What is the oldest acceptable 68k browser for Macintosh Garden? - Macintosh Garden

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2014, August 13 - 12:40am

#1

volhalla

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What is the oldest acceptable 68k browser for Macintosh Garden?

I totally love this site!

I had a breakthrough recently when I was able to get my SE/30 (system 7.5.3) connected to the internet via ethernet, but cannot find the right browser to use with Macintosh Garden to avoid the dreaded Error 403. I've tried both InternetExplorer2.01 and Netscape 3.04, and been rejected on both.

I have been jumping through hoops to download via iMac/Mavericks and transfer to the old SE/30, only to have Stuffit Deluxe report the archive as corrupted (end of file usually). By downloading direct from MacGarden to my SE/30 I can simplify and avoid these errors. I have done it successfully with WannaBe, but want to use a proper browser.

Please help me find a 68k, system 7, Macintosh Garden compatible browser.

Thanks
Chris

[Edit by MikeTomTom]: Clarified the (68k) architecture of browser type in title of post.

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2014, August 13 - 12:59am

#2

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JonathanNemo

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You can still download games and apps just fine through those very browsers you mentioned. Just copy the URL to the .sit, .iso, .toast or whatever file you want directly from the site, type it into the URL address bar, hit "return", and Netscape or IE will download it without fuss.

The 403 problem seems to be a security measure that happens because older versions of IE and Netscape return a user agent string that Mac Garden thinks belongs to a web crawler, a spam bot, or some other potentially nasty thing.

Personally, I use Netscape Navigator 2.02 on my Mac Quadra. It's lighter weight than Netscape 3, it doesn't have Java, and it allows you to load entire sites without images. For when you want to load those images, there's an "Images" button right alongside the back and home buttons that does exactly that.

2014, August 13 - 3:22am

(Reply to #2) #3

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MikeTomTom

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Good tip, thanks.

Should be good for binary DL's. Is it the same for text based (.hqx) DL's?

I think I'll be installing Netscape 2.02 shortly (onto a Quadra), based on your post. Cheers.

2014, August 13 - 11:51pm

(Reply to #2) #4

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MikeTomTom

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"The 403 problem seems to be a security measure..."

I've since set up and tried Netscape Navigator 2.02 - It also gets the 403 error message when trying to access this site.

I haven't tried adding direct download links from the Garden yet, to see how that travels, but as for browsing the Garden (what the OP was wanting) its out.

It is good and super fast tho', once you turn off javascript and image downloading in its options.

2014, August 14 - 2:55am

(Reply to #5) #5

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JonathanNemo

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Yes, I apologize for not being clear on that. Navigator 2.02 is also forbidden from browsing this site, but for downloading files it's generally fine.

It is downright buggy about downloading large, CD-ROM sized files, in that the number reporting how much of the file has been downloaded as a percentage will be incorrect, though the percentage of the downloaded reported by the progress bar is correct. I also suggest rebooting after you're done downloading a very large file, or you'll risk a type 3 system error crashing Mac OS.

One way of potentially getting around the 403 issue would be to change the browser's User-Agent string to something that resembles a more recent iteration of one of today's browsers. I haven't seen any means of doing this in Navigator 2.02, and I'm not aware of any 68k friendly browsers that allow for that.

Classilla used to, and probably still does, imitate the user agent string of Mobile Safari to retrieve low bandwidth, "mobile" versions of websites. Unfortunately, Classilla is a PowerPC browser based on old Mozilla code.

If we had the source to some 68k web browser, I don't think that a similar change would be difficult to make. Relative to the scope of any change to source code, anyway.

Alternatively, if a more recent 68k browser had a developer mode or some other preference that allowed one to change the User-Agent string, that would be an easier way of getting around the problem.

2014, August 14 - 3:19am

(Reply to #6) #6

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JonathanNemo

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I just tried the 68k version of iCab 2.9.9. That one works on the Garden, and it "can be used without a license forever". It runs out of the box on any version of Mac OS as early as System 7.5, and can be run on anything as early as 7.0.1 with the right extensions.

There's no need to change any user agent strings for iCab 2.9.9, which is interesting because iCab has its own user agent string. I suppose when Mac Garden was set up, someone made an exception for this browser.

iCab has its own share of bugs, including sometimes incomplete downloads. I've been somewhat drawn away from using it after being stuck with tolerating it on old PPC computers. But it will get around the 403 issue, and I've managed to download HyperCard 2.4.1 from this site without any trouble.

2014, August 14 - 5:57am

(Reply to #7) #7

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MikeTomTom

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I looked at that version of iCab too. But I read the Read Me doc 1st, which said this version expires in 2004! So I didn't pursue it further

So it installs and runs OK (bugs aside)? Great, time to not read the fine manual and install

[Update]: 10 minutes later. Logged in and posting this from iCab 2.9.9 via Basilisk II (Build 142, Windows) running SSW 7.1.1 - Well it looks kind of odd, but hey, so far so good. Thanks for the heads-up.

2014, August 14 - 7:33am

(Reply to #7) #8

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MikeTomTom

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There's no need to change any user agent strings for iCab 2.9.9, which is interesting because iCab has its own user agent string.

In iCab's Preferences, see to right of; Networks > Identity/Proxies > Browser Identity -
iCab is set to: "Mozilla/4.5 (Compatible; iCab 2.9.9; Macintosh; U; 68k);" plus there's a list of other user agents you can set the browser to.

2014, August 13 - 4:33am

#9

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JonathanNemo

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Yes, that works for .hqx files too.