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My Browser Builds (Part 3)


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Hello, everyone?

 

I'm trying to find decent browsers for an old Sony VAIO laptop from...2001.

Well, here it is- if it's too long for Replies, please let me know. This is my first post here.

 

A sort of hobby of mine is to see how far older devices can go. One of them is a 2001 Sony VAIO: 256MB RAM, Pentium 3 800MHz processor so only SSE, 1024h x 768h 16/24-Bit color, DirectX 9 installed (according to DXDIAG), Intel integrated chip, 32-Bit device, old thing.

It is a Dual Boot system- Windows XP Home Edition/Puppy Linux 5.2.5 Lucid.

I was directed here from the Puppy Linux forums, and have tried several browsers here: Basilisk 52, Palemoon 27, Palemoon 28, two K-Meleon browsers.

While in XP mode these browsers have increased what that antique can do: it can now play an HTML5 game called "Beam," and as far as streaming goes- MP4- it has abilities it did not have before. In particular there is a website that won't allow you to do things unless MP4 is streaming...now it can. Even Twitch TV, although slow and it may take a few tries, can run in low mode (160p).

The problem is with a site called "Deviantart.com." They changed to an awful and ugly "Eclipse" style that has proven to be a real hassle; before I could do almost anything even with a crummy 2006 Sylvania Windows CE 6 netbook via Opera Mini 5- now even with Firefox 48 and Palemoon 27 there are things you cannot do: Reply and Comment are examples.

Basilisk 52 and Palemoon 28 can do it, but are rather...slow...even in XP mode. 256MB RAM after all.

Another problem is where I am. I do not have Internet service where I am so usually use local library wifi. The network has an insanely troublesome agreement page and wifi system that the Sony, even with Panda Wireless USB plugin, cannot even detect in XP mode!

So anything online there has to be done in Puppy Linux mode.

There is a Linux Palemoon 27 SSE standalone, but it crashes with a number of sites or yields some sort of security error message about certificates. The other browsers are earlier and cannot handle sites such as Deviantart at all. So, so far I have to use the Windows versions for many sites via WINE.

Needless to say, this presents a problem. Browsers that can move tolerably fast cannot do things like Reply/Comment (i.e. the Windows K-Meleon browsers and Palemoon 27), while those that can take an eternity to get anywhere- Windows Palemoon 28 and Firefox 45 ESR modified. You keep seeing tabs about "handshakes (e.g. TLS)" and "reading."

Another problem is that any attempt by the Windows K-Meleon browsers and Palemoon 27 to stream MP4 while in Puppy Linux mode/WINE causes them to crash- this does not happen in XP mode, and the error message indicates an "entry point" problem with "MFPLAT.DLL." Trying to download and set WINE to use this file in the browser folder makes no difference from WINE using its own. If I try to go to those streaming sites with Windows Palemoon 28 or Firefox 45 ESR in Puppy Linux mode that likely isn't going to work too well, very slow.

Yet another curious aspect is that testing the Deviantart pages offline with Palemoon 27 Windows indicates it works fully perfectly well, but online it doesn't. Windows Palemoon 28 and Firefox 45 ESR move much more quickly with offline tests, so obviously something online at Deviantart is slowing them down and preventing Windows Palemoon 27 from working completely. What is it?

I've tried Windows ArticFox 27, but all I get is an "unable to load XPCOM" error message. Curious since I tried this on an XP system. Does it require SSE2; if so it won't work in any case. I've noticed that removing the gkmedia.dll file from Palemoon 27 gives the same message, but no amount of tinkering has solved the Artic Fox 27 problem.

I'd like to learn how to modify browsers. I have limited coding experience with websites and Flash. My biggest problem is getting over that first hurdle, so if someone can link me to the tools needed (a decompiler) and give some basic instructions my first efforts will be to tweak browsers like Firefox 40/45 or Palemoon 27 (all Windows) to run properly on Deviantart. After that, MP4 streaming without crashing in Puppy Linux mode, maybe finding ways to allow them to drop video frames for better playback a-la the VLC Player. But it's getting started that's the problem for me. This Windows 8 ASUS can likely handle any tool. Who knows, maybe I can code an app that, once a website URL is pasted in can shunt a video stream to a standalone player, or, for Twitch TV, allow audio-only with MP4 streams. The idea is to give new life to old devices for people who cannot afford to "upgrade."

Opera 12 also seems like a good one. It seems like a nifty versatile browser. If it can handle Deviantart, get into any site, and gains the ability to stream MP4, then it could be just the thing for old hardware, even in Puppy Linux mode. And again, is there a way to get a browser to stream MP4 but only the audio portion (great for game sessions on Twitch TV)?

I would also like to work on the Linux Palemoon 27 SSE. Given what's been accomplished here this must be a good place to start.

Thanks in advance! :)

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GusCE6, it is possible to put a WMP or VLC plugin in the browser. With which you can watch video in 360p

example on Windows XP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-6MczEoa6I

example on MX Linux https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhltXEaJHmU

Hardware acceleration is disabled by default in Firefox on Linux. If your video card supports OpenGL 2.0, enable it layers.acceleration.force-enabled or layers.acceleration.force

In Firefox 78 for SSE, be sure to toggle these settings media.cubeb.sandbox - false , security.sandbox.content.level - 2 (for Alsa).

Edited by grey_rat
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14 hours ago, grey_rat said:

GusCE6, it is possible to put a WMP or VLC plugin in the browser. With which you can watch video in 360p

example on Windows XP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-6MczEoa6I

example on MX Linux https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhltXEaJHmU

Hardware acceleration is disabled by default in Firefox on Linux. If your video card supports OpenGL 2.0, enable it layers.acceleration.force-enabled or layers.acceleration.force

In Firefox 78 for SSE, be sure to toggle these settings media.cubeb.sandbox - false , security.sandbox.content.level - 2 (for Alsa).

 

 

Oh, I know about that- I meant using whatever the browser itself uses skipping video frames or just using the audio. The VLC Player can do that, so maybe the browser's MP4 ability can too?

 

The version of Firefox I'm using in Puppy Linux mode is the Windows version via WINE. Actually, the new browsers work reasonably well in XP mode, but on sites like Deviantart in Puppy Linux mode they are slow, slow, SLLLLOOOOWWWW!

 

Where can one get this Firefox 78? Is it faster than 45? It seems worth a try. Phooey on Eclipse.

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Firefox 78

https://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20210623T030849Z/pool/main/f/firefox-esr/firefox-esr_78.11.0esr-1~deb10u1_i386.deb

https://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20210623T030849Z/pool/main/f/firefox-esr/firefox-esr_78.11.0esr-1_i386.deb

 

Fastest Firefox 68

https://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20201015T150652Z/pool/main/f/firefox-esr/firefox-esr_68.10.0esr-1~deb9u1_i386.deb

https://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20201015T150652Z/pool/main/f/firefox-esr/firefox-esr_68.12.0esr-1~deb10u1_i386.deb

 

It is advisable to do the following for better responsiveness

layers.omtp.enabled - false

media.av1.enabled - false

media.cubeb.sandbox - false

media.rdd-process.enabled - false

security.sandbox.content.level for Firefox 68 - 0

dom.ipc.processCount - 1

extensions.webextensions.remote - false

browser.tabs.remote.warmup.enabled - false

browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory - true

layers.async-pan-zoom.enabled - false

toolkit.cosmeticAnimations.enabled - false

browser.stopReloadAnimation.enabled - false

browser.suppress_first_window_animation - false

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Just FYI..

On both Serpent 52.9.0 and New Moon 28.10 - I took your advice and "toggled":

media.av1.enabled - (from true to) false

layers.async-pan-zoom.enabled - (from true to) false

Roytam1 Already has set:

dom.ipc.processCount - 1

I don't really notice much of a difference on youtube tbh. Still causes the browser to stop responding (freeze) every now and again. I've done everything I know to do. I have taken notice its been getting slower and the script is quite heavy nowadays compare to even last month. Often times ... 100% usage to watch a vid now :(

Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Edited by XPerceniol
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4 minutes ago, Sampei.Nihira said:

Just Off released this Jun 22, 2021

GitLab have started implementing the Google-devised :realmad: Web Components JS framework, en route to their annual, major, software upgrade...
So, "monkey see, monkey do" :P , i.e. following close in the footsteps of major competitor, GitHub... :angry:

Application platforms with non-existent or half-baked WC support (UXP in "our" case) will fail to load GitLab pages correctly, hence 
https://github.com/JustOff/github-wc-polyfill/issues/25
was filed... If you care to read, JustOff initially declined to indulge us (I suppose his ousting from the core of the UXP devs doesn't help in such cases :( ), but further input from users affected (me included) has, fortunately, caused him to rethink things... :thumbup

FWIW, this is the original issue opened in the GitLab tracker: 

https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/333598

As you'd imagine, this is still OPEN, with no official response from any GL representative; probably another "WON'TFIX"... :realmad:

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17 hours ago, Sampei.Nihira said:

Github wc-polyfill 1.2.0 is out.

Just Off released this Jun 22, 2021

  • Add experimental GitLab support

 

https://github.com/JustOff/github-wc-polyfill/releases/tag/1.2.0

Thanks for the update. And still a little surgery should be done to the install.rdf in the xpi archive to make it install on Serpent 52:

      <Description>
        <em:id>{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}</em:id>
        <em:minVersion>52.9</em:minVersion>
        <em:maxVersion>52.9.2021.*</em:maxVersion>
      </Description>

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6 hours ago, luweitest said:

Thanks for the update. And still a little surgery should be done to the install.rdf in the xpi archive to make it install on Serpent 52:

      <Description>
        <em:id>{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}</em:id>
        <em:minVersion>52.9</em:minVersion>
        <em:maxVersion>52.9.2021.*</em:maxVersion>
      </Description>

Hmm...

Strange. Here it updated without errors with the addon updater in Serpent 52.

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I 'd like to know if Serpent 52 still supports  export SSL key like this:

https://wiki.wireshark.org/TLS?action=show&redirect=SSL#Using_the_.28Pre.29-Master-Secret

I created a bat file as this :

set SSLKEYLOGFILE=E:\Basilisk\keylogfile.txt
D:\green\basilisk\basilisk.exe

But although keylogfile.txt is created, Wireshark (the last version for XP 1.12.13) cannot decrypt the SSL stream. It used to work with Firefox.

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New build of Serpent/UXP for XP!

Test binary:
Win32 https://o.rthost.win/basilisk/basilisk52-g4.8.win32-git-20210626-e29e57e-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod.7z
Win64 https://o.rthost.win/basilisk/basilisk52-g4.8.win64-git-20210626-e29e57e-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod.7z

source code that is comparable to my current working tree is available here: https://github.com/roytam1/UXP/commits/custom

IA32 Win32 https://o.rthost.win/basilisk/basilisk52-g4.8.win32-git-20210626-e29e57e-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod-ia32.7z

source code that is comparable to my current working tree is available here: https://github.com/roytam1/UXP/commits/ia32

NM28XP build:
Win32 https://o.rthost.win/palemoon/palemoon-28.10.3a1.win32-git-20210626-c9bf62e0b-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod.7z
Win32 SSE https://o.rthost.win/palemoon/palemoon-28.10.3a1.win32-git-20210626-c9bf62e0b-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod-sse.7z
Win64 https://o.rthost.win/palemoon/palemoon-28.10.3a1.win64-git-20210626-c9bf62e0b-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod.7z

Official UXP changes since my last build:
- Issue #1783 - Part 1: Move GetNodeDepth to ResizeObserver.cpp (22a75217e)
- Issue #1783 - Part 2: Update ResizeObserver and resizeObserverSize. (6f7dd6fd9)
- Issue #1783 - Part 3: Remove ResizeObservation's BroadcastSize. (cfdfbcf05)
- Issue #1776 - Support detecting bool preferences in chrome stylesheets (4dac05e0e)
- Merge pull request 'Support detecting bool preferences in chrome stylesheets' (#1785) from athenian200/UXP:bool-chrome-stylesheets into master (2c626f604)
- Merge branch '1783' (014fdd052)
- Bump platform version (8689ac630)
- [whitespace] Fix CRLF line endings. (5afcb4a09)
- Issue #1751 - Remove Mac code behind MOZ_WIDGET_TOOLKIT == 'cocoa' (1fe9c1930)
- [Toolkit] Attempt to initialize DownloadTaskbarProgress when onDownloadWindowLoad() is called so that DownloadTaskbarProgress from the Downloads Manager window works when the application doesn't explicitly invoke onBrowserWindowLoad(). (4490f61f5)
- Issue #1784 - Add -moz-dark-theme media query and allow prefers-color-scheme to follow it. (a0461e377)

No official Basilisk changes since my last build.

Official Pale-Moon changes since my last build:
- Back-end branch pointer update. (c9bf62e0b)

Edited by roytam1
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New build of BOC/UXP for XP!

Test binary:
MailNews Win32 https://o.rthost.win/boc-uxp/mailnews.win32-20210626-355db4de-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod.7z
BNavigator Win32 https://o.rthost.win/boc-uxp/bnavigator.win32-20210626-355db4de-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod.7z

source repo (excluding UXP): https://github.com/roytam1/boc-uxp/tree/custom-older

* Notice: the profile prefix (i.e. parent folder names) are also changed since 2020-08-15 build, you may rename their names before using new binaries when updating from builds before 2020-08-15.

--

New build of HBL-UXP for XP!

Test binary:
IceDove-UXP(mail) https://o.rthost.win/hbl-uxp/icedove.win32-20210626-id-f0915f3-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod.7z
IceApe-UXP(suite) https://o.rthost.win/hbl-uxp/iceape.win32-20210626-id-f0915f3-ia-c642e3c-uxp-a0461e377-xpmod.7z

source repo (excluding UXP):
https://github.com/roytam1/icedove-uxp/tree/winbuild
https://github.com/roytam1/iceape-uxp/tree/winbuild

for UXP changes please see above.

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New NewMoon 27 Build!

32bit https://o.rthost.win/palemoon/palemoon-27.10.0.win32-git-20210626-3697b9103-xpmod.7z
32bit SSE https://o.rthost.win/palemoon/palemoon-27.10.0.win32-git-20210626-3697b9103-xpmod-sse.7z
32bit noSSE https://o.rthost.win/palemoon/palemoon-27.10.0.win32-git-20210626-3697b9103-xpmod-ia32.7z

64bit https://o.rthost.win/palemoon/palemoon-27.10.0.win64-git-20210626-3697b9103-xpmod.7z

source repo: https://github.com/roytam1/palemoon27

repo changes since my last build:
- import changes from `dev' branch of rmottola/Arctic-Fox:
 - Factor out D2D initialization checks. (bug 1183910 part 4, r=mattwoodrow) (4e9defcb4)
 - Bug 1156857 - Properly init telemetry histogram data for child processes. r=bsmedberg (6901d9d26)
 - bug 1161166 - Use mach shared memory for shared memory on OSX r=billm (9892c8e0e)
 - Bug 1089816 - Let ASan content processes run to completion. r=billm (f0310db69)
 - Bug 1089816 - use && not and. CLOSED TREE (268b195bd)
 - Bug 1024259: Use NS_FREE_PERMANENT_DATA more consistently. r=mccr8 (d2517a357)
 - More Android reftest fuzz for bug 1169331. DONTBUILD (a531de2e3)
 - Bug 1169331 - Add more Android fuzzing on some reftests. (dbb3b9014)
 - Add fuzz to three reftests on Android. No bug. (d3f7e48d0)
 - No bug - Add more fuzz to 3 tests on Android. (5b8eb75da)
 - Bug 1150944 - Mark some reftests fuzzy with skia-gl. r=mstange (21a496034)
 - Bug 1150944 - Remove objects that have been unlinked by the cycle collector from the demotable context list. r=ehsan (5cf248b0f)
 - Bug 1150944 - Fix gfxPrefs unit test to not rely on skia-gl pref. r=mstange (bb5f97168)
 - Bug 1158120 - Replace gfxIntSize by mozilla::gfx::IntSize in gfx/gl part 1. r=nical (6e25b6162)
 - Bug 1158120 - Replace gfxIntSize by mozilla::gfx::IntSize in gfx/tests. r=nical (6df2b0a40)
 - Bug 1158120 - Replace gfxIntSize by mozilla::gfx::IntSize in gfx/ipc. r=nical (ebe1ed457)
 - Bug 1158120 - Replace nsIntSize by mozilla::gfx::IntSize in gfx/thebes. r=nical (0050a5e68)
 - Bug 1158120 - Replace nsIntSize by mozilla::gfx::IntSize in gfx/gl part 2. r=nical (6144812ea)
 - Bug 1158120 - Replace nsIntSize by mozilla::gfx::IntSize in gfx/ipc directory part 2. r=nical (092812a86)
 - Bug 1158120 - Replace nsIntSize by mozilla::gfx::IntSize in gfx/src/nsSize.h. r=nical (8083f5a3c)
 - Bug 1158120 - Replace gfxIntSize by mozilla::gfx::IntSize in gfx/thebes part 1. r=nical (627c20e56)
 - Bug 1182547 - Replace InitExtensions() with InitExtensionsFromDisplay() so that queries can be made with specific displays and add symbol loading for GetPlatformDisplayEXT so that the ANGLE_platform_angle_d3d extension can be used. r=jgilbert (9acdea0f3)
 - Bug 1167799 part 1 - Remove size from NewSurfaceDescriptorGralloc r=nical (34e83ccfb)
 - Bug 1167799 part 2 - Add EGL_ANDROID_image_crop support r=nical,jgilbert (002116a36)
 - Bug 1167651 - Made EGL initialize its ANGLE display using WARP if the system is blacklisted from using HW acceleration for WebGL ANGLE or if WebGL WARP is forced through a pref. ClientCanvasLayer is changed so that it will use shared surfaces only if the compositing device and the WebGL device are both WARP or both not WARP. Added a mIsWARP field to GLLibraryEGL so that this condition can be checked. r=jgilbert (54272b6c2) (d4b5597fa)
- import changes from `dev' branch of rmottola/Arctic-Fox:
 - Bug 1167651 - Passed the forceEnabled pref from function to function down to GLLibraryEGL::EnsureInitialized. r=jgilbert (e0b72d59f)
 - Bug 1158120 - Replace gfxIntSize by mozilla::gfx::IntSize in gfx/layers. r=nical (81540669f)
 - missing bit Bug 1150767 - Add pref for requiring hardware-backed GL. - r=jrmuizel (0990a4b4b)
 - Bug 1150944 - Add a flags parameter to GLContextProvider functions instead of a bool. r=jgilbert (d7a7ade6d) (3697b9103)

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