How do I enable file downloads without requiring helper applications?
Firefox is now requiring helper applications for "apt" downloads. I don't want that. I just want to download files and install by hand. How do I regain always having the option to simply download any file, of any type?
All Replies (5)
What is an APT file?
Are you getting the Open/Save/Cancel dialog, or the Save/Cancel dialog, or is Firefox attempting to open the file directly?
Firefox generally associates programs or plugins with content types instead of file extensions. This information may be gleaned from your operating system or from plugins. This information is stored in a file named mimeTypes.rdf and is maintained automatically, so it's risky (and might be fruitless) to edit the file by hand...
To see whether the changed behavior is a feature of one of your extensions, could you try downloading APT files in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to bypass interference by extensions (and some custom settings). More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.
You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using
Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
In the dialog, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)
Any difference?
I was confused. Some sites for downloads (such as for Firefox plugins) are now using "apt://" URLs - something I've never seen before. Then Firefox insists it needs a helper application for "atp". I thought it was referring to the ".deb" file extension, not to "apt://".
These sites should also provide .deb files for Ubuntu and Debian installation as file downloads. Forcing use of a helper application, and installation from within the browser rather than supporting the option to install by hand from the command line, is too clever by half, and can create security risks.
It's not Firefox's problem, except perhaps it might be clearer that it is "apt://" URLs that it has trouble with, and not a filetype as such.
Got it. The non-standard protocol at the left of the URL does need some kind of handler.
Is this relevant? http://askubuntu.com/questions/183505/how-do-i-open-apt-links-in-firefox-on-lubuntu
You probably want to save such a file and use that package installer to install this package.
Try to rename (or delete) the mimeTypes.rdf file in the Firefox profile folder to reset all file actions.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/mimeTypes.rdf
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/File_types_and_download_actions#Resetting_download_actions
You can also search on the about:config page to see if anything comes up for the .apt file extension.