Firefox leaving orphaned acroread task

wufo · 01-29-2012, 10:20 AM

I am using Slackware 13.37 and I am experiencing a problem I did not under 13.0. It concerns Firefox 4. I have installed the latest acroread pdf reader and plug-in and it works ok the first time opening the pdf in a Firefox window. However after the first time it no longer works, and checking the task list shows the acroread task is "orphaned" (I can't the exact term) and it cannot be killed. So I have had to resort to using xpdf, which I do not care for, to read pdfs.

Any idea as to why this is happening?

tj

Perceptor · 01-29-2012, 11:03 AM

I don't use adobe reader, but quick search for "acroread zombie" makes me think that this is a bug in the plugin. Perhaps you could try newer Firefox version and/or another viewer (epdfview for example), unless you must use adobe reader for some specific reason.

enine · 01-29-2012, 11:20 AM

I seethe issue every now and then. I'll install acroread and it will work but then update firefox and have the problem again and reinstall acroread and it will go away. However i just updated firefox and reinstalled the latest acrobat reader and am still having issues.

Mike_M · 01-29-2012, 02:12 PM

As far as I know, this problem has existed with the Acrobat plugin for years. I stopped using it quite a long time ago, and this is one of the reasons why. If you don't care for xpdf you may want to explore other PDF readers. Okular works quite well. You can configure Firefox to automatically open Okular (or some other reader of your choice) when clicking a link for a PDF.

Old_Fogie · 01-30-2012, 08:18 PM

I find that if you have acroread on board, and the plugin/addon enabled and clear your private data, when you exit firefox the plugin comes back to life.

As a result I've deleted the /usr/lib/mozilla/ plugin for acroread. I prefer to save the pdf and view it, rather than read it in the browser. This issue was a pita.