Extensions and custom buttons for UXP browsers - Corrections, modifications, adjustments, and special recommendations

[we3fan]

Hi guys, Happy New Year

@Monroe, @AstroSkipper
Which version of Youtube Downloader HD you use?

I found this, Youtube Downloader HD 3.7 (XP / Vista legacy version):
https://www.oldergeeks.com/downloads/files/youtube_downloader_xp.zip   (For Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista)

[AstroSkipper]

56 minutes ago, we3fan said:

Hi guys, Happy New Year

@Monroe, @AstroSkipper
Which version of Youtube Downloader HD you use?

I found this, Youtube Downloader HD 3.7 (XP / Vista legacy version):
https://www.oldergeeks.com/downloads/files/youtube_downloader_xp.zip   (For Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista)

This is the version I am using and the last XP-compatible one as far as I know. Many manufactures haven given up on Windows XP like, for example, MediaHuman. But any deeper discussion about that kind of stuff should be done here only in connection with extensions. Otherwise, we would go off-topic. And I'm not in the mood for that. 

Edited January 5 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[mina7601]

5 hours ago, we3fan said:

I found this, Youtube Downloader HD 3.7 (XP / Vista legacy version):
https://www.oldergeeks.com/downloads/files/youtube_downloader_xp.zip   (For Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista)

Awesome, I found both installer (.exe) and portable (.zip) versions of Youtube Downloader HD 3.7 for XP from its homepage www.youtubedownloaderxp.com (which is now inaccessible), archived in Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20230524195329/http://www.youtubedownloaderxp.com/files/youtube_downloader_xp.exe

https://web.archive.org/web/20230524195526/http://www.youtubedownloaderxp.com/files/youtube_downloader_xp.zip

Happy New Year to you too, @we3fan!

Edited January 6 by mina7601

[AstroSkipper]

6 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

6 hours ago, nicolaasjan said:

Would these new scriptlets work in uBO Legacy if transplanted?

I had already looked at these resources before @UCyborg mentioned them. But in any case, a very interesting contribution. The file scriptlets.js is only present in the more recent webextensions and can't be transplanted without code changes if at all. The legacy extensions provides functions via the file resources.txt which was missing in my previous releases and had to be restored in my latest one. From now on, I won't merge legacy extension and webextension any longer in terms of uBlock Origin.  The webextensions of uBlock Origin are moving further and further away from the code base of the legacy extensions. Too much incompatibilities. 

Starting with my coming release uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31, I will only use the uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31b2 version as a guide. As the auto-update function for the internal list of all preselected filter lists has already been removed by me for compatibility reasons, I will maintain this list myself, only if necessary, of course. I will only add compatible and important lists or remove abandoned ones.

Edited January 6 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[Monroe]

3 hours ago, we3fan said:

Hi guys, Happy New Year

@Monroe, @AstroSkipper
Which version of Youtube Downloader HD you use?

I found this, Youtube Downloader HD 3.7 (XP / Vista legacy version):
https://www.oldergeeks.com/downloads/files/youtube_downloader_xp.zip   (For Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista)

Yes, that is the version I am using ... Youtube Downloader XP v3.7 ... got it from the website some years back.

...

[AstroSkipper]

After all these corrections, modifications and uploaded versions regarding my latest release uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0. I have created a complete changelog in my article uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 - Special mod by @AstroSkipper so that everyone can see at a glance what has been changed compared to my previous release uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31b2-1.49.2. 

Cheers, AstroSkipper 

Edited January 7 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[UCyborg]

Previously, I wasn't exactly aware uBlock can also inject JavaScript into sites. I see it has stubbed Google Analytics APIs in place, but not those for VideoJS IMA plugin, I guess that would be required for sites like https://www.24ur.com/. Right now, this rule works with Modify HTTP Response extension for it (mind that this is very site specific):

["www.24ur.com",["/assets/build/main-SACIHEUG.js",["this.showBanners(i)?","0?"]]]

[we3fan]

@AstroSkipper, @mina7601, @Monroe
Thanks guys.

[Mathwiz]

On 1/5/2024 at 12:03 PM, AstroSkipper said:

We will see what YouTube will come up with next. Personally, I hate all these constant changes and perfidious mechanisms that are supposed to block ad blockers. In any case, thank you for your persistent reporting and testing!  And one more request: keep testing to make sure everything runs smoothly! It's a good thing to do when you're surfing anyway. I personally think this version should now do its job. 

Yeah, it's an arms race. Folks like gorhill, justoff, and yourself provide ad blockers; the ad-supported sites come up with ways around the ad blockers; you all update the ad blockers to block the workarounds; the sites come up with new workarounds; etc., usw.

Anyway, you've done a lot of good work bringing modern ad-blocking to our browsers!

[Ascii2]

On 12/30/2023 at 12:18 PM, AstroSkipper said:

uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 - Special mod by @AstroSkipper

uBlock Origin is presumably one of the most important extensions if not the most important one for users of Firefox and Chrome based browsers. Unfortunately, this extension is now only developed and maintained as a webextension. The extension uBlock Origin Legacy for our old Firefox-based browsers was only maintained and updated separately for a certain period of time. There have been no new updates since version 1.16.4.30 from 2021. Therefore, I am maintaining the latest beta version 1.16.4.31b2 here from time to time. For the last of my releases, it was completely sufficient to transfer filter lists and some files from the current webextension to the uBlock Origin Legacy extension. This has not been working properly for some time now. Here is a screenshot showing the undesired effects when the filter lists are updated in my last version uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2-1.49.2:



At this point, a big thank you again to @nicolaasjan for reporting this issue!  Due to these apparent bugs, I decided to create a new, special version that contains all filter lists from the latest webextension and no longer causes problems when filter lists are (self-)updated. I identified and analysed the code responsible for the problem and was able to fix it. I have therefore created this new, special version of uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2 with all filter lists of the currently most recent webextension uBlock Origin 1.54.0. In this new mod, I have completely removed the old filter lists and added the new ones. Furthermore, I modified the code taken from the webextension to restore compatibility with the legacy extension. The version is now called uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.
Here is a screenshot taken from the dashboard of my freshly created mod uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 after updating filter lists in New Moon 28 or Serpent 52:



I removed some incompatible code and modified some other. Particularly, I changed the code in such a way that the uBlock Origin Legacy extension only updates the filter lists themselves, but not the internal list of all available filter lists which is unfortunately no longer compatible with uBlock Origin Legacy. On the other hand, that also means, if the default preselection of filter lists changes significantly in the future, or certain lists are no longer supported, such changes must be made manually in the extension code from now on. Furthermore, I found a redundant filter list in the original code of the most recent webextension uBlock Origin 1.54.0. The same filter list was used twice. Thus, I removed one of them from the code.

And here is the download link for my mod uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.special-mod-by-@AstroSkipper.xpi:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/djggsuy29y38z75/uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.special-mod-by-%40AstroSkipper.xpi/file
Corrected release: https://www.mediafire.com/file/z64ulz7duhuyveh/uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.special-mod-by-%40AstroSkipper.xpi/file
New, corrected release:  https://www.mediafire.com/file/fx34irul6g4pnl4/uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.special-mod-by-%40AstroSkipper.xpi/file

Note 1: Now, it is fully working again. No problems any longer when updating the filter lists. The new filter list "filters-2024.txt" is now inside the xpi file and can be retrieved correctly. Inside the xpi file, all filter lists have been replaced by the most recent ones to be more recent after installing without immediate updating. Additionally, I lowered the minVersion for Pale Moon from 28.0 to 27.0 to also install it in New Moon 27.

Note 2: Due to the problems in terms of filtering and blocking ads in YouTube videos, I had to correct my release uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 once again. I restored some (necessary) code and two filter lists which were not present in uBlock Origin 1.54.0 but in uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2. The two lists are uBlock filters - Legacy and uBlock filters – Resource abuse. Here is a screenshot taken from the setting page:



Additionally, I updated all filter lists once again

And here is the complete changelog (after all these corrections ):

• Filter lists from the webextension uBO 1.54.0 and the legacy uBO 1.16.4.31b2 merged.
• Auto-update of the internal list of all preselected filter lists removed. 
• Annoyances bug in the setting page of filter lists solved.
• Redundant filter list "uBlock filters - Cookie Notices" removed. 
• Different, incompatible code removed.
• The internal list of all preselected filter lists modified to get the real timestamps of filter lists again.
• minVersion from 28.0 to 27.0 lowered.
• Missing, necessary code restored.
• Filtering and blocking of embedded ads in YouTube videos restored.
• New, important filter list filters-2024.txt added.
• All filter lists inside the xpi file updated.

Finally, an important recommendation to get the new installation of uBlock Origin Legacy working properly and flawlessly. After uninstalling the previous version (yes, the old version should be uninstalled ), delete all remnants via about:config and in your profile folder! The remnants of previous versions of uBlock Origin can be easily removed by the extension eCleaner. And in your profile folder, there is a file in the subfolder extension-data called ublock0.sqlite which has to be removed manually in any case. Delete the browser cache, too!  If doing so, the updating of the filter lists will work like a charm after installing the new version. 
All users who have important, individual settings or rules should backup them before cleaning their profile folder. On the dashboard page, there is an item called "Back up to file"" to save the user's settings via uBlock itself. If you only want to backup your custom filters, go to the tab "My filters" and export them to a file!

In any case, we have from now on an uBlock Origin extension for our beloved legacy browsers with the most recent filter lists which are normally provided only in the webextension of uBlock Origin. Please, test this special version and report here! Any feedback is of course welcome!

Cheers, AstroSkipper

Thank you @AstroSkipper for your attention to updating this important extension.

While I have not fully tested your new modified uBlock Origin extension (it may also be a good idea to provide a version marker of some kind between your uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 releases to best avoid confusion as to which release or re-release is which), I have installed it and I especially like the addition of the Shortcuts capability.

I would recommend  also including compatibility in the install.rdf file for BNavigator (which @roytam1 frequently releases).  The (SeaMonkey-based) BNavigator application has the following application ID:
{a3210b97-8e8a-4737-9aa0-aa0e607640b9}

For convenience, I have uploaded my modified version of your uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 release (most recent at the time of this writing) to the MediaFire file sharing host, with the only mods being to the install.rdf file and are:  (1) BNavigator compatibility has been added (using the version range of 0.1 to 100.*) and (2) the Pale Moon compatibility maximum version has been increased to 32.* (to test it myself in the future should the opportunity present itself).  (On a related note, I have also already tested the extension to not work on Pale Moon 26.5.0, install.rdf limits notwithstanding).  The MediaFire share link is:  https://www.mediafire.com/file/74p444jwl861een/uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.special-mod-by-%40AstroSkipper__plus_myChanges.xpi/file
I have also attached a copy of the modified install.rdf file.

install.rdf

Edited January 7 by Ascii2

[AstroSkipper]

8 hours ago, Mathwiz said:

Yeah, it's an arms race. Folks like gorhill, justoff, and yourself provide ad blockers; the ad-supported sites come up with ways around the ad blockers; you all update the ad blockers to block the workarounds; the sites come up with new workarounds; etc., usw.

Anyway, you've done a lot of good work bringing modern ad-blocking to our browsers!

Thanks for your kind words!  And you're right it is as always a game of action and reaction between two parties with opposing interests. I personally try to maintain and keep up-to-date uBlock Origin Legacy within the scope of my abilities. Unfortunately, both, gorhill and JustOff stopped further development a long time ago. Thus, we can only hope that the compatibility of the important filter lists for uBOL will be maintained. 

[AstroSkipper]

9 hours ago, Ascii2 said:

Thank you @AstroSkipper for your attention to updating this important extension.

You're welcome! And thanks for contributing here! 

9 hours ago, Ascii2 said:

it may also be a good idea to provide a version marker of some kind between your uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 releases to best avoid confusion as to which release or re-release is which

There is only one build of uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 available on MediaFire at a time. The previous builds of this version have been removed by me. It was always the release with the same version number only corrected. No need to give them different sub-version numbers. 

9 hours ago, Ascii2 said:

I would recommend  also including compatibility in the install.rdf file for BNavigator (which @roytam1 frequently releases).  The (SeaMonkey-based) BNavigator application has the following application ID:
{a3210b97-8e8a-4737-9aa0-aa0e607640b9}

I did not test my release in the BNavigator browser. In general, I only change compatibility strings in the install.rdf of an xpi file if I really know it is really compatible. Have you already fully tested my release in BNavigator?  In any case, I tested my release in Pale Moon 32.5.2, and it worked there, too. The maxVersion is not that important as the minVersion is but I can update it next time. I will take these changes into account in my upcoming release uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31. Thanks for the hint! 

Edited January 7 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[Ascii2]

11 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

 did not test my release in the BNavigator browser. In general, I only change compatibility strings in the install.rdf of an xpi file if I really know it is really compatible. Have you already fully tested my release in BNavigator?  In any case, I tested my release in Pale Moon 32.5.2, and it worked there, too. The maxVersion is not that important as the minVersion is but I can update it next time. I will take these changes into account in my upcoming release uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31. Thanks for the hint! 

I have tested both your and the regular uBlock Origin Legacy extensions on BNavigator and found them to work, generally, and no better than on similar browser offering that are included for compatibility in install.rdf.  I have used at least the regular uBlock Origin Legacy extension for over a year.  Presumably, the extensions would likely also be compatible with Binary Outcast Borealis Navigator, which it is my understanding to have the same Application ID as BNavigator, the original project roytam1's BNavigator is forked from; however, I have never used or tested Borealis Navigator.

BNavigator is a fork of the now defunct Binary Outcast Borealis Navigator Web browser, which itself is a fork of the Mozilla SeaMonkey Web browser.  Those projects offer a derivative of the SeaMonkey Web browser only, and not the other SeaMonkey offerings (such as the e-mail client).  I have found the BNavigator browser to be, applicably both individually and in concert, the most reliable (including compatibility with Web content) and best performing Web browser that @roytam1 offers (I have used and tested all the main ones).  I have also found that BNavigator can still support extensions that were no longer compatible with newer Firefox browsers (and many of roytam1's derivatives).

BNavigator is offered by roytam1 for download in the same place as his Mail News offering (which is also a fork of another Binary Outcast project; https://o.rthost.win/boc-uxp/index.php?sort=date&order=desc ).

Edited January 7 by Ascii2

[AstroSkipper]

22 minutes ago, Ascii2 said:

I have tested both your and the regular uBlock Origin Legacy extensions on BNavigator and found them to work, generally, and no better than on similar browser offering that are included for compatibility in install.rdf.  I have used at least the regular uBlock Origin Legacy extension for over a year.  Presumably, the extensions would likely also be compatible with Binary Outcast Borealis Navigator, which it is my understanding to have the same Application ID as BNavigator, the original project roytam1's BNavigator is forked from; however, I have never used or tested Borealis Navigator.

BNavigator is a fork of the now defunct Binary Outcast Borealis Navigator Web browser, which itself is a fork of the Mozilla SeaMonkey Web browser.  I have found the BNavigator browser to be, applicably both individually and in concert, the most reliable and best performing Web browser that @roytam1 offers (I have used and tested all the main ones).  I have also found that BNavigator can still support extensions that were no longer compatible with newer Firefox browsers (and many of roytam1's derivatives).

BNavigator is offered by roytam1 for download in the same place as his Mail News offering (which is also a fork of another Binary Outcast project; https://o.rthost.win/boc-uxp/index.php?sort=date&order=desc ).

Thanks for replying! I know BNavigator very well for years. Although I have installed it in my Windows XP partition long time ago and updated it on a regular base, I use it very rarely. Therefore, a confirmation that my release uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 also works properly in BNavigator should come from an user of this browser such as you. Thanks for that!

Edited January 7 by AstroSkipper
Correction

[adata]

Whether there is an "the stream detector" extension for Palemoon (New Moon) browser?
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hls-stream-detector/