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I have re-install Xubuntu 22.04 three (3) times with the same results.

After apt update/upgrade web browsers [Firefox and Chromium] gives a file not found for any link in the file browser [Thunar, Dolphin, Krusader] on any mounted drive.

  1. To my amazement, links open properly on the root os file system???
  2. The one exception is the links in the KDE Konguerer file manager continue to work properly! So it appears to be a Firefox/Chromium config file issue, or how the file browser sends the link to web browsers.
  3. If I manually type the file address in the web browser, it still errors. Firefox/Chromium don't seem to be able to see mounted drives.
  4. When the install is completed everything works fine (for weeks and after reboots), it just goes screwy after subsequent update/upgrades.
  5. I have attempted everything I can think of such as permissions, owner, resetting default file extension/meme assignments etc.
  6. Turning the firewall off has no effect.

Now I think we are getting somewhere - When I try GuillaumeF93 suggestion below, I got:

janz@sun:/data/cmds/bash-- cmd$ xdg-open index.html
janz@sun:/data/cmds/bash-- cmd$ 2022/05/28 14:14:30.481056 \
system_key.go:129: cannot determine nfs usage in \
generateSystemKey: cannot parse /etc/fstab: expected between \
3 and 6 fields, found 8
Gtk-Message: 14:14:30.548: Failed to load module \
"canberra-gtk-module"

It's complaining about fstab but fstab never changed and it is correct.

# sda1 1.4tb (3.6tb drive)
UUID=229ee915-aadf-4639-9a26-83e5aafd02c3 /data           ext4    errors=remount-ro   0       1

Xubuntu is on a ssd drive and the mounted drives are sata but I don't think this should make a difference. I never had this problem with previous versions of Xubuntu with the same hardware.

This does not seem to be a problem with the file browser or web browsers, but rather some configuration file that gets screwed up after the upgrade.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated - thanks for the help :)

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These answers do not solve my problem for using Firefox because I have thousands of research links on my /data drive and other mounted drives. I need Firefox to work like it should.

Why can't Chromium suddenly access any partition except for /home?

How to get the snap-based chromium to access a separately mounted.

muru
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jwzumwalt
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    You can try to go to the directory where your `index.html` file is located with your terminal and type `xdg-open index.html` or `firefox index.html` to see if the program throws an error in the command line. – GuillaumeF93 May 28 '22 at 20:11
  • *"xdg-open index.html"* gave me a default file dialog box, I set it to "Firefox" and firefox errored. *"firefox index.html"* opens firefox with the dashboard but not the file :( – jwzumwalt May 28 '22 at 20:16
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    Try command line of `firefox /data/cmds/bash--\ cmd/index.html`. Or, see: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1286660/how-to-get-the-snap-based-chromium-to-access-a-separately-mounted-filesystem – Terrance May 28 '22 at 20:38
  • same file not found error.. – jwzumwalt May 28 '22 at 20:41
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    I agree with your though on snap package, if you wish you can reinstall the good old deb package from Mozilla ppa. – GuillaumeF93 May 28 '22 at 21:11
  • So I have a bit of debugging to do. I am pretty sure the first things I did was re-install Firefox with apt... did not make a difference. I don't know if apt and snap are related? Also this was not a problem until ver 22.04. I have always installed using apt (I have a bash script with over 100 programs) unless a package was only available as snap (5 or 6). Apparently Ubuntu just switched to Firefox w/snap. – jwzumwalt May 28 '22 at 21:18
  • The strange thing is the original distro ver of Firefox works. It is not until you update Firefox that everything BREAKS! – jwzumwalt May 28 '22 at 21:26
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    Does this answer your question? [Why can't Chromium suddenly access any partition except for /home?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1184357/why-cant-chromium-suddenly-access-any-partition-except-for-home) – guiverc May 28 '22 at 22:15
  • Does this answer your question? [How to get the snap-based chromium to access a separately mounted filesystem?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1286660/how-to-get-the-snap-based-chromium-to-access-a-separately-mounted-filesystem) – karel May 29 '22 at 00:59

2 Answers2

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This needs to be fixed, it is unacceptable for SNAP programs to not be able to access mounted drives!!! Jeeze, a week of my life lost to the big bit bucket in the sky...

This is not a bug. It's a design feature. Snaps are containers, with a set of defined interfaces for what resources they can access.

Limiting a browsers access is a huge factor in limiting the problems that a security vulnerability in the browser may lead to. After all, the browser is running untrusted code downloaded willy-nilly, and presents a large attack surface.

vidarlo
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    This is not a feature, when I cant use my computer to access hundreds of research topics saved on a mounted drive. KDE tried to do this same thing by prohibiting the root user from using their file manager. They learned the hard way when thousands of users switched to Gnome - after a year they removed the limitation. SNAP will quickly go under if they stop people from using their computers the way they need to. – jwzumwalt May 29 '22 at 02:01
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    @jwzumwalt You can always go with the non-snap version of Firefox that will not be sandboxed that will allow you to access any drive mount you have. See: https://askubuntu.com/a/1404401/231142 – Terrance May 29 '22 at 03:50
  • @jwzumwalt It is a feature from the developers point of view. If you want, you can give a snap access to additional interfaces; see what I linked. Note that the majority of users probably never use the browser like you (me included), so it *is* a security feature for a *lot* of users. – vidarlo May 29 '22 at 07:43
  • @vidario - I understand this viewpoint, but it was interesting that when KDE tried the same security "feature" users pointed out that if that argument were valid then **there would be no Word processor macros, MS Outlook or local email programs, web browsers**, etc. If someone wants safety then install a purpose built distro. Don't cripple my distro with a update that hides screwing with my computer and takes a week of my life reverse engineering. The Bill Gates programmer attitude of we'll tell you how you can use your computer belongs on MS, it is not the Linux/Unix way of doing things. – jwzumwalt May 29 '22 at 16:39
  • @jwzumwalt I agree that documentation/error messages should probably be better, but this is a move that increases security for the vast majority. Few people use browsers to view local files. – vidarlo May 29 '22 at 16:42
  • I am not debating the morality :) just the facts: here is my forecast (It is what happened to SUSE 20 yrs ago, Mandrake 10 years ago, and KDE 5 yrs ago). It will take Ubuntu 2 years to figure out why users say it is "broken" or "does not work". By the time Ubuntu figures out what has happened, nothing they do will change things - it will die off. Then another new generation of programmers will repeat the process, having not learned from the past. I use Xubuntu and Linux because I want a clean, mean, machine. People buy Win & Mac to be safe. Ubuntu will never win over Mac thinkers. – jwzumwalt May 29 '22 at 17:39
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SOLVED

@Terrance comment above pointed me to another individual that found SNAP programs can not access mounted drives!!! Can you believe it!

Mounting drives under "media" allows access... so I executed this command:

sudo mount --bind /data /media/data
  • This needs to be fixed, it is unacceptable for SNAP programs to not be able to access mounted drives!!! This is a work around not a real solution.
  • the real solution is don't use SNAP or any other program that keeps you from using your computer the way it needs to.

Jeeze, a week of my life lost to the big bit bucket in the sky...

jwzumwalt
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