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Mathwiz

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Everything posted by Mathwiz

  1. Mathwiz
    Sounds like M$, uh, "forgot" that Office 2010 is supposed to run on Windows XP. I bet the updates are fine if you're on Win 7. (Vista could go either way, I suppose; someone will just have to try them and see.)
  2. Mathwiz
    I would guess something added in the latest version conflicts with some other software you have installed. Are both NM 28.2.0a1 and Basilisk (Serpent) 52 failing, or just one of them?
  3. Mathwiz
    But you can add it yourself easily. Just right-click on the about:config page, select New / String, enter the name (general.useragent.override.github.com) then the value: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/60.0 (Pale Moon)
  4. Mathwiz
    I replaced Adblock Plus with uBlock Origin some time ago. Facebook doesn't seem to have a problem with uBlock Origin. (I'm not actually using FF 52.9, but I'm using Basilisk, which for all intents and purposes can be thought of as FF 52.10; I even pretend to be FF 52.9 with my user agent) Edit: I forgot to mention! I send Facebook this user agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:57.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/57.0 So I pretend to be FF 57 to Facebook
  5. Mathwiz
    I never really liked Windows Search 4.0, for the reasons you mentioned. It was one of those Microsoft products that, yeah, was better in some ways; for example, it lets you search the body of emails in Windows Live Mail. But it's worse in other ways, and for me at least, it's harder to use. Why can't Microsoft just add new functionality without taking something away at the same time? I had it on my old XP system but regretted installing it. When I got a new Win 7 system, I downloaded & installed XP mode, but I hid Windows Search on Microsoft update just so I could keep the classic search.
  6. Mathwiz
    You know, that's what Basilisk does too; it just adds the "compatible" strings rather than replacing the incompatible ones. I knew Basilisk did that but I wasn't where I could check PM or NM without downloading & installing again, and I assumed PM/NM worked differently. That's what I get for assuming. Anyway, that's why on Basilisk I just use a global "general.useragent.override" and make the UA look exactly like FF 52.9 on Win 7. (Some sites complain about the OS as well as the browser.) Surprisingly, Chase doesn't (yet) seem to have a problem with FF 52.9, even though it's been out of date for almost two months; if/when they do at some point in the future (all too likely), I will of course update "general.useragent.override.chase.com" (probably to /60.something) and see if a newer version will avoid the dreaded "your browser is out of date" without pushing incompatible Javascript onto the page. I assume (there's that word again) the PM team will keep both PM and Basilisk compatible with future Web technologies to the extent that's feasible, and that @roytam1's builds will incorporate all the same enhancements to the extent it remains feasible to do so on XP. I'm sure at some point, there will be something that just can't be made to work anymore (reCAPTCHA seems to be falling into that category already); but for now I seem to be doing OK with a little help from my friends at MSFN. BTW, it's interesting you were able to get Greasemonkey 4.1 working with @roytam1's Basilisk version. The problem with my setup may just have to remain a mystery, since it looks like the WE version of the downloader will work if I just exclude chase.com, and that seems like the simplest solution for me at this point.
  7. Mathwiz
    I don't know this for a fact, but I'll hazard a guess: Google keeps changing reCAPTCHA code and only tests it thoroughly with their own browser, Chrome. Maybe also the latest version of FF, if we're lucky. But Pale Moon and Basilisk, both based on an older FF version, 52.9? Fuhgeddaboudit. My guess is, they're trying to stay ahead of the bots, so it's not totally nefarious; but they also have no incentive not to break older browsers. After all, it just might drive more users to Chrome in the process. What a lucky happenstance for them! After all, FF will keep up. Eventually Pale Moon and Basilisk will probably catch up too, but by then Google will probably have changed something else and broken them yet again.
  8. Mathwiz
    I'm not positive, but I believe "Gecko Compatibility" replaces "Goanna/4.1" with "Gecko/20100101" in the user agent string (for the benefit of sites that don't know what the "Goanna" rendering engine is). "Firefox Compatibility" does that too, but it also replaces "Pale Moon/28.2" with "Firefox/52.9." Again for the benefit of sites that don't know about (or don't like) Pale Moon. About the only advantage of "Gecko Compatibility" over "Firefox Compatibility" would be that sites that do know about Pale Moon won't report version 28.2 as "out of date," but may report Firefox 52.9 as out of date. In my experience though, you're less likely to run into problems using "Firefox Compatibility" than using "Gecko Compatibility." (But as always, YMMV.)
  9. Mathwiz
    But curiously, GM 4.1 does work (at least well enough to download Youtube videos) on the "official" Basilisk browser (version 52.9.2018.09.27); just not on @roytam1's XP builds (always say version 52.9.0). I'd think both versions would have the same WE APIs Nevertheless, since I reverted to the WE add-on for Basilisk on XP, I think this is the best solution: I'll try it when I get back to my work PC on Monday and let you all know if it solved the problem. Edit: Ugh. Chase has made some annoying changes to their Web site: network.http.sendRefererHeader must be set at the default of 2 now; otherwise you don't even get the login prompt! User agent must be a "classic" FF UA (no mention of Goanna or Basilisk), or you get their "your browser is out of date" nonsense and are redirected to Chase's mobile site. ("Official" Basilisk mentions both Gecko and Goanna, and both Firefox and Basilisk in its UA when FF compatibility mode is set to "true;" this is fine for most sites but not Chase's.) Oh, well, the option to disable SF.net for the Chase website seems to work, at least on "official" Win 7 Basilisk; so I'm hopeful it will work on Roytam1's XP builds too. As I said, I'll find out Monday.
  10. Mathwiz
    New Moon uses different config options than Basilisk. In NM you have to set it in Preferences / Advanced / General / Compatibility:
  11. Mathwiz
    So, I installed the web extension in Basilisk and Greasemonkey and the sf-helper user script in NM. Both work fine. However.... ... the web extension version prevents me from logging into Chase.com on Basilisk! I would never have figured that out, except I have the "official" version of Basilisk for the Win 7 side of my PC, and I didn't install the web extension there. The user script version didn't block me from logging into Chase from NM 28, so I'll try it on the Win 7 side and see if it gives me the best of both worlds.... Edit: The script seems to work with Greasemonkey 4.1, and without interfering with me logging into Chase. So now I'll try it that way on the XP side. Edit 2: No joy. Greasemonkey 4.1 installs on @roytam1's Basilisk XP build, but doesn't seem to work for some reason. So I guess the easiest solution on Basilisk XP is still to use the web extension, and just disable it when I want to log into Chase, and re-enable it when I want to download Youtube videos.
  12. Mathwiz
    This problem has been reported since August. Changing the user agent usually seems to be enough; apparently Twitter likes to feed Basilisk (but not FF) a format it won't decode properly. IIRC @dencorso reported that installing Adobe's PrimeTime CDM and disabling ffvpx also fixed this strange problem, in case changing the user agent isn't your thing (or doesn't work for some reason).
  13. Mathwiz
    Looks like buggy browser detection by Twitter. Probably doesn't know that PM 28.2 is equivalent to FF 52.9. Their code probably misparses the user agent and "assumes" you're running an ancient version of FF. Try setting general.useragent.override.twitter.com to "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:52.9) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/52.9" in order to spoof FF 52.9 on Windows 7. If that doesn't work, try replacing the "52.9" in both places in the string with a newer FF version until Twitter likes it. Or you can try an IE 11 override: "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
  14. Mathwiz
    Thanks. I've been wondering for some time if using Primetime would bypass the 23 min. bug. Sorry to hear it doesn't, but at least now we all know. The bug probably appears in all recent FF versions and forks, including PM/NM and Basilisk/Serpent. Does anyone know of any exceptions? Basilisk 55 perhaps? Or do we just have to use Chrome/Chromium for long YouTube videos?
  15. Mathwiz
    I have mine set that way too, on both versions of Windows. Most sites are on TLS 1.2 now but there are a few that still need TLS 1.0. Personally, I wish there was an option to have TLS 1.0 enabled, but with some sort of visual cue that the site was using a less-secure protocol. But with Win XP, I'll take what I can get these days.
  16. Mathwiz
    Ideally yes, but in practice I've found a few sites still using TLS 1.0 (!) and at least one (www.fedex.com) which only supports weaker cipher suites. So you may find you need to keep a few that SSLLabs marks with orange. Try to keep them to a minimum, though.
  17. Mathwiz
    I thought Kindle was a great idea; yet I never trusted it for that very reason: from the get-go it was designed so Amazon could pull back anything you thought you owned. BTW you need to update the link above to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle#Criticism. Wikipedia's editors didn't send the criticism of Kindle down the memory hole, but they did relabel it a bit
  18. Mathwiz
    It's not just computers and printers either. About a year ago someone reported on AVSForum that a working Amazon Prime app got pulled off his Vizio TVs! I posted this on that forum in response: I could understand it if Amazon changed something that broke the Vizio streaming app - his Vizios are five years old, after all. I've heard of built-in YouTube apps being rendered useless the same way: Google changes something, and old apps stop working. If you can't get an update, you're SOL. But as I understand it, it's not just that technology advanced and rendered the streaming app in his Vizio TVs useless. Read Don's quote: (Emphasis added.) IOW, someone (it was probably Vizio, not Amazon, but it doesn't really matter) went in to his older TVs over the Internet and deliberately removed a working app from them! That's not just the inevitable march of technology, or even planned obsolescence - it borders on hacking.... We're living in a brave new world where corporations feel free to meddle with the products we thought we owned, possibly even to just make them less useful so we'll have to upgrade. I've had Micro$oft do this with WMC more than once (not to mention their yearlong push to "upgrade" me to Windows 10, which would have removed WMC entirely), and I've had Facebook do it with their app for older BlackBerrys. Of course, you can take that too far. I know folks who now refuse even security updates from Micro$oft because of the distrust generated by M$'s "free" Windows 10 upgrade campaign, the telemetry (read: spyware) that M$ has built into some updates, etc. Of course that leaves them vulnerable to viruses, ransomware, etc., so I think they're going too far; nevertheless I understand their decision even if I don't take the same chances with my own PC.
  19. Mathwiz
    My concern, though, is that once Jan. 2020 arrives, M$ will change the "ApplicabilityInfo" string for newer updates to just read "Windows 7.0 Embedded;" etc. and they will no longer install on our Windows 7 Client systems without patching. Edit: OTOH M$ didn't do that with Windows Server 2012 updates; they still install on Windows 8 Client, so maybe there's nothing to worry about. I guess we'll all find out in 2020.
  20. Mathwiz
    Well, it isn't really used for DRM content decryption anymore, and Vista users have the Windows Media Framework to fall back on if ffvpx fails them in some way (like the Twitter audio bug). So if you're on Vista, I can't see why you would need or want it. But it is useful on XP. Since the same browser is used by users of both OSes, it probably makes sense to keep it separate. That way XP users can install it if they need it, without bloating the package for Vista users. Besides, like any add-on it gets installed in your profile folder, not the main program folder, so it would be tricky to include in the browser package anyway.
  21. Mathwiz
    Good. I didn't think you would have any problems, but it's always good to hear that everything still works.
  22. Mathwiz
    I'm pretty sure the Twitter audio bug was narrowed down to the ffvpx library. Go to about:config, search for media.ffvpx.enabled and switch it to false. If you're using XP you'll also need to download and install the Adobe Primetime CDM as described in the next sticky. Edit: Aaand, I just remembered, that only works in Serpent, not NM 28. :(
  23. Mathwiz
    Slightly OT, but I tried Basilisk on both Win 7 and XP. Both have Primetime version 17 installed, but only the Win 7 version has Widevine (v1.4.8.903). On Win 7, Bitmovin detects both plugins and tries to use Widevine. Unfortunately the stream stalls after 0:43 seconds have downloaded and won't play. If I disable Widevine, it detects Primetime but plays a non-DRM version of the video. Looking at the Javascript, it appears only Widevine and Playready DRM are supported. On XP, Bitmovin doesn't detect Primetime, even though it's installed and usable for non-DRM content. Castlabs won't play DRM versions on either platform. When a DRM stream is used, on Win 7 the "Stream Info" shows DRM Used: Loading... and stalls. On XP it stalls without the "Stream Info" box appearing at all. Both browers are set to spoof FF 52.9 on Win 7, so it can't be a user agent difference.
  24. Mathwiz
    One small note: on the Serpent (Basilisk) browser, you click "What's New?" vs. "Release Notes" on NM.
  25. Mathwiz
    You should also uncheck "Use SSL 2.0" and "Use SSL 3.0" in Internet Options / Advanced under Security. Nobody uses those anymore (unless they're trying an exploit).
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