Hi,
After portableapps.com made my day by publishing FF3beta3 so fast, I have one question:
Is it possible to run two different firefox instances at once? I would love to switch between FF2 and FF3b3 on the fly to compare them, but when i try to start the second FF, a message appears: "Firefox already running". I know that, but i want to start the other one anyway... 
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Question: run two firefox-portables simultan?
February 13, 2008 - 4:03am
#1
Question: run two firefox-portables simultan?
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there´s a FirefoxPortable.ini template hidden in the source folder.Create a new one with an editor and place it in the same directory as the launcher.It should look like the following:
But...! You should backup Your regular FFPortable before trying out multiple instances because the profiles might mix and cause some errors or data failure.Remember it´s beta!
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisici elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis .." Friday Next -
"May The Schwartz be with You!" Yogurt the Yoda
Actually, you need to make sure all the entries are in there, not just that one line.
The easiest way to figure it out is to read the help.html in the FirefoxPortable directory. It has a link to the readme with the details on the INI and other advanced options.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
thanks for the lecture
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisici elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis .." Friday Next -
"May The Schwartz be with You!" Yogurt the Yoda
NOT CORRECT !!! still open only a new windows of same STANDARD version !!!
(check it via source !)
You need to set *both* instances to be multiple instance, otherwise it won't work. You can do this with the base Windows one by launching it with -no-remote
Again, this is not intended for anything other than developer testing. It's not meant for end users to use.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I tried the "-no-remote" parameter suggested in many forums on the internet for standard FF first, but these didn't work with FFP. But the changes in the .ini worked great!
I have to reopen this thread:
Changing the .ini to AllowMultipleInstances=true worked fine, for about 3 weeks.
Now, without warning, it doesnt work anymore!
The error message shows up, saying:
"Firefox is already running, but not responding..."
Any ideas? I didn't change anything in the .ini!
thx, atreiju
Oh, and I can add this strange thing:
Sometimes, when i close firefox, it isn't closed (prozess in task manager running). When i then try to start it again, without ending the prozess before, the same error message shows up.
If the process is still running, but you can't see the program's window, that's probably not a good thing. (You're talking about firefox.exe, not FireFoxPortable.exe, right?)
That should be the first thing for troubleshooting. There could be a plugin that is misbehaving, or one of the configuration files might be messed up. (Run chkdsk etc.)
Or are you saying that this only happens when you set AllowMultipleInstances and launch a second firefox? That is, the first firefox is there and functioning ok, but when you try to launch a second one, the first one disappears from your desktop and taskbar, and the second one reports that the first one is not responding? That would definitely not be a good thing.
You know you can do Ctrl-N to make a new window, right?
MC
chkdsk is okay.
i can't tell exactly, when this happens or if it depends on the AllowMultipleInstances value.
The first instance of firefox keeps on working, just the second one wont start.
I'm not sure, but i think there are two different problems. Because the second instance doesn't work anymore, every time I try. But it only sometimes happens, that firefox remains in the memory in the background. These two problems must not stick together.
Of course I use ctrl-n, very often. The problem is not me, starting the second instance (but if i try, it doesnt work either), its other programs trying to start the second instance. For example when i click a Link in Outlook etc..
It would be a cool workaround, if firefox could open external links from other programms just in another tab/window, without the need to launch another instance. Is that possible?
How are you setting Windows to make FFP your default HTML browser? Are you for example using something like this discussion, or just using Firefox's Tools | Options?
If the link in Outlook is calling FireFoxPortable.exe, there shouldn't be a problem. I'd guess it is calling ".\FirefoxPortable\apps\firefox.exe", which would not be a good thing. Or it may be trying to call FireFoxPortable.exe, just not succeeding.
The "firefox ... open external links from other programs" bit is a bit misleading. Think of it instead as Windows using firefox to open other links. In other words, Outlook is asking Windows to open a link, and Windows is using Firefox to do it. Unless you are careful, Windows will do it wrong and that can make Firefox look messed up. The trick is to tell Windows how to do it right. (Sometimes it can take a lot of work to get Windows to do something right.)
I use programs (e.g. Trillian) that can use an existing instance of Firefox to open a link in a new tab (or a new window, if I configure it that way). I haven't looked to see if it is using DDE or some other trick to accomplish that. I've also seen launchers that test for an existing instance of a program and use it to open one of those instances instead of starting a new one. Maybe we should look at ways of doing that.
MC
No, that is not the problem.
I had made my ffp standard-browser with DefaultMyFFP. It did a great job, and i use it since ffp 2.0.
firefoxportable.exe is called correctly (i can tell by the splash-screen), not firefox.exe.
Its not only Outlook, its EVERY application. Like Pidgin, UpdateChecker, OpenOffice, etc.
If I have to tell EVERY application how to open the link in a new tab, thats not an option. Too many applications.
Then i stick to the main problem: how can i make portablefirefox to run with multiple instances again?
actually, every application just says to Windows "I have a URL of type http to open, deal with it" and Windows determines what the URL handler is (firefox) and calls it to open the link.
There is an option somewhere in FF for how to handle links from external applications, which is what these are, and you just need to get -that- to open it in a new tab. Personally, I use the TabMixPlus addon, which handles it all, but then, I don't use FF in portable mode.
If you are sure that Windows is using the correct program (FirefoxPortable.exe), then that takes us back to why is Firefox not opening and/or closing.
Perhaps you should try using FirefoxPortable with a URL (e.g. from the command line or a shortcut for testing) to see if it happens when you manually tell it twice to open a URL. If you can consistently make it fail with a command line (e.g. a cmd script) that would be helpful.
If you can't ever make it fail when running it from a command line, but it fails when Windows does it, that suggests something odd about the way Windows is doing it. Not that Firefox should fail to open or close like that.
You say you are trying to run FF2 and FF3 at the same time. Can you tell if it is one or the other that is misbehaving, or is it both? Is the one that fails to open or close consistently one or the other? (Process Explorer might give better information than Task Manager for that.) They are installed in different directories, right?
I don't think you should have to tell every application to open in a new tab, just configure something once to tell it that is your preference. I'd think that would be a function of FirefoxPortable.exe if you are starting from the command line.
I think the "fail to open or close" is a different problem unrelated to trying to start a second instance. If I'm not mistaken (which I have been a lot, apparently) the "not responding" message is coming from Firefox, not from FirefoxPortable. If that is the case, then FFPE is starting firefox ok, it is just that the new instance of FF notices that the old instance is not responding and is raising the alarm. If Windows is somehow starting FFPE in a way that causes FF to stop responding, we should see if we can get it to stop doing that, but we should also see if we can get FF to be more robust or forgiving.
Once you've eliminated all the things that make your situation unique (removed plugins, used default directories, put testing commands in a cmd script) and the problem still remains, the troubleshooting will at least have a slightly better focus.
MC
First: Thanks for your try to help!!!!
1. Problem: second instance doesn't work
=================
yes, the problem is the second launch of firefox.exe, not firefoxportable.exe. I can tell that, because the splash screen appears correctly before the error message shows up.
I try to run ff3b3 twice from cmd:
"firefoxportable.exe www.google.de"
First try works perfect, second try i get the error.
I tried the same with ff2: exactly the same happens! (Didn't try that one before)
I first start ff3b3, second ff2 and otherwise: no problems. If i try to launch one of them again (3 instances), error.
So ff3b3 and ff2 runs together without problems?! thats strange... and thats the reason why i didn't have problems before: I used ff3b3, but ff2 was still my default. So everytime i clicked a link, ff2 starts correctly for the first time. The problem appeared after i set ff3b3 to default AND used it, too.
One mystery solved. *thumbs up*
BTW: Both FFP are in different locations.
2. Problem: Links out of other apps will start in a different instance instead of a different tab/window.
======================
FirefoxPortable.exe receives the link. Not firefox.exe.
I'm sure, that with FFP2 i somehow reach that: opening all links in another tab, if FFP is running. If it's not, it started. But I have no idea, how I did this. Perhaps this is the standard behavior? Or is it normal, that the links start in a new instance?
3. Problem: Not responing firefox.exe
======================
In deed firefox.exe does not respond. firefoxportable.exe close correctly.
I'm not able to reproduce this problem, so it will be hard to find a solution. This problem doesn't seem to correspond with the other 2, so lets just stick to No.1 and No.2.
No.3 Could be divx-plugin or a bad extension. It not so bad, perhaps another update will solve this.
I hope I got every point. Thanks again!
I came to the glorious idea to test everything with a complete new download of ffp3b3. (could have tried this hours before...
)
I didn't even change anything in the .ini and...
it worked the right way: links opens just in a new tab, if ff not running, it starts.
(I tried the same command in cmd, and with outlook links, too)
Of course, the error does not appear, because there is no need for another instance.
So i changed back ini for my original ffp3b3 to "AllowMultipleInstances="
Everything now works fine again. Because i dont use ffp2 anymore, there is no need for multiple instances
Two questions remain:
1. Why does the one version of ffp3b3, with AllowMultipleInstances=true try to open another instance, even when its not necessary?
2. Still: why do i get an error, when trying to start another instance of the same version (with AllowMult..=true)?
EDIT:
I think the AllowMultipleInstances is the problem. It works perfect, if you use two different ff-versions and if you start only one instance per Version. If you have one instance open, then EVERY external open command (like the one i tried over cmd, or like the one send by outlook etc.) try to start another instance of the same ff-version, and the error shows up.
EDIT2:
This problem can be reproduced:
1. Download and install a clean FFP3b3.
2. Change in cmd into its folder, type "firefoxportable.exe www.google.de" twice and see what happens (everything should work)
3. Close all firefox windows.
4. Change the ini-line to "AllowMultipleInstances=true" and copy it into ffp-root-folder.
5. Go back to the cmd, type the same command again, twice, et voilà: error.