SOLVED Browser compatibility - Firefox 12

[peter_pclos]

I ran Synaptic to upgrade the packages (including Firefox) on my PCLinuxOS 2012.02 installation last week, since when I have been unable to access the web directory of my web space with 1and1.  I can get to my MySQL databases, but attempts to use the 'Webspace Explorer' link to get to the directory tree result in an error message telling me that my browser is incompatible, and I should use Firefox (or IE - enough said).  Enquiries with 1and1 yielded no further information, simply a repeat of the assertion that my browser was incompatible.  I have tried two fixes suggested on the Mozilla/Firefox forums involving re-definition of the User Agent string, but neither of them worked.  My only work-around so far is to run from a Live PCLinuxOS 2012.02 CD-ROM which has an older Firefox running in a non-updated pclos platform.  This provides a fix, but isn't exactly convenient!

I next tried other browsers from the pclos repositories (Epiphany, Midori, Opera, SeaMonkey), but they all suffered from the  same problem.  So, is it a Firefox problem, or has something else in the system software been changed by a recent upgrade to cause my grief?  As far as I can see the basic settings under the Preferences in Firefox are identical between the installed desktop version and the Live CD version, as are the security settings in the respective PCLinuxOS Control Centers.

Has anyone else come across this situation, or has anyone some idea of where the problem lies?

[Old-Polack]

Could you post a link?

[T6]

don't know if you are using any firewall or that site uses a specific port that might be blocked after the update you did

have you tried chrome or konqueror?

[DeBaas]

If I may believe this link you are in trouble, and it stays that way:

http://elliottback.com/wp/1and1-sucks/

[peter_pclos]

Well,

T6:   Attempting Konqueror gives the following alert:

Unsupported client:
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Konqueror/4.6; Linux)
KHTML/4.6.5 (like Gecko)!
Assumed gecko version 1.9.0.0 (Firefox 3.0).

and my access to the admin pages of 1and1.co.uk is even more limited than with Firefox.

My firewall is provided in my wired broadband router, so as my Live CD option works and has an identical security profile to the hard-disc based OS, there wouldn't seem to be a problem there.

DeBaas:   Until this recent event I've never had problems of any kind with 1and1 in several years of use.

Old_Polack:  For your information my 1and1 admin link is admin.1and1.co.uk, but you'd need my password to get through it, and I don't publish my passwords.  BTW, a propos another forum thread, I negotiated a warranty waiver with my PC builder to allow me to unseal and open the box, and found that one of the DDR3 RAM strips had failed.  Removing it left me with a working system (50% amnesiac) and the supplier will replace the faulty one.

[YouCanToo]

Well,

T6:   Attempting Konqueror gives the following alert:

Unsupported client:
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Konqueror/4.6; Linux)
KHTML/4.6.5 (like Gecko)!
Assumed gecko version 1.9.0.0 (Firefox 3.0).

and my access to the admin pages of 1and1.co.uk is even more limited than with Firefox.

My firewall is provided in my wired broadband router, so as my Live CD option works and has an identical security profile to the hard-disc based OS, there wouldn't seem to be a problem there.

DeBaas:   Until this recent event I've never had problems of any kind with 1and1 in several years of use.

Old_Polack:  For your information my 1and1 admin link is admin.1and1.co.uk, but you'd need my password to get through it, and I don't publish my passwords.  BTW, a propos another forum thread, I negotiated a warranty waiver with my PC builder to allow me to unseal and open the box, and found that one of the DDR3 RAM strips had failed.  Removing it left me with a working system (50% amnesiac) and the supplier will replace the faulty one.

FWIW this type of issue IS NOT created by a hard ware problem or a reduction in memory.

[peter_pclos]

Sorry, YouCanToo, the reference to RAM was a specific aside to Old-Polack about our exchanges in another thread a couple of weeks back.  He will know what I was referring to, but please accept my apologies for any confusion caused to the present thread.

[Old-Polack]

Sorry, YouCanToo, the reference to RAM was a specific aside to Old-Polack about our exchanges in another thread a couple of weeks back.  He will know what I was referring to, but please accept my apologies for any confusion caused to the present thread.

I certainly do, and it's good to hear your builder is fair and reasonable.

[peter_pclos]

Some progress to report. The problem seems to arise because of the monitor I use.  It has a 16:9 aspect ratio screen with a pixel resolution of 1366x768, and although I had no problems with the 1and1 administrative web page under the previous version of Firefox packaged with pclos, it presents an incompatibility with v 12.0.  By re-setting the resolution to 1024x768 using the Control Panel I can now access my web directories at 1and1, albeit with somewhat distorted text on the screen, but it's not a perfect fix because I have to log out and back in to implement the resolution change.  I have reported the problem to 1and1 and Mozilla/Firefox, and hope that before too long they may be able to come up with a solution which will accommodate 1366x768 resolution monitors.

[peter_pclos]

Clearly the impossible takes a little longer - but not much.

Having reported the problem to 1and1, and received a reply to the effect that they weren't responsible for what browser developers do by way of preserving compatibility, suddenly and miraculously (and without any system/browser changes on my part) I once again have access to my web space!  If only problems always went away so quietly  . . .