Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Discuss application theming and theme development.
Post Reply
User avatar
Ken Saunders
Posts: 1008
Joined: March 14th, 2005, 2:52 pm
Location: Mozillaopolis
Contact:

Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by Ken Saunders »

Hi all,

As the title says, I can't open omni.ja with InfoZip's UnZip.
This is the first time that I've tried using Windows 7 so I'm wondering if that's the issue.
I never had issues when I used UnZip in Vista.

Image

Any ideas? Suggestions?
User avatar
Ken Saunders
Posts: 1008
Joined: March 14th, 2005, 2:52 pm
Location: Mozillaopolis
Contact:

Re: Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by Ken Saunders »

Update

"It is suggested that Windows 7 users unzip the file by renaming it to omni.zip and using Windows Explorer to extract all files"
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/doc ... mni.jar%29

Oops. The thing is, that doesn't work for me. I use 7Zip and it didn't work.

I downloaded WiZ503xN.exe from the address below and it worked.
I'm curious if other Windows 7 users can simply rename the archive and open it.
If not, then the MDN article should be updated, or perhaps should anyway to include info about the InfoZip (or Wiz) exe

http://sourceforge.net/projects/infozip ... Zip%206.0/
gluxon
Posts: 30
Joined: December 2nd, 2010, 3:07 pm

Re: Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by gluxon »

The article suggests using Windows Explorer to open the file. 7-Zip doesn't work for me, but explorer does.
User avatar
patrickjdempsey
Posts: 23686
Joined: October 23rd, 2008, 11:43 am
Location: Asheville NC
Contact:

Re: Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by patrickjdempsey »

WinRAR is the only program that has worked for this for awhile now. There was a bug filed about it and Mozilla's response was boo-hoo, works for us.
Tip of the day: If it has "toolbar" in the name, it's crap.
What my avatar is about: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/seamonkey/addon/sea-fox/
User avatar
Ken Saunders
Posts: 1008
Joined: March 14th, 2005, 2:52 pm
Location: Mozillaopolis
Contact:

Re: Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by Ken Saunders »

Well, who the heck knows why, but I just opened Earlybird's omni.ja with 7Zip by renaming it omin.zip. :|
Go figure.

mozillaZine
"The submitted form was invalid. Try submitting again."

Get rid one issue, get another.
User avatar
RNiK
Posts: 561
Joined: August 9th, 2006, 6:47 am
Location: Forette City, Italy
Contact:

Re: Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by RNiK »

patrickjdempsey wrote:WinRAR is the only program that has worked for this for awhile now.

FYI I'm able to unpack omni.ja just fine with both PeaZIP and ExtractNow. For the latter I must rename it with extension .jar.
MondoWin ==> Italian site for information about MS Windows tweaking
User avatar
maniac42
Posts: 69
Joined: September 28th, 2004, 3:52 pm

Re: Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by maniac42 »

I just successfully opened the omni.ja archive from SeaMonkey 2.26 using UnZip 6.00 (April 2009), which I compiled from C source code obtained via a SourceForge download link found at the InfoZip.org site. I'm running Ubuntu Linux 10.04.3 with the GNOME 2.30.2 desktop. To make it work, I didn't even need to rename the file. I just used the following command in a terminal window:

unzip omni.ja

You'll find the specifics of how the omni.ja files are created at the Mozilla Developer Network site, in a wiki article titled "About omni.ja (formerly omni.jar)".

A Zip file normally starts with the bytes 50 4B, which are the ASCII characters PK, the initials of the late Phil Katz, originator of the Zip archive format. The first four bytes of the omni.ja file are 00 00 00 00, followed by 50 4B. The MDN article says the peculiar file format is a result of "optimization". I can't say; maybe it's just the result of a crappy archiving program. The page says they use a program called "zip" to compress the archive, but there are no specifics on the origin of the program they use, and on which operating system primary development is performed. I obtained the source code for Zip 3.0 (July 5, 2008) from InfoZip.org, compiled it, and ran it on the files extracted out of omni.ja using UnZip 6.00. When the file icon appeared in the Nautilus file manager, it had the familiar look of an archive, unlike the one distributed by Mozilla, which was represented by a "generic" file icon. I was able to open it with File Roller, like any other valid Zip file. The hex editor showed me that the first two bytes are 50 4B, as one would expect of any well-behaved Zip file.=D> Would my repackaged omni.ja file work with SeaMonkey? Yes it does! I replaced the stock omni.ja file with the repackaged one for my SeaMonkey 2.25 installation, and the browser started up like before, with no visible difference.

Although I've moved away from DOS/Windows, I seem to recall being able to open earlier omni.jar files with programs such as WinZip. However, when I tried using WinZip on an omni.ja file from SeaMonkey 2.26 today, it failed, telling me the file was corrupt. It's a bit disturbing that the Mozilla developers may have been distributing corrupt archive files for years, created by defective programs. 8-[
Last edited by maniac42 on May 4th, 2014, 6:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Hopelessly lost, but making good time.
User avatar
patrickjdempsey
Posts: 23686
Joined: October 23rd, 2008, 11:43 am
Location: Asheville NC
Contact:

Re: Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by patrickjdempsey »

Firefox and SeaMonkey are not at all picky about the file format... if it's even vaguely a ZIP, they will read it. There *may* be a matter of speed but considering that there is some kind of bug in current versions of AdBlock causing a 10 second load time, however nanoseconds a non-"optimized" ZIP file takes to load is inconsequential.

FWIW, WinRAR (not WinZIP) is the only program I could get to work on Windows and it DOES complain about file corruption, but opens it anyway.
Tip of the day: If it has "toolbar" in the name, it's crap.
What my avatar is about: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/seamonkey/addon/sea-fox/
User avatar
maniac42
Posts: 69
Joined: September 28th, 2004, 3:52 pm

Re: Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by maniac42 »

patrickjdempsey wrote:Firefox and SeaMonkey are not at all picky about the file format... if it's even vaguely a ZIP, they will read it.


For the browser not to be picky about corrupted JPEG, PNG and GIF image files encountered on Web sites is a good thing, since it lets us display malformed images produced with scads of non-conforming image editors. However, allowing a malformed file archive that contains the operating "guts" of the browser to pass isn't a good idea: It could cause subtle bugs that may be very, very difficult to diagnose.

I read a statement elsewhere that the corrupt .ja archives are a phenomenon encountered only in en-US versions, but not various European versions of the Firefox browser. There's someone on the Mozilla team, probably living in the U.S., who is using a bad ZIP archiver. I wish there were a way to identify him or her and get them to stop doing it.
Hopelessly lost, but making good time.
User avatar
patrickjdempsey
Posts: 23686
Joined: October 23rd, 2008, 11:43 am
Location: Asheville NC
Contact:

Re: Can't open omni.ja with InfoZip UnZip

Post by patrickjdempsey »

Actually, it's probably the opposite. If other language versions are not using the same compression then it's likely a choice to deviate from Mozilla. There are in fact bugs out there on this issue and Mozilla is adamant that what they are doing is "proper" even though there doesn't appear to be any readily-available software that can read it without complaining.
Tip of the day: If it has "toolbar" in the name, it's crap.
What my avatar is about: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/seamonkey/addon/sea-fox/
Post Reply