“Failed to execute default File Manager: Input/output error”

Question

I am getting the below error when I try to go Places > Home Folder for example. I can run nautilus manually though.

Answer 1

This is a problem caused by setting the "open with" command for folders to "terminal"

Fix from command line:

mimeopen -d ~/Desktop/

You will get this:

Please choose a default application for files of type inode/directory

    1) Open Folder  (nautilus-folder-handler)
    2) Other...

use application #

Choose Nautilus and you fixed the problem!

Answer 2

I had a similar problem, although I believe mine was caused by associating an application with a filetype in Firefox. Running the mimeopen -d ~/Desktop/ command didn't work, but this command did:

exo-preferred-applications -c

In the window that appears, change your default file manager back to your usual choice.

Answer 3

Go to Ubuntu Software Center and uninstall any extra file managers you may have (leave Nautilus as your sole file manager).

This was the only thing that fixed the problem for me.

Hope this helps :)