Ytdyklly

I am running Linux Mint Debian edition (essentially Debian testing) and the Cinnamon desktop environment. Every time I launch google-chrome it asks to become the default browser. I have told it to do so in all ways I can think of but I still get this pop-up:

What I have tried:

• Clicking on "Set as default" in the pop-up.


• 
  

  Making chrome the default in its settings:

  
  
  

  

  
  


• 
  

  Using my desktop environment's (cinnamon) settings app to set it as default:

  
  
  

  

  
  


• 
  

  Associating it with all relevant mimetypes in the various ways and files where such things are defined:

  
  
  

  $ xdg-mime query default text/html 
  
  chrome.desktop
  
  
  
  $ grep chrome .local/share/applications/mimeapps.list
  
  text/html=chrome.desktop
  
  x-scheme-handler/http=chrome.desktop
  
  x-scheme-handler/https=chrome.desktop
  
  x-scheme-handler/about=google-chrome.desktop
  
  x-scheme-handler/about=google-chrome.desktop;
  
  text/html=emacs.desktop;google-chrome.desktop;firefox.desktop;
  
  x-scheme-handler/http=chrome.desktop;
  
  
  
  $ grep chrome /usr/share/applications/defaults.list
  
  application/xhtml+xml=google-chrome.desktop
  
  text/html=google-chrome.desktop
  
  text/xml=gedit.desktop;pluma.desktop;google-chrome.desktop
  
  x-scheme-handler/http=google-chrome.desktop
  
  x-scheme-handler/https=google-chrome.desktop
  
  

  
  
  

  In those files, I replaced all occurrences of firefox (my previous default) with google-chrome. No other browsers are defined anywhere in the file:

  
  
  

  $ grep -E 'firefox|opera|chromium' /usr/share/applications/defaults.list  
  
     .local/share/applications/mimeapps.list
  
  $ 
  
  

  
  


• 
  

  Launching chrome as root in case that helps but it won't let me:

  
  
  

  

  
  


• 
  

  Using Debian's alternatives system to set it as default:

  
  
  

  $ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/www-browser www-browser /usr/bin/google-chrome 1080
  
  update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/google-chrome to provide /usr/bin/www-browser (www-browser) in auto mode
  
  
  
  $ ls -l /etc/alternatives/www-browser
  
  lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 Jan 23 17:03 /etc/alternatives/www-browser -> /usr/bin/google-chrome
  
  

  
  

None of these seem to have any effect. Will no one rid me of this turbulent pop-up?

I don't have Chrome installed, only Chromium, but I hope they aren't too different for this to work. When I choose "Don't ask again", Chromiom stores the following setting in my ~/.config/chromium/Profile 1/Preferences file:

{

   "alternate_error_pages": {

      "enabled": false

   },

   "apps": {

      "shortcuts_have_been_created": true

   },

   "autofill": {

      "negative_upload_rate": 1.0,

      "positive_upload_rate": 1.0

   },

   "bookmark_bar": {

      "show_on_all_tabs": true

   },

   "bookmark_editor": {

      "expanded_nodes": [ "1" ]

   },

   "browser": {

      "check_default_browser": false,

      [...]

You could try to manually add that check_default_browser setting to your Preferences file :)

found the solution:

When you get the question again, don’t press the button that makes
Chrome the default browser, but click on the far right of the bar on
the X to make the bar disappear. Big chance it won’t come back.

via a manjaro forum post

Why manual edits?

Just "Click on "Don't ask again" in the pop-up." as indicated.

I don't see any indication in your question that you have tried that.

Here is a quick solution as worth as the one above I guess but different:
Run in a terminal :

echo '# Disable set default browser

export CHROMIUM_FLAGS="$CHROMIUM_FLAGS --no-default-browser-check"' 

| sudo tee /etc/chromium.d/disable-set-default-browser

It will create a file that will launch Chromium without checking ...
Very useful when the "don't ask again" question doesn't pop up :)

I hope it can help.
David.

Simple solution

Works fine!


sudo update-alternatives --config x-www-browser
sudo xdg-mime default chromium-browser.desktop x-scheme-handler/http
sudo xdg-mime default chromium-browser.desktop x-scheme-handler/https
sudo xdg-mime default chromium-browser.desktop text/html