Can't install Tor, browser crashing, 'failed to execute'

[wiffleball88]

Okay so I have a bunch of problems I'm hoping someone might be able to help me with. I'm running a Debian-based operating system, Kali Linux, on a dual boot on a disc on a Windows computer, and it's been really rough going.

So first, I tried to install Tor, downloaded the file, saved it to my Desktop, and it wouldn't just open and run by double clicking like it usually does, saying "there is no application installed for tar archive (xz-compressed) files tor." So I looked online and followed some steps to extract it, with 'cd Desktop/' then 'tar -xvf (file name)', but instead of running properly it just read me back another input output error.

But on top of that, just throughout using Linux, my Iceweasel keeps crashing, and when it's not crashing, it often won't start up, and there'll be an error that says:

"Failed to execute child process "Iceweasel" (input/output error)"

And sometimes I get the same error for even the terminal, so I can't even uninstall and reinstall Iceweasel or try running it from the Terminal. The only thing that sometimes works is restarting.

It just seems like this shouldn't be this hard, with this many errors that I can't really trace to anything. Could there be something wrong with my hard drive? or the disc itself?

[vbrummond]

You might find more appropriate help here. http://forums.kali.org/

Have you tried verifying the md5sum of the iso or the disc you burned?

[wiffleball88]

Thanks for responding! Yeah threads don't get very many replies on that forum, or I would have gone there first. Kali Linux is Debian-based, so I thought this was the best place to go after that forum. I'm sorry about bothering people if it's weird or something.

I did verify the disc and it seemed A-okay. The operating system runs and it shows what it's supposed to, it's just the actual functioning seems wonky. It's hard to tell whether it's all connected wonkiness or just many mistakes one after the other - each error is different, but I guess if it was all connected to a problem with the hard drive that could still be the case - and unfortunately I couldn't find too many people with the same problems after google searching.

[vbrummond]

I am always willing to help but I cannot be sure what Kali Linux has changed from Debian. Try to tackle the issues one at a time. You mentioned an input/output error with iceweasel. I would check the logs (such as the dmesg command) to see if anything else is going wrong.

[dilberts_left_nut]

To be fair, Kali is not aimed at "new users" and is not intended to be used "as a desktop system" but rather for the specialised purpose of penetration testing.

Also, as no-one here (AFAIK) really knows what the Kali devs do to change it from a Debian base, so we can't really give you any sensible advice other than "use something else".

[wiffleball88]

Oh okay. I was just thinking that people might still get the same errors in a Debian-based system. Has anyone gotten the same 'failed child process...input/output error', or had problems extracting the Tor file, and been able to fix it? I'll try the dmesg command.

Yeah I have a friend who's more into computers than I am who uses it for their work and so I just thought it would be fine to use as a desktop. I guess it's possible it's just not built for that use? But I would think it wouldn't have the input/output error for the terminal as well, since it is built for that.

[dilberts_left_nut]

I guess it's possible it's just not built for that use?

This.

An I/O error is usually a symptom of hardware or filesystem issues.

[vbrummond]

Debian does everything I need so I don't really need a fork that might disappear on a whim. I don't know about using tor in a more general purpose manner, but I was able to just unpack the torbrowser and run it from a folder in my home directory and it works fine.

[Bulkley]

Don't install Tor. Instead use the Tor Browser Bundle. Follow the instructions. Don't install it. Just open it and use it.

BTW, you probably won't keep Kali Linux for very long. It is just too specialized for the average user.