Why do I get a "the location is not a folder" error when trying to open files using Dash or Synapse?

sudo apt-get remove exo-utils

this is from xfce. You might need to remove thunar as well. Fixed it for me anyway.

Here is the solution without removing exo-utils:

If you want to simply fix the opening of files but retain XFCE/exo you can simply open "exo-preferred-applications" and change the preferred "file manager" under "utilities" back to "Thunar"

I'm guessing the install of XFCE changes this default, anyway flipping it back to thunar certainly fixes the behaviour in Unity for me.

This is really a bug in exo-utils package. (Reported Launchpad Bug)

It is an upstream problem with the desktop files which install wrong handlers for the things (that is if you do not use XFCE)...

The "MimeType=" entry in the:

/usr/share/applications/exo-file-manager.desktop
/usr/share/applications/exo-mail-reader.desktop
/usr/share/applications/exo-web-browser.desktop

files should become: "X-XFCE-MimeType="

A quick fix for your problem is to change the entry as needed and update your desktop file database.

Changing the entry can be done as root in a terminal this way:

sed -i -e 's/^MimeType=/X-XFCE-MimeType=/' \
     /usr/share/applications/exo-file-manager.desktop \
     /usr/share/applications/exo-mail-reader.desktop \
     /usr/share/applications/exo-web-browser.desktop

I have prepared a package with the fixed bug in my PPA, so you can install it (you may need to wait till it builds btw) (PhobosK's PPA)

This is likely a problem in xdg-open and gnome-open. There is a bug page for that problem here https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity-place-files/+bug/751374. You should try typing 'xdg-open '. If the file opens correctly then you're experiencing a different problem. If it gives the 'location is not a folder' error then keep and eye out for fixes to this but.

For the record xdg-open does not work for me, and uninstalling/reconfiguring some packages hasn't fixed it. Knowing which package needs removing/updating would be useful, molnarandris.

Removing exo-utils also removes thunar. Some of us need to have both thunar and nautilus installed in gnome

Since the problem is exo-utils, I build a thunar .deb without the exo-utils dependency. Here is how for 64bit:

wget http://launchpadlibrarian.net/69753654/thunar_1.2.1-3ubuntu2_amd64.deb
dpkg-deb -x thunar_1.2.1-3ubuntu2_amd64.deb tmpdir
dpkg-deb --control thunar_1.2.1-3ubuntu2_amd64.deb tmpdir/DEBIAN
gedit tmpdir/DEBIAN/control

Remove 'exo-utils' from the 'Depends' line and save

dpkg -b tmpdir thunar_1.2.1-3ubuntu2_amd64-no_exo-utils_dependency.deb
sudo apt-get remove exo-utils
sudo dpkg -i thunar_1.2.1-3ubuntu2_amd64-no_exo-utils_dependency.deb
sudo apt-get -f install

via: http://queleimporta.com/thunar-nautilus-exo-utils-and-the-location-is-not-a-folder-error-solution-under-gnome/