Problems downloading mods from Xerxx

[Larsa52]

I'm having trouble downloading mods from Xerxx.
When I click on the download link, what happens is that it rolls on without stopping, the file is not being downloaded to my folder Downloads. I have tested several of his mods OpenStreetMap, Open my page, Count Ancestors n Descendants for example.
There is no problem with other mods. They are downloaded immediately and there is no problem to install them on my site
I have TNG 13.0.1 installed, I'm logged in and have restarted my computer. I have tested both with Google Chrome and Safari
(The mod Count Ancestors and Descendants was successfully downloaded after shutting down computer and resting over night, so even today but now it is the same problem as with the other mods .. Very strange!)
Is there anyone else, who has experienced the same problems?

Lars Arén

Sweden

 

 

[XerxX]

Hi all,

I just now downloaded in (Mac) Chrome Version 87.0.4280.88 (Officiell version) (x86_64):

No problem in (Mac) Firefox either.

I have never had this problem and I can't understand why it happens to my mods and not to others?

Lars and I have been trying to solve the problem and finally I had only the advice for him to turn to you, the Forum members.

We really hope that someone is able to help - or at least come up with an idea of what' wrong. Because I certainly can't.

Thanks In Advance,

Erik

[Michel KIRSCH]

It seems that some users (Robin, Mwellens) using Google Chrome (PC or Mac? Don't know) have the same problems with my Mods.

Using Firefox to download : no problem. With Google Chrome the Mod doesn't load...

I do tests from home on my own Mods with the last edition of Chrome PC ( Version 87.0.4280.88 Build official 64 bits) : no problem
Michel

[Robin Richmond]

 Thanks for the heads-up, Michel...

My problem is just with mods that use Click Counter or its variants.  The downloads work in Firefox, but in Chrome, the Wiki page just reloads.

I just learned from Google searches that Google is dropping support for FTP in Chrome. I don't see anything from Google itself about the current status of FTP,  but here's a notice dated two days ago about Chrome v787 (which I have)

Quote

 

The current FTP implementation in Google Chrome has no support for encrypted connections (FTPS), nor proxies. Usage of FTP in the browser is sufficiently low that it is no longer viable to invest in improving the existing FTP client. In addition more capable FTP clients are available on all affected platforms. Google Chrome 72+ removed support for fetching document subresources over FTP and rendering of top level FTP resources. Currently navigating to FTP URLs result in showing a directory listing or a download depending on the type of resource. A bug in Google Chrome 74+ resulted in dropping support for accessing FTP URLs over HTTP proxies. Proxy support for FTP was removed entirely in Google Chrome 76. Remaining capabilities of Google Chrome’s FTP implementation are restricted to either displaying a directory listing or downloading a resource over unencrypted connections. We would like to deprecate and remove this remaining functionality rather than maintain an insecure FTP implementation.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JUra5HnsbR_xmtQctkb2iVxRPuhPWhMB5M_zpbuGxTY/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

FWIW, I think that http: or https: requests should work in this context. At least I just downloaded a .cfg file from my site using http: and https:

- Robin

[Robin Richmond]

BTW - The notice above doesn't explain why unsecured FTP is not working right now.

And, it appears that the Click Counter links already use HTTP:

Arrrgh

[Ken Roy]

I think the issue is that the Chrome browser does not handle the TNG Wiki server redirect from http:// to the https:// for the zip file locstion on the TNG Wiki.

Click Counter users may need to update their SQLite database to change the location of their zip file on the TNG Wiki from http:// to https://   Why this is only an issue with Chrome I do not know but the browsers keep trying to protect us from ourselves these days 

If some one understands the SQLite structure of the Click Counter database, we could create a script to do the mass change of old links before the TNG Wiki started using https

 

[XerxX]

8 minutes ago, Ken Roy said:

TNG Wiki server redirect from http:// to the https:// for the zip file locstion on the TNG Wiki.

My URLs to the files are https:// since long ago:

Maybe I misunderstand?

 

@Larsa52 Have you tried Firefox?

/Erik

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by XerxX
Added sugg for Lars

[Ken Roy]

Interesting Erik,

When I changed the URL in my Click Counter database for the Report Footer mod that Ron reported he could not download using Chrome and for which I was able to verify that I had the same problem, then both he and I were able to download the Report Footer mod

Darrin verified that the http to https redirect recommended in the TNG and SSL article when switching your site from http:// to https:// is in place, which is why I replied the way I did.   I normally do not use the Chrome browser since I am not an icon driven user.

[Larsa52]

5 hours ago, XerxX said:

My URLs to the files are https:// since long ago:

Maybe I misunderstand?

 

@Larsa52 Have you tried Firefox?

/Erik

 

No, Erik I haven't! I will try in a while.. Must download it first

Edited December 11, 2020 by theKiwi
Moved response outside the quote

[tngrlkrz]

2 hours ago, Michel KIRSCH said:

It seems that some users (Robin, Mwellens) using Google Chrome (PC or Mac? Don't know) have the same problems with my Mods.

I also cannot use Chrome for your mods, or most which use ccounter.  Couldn't with Jeff Robison's either, until Ken (I think) changed something to https://  back when I first encountered this and let him know a couple weeks ago.

FF , Edge, and Opera (now associated with Avira??)  browsers work in all cases.

[Larsa52]

Additional information. I use Mac with latest  OS Big Sur

[XerxX]

37 minutes ago, XerxX said:

My URLs to the files are https:// since long ago:

Well, that was not really true. I've checked:

All mods updated in 2020 (f.ex. all OSM versions) and some 2019 were set to https:// Earlier versions were not.

Now all mods linked to in the Wiki are set to https://

HTH

Erik

[Ken Roy]

36 minutes ago, tngrlkrz said:

Couldn't with Jeff Robison's either,

If Jeff's mods are being counted on his site, you may still not be able to download them.  I do not have access to the TNG Wiki server.  I have to go through Darrin to get changes on the TNG Wiki server itself.  I can make updates to the MediaWiki software and extensions through FTP access.

I also do not have access to Simply Hosting, since I do not have an account with them, so I cannot get them to investigate the problem directly

[Michel KIRSCH]

1 hour ago, tngrlkrz said:

I also cannot use Chrome for your mods, or most which use ccounter.

I use my own counter, not Click counter.

All my url are coded with https since aug 2018.

How is an url encoded into my MySQL (AND in the SQLite database of Click counter) ?
Simply by copy/paste of the zip file's url into the database.

So, You'll logically retrieve older mods with http, and newest (minimum since aug 2018) with https...

How is send à zip file to the requester? simply with : @header('Location: '.$url);

Probably the "@" will hide the reason why the zip is not downloaded....

Michel

[Michel KIRSCH]

1 hour ago, tngrlkrz said:

I also cannot use Chrome for your mods, or most which use ccounter.

Ron,

i change the code from "@header...."  to "header..."

Could you try once again with a Mod you're sure that it doesn't load? Maybe Chrome will give a reason...

Michel

[tngrlkrz]

Michel,

Just now tried several of your mods with Chrome and no luck.

1 hour ago, Ken Roy said:

If Jeff's mods are being counted on his site,

Ken,

You may have misread. When testing this Chrome anomaly,  I was able to download one of Jeff's mods with Chrome after you ( I think it was you) made a change.  It was the 2nd one in this graphic. The first one of course worked because ccount is not involved.

[Ken Roy]

Ron,

The only change I made was to my Report Footer mod to change the old download URL from http:// to https://

I also asked Darrin to make sure the redirect was in place for the TNG Wiki server.

My guess is that Jeff's v12 version of the mod is using the https:// URL

Michel,

The click counter is not using @header and the Click Counter III that replaces Bart's Click Counter II and Jeff's Click Counter Email Notify mod has error detection logic.  No errors were written to my PHP error log.  Not to say there is not an error written to the TNG Wiki error log mod.

[tngrlkrz]

24 minutes ago, Ken Roy said:

Jeff's v12 version of the mod is using the https:// URL

Sorry, I got mixed up, it was the Report Footer I originally was testing with, I guess.  Re:Jeff's mod, you are  not referring to the Wiki link, are you?  There all the link URL's in the example I pictured are using https://  ..

[Ken Roy]

Ron,

How can you tell the URL for v10.1.2.0 mod version are https?  The TNG Wiki page points to Jeff's Click Counter database entry.

My guess is that the v10.1.2.0 mods in Jeff's Click Counter database are http:// like my Report Footer mod.  It would seem to me that Google Chrome is not honoring the re-direct in the .htaccess file, which accoroding to Darrin is the same as specified in the TNG and SSL article

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Strange though that Google Chrome is the only browser not handling it

[Ken Roy]

The problem may be that Google now blocks http:// file download

https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-to-block-some-http-file-downloads-starting-with-chrome-83/

rather than honor the re-direct to the https file location.

[Larsa52]

Firefox solved my problem. 😀

[tngrlkrz]

1 hour ago, Ken Roy said:

How can you tell the URL for v10.1.2.0 mod version are https?  The TNG Wiki page points to Jeff's Click Counter database entry.

As I noted, wasn't sure on this.  I was referring only to the download links in the wiki article itself, which I made sure were 'https://"  rather than on the Jeff's database.  Ignorance on my part perhaps.

download_link   =<br /> {{Tv130}}‎[[Media:default_photo_prev_fixed_v13.0.0.3.zip|default_photo_prev_fixed_v13.0.0.3.zip]]<br />{{Tv120}}<br />[https://www.robisonandblythe.org/ccount/click.php?id=145&user={{#replace:{{CURRENTLOGGEDUSER}}}}&page={{PAGENAMEE}} default_photo_prev_fixed_v12.0.0.0.zip]<br />{{Tv110}}{{Tv1012}}<br />[https://www.robisonandblythe.org/ccount/click.php?id=97&user={{#replace:{{CURRENTLOGGEDUSER}}}}&page={{PAGENAMEE}}  default_photo_prev_v10.1.2.0.zip]<br />[https://www.robisonandblythe.org/ccount/click.php?id=107&user={{#replace:{{CURRENTLOGGEDUSER}}}}&page={{PAGENAMEE}}  default_photo_prev_fixed_v10.1.2.0.zip]<br /><br /><hr /><br /><span class="nowrap">{{Tv91}}{{Tv100}}{{Tv1011}}</span><br />[https://www.robisonandblythe.org/ccount/click.php?id=49&user={{#replace:{{CURRENTLOGGEDUSER}}}}&page={{PAGENAMEE}}  default_photo_prev_v9.1.0.2.zip]

 

[Michel KIRSCH]

6 hours ago, tngrlkrz said:

Just now tried several of your mods with Chrome and no luck.

Thanks Ron.

[Michel KIRSCH]

Test with Chrome PC (last version)

The Mod https://tng.lythgoes.net/wiki/index.php?title=Burial_Website_Media_Import

can't load.

If you click right and open in a new tab, it loads.

If you copy the link of the mod and open it in a new tab, it loads too...

Michel

Ken,

5 hours ago, Ken Roy said:

The click counter is not using @header

Sorry. You're right. The code of ccounter is a code for streaming any kind of files. Very much complicated than mine.

[Robin Richmond]

 

2 hours ago, Ken Roy said:

The problem may be that Google now blocks http:// file download
https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-to-block-some-http-file-downloads-starting-with-chrome-83/rather than honor the re-direct to the https file location.

I'm not sure that this article described our problem.

My understanding of that articleis that it applies to explicit http:// references to images and javascript files within a page that is loaded by https.   To allow us to automatically download the programmer-hosted zip files, I believe that the Click Counter application has to redirect to the zip file. From what I can tell (I just did some testing that confirmed what I expected), PHP header statements can successfully redirect from https:// pages to http:// pages on the same site.