palemoon browser

[666philb]

i use palemoon and unfortunately firefox have now removed all legacy addons from their site, and so i've just been keeping my old addon .xpi files to use across installs. but whilst looking for links to old versions of the addons when replying to this post http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=115550
i found https://github.com/JustOff/ca-archive

it's an addon you install to give access to all the legacy firefox addons that have been removed.
https://github.com/JustOff/ca-archive/releases

added link on first post

[gychang]

Running latest version 28.4, had been running chrome-firefox for years, now on pup... Tried PM, definitely faster than FF. Actually scroll bug I had with FF on my main PC (spacebar wouldn't advance properly) have been fixed. No complaints at all. Works well with my startme home page.

[Mike Walsh]

Many thanks to watchdog for his 27.9.4 SSE w/glibc-tweak build. I don't really know why I'm still using Lucid - I think I'm one of those retro-freaks at heart...

Whatever the reason, 27.9.4 is running beautifully.....including YouTube. And the addition of Phil's recent discovery (the 'Legacy' archive) just makes a good thing even better!

Cheers, mate!


Mike.

[watchdog]

Many thanks to watchdog for his 27.9.4 SSE w/glibc-tweak build. I don't really know why I'm still using Lucid - I think I'm one of those retro-freaks at heart...

Happy to hear that. I can use a chroot environment on hd from precise to run the latest palemoon even in puppy 4.31. But the latest palemoon does not support SSE anymore, so for this kind of CPU my palemoon-27.9.4-SSE-glibc219tweak.pet is the best choice. Cheers.

[Mike Walsh]

@ watchdog:-

Nah, it's all good, mate. I cannot believe how fast this thing is.

Ok, my CPU's a dual-core Athlon64 with SSE3s.....but this thing just flies! Best browser I've found for Lucid by a country mile, even though the CPU's capable of so much more. It's all the other ancient stuff in Lucid that holds it back, of course.....though Richard's done a sterling job of keeping Lupu going for as long as he has. Much appreciated.


Mike.

[Mike Walsh]

'Portable' Palemoon 27.9.4-SSE with glibc219 'tweak'

Evening, kiddiwinks.

We all know how popular watchdog's 27.9.4 SSE-only build of Palemoon is, incorporating as it does the glibc 2.19 'tweak'. It brings life back to many older Puppies, which, but for a decent browser, are otherwise still perfectly usable on a day-to-day basis. My own Lucid (lupu-super2) and Racy 5.5 are a case in point.

It also runs well in newer Pups, too, since the CPU doesn't work so hard to process the browser's code.

----------------------------------------

To make this even more usable, I'm pleased to be able to offer a 'portable' version of this SSE-only edition of Palemoon. It's been built along the same lines as my other Mozilla 'portables', FF60esr and Palemoon28.

Obviously, I've had to make a few modifications, especially with the inclusion in the mix of the glibc 2.19 'upgrade'.

a) The 'palemoon' launch script has been moved from /usr/bin into the browser directory itself, and renamed 'launch'. The 'plmn' start script now points to this rather the main palemoon binary.

b) 'Launch' has been re-jigged a bit. The same '$LAUNCHDIR' variable as used in the 'plmn' start script has been specified, and every reference to the original '/usr/lib/palemoon/' location has been replaced with this variable.

Clicking on 'plmn' now runs the 'launch' script, which in turn starts Palemoon, using the glibc 2.19 components. (I must be starting to get the hang of this 'variable' stuff, because amazingly it fired-up straight away on the first trial run!)

Well; it amazed me, anyway..... It's been tested in my Lucid & Racy installs, temporarily adding 'pfix=ram' to menu.lst so as to get Pup to boot as a pristine install. It works a treat.

-----------------------------------------

For anybody who would like to try this out, you can find it at my Google Drive:-

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mDsyL3 ... sp=sharing

As with the other Palemoon 'portable', unzip; move the resulting 'palemoon32' directory anywhere you like, then click on the 'plmn' scipt to start Palemoon. That's it.

Palemoon will create the 'profile' directory at first run, thereafter always using this profile directory on subsequent runs.....as long as you start Palemoon using the start script.

----------------------------------------------------

To run with an existing profile, locate your existing /root/.moonchild productions directory. Click through 'palemoon' to reach your 'xxxxxxx.default' profile. If you wish to do this before you fire up for the first time, manually create the 'profile' directory. If you already created the 'profile' directory by starting Palemoon with the 'plmn' script, then delete the contents.

Open your existing 'xxxxxxx.default' profile. Now, copy the contents of this across to the empty 'profile' directory in the portable-Palemoon directory. Once that's done, you can restart Palemoon-portable. That's all there is to it.

---------------------------------------------------

Credits go to:-

watchdog - for putting this marvellous build together in the first place

fredx181 - for giving me the original inspiration with his 'FF-Quantum-portable'

---------------------------------------------

Hope some of you may find this useful. Feedback is appreciated, as always.

Enjoy!


Mike.

[fredx181]

Anyone has seen this Palemoon weird view ? (see pic)
With (latest at this time) version 28.4.1

EDIT:
Mmmm... even more weird, suddenly it looks normal now after reboot and running Palemoon....

Fred

[gychang]

I am using PM 28.4.1, on Quirky Beaver64 and BionicPup64, finally got it figured out how to use sync, it is a very useful feature.

Only usual web viewing problem I noticed is the netflix, for which I use firefox. Is there any other difference? (don't use add ons much at all).

[Mike Walsh]

A tip for those of you who haven't yet updated to the new version, 28.5.0.

The 'About (Palemoon)' box has been re-designed. The 'Check for Updates' box is no longer within this window; it's been moved to the 'Tools' menu section. This only shows when you have the main Menu toolbar enabled.

Those of you who (like me) prefer to have the minimal MenuEntry showing in the top-left corner, instead of the Menu toolbar taking up valuable screen 'real estate', will need to switch back to the Menu toolbar temporarily to perform the updates check.

In every other respect, the updater works as before; integral to the browser, instead of the separate (and now deprecated) Updater app.


Mike.

(Edit:-

@ gychang:-

You'll need to keep using FF for NetFlix for the forseeable future. Moonchild Productions have been negotiating with Mozilla for rights to employ the WideVine DRM modules (as used by Firefox) for some time now. As yet, Mozilla aren't budging.

Like you, I too would love to see this ability implemented in Palemoon. It's the final 'stumbling-block' to making Palemoon pretty much the perfect browser for Puppy.

We live in hope.....!


Mike. )

[nic007]

As a matter of interest. The other day I ripped the builtin Palemoon 27.6.1 from Xenial 7.0.5 to work with Precise 571 which has gclib2.15. Very fast and everything works.

[nic007]

As a matter of interest. The other day I ripped the builtin Palemoon 27.6.1 from Xenial 7.0.5 to work with Precise 571 which has gclib2.15. Very fast and everything works.

[greengeek]

Does anyone know of a Glibc pet that is standalone please? (ie not included as part of a browser or other software).

I would like to trial it on Slacko 5.6 to see if it enables me to run some newer software. cheers!

[Mike Walsh]

@ GG:-

Ian:-

Take a look here:-

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=806989

I've been using this 'upgrade' in every Puppy older than Tahrpup for some time now....including 560. There's no 'issues' attached to it at all, and it's entirely successful.

Y'know, I'm pretty sure you were asking about this a while back.....and I'm equally as certain I answered you in this same vein. However, if my memory's getting 'flaky', I'm still willing to help with this.

The links in the thread don't work. We all know meownplanet went tits-up some time ago, though fortunately, russoodle was able to recover a lot of folk's stuff that was hosted there. That included these items by battleshooter.

The recovered files are somewhat jumbled-up; due, so I understand, to the fact that russoodle had to grab as much stuff as possible while it was still accessible.....so ordering everything wasn't a priority at that point in time.

-----------------------------------------

So; to save searching through the whole list for each individual item - there's 5 (sorry, 6) separate .pets, and they have to be installed in a specific order - I put them all together in an archive. You can find the tarball at my MediaFire a/c, here:-

http://www.mediafire.com/file/1l2xk1q4t ... r.bz2/file

Unzip it, and install the .pets in this order:-

1.) Install the 3 .pets in the 'GCC deps' folder first. The order for these 3 doesn't matter.....but the install order for the remaining 3 very decidedly does.

2.) Next, binutils.

3.) Then, glibc-2.20.

4.) And finally, the gcc .pet.

It needs doing in that order; the GCC compiler requires the glibc upgrade to be installed first, since the compiler itself has been built against that version.....and if it isn't already in place, it seems the compiler won't install correctly.

(*shrug*)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

It can't be packed as an SFS, or an all-in-one .pet package. Battleshooter and mikeslr discussed that in the original thread, reaching the conclusion that it wouldn't work because certain bits have to be installed before others IF the whole lot are to work correctly. A .pet tries to install everything at the same time; so does an SFS.....and system stuff always takes priority over anything 'installed' via SFS.

So I don't quite know how you're going to get around that one with your set-up.....unless you're planning to do a new re-master with this stuff included.

Let me know what happens, please.


Mike.

[jrb]

@ GG:-.....and system stuff always takes priority over anything 'installed' via SFS.

With the exception of the adrv. Copy the .pet contents in order into the adrv.sfs and it might work. I haven't tried it but it should work.

Good Luck, J

[phat7]

@ GG:-

Ian:-

Take a look here:-

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=806989

I've been using this 'upgrade' in every Puppy older than Tahrpup for some time now....including 560. There's no 'issues' attached to it at all, and it's entirely successful.

As a total noob I don't understand what this Glibc is. Why and when would i need it?

[greengeek]

As a total noob I don't understand what this Glibc is. Why and when would i need it?

It is most likely something that you will never need.

Glibc comes in different versions - each pup has a specific version and it is part of the "engine room" of that puppy - it helps puppy run various programs and utilities.

However - sometimes you may want to try running a very new program on an "outdated" Puppy and it just might not run because it was compiled against a newer Glibc library. - that is when a Glibc upgrade may be valuable as it can help your puppy access programs specifically compiled to run on newer Puppies.

However - there is a strong risk that this sort of upgrade can stop your puppy from working properly so it is always "use at own risk"

In this case I posted my query here because I knew that some newer browsers (like Palemoon) have been made to run on older pups by the technique of adding in a "glibc tweak" and I hoped I could adapt the technique to getting a different (non-browser) utility running on my outdated Slacko 5.6

(The utility I want to get running is BK's Easydd which seems to need Glibc 2.17).

Sorry to introduce any confusion into the thread.

Y'know, I'm pretty sure you were asking about this a while back.....and I'm equally as certain I answered you in this same vein. However, if my memory's getting 'flaky', I'm still willing to help with this.

Thanks Mike. Pretty sure it's not your memory getting flaky - i'm feeling decidedly pre-senile these days I suspect if you did point me to this method previously it must have made my sphincter turn 7 shades of pale and I probably choked on my Horlicks and decided not to risk it.

It looks scary - and you're right - the lack of savefile might be a barrier.

Having now seen the extent of battleshooter's notes I am hoping there is another approach: Rather than a full blown Glibc transplant I am hoping to understand more about watchdog's methods of doing a "PRELOAD" which seems to be a method for getting a program to look at the new libs (or glibc) in a special place before looking at the normal locations (and coming up with the old incompatible libs).

If I can get this method to work with Easydd than I can get it to run in a pristine Slacko 5.6

Maybe what he has done for Palemoon I can copy for Easydd.

I guess that you were able to get Easydd running in your Slacko56 because you have the new Glibc already grafted in. I don't really want to take that risk because I don't know what a newer glibc might do to the countless other utilities I load as pets (mostly all old stuff).

[greengeek]

Let me know what happens, please.

Hi Mike - many thanks. I followed the steps as directed (except GCC compiler load which i don't think i need) and bingo. Much joy...!!
I have replied in more depth in the easydd thread.

muchos grassyarse!

[pp4mnklinux]

I like a lot this browser.
I started to use it in my "windows times" (years ago) and I wanna continue using it with my puppy but ...

I NEED LASTPASS and it doesn't work for palemoon.


have a nice day.

[Mike Walsh]

I like a lot this browser.
I started to use it in my "windows times" (years ago) and I wanna continue using it with my puppy but ...

I NEED LASTPASS and it doesn't work for palemoon.


have a nice day.

Yes, it does. I have it working in the latest Palemoon, 28.5.2. Only snag is, it's a slightly older version.....but it still works.

You need the 'archive' with all the pre-WebAPI extensions that Phil B. found. Then, install it from that.

Actually, if all you want is LastPass, I've got the LastPass manager as a separate .xpi file. This is the most recent version that'll work with Palemoon - 4.1.67, I believe.

Download it from here:-

https://www.datafilehost.com/d/f07f2812

Open Palemoon. Go into Menu->Addons. Look up the top for the wee box with the 'gear-cog'/crossed spanners? Click to open the 'drop-down'; this will give you the option to 'Install Add-on From File...'

Just follow the instructions; it'll walk you through it. Hope that helps.


Mike.

[mikeslr]

Hi pp4mnklinux & Mike Walsh,

Even after installing ca-archive-2.0.1.xpi palemoon 27.6.1 (64-bit) did not allow the 4.1.67 version of lastpass to install per the above instructions. Complained about it being an xpi file.

As I also wanted lastpass, this is what I did:

First installed ca-archive-2.0.1.xpi from, https://github.com/JustOff/ca-archive/releases. An Icon appeared on Palemoon's Toolbar. Clicked the icon which apparently configured it and setup a database. Clicking the icon again opened a GUI with a search box. Typed lastpass into the search box. Several version of lastpass appeared including 4.1.67. Next to it and other series 4 offerings was a "Download" button. Downloaded and attempted to install via Palemoon's installer using your instructions but received the same message. So, I skipped down to version 3.3.4 which, rather than a Download button, had an "Install Now" button.

Lastpass 3.3.4 installed and, when logging in to post this replay it offered to use my user-name and password stored with lastpass (which I hadn't done).

Considering the age of the 3.3.4 version I doubt that I'll use it. Might try the Universal installer from here, https://lastpass.com/misc_download2.php --maybe they really understand the meaning of Universal-- or just use Google-Chrome or firefox quantum when I actually want to log in to a site other than this Forum.

Warning: Just tried to uninstall lastpass 3.3.4 and discovered there's no listing of it under Palemoon's Addons. In short, I'm stuck with it unless I choose to delete and recreate my palemoon portable folder. Well, maybe there's a way to manually delete it. But, I don't know how.

Ignore the Warning: Just restarted Palemoon and lastpass 3.3.4 does have its own listing under addons.