General :
K-Meleon Web Browser Forum
K-Meleon has been my favorite browser for several years. I'm using the latest official stable
release, version 75.1.
There are a growing number of web pages that fail to render properly with 75.1. Many times
I've had to use browsers I don't like because CAPTCHA boxes appear blank with K-Meleon.
I've also had problems with several cloud storage (file sharing) sites. I see messages while
I'm using K-Meleon about "switching to a supported browser."
I've been reading about updated K-Meleon builds created by forum members. In the "Anyone
still using kmeleon?" sticky there is a link to K-Meleon 75.1 Pro. Does this "Pro" version resolve
the web page rendering problem?
Please guys, I don't want to abandon K-Meleon. I've tried dozens of browsers. K-Meleon is still
the best for me! Should I download this "K-Meleon 75.1 Pro" or is there another build that will fix
all these web page rendering problems?
Most of those "old browser" alerts are just fakes! Even on my truly VERY old KM1.6 still half those claims vanish when in turn faking the user agent string to a modern one, and if so most of the stuff on those page DOES actually work
Okay, the other half not, but that's with a 100year old browser :cool: It does keep amusing me when reading here occasionally that other people with more modern browsers get that claim far more often than myself. Know what?! Even noticed in the past that google was still allowing a native KM1.5 UA, but refusing the corresponding old firefox string, and all newer firefoxes as well, just hilarious! Couldn't help suspecting that someone over there must have a heart for our little gem here :-)
Anyway, you're on KM75.1, that is still reasonably modern, so lots more of those claims should just be fake. Although not necessarily all. Have you even tried faking back the useragent string? Perhaps trying one without FF in it?
Regarding captchas, yes those are often a real pain. But sometimes only a settings thing, many pages insist to have cookies allowed (ALL) or referers or javascript etc. Worth trying too. Ah yes: an important but very frequently overlooked setting seems to me this one:
F2 > Page Display > Images > "Disallow scripts to change images"
They must be allowed for Captchas, that means the little box NOT checked
KM75.1pro has the same rendering engine as the normal one, just a couple different settings and more extensions out-of-box.
May be worth trying, but to get rid of "old browser" warnings the same UA fakes will still be necessary.
And there exists actually a newer KM-version too: KM76RC
RC means "Release Candidate", that means final test before posting it as stable. The link is either on the home page as "last dev versions" and also here in the forum, where always the lastest dev versions are posted: in the announcement chapter:
http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?8,138447
(Ignore the first replies there, the download link to RC was updated with an even newer RC version, dating from july-2)
That means for U: Captcha works in the common webs clear with 75.1, you must look in the KM settings, perheaps as Siria says.
You guys are the best! Thank you siria and Mikk.
Under Privacy & Security > Paranonia > Accept Cookies the default ticked option is "From
the originating website only." You're saying I should select "Never (Block cookies)" or
"Always." Correct?
One of the best features of K-Meleon is the toolbar that allows you to toggle Cookies, Java,
JavaScript, Popups, Images, Clear Cache, and Kill Flash. I make sure all these buttons
are not depressed, meaning they're all fully functional when I visit a site with a CAPTCHA.
I opened Preferences > Page Display > Images. There is no tick next to "Disallow scripts
to change images." It must be a default setting, because I never changed anything under
the "Images" tab.
Some of the sites that have displayed the "switch to a supported browser" message are
owned by corporations like Google. That's why I believed it was a legitimate warning about
my browser. I didn't know that this was a problem with other modern browsers. Thank you
siria, I really appreciate the info!
I'll change the Cookies setting to "Never (Block cookies)" before trying another site with a
CAPTCHA box. Maybe that will resolve the problem.
siria, I definitely want to try KM76RC. I'm a little confused about the download link. You
say, "ignore the first replies there." Please post a link with the newest (and hopefully best)
RC version.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2016 03:54AM by clutterless.
http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?8,138447 Dorian's posts.
And take the needed procedures to fake UA strings.
This one is fairly good.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:51.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/51.0
Some things like twitter base hosted video do work under original FF under Win XPSP3 on my machine any more. There is a post in off topic about XP supporting Chromium versions. I use that.
Extra benefit. Non corporate Chromium does not phone home to google so much.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2016 04:14AM by guenter.
Similar to do is possible practically in each browser (e.g. in IE since IE6-SP1; allthough in Opera at least upto ver. 12 this doesn't work correctly as it should)
Captcha needs cookies mostly.
Anyway, I didn't check it for captcha till now but this trick helped me allready in an other case: Some webs open pictures in full size via JavaScript and in some of them it didn't work in my KM - loading runs infinitely, withoug reaching the graphics. According to this hint I dischecked this "Disallow scripts to change images" box and now I can display all these pictures; following I'm in full hope for captcha it will work too.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2016 09:45AM by Mikk.
Hey cool, great it helped already
Yes exactly. Not necessarily as default setting, but for testing such probs.
Frankly it keeps amazing me how many people never ever toggle any of the original default settings. Actually this "medium" setting for cookies is only available in Preferences sheets, but not when toggling cookies either via toolbar button or via Privacy menu. As soon as one of THOSE methods is used, the setting jumps only between Allow ALL / Block ALL (technically they could also use a 3x toggle, with a half-green-half-red icon, but traditionally it's still just 2-way.) So I assume, you never ever toggled that setting even once yet.
That's fine of course, but there's a little trap with this medium setting, and you're not the first to fall into it:
The button looks the same for "Allow ALL" and for the default "Allow from same website only"!
So if someone is trying to find reasons for stuff like captcha probs, they may look at the cookie button, it looks like "allowed", and of course everyone assumes now "cookies are allowed"! Then continue searching elsewhere...
Instead you should have clicked it off-on, just to make sure that really ALL cookies are allowed, for the purpose of error hunting.
In theory this "original website" setting is the best compromise, that's true. But unfortunately in reality lots of website authors nowadays insist that you allow not only their own, but also cookies from all sorts of other domains or otherwise they will block you. Like cookies of the spying google ad service etc., but am no expert on such stuff.
So, yes - as you suggested, trying "Never (Block cookies)" is always a good idea to check such probs.
ABSOLUTELY. Mine too. Couldn't live without the privbar!
Actually have added a bunch more buttons to mine, happily toggling them all as necessary (DOMstorage, embedded Objects, style-killer, css-adblock, referrer, useragent etc., plus some lesser used on a second hidden toolbar like CSS-sheets, iframes etc., plus using special macros to mass-toggle whole sets at once, handling permanent exceptions etc.) Don't start me on this subject, LOL!
There, what I meant above - not necessarily "fully" if using default settings...
A propos settings, very important for such probs is also the "REFERER" permission.
Right-click a PrivBar button or use Tools>Privacy and look for "HTTP referer".
And as often, the Preferences sheets offer yet more options:
F2 > Privacy > Paranoia: Send http + https referers for problematic sites.
Probably yes. But just in case, can't harm to click it 2x on-off, to be 100% sure the setting now really exists.
Of course. They biggest ones are the most infamous for FORCING people to always do what they want exactly (=install all the newest tracking features) Regardless if technically necessary or not, in most cases it's just fake, as the useragent trick proves. (The "legitimate" part is kinda funny speaking of the biggest trojan company, but opinions differ widely there :cool
Uhm, that sounds like there's a misunderstanding now. If you mean that "useragent" thing?
Yeah I meant to download it from the first POST but ignore the following REPLIES which are talking about bugs. Some of those were only contained in the first version of the download, but the first post was meanwhile edited and contains now an improved version. with some of those bugs already fixed. Not all yet, pity. They say for example that print preview doesn't work yet.
Anyway, the USERAGENT trick is one of the most important solutions to get rid of fake "old browser" warnings. It does not help always, and not every website author will blindly believe everything that you fake back, but it does help in most cases.
This "useragent string" is only a text line which browsers send to every webpage you visit, to give them your computer specs. Like an ID-badge that some company people have to wear on their jackets.
If you click on "Help>About K-Meleon", it's this cryptic text line which appears right below the image.
It usually contains your operating system, your browser and its version, perhaps your language, etc.
If you fake this text and claim your browser were not KM75.1, but e.g. FF51, this will be send instead of the true values to all website you visit now. And the "KM>about" page will also show the fake text!
Just as example, what guenter has posted above:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:51.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/51.0
The prob is, the macro to toggle the UA simply by MENU is not included anymore in the newer KM-versions
So users must install it themselves now (the old macro still works, and they say the pref too!) But in my experience hardly anyone seems to ever install any additional macros (judging from comparing the download numbers for the browser and the download numbers for macros, e.g. from kmext site) Too bad. And this macro is also a bit more complicated to explain as others, due to requiring some preinstalled prefs.
Second prob is, newer KM-versions contain natively a second macro and pref setting, something in Tools>User... and some pref for "Firefox compatibility", doing similar things, and personally am not familiar with those yet, being stuck in KM1.6 due to old system.
Anyway. If you just want a QUICK TEST with a fake UA, that's easy, create the necessary pref manually:
Open page "about:config", accept the warning (no worry), and look if this pref already exists:
general.useragent.override
Probably not, in this case right-click and CREATE it. Use type "string".
Then enter as value e.g. guenters example:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:51.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/51.0
Now try loading the stubborn page again....
Don't worry, this fake string can easily be reset again later. Just doubleclick it in "about:config" and set it empty, then Help>About KM will show your original UA again.
And of course, most problematic sites also insist in JAVASCRIPT allowed, but that should work if your button shows up green.
A special gecko/firefox/mozilla prob is though, that cross-domain scripts are forbidden. This can be a REAL prob with no workaround
Thanks for the link to K-Meleon 76 RC.
I placed a tick next to "Never (Block cookies)." There was never a tick next to "Disallow scripts
to change images." Like I said, all the settings under the "Image" tab were default. I never had
to change any of the "Image" defaults.
I returned to a legitimate site with a CAPTCHA box. No change. The CAPTCHA is still blank.
This Google link is displayed instead of the CAPTCHA. It's a complete guide to CAPTCHA, listing
the supported browsers.
https://support.google.com/recaptcha/?hl=en#6223828
I've never faked a UA string, but it's definitely worth trying! This "How-To Geek" link explains
the procedure for several browsers, including Mozilla Firefox. I assume the procedure is identical
for K-Meleon. Correct?
http://www.howtogeek.com/113439/how-to-change-your-browsers-user-agent-without-installing-any-extensions/
If the procedure for faking a UA string works, is there a plugin or extension that allows you to
quickly switch back and forth from the fake UA string to the default K-Meleon user agent?
guenter, you said "There is a post in off topic about XP supporting Chromium versions. I use that."
Please post the string values you are using for Chromium. I'd like to try that too.
WOW SIRIA!
I was typing my reply to guenter and Mikk. I didn't realize you had added to this thread before I
had a chance to post. Thanks for all the additional info. Until now, I just kind of used browsers
for my home office and business. I'll definitely follow your advice and suggestions.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2016 12:31AM by clutterless.
I knew it. I kept procrastinating, knowing this would end up with a novel again, and when finally finished there'd be a simultaneous cross post again and all or half of that wouldn't be necessary anymore and I should have stayed lazy - LOL!
Anyway, perhaps a bit of it will still be useful to you or perhaps later readers.
(PS: I think guenter meant with this chromium thing not just a string, but actually using that browser)
(PS2: it would also help if you can post an example page with a captcha, so we can try ourselves too, if it's not too private)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2016 12:58AM by siria.
Ah, just now see from your linked "recaptcha" help page, it does contain a demo! Wise decision from the author :cool:
Does this demo work for you or not?
http://recaptcha.google.com/recaptcha/demo/
At least this demo seems extremely easy, works fine even in my ancient KM1.6 without any tricks, even with all my usual blocks and UA=FF3.5!
Probably the site where you have this prob is a more complicated one?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2016 01:07AM by siria.
The demo from Google definitely works! In fact, most CAPTCHA's work ok with K-Meleon
75.1. I've had other problems with 75.1. There are several forums where the login fails to
work. I've also noticed an occasional failure at cloud storage sites where links to files are
missing. I'm a K-Meleon junkie, but these problems go away when I reluctantly switch to
a slower "backup" browser.
I tried UA strings for Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. No luck. Still getting blank
CAPTCHA boxes on a few sites. As you know, there are many sites that list all UA browser
strings, like this one:
http://www.useragentstring.com/pages/useragentstring.php
This is kind of off topic, but it might help if you have some info about my background.
The desktop in my home office was built by me. I've been involved with electronics for several
decades, and I'm a partner in an electronics related business. The operating system I'm using
right now is a virtual image. When I go offline I save any important files or documents, and
replace the image with a clean copy. That means I never have to worry about a damaged or
infected system.
I mounted a virtual partition so I could try K-Meleon_76RC. I set all my Preferences the same
as 75.1. There are a couple of problems with 76RC. Under Browsing > Open Typed URLs I ticked
"In the current tab." Doesn't work. A new tab opens when I type or copy and paste a URL.
Also, if a page doesn't load quickly the entire browser window turns black. Very strange! The
first time I saw this black window I thought 76RC had crashed.
I tried 76RC with those sites that displayed blank CAPTCHA boxes. I was hoping this new version
of K-Meleon would show all CAPTCHA's. No change. Still replaced with the "switch to a supported
browser" message.
I will never abandon K-Meleon! If I can't fix the problems with 76RC, I'll keep using 75.1 until
the most stable release of 76 is available.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2016 11:25AM by clutterless.
Thanks - always great to see other die-hard fans
Perhaps some day you can post a link to such a non-working page which isn't too private, but in general, if something works in the corresponding FF version with the same engine inside, it should definitely work in KM too. Could still bet just one of those 100 settings...
Perhaps also disable the rather new Firefox "compatibility mode" in the Tools menu (or whereever that is exactly, would need my other computer for checking myself sorry)
Did you know that different KM versions can actually be run parallel without probs, no tricks like virtual partitions needed? Mostly for testing some of us here do this all the time. Of course the profiles should be different too then, usually done be using KM in "portable mode" with all profiles inside the program folder. For this mode the existance of an empty file "profile.ini" (no "s"!) in its root folder is the switch. And contents of different profile folders can simply be copied over into another if wished. Alternatively, if write-permission in progs folder is a prob, the non-portable mode with profiles in c:/users can still be used too by choosing a parallel profile there, either at each KM startup or by hardcoding a specific profile name in the commandline.
Have you seen the latest 76 version from yesterday already?
Sadly Dorian writes he lost all latest data due to a SSD crash and windows destroying the backup, so this 'new' version might actually be a regression in some parts. But at any rate the re-build RC2 is now the latest dev version again:
http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?8,138447,140501#msg-140501
Also rather suspicious for captcha probs are JS settings. For example just came across this diashow, which needed some tweaking - can you see it...?
http://www.20min.ch/wissen/history/story/Der-Mann--der-sich-selber-den-Blinddarm-entfernte-10713390
General discussion about K-Meleon
Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
clutterless
Date: December 18, 2016 03:07AM
K-Meleon has been my favorite browser for several years. I'm using the latest official stable
release, version 75.1.
There are a growing number of web pages that fail to render properly with 75.1. Many times
I've had to use browsers I don't like because CAPTCHA boxes appear blank with K-Meleon.
I've also had problems with several cloud storage (file sharing) sites. I see messages while
I'm using K-Meleon about "switching to a supported browser."
I've been reading about updated K-Meleon builds created by forum members. In the "Anyone
still using kmeleon?" sticky there is a link to K-Meleon 75.1 Pro. Does this "Pro" version resolve
the web page rendering problem?
Please guys, I don't want to abandon K-Meleon. I've tried dozens of browsers. K-Meleon is still
the best for me! Should I download this "K-Meleon 75.1 Pro" or is there another build that will fix
all these web page rendering problems?
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
siria
Date: December 18, 2016 05:32AM
Most of those "old browser" alerts are just fakes! Even on my truly VERY old KM1.6 still half those claims vanish when in turn faking the user agent string to a modern one, and if so most of the stuff on those page DOES actually work
Okay, the other half not, but that's with a 100year old browser :cool: It does keep amusing me when reading here occasionally that other people with more modern browsers get that claim far more often than myself. Know what?! Even noticed in the past that google was still allowing a native KM1.5 UA, but refusing the corresponding old firefox string, and all newer firefoxes as well, just hilarious! Couldn't help suspecting that someone over there must have a heart for our little gem here :-)
Anyway, you're on KM75.1, that is still reasonably modern, so lots more of those claims should just be fake. Although not necessarily all. Have you even tried faking back the useragent string? Perhaps trying one without FF in it?
Regarding captchas, yes those are often a real pain. But sometimes only a settings thing, many pages insist to have cookies allowed (ALL) or referers or javascript etc. Worth trying too. Ah yes: an important but very frequently overlooked setting seems to me this one:
F2 > Page Display > Images > "Disallow scripts to change images"
They must be allowed for Captchas, that means the little box NOT checked
KM75.1pro has the same rendering engine as the normal one, just a couple different settings and more extensions out-of-box.
May be worth trying, but to get rid of "old browser" warnings the same UA fakes will still be necessary.
And there exists actually a newer KM-version too: KM76RC
RC means "Release Candidate", that means final test before posting it as stable. The link is either on the home page as "last dev versions" and also here in the forum, where always the lastest dev versions are posted: in the announcement chapter:
http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?8,138447
(Ignore the first replies there, the download link to RC was updated with an even newer RC version, dating from july-2)
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
Mikk
Date: December 18, 2016 05:50PM
Exactly this problem I experience with my 1.7alpha on W98 in the last months (till now I thaught the cause are SW updates of concerning web sites, but now I think I should check the Sirias hints, perheaps they will help). But 2 weeks ago I was for one week on a foreigen PC with W8 and I used the KM 75.1 on my SD card. I could use this time to realise some necessary registrations which I couldn't reach with 1.7alpha because of the captcha problem and it worked perfect.Quote
clutterless
I'm using the latest official stable release, version 75.1.
...
I've had to use browsers I don't like because CAPTCHA boxes appear blank with K-Meleon.
That means for U: Captcha works in the common webs clear with 75.1, you must look in the KM settings, perheaps as Siria says.
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
clutterless
Date: December 19, 2016 03:43AM
You guys are the best! Thank you siria and Mikk.
Under Privacy & Security > Paranonia > Accept Cookies the default ticked option is "From
the originating website only." You're saying I should select "Never (Block cookies)" or
"Always." Correct?
One of the best features of K-Meleon is the toolbar that allows you to toggle Cookies, Java,
JavaScript, Popups, Images, Clear Cache, and Kill Flash. I make sure all these buttons
are not depressed, meaning they're all fully functional when I visit a site with a CAPTCHA.
I opened Preferences > Page Display > Images. There is no tick next to "Disallow scripts
to change images." It must be a default setting, because I never changed anything under
the "Images" tab.
Some of the sites that have displayed the "switch to a supported browser" message are
owned by corporations like Google. That's why I believed it was a legitimate warning about
my browser. I didn't know that this was a problem with other modern browsers. Thank you
siria, I really appreciate the info!
I'll change the Cookies setting to "Never (Block cookies)" before trying another site with a
CAPTCHA box. Maybe that will resolve the problem.
siria, I definitely want to try KM76RC. I'm a little confused about the download link. You
say, "ignore the first replies there." Please post a link with the newest (and hopefully best)
RC version.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2016 03:54AM by clutterless.
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
guenter
Date: December 19, 2016 04:03AM
http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?8,138447 Dorian's posts.
And take the needed procedures to fake UA strings.
This one is fairly good.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:51.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/51.0
Some things like twitter base hosted video do work under original FF under Win XPSP3 on my machine any more. There is a post in off topic about XP supporting Chromium versions. I use that.
Extra benefit. Non corporate Chromium does not phone home to google so much.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2016 04:14AM by guenter.
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
Mikk
Date: December 19, 2016 09:42AM
The best setting for cookies is "Never (Block cookies)" as the first. Then Tools - Privacy - Permissions - Cookies and insert the domain (name + suffix) of your trusted web, where you want to allow cookies and press Allow. In this matter you can build a white list - only cookies of sites you trust will be accepted. You can allow or block them temporarily if you don't trust them fully. But you must know, blocking cookies or to remove a domain from the white list doesn't delete existing automatically. They stay active until you delete them manually in Tools - Privacy - View Data - View CookiesQuote
clutterless
You're saying I should select "Never (Block cookies)" or
"Always." Correct?
...
I'll change the Cookies setting to "Never (Block cookies)" before trying another site with a CAPTCHA box. Maybe that will resolve the problem.
Similar to do is possible practically in each browser (e.g. in IE since IE6-SP1; allthough in Opera at least upto ver. 12 this doesn't work correctly as it should)
Captcha needs cookies mostly.
In 1.7alpha I have this working propperly. As I know Siria uses 1.6beta. Omited perheaps in 75.1? Or another way for it? Unfortunately I have now no posibility to check this version.Quote
clutterless
I opened Preferences > Page Display > Images. I opened Preferences > Page Display > Images.There is no tick next to "Disallow scripts to change images." It must be a default setting, because I never changed anything under the "Images" tab.
Anyway, I didn't check it for captcha till now but this trick helped me allready in an other case: Some webs open pictures in full size via JavaScript and in some of them it didn't work in my KM - loading runs infinitely, withoug reaching the graphics. According to this hint I dischecked this "Disallow scripts to change images" box and now I can display all these pictures; following I'm in full hope for captcha it will work too.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2016 09:45AM by Mikk.
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
siria
Date: December 19, 2016 11:57PM
Hey cool, great it helped already
Quote
clutterless
Under Privacy & Security > Paranonia > Accept Cookies the default ticked option is "From the originating website only." You're saying I should select "Never (Block cookies)" or "Always." Correct?
Yes exactly. Not necessarily as default setting, but for testing such probs.
Frankly it keeps amazing me how many people never ever toggle any of the original default settings. Actually this "medium" setting for cookies is only available in Preferences sheets, but not when toggling cookies either via toolbar button or via Privacy menu. As soon as one of THOSE methods is used, the setting jumps only between Allow ALL / Block ALL (technically they could also use a 3x toggle, with a half-green-half-red icon, but traditionally it's still just 2-way.) So I assume, you never ever toggled that setting even once yet.
That's fine of course, but there's a little trap with this medium setting, and you're not the first to fall into it:
The button looks the same for "Allow ALL" and for the default "Allow from same website only"!
So if someone is trying to find reasons for stuff like captcha probs, they may look at the cookie button, it looks like "allowed", and of course everyone assumes now "cookies are allowed"! Then continue searching elsewhere...
Instead you should have clicked it off-on, just to make sure that really ALL cookies are allowed, for the purpose of error hunting.
In theory this "original website" setting is the best compromise, that's true. But unfortunately in reality lots of website authors nowadays insist that you allow not only their own, but also cookies from all sorts of other domains or otherwise they will block you. Like cookies of the spying google ad service etc., but am no expert on such stuff.
So, yes - as you suggested, trying "Never (Block cookies)" is always a good idea to check such probs.
Quote
clutterless
One of the best features of K-Meleon is the toolbar that allows you to toggle Cookies, Java, JavaScript, Popups, Images, Clear Cache, and Kill Flash.
ABSOLUTELY. Mine too. Couldn't live without the privbar!
Actually have added a bunch more buttons to mine, happily toggling them all as necessary (DOMstorage, embedded Objects, style-killer, css-adblock, referrer, useragent etc., plus some lesser used on a second hidden toolbar like CSS-sheets, iframes etc., plus using special macros to mass-toggle whole sets at once, handling permanent exceptions etc.) Don't start me on this subject, LOL!
Quote
clutterless
I make sure all these buttons are not depressed, meaning they're all fully functional when I visit a site with a CAPTCHA.
There, what I meant above - not necessarily "fully" if using default settings...
A propos settings, very important for such probs is also the "REFERER" permission.
Right-click a PrivBar button or use Tools>Privacy and look for "HTTP referer".
And as often, the Preferences sheets offer yet more options:
F2 > Privacy > Paranoia: Send http + https referers for problematic sites.
Quote
clutterless
I opened Preferences > Page Display > Images. There is no tick next to "Disallow scripts to change images." It must be a default setting, because I never changed anything under the "Images" tab.
Probably yes. But just in case, can't harm to click it 2x on-off, to be 100% sure the setting now really exists.
Quote
clutterless
Some of the sites that have displayed the "switch to a supported browser" message are owned by corporations like Google. That's why I believed it was a legitimate warning about my browser.
Of course. They biggest ones are the most infamous for FORCING people to always do what they want exactly (=install all the newest tracking features) Regardless if technically necessary or not, in most cases it's just fake, as the useragent trick proves. (The "legitimate" part is kinda funny speaking of the biggest trojan company, but opinions differ widely there :cool
Quote
clutterless
I didn't know that this was a problem with other modern browsers.
Uhm, that sounds like there's a misunderstanding now. If you mean that "useragent" thing?
Quote
clutterless
I definitely want to try KM76RC. I'm a little confused about the download link. You say, "ignore the first replies there."
Yeah I meant to download it from the first POST but ignore the following REPLIES which are talking about bugs. Some of those were only contained in the first version of the download, but the first post was meanwhile edited and contains now an improved version. with some of those bugs already fixed. Not all yet, pity. They say for example that print preview doesn't work yet.
Anyway, the USERAGENT trick is one of the most important solutions to get rid of fake "old browser" warnings. It does not help always, and not every website author will blindly believe everything that you fake back, but it does help in most cases.
This "useragent string" is only a text line which browsers send to every webpage you visit, to give them your computer specs. Like an ID-badge that some company people have to wear on their jackets.
If you click on "Help>About K-Meleon", it's this cryptic text line which appears right below the image.
It usually contains your operating system, your browser and its version, perhaps your language, etc.
If you fake this text and claim your browser were not KM75.1, but e.g. FF51, this will be send instead of the true values to all website you visit now. And the "KM>about" page will also show the fake text!
Just as example, what guenter has posted above:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:51.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/51.0
The prob is, the macro to toggle the UA simply by MENU is not included anymore in the newer KM-versions
So users must install it themselves now (the old macro still works, and they say the pref too!) But in my experience hardly anyone seems to ever install any additional macros (judging from comparing the download numbers for the browser and the download numbers for macros, e.g. from kmext site) Too bad. And this macro is also a bit more complicated to explain as others, due to requiring some preinstalled prefs.
Second prob is, newer KM-versions contain natively a second macro and pref setting, something in Tools>User... and some pref for "Firefox compatibility", doing similar things, and personally am not familiar with those yet, being stuck in KM1.6 due to old system.
Anyway. If you just want a QUICK TEST with a fake UA, that's easy, create the necessary pref manually:
Open page "about:config", accept the warning (no worry), and look if this pref already exists:
general.useragent.override
Probably not, in this case right-click and CREATE it. Use type "string".
Then enter as value e.g. guenters example:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:51.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/51.0
Now try loading the stubborn page again....
Don't worry, this fake string can easily be reset again later. Just doubleclick it in "about:config" and set it empty, then Help>About KM will show your original UA again.
And of course, most problematic sites also insist in JAVASCRIPT allowed, but that should work if your button shows up green.
A special gecko/firefox/mozilla prob is though, that cross-domain scripts are forbidden. This can be a REAL prob with no workaround
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
clutterless
Date: December 20, 2016 12:08AM
Thanks for the link to K-Meleon 76 RC.
I placed a tick next to "Never (Block cookies)." There was never a tick next to "Disallow scripts
to change images." Like I said, all the settings under the "Image" tab were default. I never had
to change any of the "Image" defaults.
I returned to a legitimate site with a CAPTCHA box. No change. The CAPTCHA is still blank.
This Google link is displayed instead of the CAPTCHA. It's a complete guide to CAPTCHA, listing
the supported browsers.
https://support.google.com/recaptcha/?hl=en#6223828
I've never faked a UA string, but it's definitely worth trying! This "How-To Geek" link explains
the procedure for several browsers, including Mozilla Firefox. I assume the procedure is identical
for K-Meleon. Correct?
http://www.howtogeek.com/113439/how-to-change-your-browsers-user-agent-without-installing-any-extensions/
If the procedure for faking a UA string works, is there a plugin or extension that allows you to
quickly switch back and forth from the fake UA string to the default K-Meleon user agent?
guenter, you said "There is a post in off topic about XP supporting Chromium versions. I use that."
Please post the string values you are using for Chromium. I'd like to try that too.
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
clutterless
Date: December 20, 2016 12:29AM
WOW SIRIA!
I was typing my reply to guenter and Mikk. I didn't realize you had added to this thread before I
had a chance to post. Thanks for all the additional info. Until now, I just kind of used browsers
for my home office and business. I'll definitely follow your advice and suggestions.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2016 12:31AM by clutterless.
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon!
Posted by:
siria
Date: December 20, 2016 12:54AM
I knew it. I kept procrastinating, knowing this would end up with a novel again, and when finally finished there'd be a simultaneous cross post again and all or half of that wouldn't be necessary anymore and I should have stayed lazy - LOL!
Anyway, perhaps a bit of it will still be useful to you or perhaps later readers.
(PS: I think guenter meant with this chromium thing not just a string, but actually using that browser)
(PS2: it would also help if you can post an example page with a captcha, so we can try ourselves too, if it's not too private)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2016 12:58AM by siria.
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon! (CAPTCHA)
Posted by:
siria
Date: December 20, 2016 01:04AM
Ah, just now see from your linked "recaptcha" help page, it does contain a demo! Wise decision from the author :cool:
Does this demo work for you or not?
http://recaptcha.google.com/recaptcha/demo/
At least this demo seems extremely easy, works fine even in my ancient KM1.6 without any tricks, even with all my usual blocks and UA=FF3.5!
Probably the site where you have this prob is a more complicated one?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2016 01:07AM by siria.
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon! (CAPTCHA)
Posted by:
clutterless
Date: December 21, 2016 11:09AM
The demo from Google definitely works! In fact, most CAPTCHA's work ok with K-Meleon
75.1. I've had other problems with 75.1. There are several forums where the login fails to
work. I've also noticed an occasional failure at cloud storage sites where links to files are
missing. I'm a K-Meleon junkie, but these problems go away when I reluctantly switch to
a slower "backup" browser.
I tried UA strings for Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. No luck. Still getting blank
CAPTCHA boxes on a few sites. As you know, there are many sites that list all UA browser
strings, like this one:
http://www.useragentstring.com/pages/useragentstring.php
This is kind of off topic, but it might help if you have some info about my background.
The desktop in my home office was built by me. I've been involved with electronics for several
decades, and I'm a partner in an electronics related business. The operating system I'm using
right now is a virtual image. When I go offline I save any important files or documents, and
replace the image with a clean copy. That means I never have to worry about a damaged or
infected system.
I mounted a virtual partition so I could try K-Meleon_76RC. I set all my Preferences the same
as 75.1. There are a couple of problems with 76RC. Under Browsing > Open Typed URLs I ticked
"In the current tab." Doesn't work. A new tab opens when I type or copy and paste a URL.
Also, if a page doesn't load quickly the entire browser window turns black. Very strange! The
first time I saw this black window I thought 76RC had crashed.
I tried 76RC with those sites that displayed blank CAPTCHA boxes. I was hoping this new version
of K-Meleon would show all CAPTCHA's. No change. Still replaced with the "switch to a supported
browser" message.
I will never abandon K-Meleon! If I can't fix the problems with 76RC, I'll keep using 75.1 until
the most stable release of 76 is available.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2016 11:25AM by clutterless.
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon! (CAPTCHA)
Posted by:
siria
Date: December 21, 2016 11:37AM
Thanks - always great to see other die-hard fans
Perhaps some day you can post a link to such a non-working page which isn't too private, but in general, if something works in the corresponding FF version with the same engine inside, it should definitely work in KM too. Could still bet just one of those 100 settings...
Perhaps also disable the rather new Firefox "compatibility mode" in the Tools menu (or whereever that is exactly, would need my other computer for checking myself sorry)
Did you know that different KM versions can actually be run parallel without probs, no tricks like virtual partitions needed? Mostly for testing some of us here do this all the time. Of course the profiles should be different too then, usually done be using KM in "portable mode" with all profiles inside the program folder. For this mode the existance of an empty file "profile.ini" (no "s"!) in its root folder is the switch. And contents of different profile folders can simply be copied over into another if wished. Alternatively, if write-permission in progs folder is a prob, the non-portable mode with profiles in c:/users can still be used too by choosing a parallel profile there, either at each KM startup or by hardcoding a specific profile name in the commandline.
Have you seen the latest 76 version from yesterday already?
Sadly Dorian writes he lost all latest data due to a SSD crash and windows destroying the backup, so this 'new' version might actually be a regression in some parts. But at any rate the re-build RC2 is now the latest dev version again:
http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?8,138447,140501#msg-140501
Re: Please, help me stay with K-Meleon! (CAPTCHA)
Posted by:
siria
Date: December 21, 2016 02:20PM
Also rather suspicious for captcha probs are JS settings. For example just came across this diashow, which needed some tweaking - can you see it...?
http://www.20min.ch/wissen/history/story/Der-Mann--der-sich-selber-den-Blinddarm-entfernte-10713390
English