Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2?

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bsh
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Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2?

Post by bsh »

Hi all,
I've just noticed last week when I had to download a few older version installers from ftp.mozilla.org, that the installer .exe files are recognized by Firefox as bz2 files and are renamed as such (.exe.bz2).
This only happens with my profile, not with a new profile nor on another computer, nor with another browser. I can download .exe files from other websites fine, so far only ftp.mozilla.org does it. (Could it be that the site does not provide the proper mime type for the files or something?)
I have bz2 in Firefox settings under applications, no idea where it came from. Tried to associate it in windows with 7zip and then unassoicate it, but it stays in Firefox. I guess this might have something to do with teh problem.
Windows 10 x64.

Any suggestions on what to try? Thanks.
redwolfe_98
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by redwolfe_98 »

you could try going into your firefox profile folder and deleting the "handlers.json" file.

the "handlers.json" file will be regenerated when firefox is restarted.

to locate your firefox profile folder, in firefox's dropdown menu, go to "help," "more troubleshooting," then scroll down to "profile folder."

make sure that firefox is closed when deleting the "handlers.json" file.

another option would be to "refresh" firefox:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/re ... d-settings

another option would be to create a new firefox profile.

you can use firefox's "profile manager" to create a new firefox profile.

to open firefox's "profile manager," rightclick on the windows "start" button and then click "run," or press the windows key + "R," to open the "run" dialogue box. in the dialogue box, there, type "firefox.exe -p" (minus quotations) and press "enter," or "OK." then follow the simple prompts to create a new firefox profile.
Last edited by redwolfe_98 on August 15th, 2022, 10:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
find answers at "Mozilla Support":
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox
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jscher2000
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by jscher2000 »

There is a bug on file for this. Removing handlers.json (or delicately editing it) will untrain Firefox to think that files served with

Content-Type: application/x-msdos-program

should be "fixed" to have a file extension other than the one provided by the server. But the mystery of why Firefox stores that association in the first place, and whether to build in some kind of systemic immunity to it, remains open. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1772140
bsh
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by bsh »

Thanks jscher2000!
Interesting that I've been googling for this a lot, and although this bugzilla report has all the keywords in it I've tried, it never came up as a result...
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therube
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by therube »

the mystery of why Firefox stores that association in the first place
^-This.

So, bsh, any thoughts on that?
Some external program that you might have installed, that ended up "tweaking" something in FF such that what you're see happens? mibbit, perhaps?
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
bsh
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by bsh »

therube wrote:
the mystery of why Firefox stores that association in the first place
^-This.

So, bsh, any thoughts on that?
Some external program that you might have installed, that ended up "tweaking" something in FF such that what you're see happens? mibbit, perhaps?
Taht remains a mystery. I didn't install anything new as of recently.
The only thing I can think of, since it's bz2, is that I have 7zip installed (but have that for a long time - although I can not tell when this issue started, since I haven't donwloaded anything from mozilla in like half a year or so...) I thought the bz2 in firefox comes from there maybe?
But I tried it with a deleted handles.json, and tried to associate bz2 through 7zip itself, and through windows file associations (bz2 wasn't in there), and tried to tell firefox to open bz2 files when downloading with 7zip file manager. But nothing ended up with a bz2 file association in firefox. (It's "application/x-tar")
So I have no idea.
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jscher2000
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by jscher2000 »

Hardly any sites serve files with

Content-Type: application/x-msdos-program

so it should be a rare problem. Maybe your download history has an older bz2 file that points to the culprit?
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therube
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by therube »

> Hardly any sites serve files with

"ftp" mozilla.org does ;-).


Actually, it appears that "index" type "directories" use that fairly often (though not that one would typically visit an index type directory...).
Given that "ftp" mozilla.org has its roots as an actual ftp:// service (ah, those were the days)...


From some of the information in the bug, it may not be "only" application/x-msdos-program & bz2, but other extension / mime types that could be similarly affected. (Perhaps even other in bsh's handlers.json - only items he hadn't run into.) Say something like, :["xlsx"]},"application/x-iso9660-image".


All of these happen to be using, lighttpd:
http://minkirri.apana.org/pub/windows/Toolkit/
https://ftp.ubuntu-tw.org/mirror/mirror/nongnu/sed/
http://www.nerdkits.com/files/Downloads/Python/
http://www.apollo-core.com/downloads/
https://download.tuxfamily.org/flukz/
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James
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by James »

therube wrote:> Hardly any sites serve files with

"ftp" mozilla.org does ;-).
Mozilla does not have ftp:// protocal on their servers anymore (since August 5th, 2015) as http://ftp.mozilla.org is not FTP and Firefox does not view ftp:// anymore as of Fx 90.0.

Also Mozilla prefers people use https://archive.mozilla.org/ instead over https://ftp.mozilla.org
bsh
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by bsh »

jscher2000 wrote:Hardly any sites serve files with

Content-Type: application/x-msdos-program

so it should be a rare problem. Maybe your download history has an older bz2 file that points to the culprit?
That's why I still suspect something is wrong with ftp.mozilla.org itself, as I can donwload .exe files from elsewhere just fine. Maybe mozilla's content type is wrong or something. Kinda funny that their own browser can misinterpet it sometimes...
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jscher2000
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by jscher2000 »

bsh wrote:
jscher2000 wrote:Hardly any sites serve files with

Content-Type: application/x-msdos-program

so it should be a rare problem. Maybe your download history has an older bz2 file that points to the culprit?
That's why I still suspect something is wrong with ftp.mozilla.org itself, as I can donwload .exe files from elsewhere just fine. Maybe mozilla's content type is wrong or something. Kinda funny that their own browser can misinterpet it sometimes...
It's not a problem with the site; the site is proposing the correct file name and using an appropriate content-type. The problem is that for a handful of users, Firefox overrides the file name, based on a stray entry for "application/x-msdos-program" in their handlers.json file.

Now the site could instead use the generic content-type "application/octet-stream" which is what most sites use and as far as I know, Firefox will NOT use entries in handlers.json to override file extensions for that content type. In my opinion, Firefox should ignore alternate file extensions for "application/x-msdos-program", too, but it's not up to me.
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therube
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Re: Downloads from ftp.mozilla.org .exe files treated as bz2

Post by therube »

Mozilla does not have ftp:// protocal on their servers anymore
Yes, well aware. (That's why I put "ftp" in quotes.)
The problem is that for a handful of users, Firefox overrides the file name, based on a stray entry for "application/x-msdos-program" in their handlers.json file.
^---This.
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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