Facebook Issues In Seamonkey

[jkessler]

I can confirm this problem on SeaMonkey v1.1.14 (WinXP).

I was using SeaMonkey v1.1.12, and Facebook behaved normally. But I just upgraded to v1.1.14, and now I'm getting the same two symptoms described above.

I have NoScript 1.9.0.4 installed, but have set it to allow Facebook (and it is indicating that it isn't blocking anything).

I also have Adblock Plus 1.0.1 (subscribed to EasyList) installed, but tried disabling it for http://www.facebook.com, which had no effect.

Jeremy

[jkessler]

Update:

I have worked out what changed on my system, from Facebook working well with SM1.1.12 to it not working with SM1.1.14.

In my SM1.1.12 installation, I had edited about:config to add the string "general.useragent.extra.seamonkey2", which I had set to "Firefox/2.0". When I installed SM1.1.14, I reset this string to "Firefox/3.0". Changing it back to "Firefox/2.0" makes Facebook behave properly.

OK, so the problem is fixed by telling Facebook I'm using Firefox 2. Does that mean that the problem is Facebook doing something stupid with their browser sniffing?


Jeremy

[Philip Chee]

In my SM1.1.12 installation, I had edited about:config to add the string "general.useragent.extra.seamonkey2", which I had set to "Firefox/2.0". When I installed SM1.1.14, I reset this string to "Firefox/3.0". Changing it back to "Firefox/2.0" makes Facebook behave properly.

OK, so the problem is fixed by telling Facebook I'm using Firefox 2. Does that mean that the problem is Facebook doing something stupid with their browser sniffing?

Well they should be feature sniffing instead of browser sniffing. Basically SM 1.1.x uses the same gecko engine as Firefox 2.0.x, so I guess that they are sending something else out for Firefox 3+ browsers.

Phil

[beoenduser]

jkessler
Thanks for the info!! It worked for me too on Linux. Now however, Yahoo Mail is saying that it does not work with my browser so I had to add SeaMonkey's 1.1.13 UA string to my UserAgent switcher in the prefbar addon in order to use Yahoo mail.

What is the exact UserAgent string for FF2? I might try to add it to the UA switcher in my prefbar and use it that way instead to see if that works too.

[jkessler]

In my SM1.1.12 installation, I had edited about:config to add the string "general.useragent.extra.seamonkey2", which I had set to "Firefox/2.0". When I installed SM1.1.14, I reset this string to "Firefox/3.0". Changing it back to "Firefox/2.0" makes Facebook behave properly.

OK, so the problem is fixed by telling Facebook I'm using Firefox 2. Does that mean that the problem is Facebook doing something stupid with their browser sniffing?

Well they should be feature sniffing instead of browser sniffing. Basically SM 1.1.x uses the same gecko engine as Firefox 2.0.x, so I guess that they are sending something else out for Firefox 3+ browsers.

Phil

Oddly enough, the problem does not occur if you actually use Firefox 3! So we have the following scenarios:

1) Running Firefox 2 or Firefox 3 - Facebook behaves normally.

2) Running SeaMonkey with no UA adjustments - Facebook misbehaves as previously described, and also tells you that you should upgrade your browser. The text of this message notes specifically that you are using an "older version of Firefox", which is odd since you are actually using a current version of SeaMonkey.

3) Running SeaMonkey with the about:config line added declaring that you are actually running Firefox 2 - Facebook behaves normally.

4) Running SeaMonkey with the about:config line added declaring that you are actually running Firefox 3 - Facebook misbehaves as previously described.

I've got a screenshot of the error message described in case 2, above, in case it would be helpful. Is there a way for me to add an image to one of these messages?

Thanks,

Jeremy

[beoenduser]

Jeremy,
You can use a Photobucket or some sort of image hosting place and then put the link here. That is what I did (on pg 1 of this thread.)

[jkessler]

Thanks for the info!! It worked for me too on Linux. Now however, Yahoo Mail is saying that it does not work with my browser so I had to add SeaMonkey's 1.1.13 UA string to my UserAgent switcher in the prefbar addon in order to use Yahoo mail.

Glad to hear it helped!

As for Yahoo Mail...I personally have not had any problem using it with prefbar set to "real UA", but I am still on Yahoo's classic mail, and perhaps that makes a difference?

What is the exact UserAgent string for FF2? I might try to add it to the UA switcher in my prefbar and use it that way instead to see if that works too.

You mean the string I use in SeaMonkey to emulate Firefox 2, right? It's this:

String: general.useragent.extra.seamonkey2
Value: Firefox/2.0

Good luck!

Jeremy

[beoenduser]

Thanks Jeremy, I finally figured out how to get at it. It's in the about: page.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070802 Firefox/2.0



I use the newer Yahoo mail which supports Yahoo chat. It works great in SeaMonkey but they are silly and occasionally give me the "This won't work in your browser" message. I've told them not to do that (emailed support about that) but it looks like they haven't fixed that yet. I usually get a "Continue anyway" link which lets me in but that one time (when I had set SM to report that it was FF2) that link was not there, only a link to "update" SM!

Anyway, all fixed now. I have my user agent switcher all set to fake FF2 (on both computers) for Facebook and now all is well. Thanks again!

[BenoitRen]

Oddly enough, the problem does not occur if you actually use Firefox 3!

That's not odd at all, as clearly the different content they are serving for Firefox 3 will work then.

[jkessler]

Oddly enough, the problem does not occur if you actually use Firefox 3!

That's not odd at all, as clearly the different content they are serving for Firefox 3 will work then.

Yeah, I guess so.

[beoenduser]

@ BenoitRen: Could Facebook be thinking that SM 1.1.13 and 1.1.14 is "old" because of this in the string: Gecko/20070802? So, is it just paying attention to the year in the string?

[BenoitRen]

I doubt they're that smart. They probably categorise anything they don't recognise as "old".

[beoenduser]

Is there a "sticky" page here that has the UA strings for spoofing? That would be nice for those who need them (I occasionally do).

[beoenduser]

update on the Yahoo page: I changed the UA string for FF2 to read that it is version 2.0.0.17 and now, no problems when I switch to that tab.

[jkessler]

update on the Yahoo page: I changed the UA string for FF2 to read that it is version 2.0.0.17 and now, no problems when I switch to that tab.

Can you please clarify exactly what you have done to make Yahoo behave?

When you say you "changed the UA string for FF2", do you mean that you changed the value of the about:config string I suggested you add from "Firefox/2.0" to "Firefox/2.0.0.17"? Or did you do something with prefbar's UA switcher? And your new setup behaves in both Facebook *and* Yahoo?

While I haven't had any problems using Yahoo's classic mail on SeaMonkey, my wife prefers the new Yahoo mail, so I need a fix for her that doesn't "break" Facebook.

Thanks,

Jeremy