--Most of this information came from mozillawire but I figured I would save someone the trouble I went through by making a quick instruction sheet for you to follow so you can just get the problem fixed : ) MY information is known by the --.

--WARNING--If you are new to linux please do not attempt to do this if you are not familiar with the file system and how to access it either from your file manager or your command line--YOU COULD REALLY MESS UP YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM--NOT GOOD : (

--I do not know how many people will run into this kind of error but apparently if you use the command line to kill firefox to many times it will completely screw up your browser functions.  For instance:

    * Firefox opens to a blank page instead of the home page
    * Toolbar buttons such as Back/Forward are disabled
    * Bookmarks and history are missing
    * URL is not updated in the Location Bar as you browse
    * Bookmarking a page has no effect
    * Unable to delete, move, or edit certain bookmarks  

--If this is happening do not despair the following is the quickest way to fix FireFox. 

First off bookmarks and browsing history are stored in the places.sqlite file, located in the Firefox profile folder. If the Places database is locked or damaged, many Firefox functions will not work i.e, the symptoms above.

--Remember--places.sqlite--this file is the location for firefox history and bookmarks located in the Firefox profile folder.

It is safe to suspect that the file is corrupted, deleting "places.sqlite" will delete your browsing history, and a new, empty file will be created automatically. In Firefox 3, places.sqlite will be rebuilt using the latest dated JSON file from the bookmarkbackups folder; if no JSON backup exists, bookmarks will be imported from bookmarks.html, if found. --Just want you to know what will happen if you do all this, now to find it.--

--Linux and Unix Users only:P

Profile folders are located here:

    * ~/.mozilla/firefox/<profile folder> --(do not type this into your command line as is), the <profile folder> is where you would type in the name of your profile if it is customized or default.--

--NOTE--The ".mozilla" folder is a hidden folder. Below are some of the file managers you can use to get to the .mozilla file and unhide files.--

Linux hides files or folders that begin with a dot. Most file managers (Nautilus , Konqueror, Thunar) have a "View -> Show Hidden Files" command that will make them visible. If it doesn't have that exact command it should have something similar. For example the Dolphin file manager doesn't have that command because it lets you enable showing hidden files by modifying the folders view properties.

Nautilus (the default file manager for Gnome) will not show any hidden files that end with a "~" (such as backup files generated by gedit). You can view them using a terminal window or a different file manager. [2]

Firefox, Thunderbird and SeaMonkey use the native file picker by default (for example, when adding attachments). However, the Linux builds have a built-in file picker that you can enable by setting the ui.allow_platform_file_picker preference to false using either about:config or the Config editor (Thunderbird). Its typically faster and has a "show hidden files and directories" checkbox. Unfortunately that checkbox is not sticky, the next time you run the application you need to enable it.

You could modify filepickerLoad() in chrome/toolkit.jar/content/global/filepicker.js to call the function to show hidden files and folders but its not recommended. [3]

If you enable show hidden files in the file manager when Mozilla calls the native file picker it will also show hidden files. You can also right click on the directory listing in the file picker (such as the Attach files(s) window) and select "Show Hidden Files".

--I used "konqueror."  If you do not have Konqueror find out what OS of linux you are using and google what kind of file manager comes with it and that should help you get to your file system. Sorry command line users I clicked my repairs : ( Anyways those who do use Konqueror, very simple process--

--Open Konqueror from your applications under internet
--go to home folder
--click on view
--in view click on show hidden files
--then just find the .mozilla file and open it up
--finish reading to get the rest of the info before you take off on your own : )

If the symptoms described above are occurring the Places database ("places.sqlite" file) may be damaged or missing essential information. If you have a recent profile backup you can remove the file "places.sqlite" (and "places.sqlite-journal", if found) from the Firefox profile folder and replace it with the "places.sqlite" backup. If you have no backup or if it doesn't resolve the problem, you can rebuild the Places database as follows: (You may wish to  export your bookmarks to an HTML file first, as a precaution.)

   --once you open .mozilla your will see two files "extension" and "firefox"
   --Open Firefox file
   --You will see two more files one that has funky numbers.default (if you have a default profile) and profiles.ini
   --Open the .default file (this is your actual profile for firefox if you have not customized it under another name)
   --You will now see your bookmarksbackup file, open this and check to make sure you have saved bookmarks in there 
    (if not then this will not work and you will need to look for a new solution)
   --If you have bookmarks in the file go back to the first part of the default file you just opened and you should see more files along with
     your 
     bookmarks file and the places.sqlite file
   --Delete all files named "places.sqlite", including "places.sqlite-journal" and any "places.sqlite.corrupt" files, if found.
   --Close Konqueror and open up Firefox 

When you restart Firefox, "places.sqlite" will be rebuilt and your bookmarks will be automatically restored from the latest JSON bookmark backup; however, your browsing history will be lost. 

--Good news all your browsing tools should be restored and bookmarks.  You will know it is all fixed if when you open firefox it takes you to your homepage that you have and not a blank screen. My strongest suggestion to all firefox user get the foxmarks add-on, it saves all your bookmarks to a server, so if something like this happens, once you get your browser tools working again you can just upload your bookmarks from the server without losing data.  It really is a great add-on.

Note: In rare cases, your JSON bookmark backup files may also be damaged. You can optionally rebuild the Places database without using any JSON backups by also removing all "bookmarks-(date).json" files from the bookmarkbackups folder but this will result in missing bookmarks unless the profile folder contains a bookmarks.html file with your current bookmarks. If you have a bookmarks.html export or a saved copy of bookmarks.html, you can place it in the Firefox profile folder after removing the "places.sqlite*" and all JSON bookmark backups and Firefox will use those bookmarks to rebuild "places.sqlite". 

Hope this helps all those firefox and linux users : )   **Ms. Jeeves**