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The 64 Bit Bomb?


By Aaron - Posted on 29 January 2009

So I've been working on a php/Smarty template application which contains a "print" button allowing you to--you guessed it--print out your template. The button contains the following javascript:

window.open(url,'print','resizable=1,scrollbars=yes,width=800,height=600');

Funny thing, this button, as I noticed that while using FF3.05 (in Intrepid 8.10) and clicking on said button, I would get a complete and utter crash of Firefox.  As in, no warning.  Just 'boom!'. No more Firefox. 

(By the way, I can recreate this 100% of the time using either a "clean" version of Firefox--i.e one without a single addon/plugin--or my standard, default, plugin-laden version).

So I googled around a bit and noticed there were indeed a few mentions of similar problems (a few mentions of screens "graying out").....but nothing really definite.  I should add that I didn't spend a whole lot of time researching as I just wanted to get this one done. 

I did, however, notice the following in terminal's Firefox "log". (i.e. Closing all instances of Firefox and typing "firefox" into the terminal, clicking on the mentioned "print" button and watching the terminal to see what it'd spit out).  Here's what it said:

ICEDTEAPLUGIN_DEBUG = (null)
Segmentation fault

Something worth mentioning....there was a Java ICEDTEA_PLUGIN update yesterday (1/28/09) for this laptop which is a 64bit, System 76 Laptop.  To be honest, I feel this might be part of the problem.  The 64bit part, that is....since this button seems to work fine on all of my coworkers' 32 bit machines (including mine at home).  And for the record, the update didn't fix the problem.

I'm posting this just in case anybody else suffers from the same affliction.  Life's rough sometimes.

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