FreeFileSync does not start

Symptom: FreeFileSync does not star on double-click of GUI icon. For me, at least, the problem started with FFS version FreeFileSync_9.2_Debian_9.0_64-bit on:

EDITION="Cinnamon 64-bit"
DESCRIPTION="Linux Mint 18.1 Serena"

The following information is how to fix this issue.

1. The first thing to do is to try to launch FFS from the terminal. Navigate to where "FreeFileSync" is located. This can be done simly to navigating to the needed directory in GUI, right clicking and choosing "Open in Terminal". To launch FFS in terminal, you must type the filename IN EXACT CASE (Linux requirement), and prefix "./" which stands for "current directory" (a stupid "security" Linux requirement) if you are typing this from the directory where FreeFileSync is located (you can verify that with "ls"). This is the ONLY way to see where an error was returned that prevents FreeFileSync from starting.

2. In my case, the error message I got was:

"./FreeFileSync: error while loading shared libraries: libpng16.so.16: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory"

I tried researching this, wasted time on the internet. Then, I just launched (Mint) Software Manager and did a search for "libpng". It showed that I had "libpng12-0" installed, but not version 16. So I installed "Libpng16-16". THAT Problem resolved... (I like GUI over Terminal gymnastics as much as I can get away with it...).

3. On starting to launch FreeFileSync in Terminal, now getting another error message:

"./FreeFileSync: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: version 'GLIBCXX_3.4.22' not found (required by ./FreeFileSync)"

This time, for some reason using same method as in Step 2 to install a version of "libstdc++" via GUI did not work. However, executing the following command sequence worked:

sudo apt-get install libstdc++6

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Sorry, I could not explain exactly what this does, but it solves the problem. Solution for this step was copied from here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/575505/glibcxx-3-4-20-not-found-how-to-fix-this-error.

4. FreeFileSync now starts by double-clicking its icon! I am happy!!!

 



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Page last modified 14-Aug-17 22:14:37 EDT
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