DownloadHelper 4.9.24.1 doesn't work on PM 27

[nimanima]

To use "Flash Video Downloader" version 13.2.4 in PM27, comment out (or delete) lines 35 thru 37 in the \modules\downloads.js file in FVD's xpi file.

Code: Select all

// else if ( browserName == 'palemoon' ) {
// 	useNewStyle = false;
// }

Okay if I see one flash-video-downloader.xpi file in my Windows Explorer, how/where do I find these lines to change (and In/with which programme should I do that) you depicted in your screenshot? You speak of a .js file within the .xpi file, however the .xpi file is no folder with any files in it. I would really love to test your version, since I am stuck with PM version 26.5 now mostly for FVD and Webmail Ad Blocker. I need a reliable video downloader that works on other pages than Youtube only, especially Facebook, the pages Facebook users link to, and German television pages. I must warn you though I have not the slightest idea of HTML programming and such, I have not studied informatics science but humanities. So I would need an idiot proof step-by-step instruction. Thanks!

[nimanima]

OKay,I found someone who did this for me. It seems to work on YouTube but doesn't recognize a single video file on Facebook, neither Facebeook videos, nor videos that have been reposted on Facebook from other pages.

And the unmodified Ant Video Downloader installs indeed and detects also video files but does not download the video you have clicked on and want, but chooses random videos it finds on that page or in the video album of the respective user. Not really what it should do.

Same with the modified version: it downloads the first video on a page you click on (eg. Facebook newsfeed), but if you want several and scroll down and play the next one it downloads the first one again under another name, even if you explicitly stop the first video from playing by pressing the stop button.

[Davesnothere]

OKay,I found someone who did this for me. It seems to work on YouTube but doesn't recognize a single video file on Facebook, neither Facebook videos, nor videos that have been reposted on Facebook from other pages....

Something happened at YouTube at approximately Feb 1st, which broke MANY of the downloading extensions to one degree or another.

FVD was one of them.

I do not use FB, so cannot speak to what happens there, but the reasons are likely similar.

What often happens now is that no videos are even detected on a page, or if they ARE detected, that downloads do not complete, sometimes creating a zero-byte file with the correct name, and sometimes NO file at all in the destination folder.

The newest version of (Video) Download Helper, 6.2.0, finds more files, but many of them (even some 360p now) now must undergo conversion by an external app, which seems to take forever, as I posted in another thread recently.

And of course the older version, 4.9.24, installs but sees nothing in PM 27+, though still seems to work for me in 25.8.x of PM, for capturing most 360p and 720p streams into MP4 files without needing a conversion.

BOTTOM LINE :

Watch all similar extensions to see which authors offer an update this month, and try those ones.

CYS (Complete YouTube Saver) claims that their next update (5.7.32, IIRC) will fix the latest zero-byte problem, and is to be released soon, and there is also a PM fork of CYS at the PM add-ons site, as well as the main release at AMO.

[JustOff]

And of course the older version, 4.9.24, installs but sees nothing in PM 27+, though still seems to work for me in 25.8.x of PM, for capturing most 360p and 720p streams into MP4 files without needing a conversion.

For 360p/720p videos Download YouTube Videos as MP4 works well, it also available as userscript.

[pizzadude]

Video DownloadHelper 6.2.0 works in the latest version of PM if you install it using Moon Tester Tool.

[nimanima]

OKay,I found someone who did this for me. It seems to work on YouTube but doesn't recognize a single video file on Facebook, neither Facebook videos, nor videos that have been reposted on Facebook from other pages....

Something happened at YouTube at approximately Feb 1st, which broke MANY of the downloading extensions to one degree or another.

For YouTube I have parallel installed Easy YouTube Downloader which has so far worked okay with most videos. But other, non YouTube sides are a real problem now.

FVD was one of them.

I do not use FB, so cannot speak to what happens there, but the reasons are likely similar.

What often happens now is that no videos are even detected on a page, or if they ARE detected, that downloads do not complete, sometimes creating a zero-byte file with the correct name, and sometimes NO file at all in the destination folder.

This has been happening every once in a while with FVD also on Firefox for years now. A common issue usually fixed by updating the add-on. However for FVD with PM there will be no such solution, it seems, since the newer versions of FVD are jetpacks now and the developer whom I have been contacting about the FVD-PM compatibilty issue for two years now on and off usually every time a major update of PM had been rolled out, seems not interested to fix this problem and so extending the number of users of his fine little programme. I can only hope that a crafty person here finds a way to "fork" that thing. It is after all the only extension I have ever found so far that downloads also from other sides than YouTube.

The newest version of (Video) Download Helper, 6.2.0, finds more files, but many of them (even some 360p now) now must undergo conversion by an external app, which seems to take forever, as I posted in another thread recently.

I remember this from my Window XP PC when I needed to convert every mp4 file for being able to play it with Media Player. I coud live with this if I wood hav ethe video at the end of the day.

And of course the older version, 4.9.24, installs but sees nothing in PM 27+, though still seems to work for me in 25.8.x of PM, for capturing most 360p and 720p streams into MP4 files without needing a conversion.

Actually my replies were referring to FVD and Ant Video Downloader and the suggestions made about these two by riis and others to make these allegedly work with PM 27. But I am going to try Download Helper as well now. Can't get worse than it is right now anyway, neither being able to watch online nor to download any videos.

BOTTOM LINE :

Watch all similar extensions to see which authors offer an update this month, and try those ones.

CYS (Complete YouTube Saver) claims that their next update (5.7.32, IIRC) will fix the latest zero-byte problem, and is to be released soon, and there is also a PM fork of CYS at the PM add-ons site, as well as the main release at AMO.

[Davesnothere]

And of course the older version, 4.9.24, installs but sees nothing in PM 27+, though still seems to work for me in 25.8.x of PM, for capturing most 360p and 720p streams into MP4 files without needing a conversion.

For 360p/720p videos Download YouTube Videos as MP4 works well, it also available as userscript.

Thanks.

Yes, 'Download YouTube Videos as MP4' is one of the dozen or so related extensions which I have been recently trying but had not mentioned yet by name, and is currently installed into all of my Moz Browsers, as I am cautiously optimistic about it.

It works pretty well and 'sees' more streams than most of the others.

As the name indicates, it is only for YouTube, but that is OK.

It has one issue though, but there IS a workaround which I discovered after some playing around..

Any 720p YT video streams come in fine if indicated as available.

But ALL 360p streams instead open a new tab or window and play in there, instead of offering a download dialogue.

The WORKAROUND is either to :

(1) Click the download button, then RIGHT-click the next button which has 360p written on it, and finally choose from the context menu to 'Save Link As', which gets you a download dialogue.

OR

(2) Proceed as normal and try a RIGHT-click on the video which begins to play in the extra tab which appears, and from there choose from the context menu to 'Save Link As', which gets you a download dialogue.

With either of these 360p workarounds, you will need usually to rename the file, is it usually defaults the name to 'videoplayback'.

But, that said, 'Download YouTube Videos as MP4' finds many more streams than most other similar extensions right now - until their respective authors or a forking dev provide a fix for the latest [approx 2017-02-01] YouTube site architectural code changes.

And yes, it works fine with both PM 27.1.0 and 25.8.0, subject to that one issue with the 360p streams in both cases, and the author is supporting it with a new release this month, but it unfortunately does not seem to address the issue.

Other Browser Tests (which I have done with this extension) :

In SeaMonkey 2.39, the issue is usually not there, but the dialogue boxes presented for 360p and 720p are each different.

In FireFox 42, it behaves like in Pale Moon, IIRC.

The test results are identical regardless of OS version, in Windows 7, Vista, and XP, subject to each browser's general OS support.

[Davesnothere]

....Yes, 'Download YouTube Videos as MP4' is one of the dozen or so related extensions which I have been recently trying but had not mentioned yet by name, and is currently installed into all of my Moz Browsers, as I am cautiously optimistic about it.

It works pretty well and 'sees' more streams than most of the others.

As the name indicates, it is only for YouTube, but that is OK.

It has one issue though, but there IS a workaround which I discovered after some playing around..

Any 720p YT video streams come in fine if indicated as available.

But ALL 360p streams instead open a new tab or window and play in there, instead of offering a download dialogue.

The WORKAROUND....

Next is a better solution, for me, and possibly for others :

After the above post, I discovered that the newest version 5.7.34 of Complete YouTube Saver works even better (detects properly and no zero-byte files as its earlier versions had been giving recently after YT's latest code changes), does not need the workaround required by 'Download YouTube Videos as MP4' on native 360p MP4 streams, and unlike newest Video Download Helper 6.2.0, it does not flag some native MP4 streams for forced conversion, so standard 360p and 720p MP4 files download quickly and are done.

That said, it also can work with the FFMPEG app for those who wish to download the other streams requiring conversion/muxing.

The access is thru a toolbar button, rather than a button added to each YouTube page, so perhaps it might work on other sites - though I did not test yet for that.

Details of my tests are in the below-linked thread :

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=14786
~

[Davesnothere]

dupe post, deleted