File download problems with Firebird (aka Firefox)

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 1:43 pm

I'm using Firebird 0.7, so please tell me if that's my problem. But I've had such bad luck with the Firebird upgrade process (messing up all my options and add-ons and adblocks and other post-install tweaks) that I resist upgrading again.

The download button for files associated with this forum generally breaks in firebird. Maybe that is just for file names that have spaces in them (I didn't keep good track). Often I need to right click the button and use "open link target in IE" to get the file.

On a probably related subject, I've noticed that most of the files do not have their extension (.txt or .rmdu or .ir or .zip etc.) visible anywhere until IE actually starts to download them.

For counter example, notice my Kiss_DP_500_DVD_0841.txt in the DVD area.

The .txt is visible everywhere. It is in the DVD level directory.

It is in the title bar of the file's descriptive page, and it is handed correctly to Firebird when you click the Download button (so that's one Firebird handles with no trouble).

Independant of Firebird, I'd think user's should see file types as soon as possible in the browsing process. I argued in favor of mixing (KM) .txt files and .rmdu files together in the same upgrade collection. I wouldn't have done so if I thought KM users wouldn't find out that a file was .rmdu until after they downloaded it.

I'm not sure what's different about the few files where you can see the type vs. the many where you can't.

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:12 pm

You can see the .txt in this case because you chose to include it in the visible file name when you loaded the file. The visible file name has no relation to the actual file name, for example there's nothing stopping you from using "A Kiss DVD Player" as the visible file name and "Kiss_DP_500_DVD_0841.txt" as the actual file name. Here's a live example.

I know nothing about Firebird, so I can't speak to Firebird issues.

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:34 pm

The Robman wrote:You can see the .txt in this case because you chose to include it in the visible file name when you loaded the file.

I guess I should have paid more attention to what I was doing when I was uploading files, so I would have remembered that.

Do you have an opinion on helping KM users know before download whether they're getting a .txt or a .rmdu?

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:40 pm

When you load a file, you are given the choice of a couple of icons that you can use to indicate what sort of file it is. The correct icon for KM files is

and the correct icon for RM files is

. So as long as people use the correct icons, it should be obvious what sort of file it is.

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 3:01 pm

This thread is sure making me feel like a clueless and dense newbie.

I never noticed that icon choice before. I noticed my files had no icons and other files had them. I wondered about it but didn't think it was important. I never noticed the correlation between icon and file type in other people's uploads.

Now you show me that everyone else got it and I was asleep.

Now if someone can point me to the "don't munch, crinkle, spoit" button in Firebird.

I'm sure I'm misquoting that Dilbert cartoon, the one where someone has to tell Dilbert about the button on the copy machine that tells it not to destroy the sheet. I've seen plenty of the devices and programs that inspired that cartoon (some feature you never want is on by default and turned off by a button you might not notice).

So I haven't noticed the button in Firebird to turn off getting confused by this forum's file download button (maybe only when the filename has spaces). I've downloaded lots of files from lots of places, many with spaces in the file name and rarely have firebird issues, except here.

bob_m · Post by **bob_m** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 4:08 pm

Slightly on topic.
You might want to TRY Firefox 1.0 (yes it finally made it to 1.0 and changed names a few times) - but look for your favorite extension BEFORE you install - Many may have disappeared. Some may now be built in.
I lost a few favorites from 0.9 to 1.0 but I'm dealing

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:56 pm

I wasn't worried (maybe I should have been) about what might not be there in the new version. I was worried about what gets clobbered on the way.

In previous Firebird (and I think firefox) upgrades on other machines, it managed to find some of the old extensions and options and bookmarks etc. and automatically half install them to give me a total mess. I couldn't figure out how to back out the corrupted stuff or how to reinstal it or anything. I had to massively wipe files and registry entries and reinstall, then reconfigure from scratch then port my bookmarks over then really scrounge around to port most of the saved passwords over, then start building adblock and other config info from scratch.

I've had far worse trouble with patches and upgrades for Visual Studio (that I also customize the H--- out of) but you expect pain like that from an MS product. I don't want to go through it when I think I have a choice.

gfb107 · Post by **gfb107** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:47 pm

I've taken a look at the HTTP headers that are being returned by the forums software, and I've figured out what is causing the problems fire FireFox/Firebird.

I don't know if this is something that you can change Rob, or have your web person change, but here goes.

When an HTTP GET is sent for a file (for example, https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=1275)
The server returns a number of HTTP headers along with the actual file contents:

Code: Select all

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 02:00:03 GMT
Server: Apache/1.3.33 (Unix) mod_auth_passthrough/1.8 mod_tsunami/2.0 mod_log_bytes/1.2 mod_bwlimited/1.4 PHP/4.3.10 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 mod_ssl/2.8.22 OpenSSL/0.9.6b
X-Powered-By: PHP/4.3.10
Set-Cookie: phpbb2mysql_data=a%3A0%3A%7B%7D; expires=Wed, 08-Mar-06 02:00:03 GMT; path=/forums; domain=.hifi-remote.com
Set-Cookie: phpbb2mysql_sid=4a3ea48eab8c9262c54b5c6598aa295a; path=/forums; domain=.hifi-remote.com
Pragma: public
Content-Transfer-Encoding: none
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=Pioneer VSX-D710S.rmdu
Content-length: 5473
Keep-Alive: timeout=5, max=100
Connection: Keep-Alive
Content-Type: application/force-download; name="Pioneer VSX-D710S.rmdu"

The header than is causing problems is the Content-Disposition header. The filename value should be a quoted string, as follows:

Code: Select all

Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Pioneer VSX-D710S.rmdu"

.

gfb107 · Post by **gfb107** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:07 pm

I think it works OK in IE because IE looks at the Content-Type header instead, and in that one the name is quoted.

Post by **The Robman** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:07 am

Where would I need to look for this? Would this be part of the forum software or something in the host itself?

gfb107 · Post by **gfb107** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:13 am

I would think it is in the forum software somewhere, probably in the dload.php module. Seach for the text "Content-Disposition" and see what turns up.

Post by **The Robman** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 2:19 pm

Just FYI, I've posted a question about this over in the paFileDB forum...
http://www.mx-system.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6196

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 2:42 pm

I read the linked to thread in the other forum. They refer to changing a line that said "header('Content-Type: ' . $mimetype);" but I didn't understand what file they meant that line would be in.

If you (Rob) know what file they mean, I think I understand the rest (and more likely Greg does).

So even if we need a slightly different change, having the right file is most of the way there.

That's the place where Greg said you should fix something on the line that contains
'Content-Disposition'

It's pretty clear what to fix if you find that line in that file.

Post by **The Robman** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 2:53 pm

I just applied the mod that was referred to in the reply (in the other forum) and I went one step further and also applied the fix that Greg suggested.

I tested it using IE and I can still download. John, could you test it with your Firebird please.

The line of code that I changed applies to all non-IE browsers, so I'd like anyone using any other browsers to also test it please (ie, Netscape, etc).

johnsfine · Post by **johnsfine** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 2:59 pm

I just clicked the .rmdu Greg linked earlier in this thread and now it works.

Thanks.