Change User Agent string in Opera 12.02 ?? How ??

[ZortMcGort11]

Anybody know how to change the Opera 12.02 user agent to this:

"Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win 9x 4.90; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20"

The problem I have with Opera 12 is that for the last few months Google always loads what I assume is the MOBILE VERSION of it's home page. The search results don't have the option to view the cached site. And since half the websites out there now are "secure," because of HTTPS, I can't view them anyhow. So what I do is click on the Cached site, then view Text Only Version. On dial up this is absolutely necessary if I don't want to wait 10 minutes to read something.

Basically, google is redirecting certain browsers to a useless, stripped down Mobile Thingy, where I can't view the cached site, and the image search results don't work. Only way around this is the user agent string from Firefox 2, or (cringe) Netscape 9.

I started using K-Meleon 1.6 again, which is kind of a downgrade from Opera 12, but still way better than Firefox 2. It works good again, I can view the old school Google Results page, and click on cached websites. So I'm pretty good now. I was just wondering if the user agent can be altered in Opera 12?

Thanks for any tips suggestions.

[ZortMcGort11]

*There IS a way to choose to identify as Firefox in Opera, but you can't specify, or MANUALLY enter the string yourself. So it doesn't do me any good. Here's how:

If you go to: Settings, quick preferences, edit site preferences, then click on the Network tab....

You can choose browser identification, then select Firefox. BUT..... it comes out as this

"Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.0; en; rv:2.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0"


Firefox 4 on Windows NT 5.... which goes back to Mobile Google search results, hence no Cache function.

[ZortMcGort11]

One last question... are there any Kernel Ex browsers, besides K-Meleon 1.6 or 1.7, that allow custom user agent strings ????

What about SeaMonkey 2.x, Firefox 3,4,56,7,8,9, whatever number??? Is it possible?

Seriously, at this point, K-Meleon 1.6 seems to be the FINAL BROWSER for me. Once this one goes, it's bye bye Windows ME on the internet :-(

[loblo]

opera:config#UserAgent|SpoofUserAgentID
 

[schwups]

about:config or opera:config => UserPrefs => Custom User-Agent

 

[siria]

ZortMcGort11 said:

Seriously, at this point, K-Meleon 1.6 seems to be the FINAL BROWSER for me. Once this one goes, it's bye bye Windows ME on the internet :-(

YIKES... I certainly understand how you feel: KM1.6 is still my main browser too, because I need the macros, but half the web would be blocked completely too since 1-2 years without roytam1's updated TLS1.2 browsers!

And for several years before getting the first retrozilla, the situation was already much worse as necessary, just because I had no clue about Opera12 yet :( And when finally learning about it, it was almost too late, there were already ALL Opera addons deleted on the web :(

But since a year I use almost exclusively
- old K-Meleon1.6 (only TLS1.0, but need tons of macros, most own ones),
- roytams special FF2 - FF3.6 builds with TLS1.2, running even without KernelEx (no macros, but FF addons),
- and if all fails, can fire up the most modern: roytam1's K-Meleon-Goanna74 (build for Win2000, buggy on 98se)

KMG74 has by far the BEST TLS and CSS of all alternative browsers, and most KM macros still.
The engine is from PaleMoon26, era of gecko24.
But on 98se it has 2 KILLER PROBS:
1) It needs an updated version of KERNELEX, which affects the whole system.
At the time I updated it was KernelEx...16, which was very buggy. Some younger apps started working better with it, but it partly messed the system for other old apps, e.g. a prob with new browser profiles! But have read most of those probs are FIXED again with yet newer versions.
2) KG74 CRASHES very often, especially when right-clicking anywhere.
This got a lot better after finally figuring out it happens mostly when one of my countless macros updates a menu. And just yesterday noticed KG74 gets especially crashy after the first local file was opened. Must investigate that further.
(3: and it comes with some hardcoded FF addons which can't be removed, one of them prevents faking the global UA but found a trick to disable this one)

Are you aware there exist such alternatives with updated TLS1.2?
Have read that roytam's retrozilla versions of Firefox2 (rzbrowser) and equally old Seamonkey (rz2.2, rz-suite), and his TLS1.2 version of Firefox3.6 (fx36) even run on PURE 9x or even NT.
There is also another version of Firefox2 with TLS1.2, by the original retrozilla author, with the same version number as roytam's parallel builds (rz2.2).

I have no clue what ME can do, but if you can run KM1.6 already, you must have installed at least the goold old basic KernelEx already? Sigh, wish there were also a TLS1.2 version of KM1.6/1.7 with working macros (the engine already runs fine in Fx36)

[winxpi]

1 hour ago, siria said:

Are you aware there exist such alternatives with updated TLS1.2?
Have read that roytam's retrozilla versions of Firefox2 (rzbrowser) and equally old Seamonkey (rz2.2, rz-suite), and his TLS1.2 version of Firefox3.6 (fx36) even run on PURE 9x or even NT.
There is also another version of Firefox2 with TLS1.2, by the original retrozilla author, with the same version number as roytam's parallel builds (rz2.2).

I have no clue what ME can do, but if you can run KM1.6 already, you must have installed at least the goold old basic KernelEx already? Sigh, wish there were also a TLS1.2 version of KM1.6/1.7 with working macros (the engine already runs fine in Fx36)

Thanks for mentioning all that stuff about TLS1.2 I wasnt even aware that besides Retrozilla browsers (compatible with 9x) existed supporting it. 

Didnt really have luck with SeaMonkey ever so far but seems to be a specific version that you mentioned and I probably didnt try it out.

I also had problems with Opera because it was outdated once I got hold of a version that would have been interesting for windows 9x. It was the so called Opera LABS SPDY thats supposed to support SPDY 2 and SPDY 3 standards. However since https(h2) became the successor its more common that some servers support old http 1.1 or either spdy 3.1 or https(h2). I was never aware of the fact that TLS played a major role for pages not loading until the IE6 SSL 3.0 "poodle"- incident when except for bing and msfn hardly any page opened with that browser.

Edited July 23, 2019 by winxpi

[siria]

@winxpi
If you don't have KernelEx, the choices get slimmer.
In that case I'd probably try his special Firefox3.6 (Fx36)
Awhile ago I posted some direct links to roytam1 browsers:
https://msfn.org/board/topic/178351-what-software-developed-by-roytam1-do-you-use/

Edited July 23, 2019 by siria

[ZortMcGort11]

@Loblo
I entered the string, but there was no way to save it. Once Opera is restarted it disappears.

@Schwups
Same thing, the string just disappears after re-starting Opera, even if I clicked "save."

^I might try these suggestions on Opera 11 and see if I have better luck than Opera 12. Thanks.

@Siria
Thanks for the information about Roytam1's programs... I will read those threads you linked to. But I'm not sure I will "upgrade" past basic old KernelEx 4.5.2. Sounds like there's a lot of potential problems if you don't know what you're doing, which I don't, and I don't want to have to format and re-install everything :-)

[ZortMcGort11]

In my first post I should clarify, I'm using the Firefox 2 User Agent in K-Meleon 1.6, and that's why I can view the old school Google page. The default k-Meleon 1.6 user agent doesn't work either.

[ZortMcGort11]

"And when finally learning about it, it was almost too late, there were already ALL Opera addons deleted on the web :("
-Siria

@Siria

Yeah, I hear ya there. I found a link for an Opera User Agent Switcher add-on, but I couldn't get it to download... or work. At least not from my Windows ME computer.

[ZortMcGort11]

***SOLVED****

I figured it out. All I had to do was set it to "Identify as Internet Explorer" and now I have the old Google webpage back now. I can view cached pages again :-)

Here's how:

Go to....

Quick Preferences->Edit Site Preferences->Network Tab (then identify as Internet Explorer)

[siria]

@Zort
While I used Opera12.02, this link always worked for me from a bookmark, after changing and clicking SAVE:
opera:config#UserPrefs|CustomUser-Agent

Do you still have the link to the UA-switcher?

That an IE string works well now is no surprise: the UA that I'm using the most in KM1.6 is IE7!
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1)
Have the suspicion, from experience, that some old websites (incl. Google search) still have inherited some special rules for it, since at its era it was non-standard. And they never touched those anymore, or forgot to delete... But today those few css+js differences are a far lesser prob for old Geckos as getting just slammed the door in the face with an "Old browser, get lost" sign. But sadly more and more of those old rules vanish anyway.
One of the worst desasters, just recently, the old classic no-script version of Google-translations for "selected text" by macro stopped working :-( Now the Kmacro only still helps to translate full page URLs - and even this works ONLY by macro now, sending the page-URL included in the google-URL already. Or perhaps would work if enabling JS, but that's causing other giant probs. For such cases Opera12.02 has already much better chances too. Or the ultimate solution, if nothing else works and important enough: firing up KMG74 and allowing scripts (just nearly freezes the machine, but otherwise works)

KernelEx: I fully understand your prob with hesitating to update it. Such projects are a major undertaking on real ancient machines. I've also not managed yet to try a newer version since the last adventure, although would love to. Never touch a running system... But am watching and waiting for a new version which sounds a bit easier again as current modular updates.
But if you have the old basic KernelEx version that's already the most important update by far!
From the browsers I suggested above, probably roytam's Firefox 3.6 (fx36) is the best for this case, if TLS1.2 is required. Along with old Opera which can handle newer page elements.

If you're occasionally using K-Meleon again, on windows98, I have a couple of little tricks up the sleeve... For example: absolutely install the stylekiller macro! And priv3buttons for quick toggling various JS-levels. And perhaps Blockeria... And a few other macros, and some special css-rules.... (have packed all my custom rules into adblock.css, for toggling during session) But most own macros I use for fixing sites are only drafts.

PS: not sure if uploading works here, or need JS, but if there's an attachment it shows my customized Opera toolbars, after getting a little help from another forum member.
No, of course uploading did not work (KM1.6, WITH JS it got even worse) So here's a temporary link, just a screenshot:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=69601804641062789660

Edited July 24, 2019 by siria

[ZortMcGort11]

Sorry, don't have the link for the user agent switcher. It was a dead link anyway :-(

Wow that's quite the Opera Toolbar, congratulations! How much work did that take?

Just a few questions, but what is TLS? You mentioned "Roytams special FF2 - FF3.6 builds with TLS1.2"

[siria]

ZortMcGort11 said:

Just a few questions, but what is TLS? You mentioned "Roytams special FF2 - FF3.6 builds with TLS1.2"

Oh. TLS? THAT is the most effective killer of old browsers in today's web. Works 100% deadly.
It has to do with encrypted transmission of httpS web pages. If a server admin has decided to send readers only highly 'secure', extra strong encrypted pages, using modern TLS1.2 encryption, people on older browsers will not even get to see a single line of the page. Let me say it that way: Did you ever see such a similar message when opening a page??

Secure Connection Failed
An error occurred during a connection to github.com.
Cannot communicate securely with peer: no common encryption algorithm(s).
(Error code: ssl_error_no_cypher_overlap)

This happens when the browser doesn't understand the encrypted garbled stuff it receives. It cannot de-crypt it. Older browsers understand only older, weaker encryption protocols, like SSL3.
Server admins could just as well decide to send that extra strong encryption only to newer browsers, and lesser secure, old SSL3 encrypted pages to older browsers. At least for harmless public webpages, not banking. Would be easy for them, and some do it. But more and more don't care anymore.
It was the Almighty google boss who decided he wants the whole web encrypted, and used his monopoly on search engines to force website authors to do what he wants, if they still wanted to get listed in search results.
And the next version, TLS1.3 is already coming up, sigh.

That Opera toolbar actually did not take much work, the prob was only figuring out HOW to do it. Luckily someone gave me a few tips, in another forum. And of course have it long since forgotten again... But could look it up again if you're interested? It was some mix of drag-dropping elements and of editing text files... But I think most was just stored in some user config file, could find and upload it if you want.
Oh I just remembered something, since you mentioned Opera11:
Customization is partly broken in Opera12 in old systems, only possible to customize Opera11. So I just customized Opera11 and then copied over its config files into Opera12 - and it worked! :-) Edited July 24, 2019 by siria