Ending running processes

[RedAlpha3]

Every so often now, on Kubuntu, then on Mepis, I try to fire up Mozilla Firefox to be told that....it is already running and in order to start up I should end the process or restart. The idea of a restart makes me shudder so I have been running KDE system guard and ending the process firefox-bin. This works.
Firstly, does anyone know why firefox is doing this? It only ever does it if I'm using Kubuntu or Mepis. Secondly, is there an easier or different way of ending a running process?

Thanks in advance

[fos]

I don't know if this is easier...

Open a terminal window. Execute "ps -A" at a command prompt to get a list of process id numbers and their related programs.

Execute kill -9 <process id number> at a command prompt.

fos....

[RedAlpha3]

Thanks fos. The kde system guard was the easiest I could come up with as the command line seems to be more demanding. What I should really find out is why the problem is occurring in the first place, I suppose.

[fos]

I am using Mepis, too. It doesn't open multiple instances of Firefox as a general rule. When it does open a second or third instance, it really bogs the system down. It takes forever to actually open and then leaves some sort of remnant that won't close for a couple of minutes or so. It does eventually shut down. I frequently shut it down through the terminal window I usually have open.

I sure miss Libranet.

fos....

[jpaulb]

I have noticed that the lock file is sometimes not erased at shutdown. The next time the browser starts it encounters a lock indicating that it is already running.

Paul

[bluesdog]

I'm using pure Debian testing, with the odd bit of unstable, and have experienced very few problems, recently, with the last few builds of Fx.

The times it has frozen, due, (I think), to media related stuff, I've sometimes had to kill the firefox-bin process in order to restart the browser. Btw, I think 'restart' refers to Fx, not the OS!

I've never had a problem with closing, and then restarting, the browser cleanly. That is, when I close the browser normally, I can simply restart it at any time. If I do try to launch another 'instance', the system notifys me an instance is already running.

Right now I'm testing Swiftfox (http://getswiftfox.com/) -- optimized for my AMD Athalon64. So far, it is performing admirably.

If you are having recurring Fx problems, try starting it from the command line using strace: strace -o /tmp/firefox.out firefoxThis may provide a clue...

[RedAlpha3]

Btw, I think 'restart' refers to Fx, not the OS!

Typical. I have realised over the years that if it is possible to grab the wrong end of the stick, I will do it!
For future reference, how does one restart firefox? If I try to relaunch it from the icon on the taskbar, I get the message that it is already running(though there is no obvious taskbar indication of this). I have to close the process first.
This has never happened with Debian, only Kubuntu and Mepis.