the tip of the iceberg. Thank you again.

gtlacey wrote:MAGIC! It works. I even turned it all off and rebooted and it worked again. This has been quite a journey and you have taught me a lot. Thank you for your time and help although I also realise that this is the tip of the iceberg. Thank you again.

Odd that it worked after a reboot... Maybe just needed to Jiggle The Handle?
The terminal command I gave above is not persistent. To make it permanent, we would need to edit your grub file. I just wanted to see if it would work.
BUT... if it IS working after a reboot, maybe we better not mess with it.

By all means, ask if you have any more troubles or need to learn something new.

Could you please hit Edit on your first post in the thread and add the word "SOLVED" to the title?