Iron 'portable' browser - now at 129.0.6550.0 - 64-bit ONLY (with updater!)

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mikewalsh
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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikewalsh »

@vin :-

Ha. Yeah.

Looking through the 'front page' of that site, it soon becomes fairly obvious that the author hates all browsers from large corporations, with an especial mistrust reserved for anything even vaguely related to the Chromium Project (apart from the one version that's had every Google request/connection removed - Ungoogled Chromium.) Which, although the author seems to absolutely love it, is useless for MY purposes, because half the stuff I do on a regular basis won't connect!

The only ones he really seems to like are little-known ones from obscure, minor projects.....and when you look into it, almost all of these fare very badly when it comes to attempting any kind of 'media' experience. Streaming video services won't function. Social networking (not MY cup of tea) appears near enough impossible. In other words, most of the stuff most folk take for granted simply won't work. To my mind, the only people who are likely to use such browsers are those who are border-line obsessive about such stuff anyway.

Although I've used Chrome ever since it came out over 12 years ago, I'm not especially a 'fanboi'. At the time, I'd been a firm Mozilla user, but Firefox then was undergoing some SERIOUS memory-leak/instability issues which meant a dozen or more crashes a day were not unusual. Maintaining any kind of 'work-flow' was next to impossible. Chrome was lightweight, sizzlingly fast, & extremely stable.

I've tried most of the Chromium 'forks' over the years; some better, some worse. I've even re-discovered a love of Firefox, alongside my liking for Iron.....most of which stems from it being the perfect Chrome replacement for 32-bit systems, given that Google dropped Linux support for 32-bit nearly 5 years ago.

It's all about personal choice, when it boils down to it. And there's enough options out there - for accessing the global, information 'super-highway' - to satisfy 99.9% of people. The remaining 0.1% are so obsessive about privacy/security they might as well throw all their computers/phones, etc., in the trash; disconnect from the world; lock their front doors, swallow the key, and just retire from existence. Period.

These are the type that firmly believe the world is "out to get them". Serious paranoiacs. Go figure.

Mike. ;)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit -Privacy

Post by mikeslr »

@ Linux Lover,

Iron browser is published by a German company subject to EU's privacy laws. For additional privacy Adguard and Privacy Badger addons can be used under both 32 and 64 bit Iron builds. I've installed them to my 64 bit Iron.

MetGer, Qwant and SwissCows are available as Search Engines.

I haven't tried any, and there haven't been many reports by users recommending them, but you can also install Onion from the Chrome Web Store which --according to one advert-- "Brings the anonymity of the Tor network plus modifies few settings to protect user privacy". https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/tor

Addons have an advantage over built-in restrictions. You can turn them off.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit -Privacy

Post by vin »

mikeslr wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 5:49 pm

@ Linux Lover,

Iron browser is published by a German company subject to EU's privacy laws. For additional privacy Adguard and Privacy Badger addons can be used under both 32 and 64 bit Iron builds. I've installed them to my 64 bit Iron.

MetGer, Qwant and SwissCows are available as Search Engines.

I haven't tried any, and there haven't been many reports by users recommending them, but you can also install Onion from the Chrome Web Store which --according to one advert-- "Brings the anonymity of the Tor network plus modifies few settings to protect user privacy". https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/tor

Addons have an advantage over built-in restrictions. You can turn them off.

@mikeslr thanks for suggestion of addons.
I have installed AdBlocker & Ghostery addons.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by Clif McIrvin »

mikewalsh wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:18 pm

The current offering - released a little over a fortnight ago - is 84.0.4300.0.

Just downloaded and fired up this portable on Tahrpup 6.0.6. I was surprised to see Iron reports

Code: Select all

Version 85.0.4350.0 (Developer Build) (32-bit)

The first few things I tried work just fine - the big one for me is my bank accepts it!
Until: gmail doesn't like it - I get this:

Code: Select all

This browser or app may not be secure. Learn more
Try using a different browser. If you’re already using a supported browser, you can refresh your screen and try again to sign in.

Any suggestions?

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by s243a »

Clif McIrvin wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 6:52 pm
mikewalsh wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:18 pm

The current offering - released a little over a fortnight ago - is 84.0.4300.0.

Just downloaded and fired up this portable on Tahrpup 6.0.6. I was surprised to see Iron reports

Code: Select all

Version 85.0.4350.0 (Developer Build) (32-bit)

The first few things I tried work just fine - the big one for me is my bank accepts it!
Until: gmail doesn't like it - I get this:

Code: Select all

This browser or app may not be secure. Learn more
Try using a different browser. If you’re already using a supported browser, you can refresh your screen and try again to sign in.

Any suggestions?

Maybe something like this, "User-Agent Switcher for Chrome"
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... pkjnoahfmg

but beware that any third party plugin you add means one more party that you have to trust.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by Clif McIrvin »

s243a wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 7:04 pm

Maybe something like this, "User-Agent Switcher for Chrome"
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... pkjnoahfmg

but beware that any third party plugin you add means one more party that you have to trust.

Yeah.
Maybe - I'd already tried manually overriding the user agent string - no joy.
Thanks for the suggestion!

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikewalsh »

Google are a bunch of fussy sods, and they're steadily getting worse as time goes by.

Ideally, they would like everyone to be using the very newest version of Chrome itself all the time. I think part of the reason that Iron seems to get this - more of the time - than most of the other clones, is probably down to some of the tweaks they've made under the hood. And, unfortunately, unlike the 'Zilla-based browsers, you can't 'tweak' things back, via the config settings, to how you want it.

If you want to re-modify any of the Chromium-based 'clones', permanently, there's only one option; download the source code, and re-compile it. And make all the changes YOU want at compile time.

There IS an entire catalogue of "--switches" you can use in the Exec: line of the browser to modify its behaviour, but I don't think there's one to permanently change the user-agent..!

I've had a GMail a/c since time out of mind.....but I never, EVER access it via the browser. I've always used Thunderbird, myself; personal preference, y'see. But this is why I run multiple browsers, because they're all better at some things than they are at others. You'll never please all of the folk, all of the time.......and there is no such thing as the 'perfect browser', because as individuals, we ALL want different things out of one.

(It's also why I supply as many different browsers as I do, in 'Portable' format.....because you can run ALL of these, from anywhere you want, and they won't interfere with each other.)

Mike. ;)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by keniv »

@mikewalsh
I've installed Slacko 7 64bit. As, thanks to your good self, I've got the 32bit version of portable iron browser working in Dpupstretch 7.5 I thought I would try the 64 bit version in Slacko 7. However, it does not work. Below is the output from trying to run it in a terminal.

Code: Select all

# /mnt/home/Iron-portable/LAUNCH
/initrd/mnt/dev_save/Iron-portable/iron64/iron-pup: error while loading shared libraries: libpcre.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
# 

I tried searching for libpcre.so.3 using pfind but it was not found. Can I ask if you would expect it to work with Slacko 7? Can you suggest anything I can do to get it working on Slacko 7?

Regards,

Ken.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikewalsh »

@keniv :-

It's the usual story, I'm afraid. Slacko derivatives always need a lot more in the way of dependencies added, which in the 'buntu Pups tend to come by default.

What you need to do is to run 'ldd' on Iron to find out what's needed. Open the main portable directory (iron64 in this case), then in an empty space, rt-clk->Window->Terminal here. Type in the following:-

Code: Select all

ldd ./chrome

...and hit 'Enter. (Iron's 'binary' is in fact called 'chrome'. Confusing, isn't it? :lol: )

Work your way through that list, and jot down every item listed as missing. Those will be what needs adding to Slacko 7 in order for pretty much ANY Chromium-based browser to work..... At least you'll have a better idea of what's needed. I DON'T think there's that much, actually, from the brief look I've had at it so far.....

Mike. ;)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikeslr »

Hi Keniv,

":error while loading shared libraries: libpcre.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory"

It's not unusual for Puppies based on Slackware not to have libraries which would have been 'builtin' to a Puppy based on Ubuntu. Slackware has a conservative approach as to what is necessary (leaving it up to the User to make additions) while Ubuntu strives to compete with Microsoft.

The Puppy Package Manager in Slacko 7 may be able to supply the missing "libprcre.so.3". If not, usually some hunting on https://pkgs.org/ will find something acceptable. But, a couple of hints about using pkgs.org are in order. First, make sure the file you download is for your architecture: in your case amd64, not arm64 nor i386 nor anything else.
You are currently looking for just one file, the terminal having stopped when an essential file was found to be missing. There may be others. Since Iron was not installed you can't user Menu>Setup>Check dependencies. But you can use ListDynamicDependencies. File-browse into Iron's folder and Right-Click the Chrome binary. Select ListDD from the pop-up menu. Then click the "Missing Tab" on the window which opens. You can copy and paste its read-out into a text file for future reference. Then go hunting. But see the last paragraph of this post first.

When hunting, keep in mind that libraries are usually backward-compatible. So only use "libprcre.so" as your search term. You system will use libprcre.so.4 or libprcre.so.3.0.55. But you'll have to create a symbolic link named "libprcre.so.3" to the actual file: example code
ln -s libprcre.so.4 libprcre.so.3 -- translated: ln -s (link symbolic) libprcre.so.4 (the file you have) libprcre.so.3 the file your system is looking for.
While it's best to use files compiled on a compatible system, often the difference may just be that the package containing the files was constructed for a particular operating system. The files within a package with a ".deb" ending --which debian and Unbuntu know how to use-- may be identical with those found in a "txz" which Slackware knows how to use. Puppies know how to use most packages. On the other hand, there may be subtle differences in how the files were created even though they have the same name. The further away from your binary-compatible system you wander, the less likely the file you find will be acceptable to it.

In the instant case, pkgs.org search for libprcre.so.3 reveals that Slackware Current can use a file named insync-1.3.12.36116-x86_64-2_slonly.txz. If you click that listing you'll discover that libprcre.so.3 is one of the many files contained in that package. You may need the entire package as it's purpose is "Insync extends (Google) Drive's web functionality to your desktop by integrating tightly with Windows, Mac and Linux so you can get work done." https://slackware.pkgs.org/current/slac ... .txz.html But I doubt that. If libprcre.so.3 were the only file you were missing, you could simply UExtract the txz and copy libprcre.so.3 into your system. With Slackos/Slackware, the folder on your system corresponding to the folder within the package is usually the correct folder: e.g. copy package .../usr/lib64/FILENAME > Slacko... /usr/lib64.
However, I see that Mike's portable includes a "lib" folder. Libs you find can probably be placed there. Also, if LDD reports a file missing, first check that folder: being a portable it's not always a part of your system and LDD doesn't search it.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by s243a »

I did some research here. What Debian calls PCRE3 is actually, the orginal PCRE (lets call it PCRE #1) but version 8.35.

PCRE has been in Debian for some time; the current packages correspond
to upstream 8.35 (with a pile of backported security fixes, which I hope
will end up as an 8.38 release some time soon). These packages are
called pcre3 (and libpcre3 ships libpcre.so.3).

https://linux.debian.devel.narkive.com/ ... age-naming

The newer version is actually called PCRE2 (not PCRE3)

This is PCRE2, the new implementation of PCRE, a library of functions to support regular expressions whose syntax and semantics are as close as possible to those of the Perl 5 language. New projects should use this library in preference to the older library, confusingly called pcre3 in Debian.

https://zoomadmin.com/HowToInstall/Ubun ... cre2-utils

Ubuntu recommends, "demotion of pcre3 (8.x) a.k.a pcre (without the 3) in favor of pcre2 (10.x) ".

Here is the new PCRE2 package for debian:
https://packages.debian.org/sid/libpcre2-posix2

Here is the sourcecode for both PCRE and PCRE2:
https://ftp.pcre.org/pub/pcre/

Official Website:
https://www.pcre.org/

WIkipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl_Comp ... xpressions

Debian source package for the old pcre3:
https://packages.debian.org/source/buster/pcre3

Debian binary package for the old pcre3:
https://packages.debian.org/buster/libpcre3

Slack Build for the new PCRE2
https://slackbuilds.org/repository/14.2 ... ies/pcre2/

Slackbuild for libsync (mentioned above):
https://slackbuilds.org/repository/14.1/network/insync/

Here is an old slackware package for PCRE
https://slackware.pkgs.org/14.2/slackwa ... 1.txz.html

This package is for slackware 14.2. In this example one might try symlinking libpcre.so.3 to libpcre.so.1.2.7. I can't promise that it will work. If you download a package like this try to make sure it matches your version of slackware and especially your system architecture.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by keniv »

@mikewalsh,@mikeslr and @s243a
Thank you all for your replies and the detailed information therein. I'll try and answer them in order
@mikewalsh

What you need to do is to run 'ldd' on Iron to find out what's needed. Open the main portable directory (iron64 in this case), then in an empty space, rt-clk->Window->Terminal here. Type in the following:-

Code: Select all

ldd ./chrome

...and hit 'Enter. (Iron's 'binary' is in fact called 'chrome'.

I got a huge output from this. Please see below.

Code: Select all

# ldd ./chrome
	linux-vdso.so.1 (0x00007ffd2d9f5000)
	libdl.so.2 => /lib64/libdl.so.2 (0x00007f50b41aa000)
	libpthread.so.0 => /lib64/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007f50b3f8d000)
	librt.so.1 => /lib64/librt.so.1 (0x00007f50b3d85000)
	libgobject-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libgobject-2.0.so.0 (0x00007f50b3b34000)
	libglib-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libglib-2.0.so.0 (0x00007f50b37fd000)
	libnss3.so => /usr/lib64/libnss3.so (0x00007f50b34d6000)
	libnssutil3.so => /usr/lib64/libnssutil3.so (0x00007f50b32a6000)
	libsmime3.so => /usr/lib64/libsmime3.so (0x00007f50b307e000)
	libnspr4.so => /usr/lib64/libnspr4.so (0x00007f50b2e40000)
	libatk-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libatk-1.0.so.0 (0x00007f50b2c1a000)
	libatk-bridge-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libatk-bridge-2.0.so.0 (0x00007f50b29ec000)
	libX11.so.6 => /usr/lib64/libX11.so.6 (0x00007f50b26b1000)
	libX11-xcb.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libX11-xcb.so.1 (0x00007f50b24af000)
	libxcb.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libxcb.so.1 (0x00007f50b2290000)
	libxcb-dri3.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libxcb-dri3.so.0 (0x00007f50b208e000)
	libXcomposite.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libXcomposite.so.1 (0x00007f50b1e8c000)
	libXcursor.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libXcursor.so.1 (0x00007f50b1c81000)
	libXdamage.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libXdamage.so.1 (0x00007f50b1a7f000)
	libXext.so.6 => /usr/lib64/libXext.so.6 (0x00007f50b186d000)
	libXfixes.so.3 => /usr/lib64/libXfixes.so.3 (0x00007f50b1667000)
	libXi.so.6 => /usr/lib64/libXi.so.6 (0x00007f50b1457000)
	libXrender.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libXrender.so.1 (0x00007f50b124d000)
	libXtst.so.6 => /usr/lib64/libXtst.so.6 (0x00007f50b1047000)
	libcups.so.2 => /usr/lib64/libcups.so.2 (0x00007f50b0dcb000)
	libdbus-1.so.3 => /usr/lib64/libdbus-1.so.3 (0x00007f50b0b7c000)
	libgio-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libgio-2.0.so.0 (0x00007f50b07ff000)
	libexpat.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libexpat.so.1 (0x00007f50b05d5000)
	libdrm.so.2 => /usr/lib64/libdrm.so.2 (0x00007f50b03c7000)
	libm.so.6 => /lib64/libm.so.6 (0x00007f50b00be000)
	libXrandr.so.2 => /usr/lib64/libXrandr.so.2 (0x00007f50afeb3000)
	libgbm.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libgbm.so.1 (0x00007f50afca7000)
	libasound.so.2 => /usr/lib64/libasound.so.2 (0x00007f50af9a4000)
	libpangocairo-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libpangocairo-1.0.so.0 (0x00007f50af797000)
	libpango-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libpango-1.0.so.0 (0x00007f50af54d000)
	libcairo.so.2 => /usr/lib64/libcairo.so.2 (0x00007f50af228000)
	libatspi.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libatspi.so.0 (0x00007f50aeff8000)
	libgtk-3.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libgtk-3.so.0 (0x00007f50ae6de000)
	libgdk-3.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libgdk-3.so.0 (0x00007f50ae43b000)
	libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 (0x00007f50ae219000)
	libgcc_s.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00007f50ae002000)
	libc.so.6 => /lib64/libc.so.6 (0x00007f50adc39000)
	/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007f50bf0b7000)
	libffi.so.6 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libffi.so.6 (0x00007f50ada31000)
	libplc4.so => /usr/lib64/libplc4.so (0x00007f50ad82c000)
	libplds4.so => /usr/lib64/libplds4.so (0x00007f50ad628000)
	libz.so.1 => /lib64/libz.so.1 (0x00007f50ad411000)
	libgmodule-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libgmodule-2.0.so.0 (0x00007f50ad20d000)
	libSM.so.6 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libSM.so.6 (0x00007f50ad006000)
	libuuid.so.1 => /lib64/libuuid.so.1 (0x00007f50ace02000)
	libICE.so.6 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libICE.so.6 (0x00007f50acbe7000)
	libXau.so.6 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libXau.so.6 (0x00007f50ac9e4000)
	libXdmcp.so.6 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libXdmcp.so.6 (0x00007f50ac7df000)
	libgnutls.so.30 => /usr/lib64/libgnutls.so.30 (0x00007f50ac400000)
	libcrypt.so.1 => /lib64/libcrypt.so.1 (0x00007f50ac1c8000)
	libresolv.so.2 => /lib64/libresolv.so.2 (0x00007f50abfad000)
	libpixman-1.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libpixman-1.so.0 (0x00007f50abd08000)
	libEGL.so.1 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libEGL.so.1 (0x00007f50abadd000)
	libxcb-shm.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxcb-shm.so.0 (0x00007f50ab8db000)
	libGL.so.1 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libGL.so.1 (0x00007f50ab673000)
	libglapi.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libglapi.so.0 (0x00007f50ab445000)
	libxcb-glx.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxcb-glx.so.0 (0x00007f50ab22f000)
	libxcb-dri2.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxcb-dri2.so.0 (0x00007f50ab02b000)
	libxcb-present.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxcb-present.so.0 (0x00007f50aae29000)
	libxcb-randr.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxcb-randr.so.0 (0x00007f50aac1d000)
	libxcb-xfixes.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxcb-xfixes.so.0 (0x00007f50aaa17000)
	libxcb-render.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxcb-render.so.0 (0x00007f50aa80e000)
	libxcb-shape.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxcb-shape.so.0 (0x00007f50aa60b000)
	libxcb-sync.so.1 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxcb-sync.so.1 (0x00007f50aa406000)
	libxshmfence.so.1 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libxshmfence.so.1 (0x00007f50aa204000)
	libXxf86vm.so.1 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libXxf86vm.so.1 (0x00007f50a9fff000)
	libpangoft2-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libpangoft2-1.0.so.0 (0x00007f50a9dea000)
	libgthread-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libgthread-2.0.so.0 (0x00007f50a9be8000)
	libfontconfig.so.1 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libfontconfig.so.1 (0x00007f50a99ac000)
	libpng16.so.16 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libpng16.so.16 (0x00007f50a9779000)
	libharfbuzz.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libharfbuzz.so.0 (0x00007f50a94fb000)
	libfreetype.so.6 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libfreetype.so.6 (0x00007f50a925f000)
	libbz2.so.1 => /lib64/libbz2.so.1 (0x00007f50a904f000)
	libXinerama.so.1 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libXinerama.so.1 (0x00007f50a8e4d000)
	libcairo-gobject.so.2 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libcairo-gobject.so.2 (0x00007f50a8c44000)
	libepoxy.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libepoxy.so.0 (0x00007f50a8951000)
	libp11-kit.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libp11-kit.so.0 (0x00007f50a8622000)
	libunistring.so.0 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libunistring.so.0 (0x00007f50a830d000)
	libnettle.so.6 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libnettle.so.6 (0x00007f50a80d6000)
	libhogweed.so.4 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libhogweed.so.4 (0x00007f50a7e9f000)
	libgmp.so.10 => /usr/lib64/../lib64/libgmp.so.10 (0x00007f50a7c29000)
# 

I'm not sure what to make of all this. Are these all missing dependencies?

@mikeslr

You are currently looking for just one file, the terminal having stopped when an essential file was found to be missing. There may be others. Since Iron was not installed you can't user Menu>Setup>Check dependencies. But you can use ListDynamicDependencies. File-browse into Iron's folder and Right-Click the Chrome binary. Select ListDD from the pop-up menu. Then click the "Missing Tab" on the window which opens. You can copy and paste its read-out into a text file for future reference. Then go hunting. But see the last paragraph of this post first.

I've attached an image of what's inside /mnt/home/Iron-portable/iron64 but I'm not sure which is the "Chrome binary". I've tried all directories with chrome in their name but I'm not offered "ListDD from the pop-up menu". I've also tried clicking in an empty space in the directory as mikewalsh suggested above but still don't see ListDD. I guess I'm doing something wrong.

@s243a

I did some research here.

Yes you certainly did. Thanks for all the links, however, from the little I can glean from the above terminal output it looks like I need a lot more than just libpcre.so.3.

As you gents obviously have a much greater understanding of what's required to get this working in Slacko 7 can I ask if the terminal output suggests that this may be a forlorn hope. I hope this long post makes sense.

Regards,

Ken.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikeslr »

Hi keniv,

First, and easiest, is the chrome-binary is the file named 'chrome'. Second, I think the print-out from ListDD you posted was what first appears or appears when you click either of the two panels (Summary and Complete) at the BOTTOM-far-Left. Click the panel 3rd from the Bottom-Right named Missing to just see what's Missing.
===
Hunting for binaries: Rule of thumb -- When you hear hoof-beats think horses, not zebras. Until you have reason to believe you've somehow gotten to be on the African plains. ;)
AFAIK, the binaries of portables will always be found in the portable's own folder.
Binaries often share the name with the application; but not always: firefox's binary is named 'firefox'. Iron's binary is named chrome since, as Mike Walsh mentioned, Iron is a modified version of Chromium. Except for the 'new-fangled' portables, binaries are usually found in a 'bin' folder: /bin, /usr/bin/, /usr/local/bin; /sbin, /usr/sbin and so on. Convention has it that the binaries of non-essential, published applications which a user might add (e.g. firefox, gimp) are placed in /usr/bin [while User created binaries would be placed in /usr/local/bin. But early-on, Linux systems were structured to provide /opt, a location where entire applications including their libraries which might conflict with libraries 'in the system': LibreOffice is an example. And, not everyone follows the convention. Still, you will most often find an application's binary in /usr/bin. That's the first place I look unless the application is a portable.
If the binary isn't found in /usr/bin or somewhere in an easily identified folder --e.g. libreoffice-- in /opt, and there's a menu entry, examine /usr/share/applications for a clue. The files in that folder are used to create the menu entries. Usually the name is obvious: notecase.desktop is used to create the menu entry for notecase. Open a desktop file in a text editor and you'll find an argument Exec=NAME-OF-SOMETHING. That's the argument which calls the application directly or indirectly.
You can open Menu>filesystem>pfind and enter your NAME-OF-SOMETHING, then look at the print-out for a listing in a 'bin' folder. That listing will either be (a) the binary itself; (b) a symbolic-link to the binary; or (c) an executable script which will call the binary. The latter two are the ways to indirectly start the binary. If it's the binary, you can run ListDD on it. If it's a symbolic link, you can Right-Click >Show Target which will take you to the target's folder. And if it's an executable script, you can open it in a text editor and try to figure out what's going on. Somewhere in that script will be the name of the binary, or another clue: Your own 'National Treasure' hunt. :lol:

And what if none of the above works. Well, your left to use pfind and make some educated guesses about what the binary might have been named.

Last hunting tip. Take note of the icon 'chrome' had in your screenshot. Until you change your icon theme, all binaries will display that icon; symbolic-links to binaries will display an left-upward pointing arrow superimposed over that icon; and scripts will display the icon associated with the script named 'iron-pup'.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by keniv »

mikeslr wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 3:09 pm

Hi keniv,

First, and easiest, is the chrome-binary is the file named 'chrome'.

Yes, this is what I thought was the chrome-binary which also fits with what mikewalsh asked me to do i.e.

Open the main portable directory (iron64 in this case), then in an empty space, rt-clk->Window->Terminal here. Type in the following:-

Code: Select all

ldd ./chrome

Is this not the same or similar to what you asked me to do here.

File-browse into Iron's folder and Right-Click the Chrome binary. Select ListDD from the pop-up menu. Then click the "Missing Tab" on the window which opens. You can copy and paste its read-out into a text file for future reference.

The part of the above that does not work for me is

Right-Click the Chrome binary. Select ListDD from the pop-up menu.

On right clicking the Chrome-binary there is no option to select ListDD or anything like that nor can I see it in any of the sub-options. Does this work in puppies other than Slacko 7? I also have Dpupstretch 7.5 installed using the 32bit version of portable iron. I'll try "Right-Click the Chrome binary" in this and see if I get the "Select ListDD from the pop-up menu" in this. If it works I'll at least know what I'm looking for.

Second, I think the print-out from ListDD you posted was what first appears or appears when you click either of the two panels (Summary and

Complete) at the BOTTOM-far-Left. Click the panel 3rd from the Bottom-Right named Missing to just see what's Missing.

I don't see any panels at the bottom-far-left or bottom right named "Missing". The output I posted was simply that I got from running "ldd ./chrome" in a terminal as mikewalsh suggested and so I'm confused about seeing any panels.

Regards,

Ken.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by keniv »

keniv wrote: Tue Jan 19, 2021 4:04 pm

I also have Dpupstretch 7.5 installed using the 32bit version of portable iron. I'll try "Right-Click the Chrome binary" in this and see if I get the "Select ListDD from the pop-up menu" in this. If it works I'll at least know what I'm looking for.

I've just tried this on Dpupstretch 7.5 and it works just a you described it. I even checked "Missing" and was told there were no missing dependencies which is as expected as the 32 bit version of portable iron works on this. So it looks to me as if the problem is with 64 bit Slacko 7. I'm not sure where I can go from here.

Regards,

Ken.

Edit: I decided to see if ListDD was in slacko7 and could not find it. I found it in the PPM. I installed ListDD-2.1. Now when I right_click on the chrome-binary the drop-down menu appears and includes ListDD. If I click on it I get the "Summary" whitch looks like what I got when I ran ldd ./chrome in a terminal (Please see image1). Then if I click on "Missing" this is what I get (Please see image2). It seems to suggest that I have no missing dependencies yet I'm missing libpcre.so.3. Does this mean that ListDD is not working properly? When I installed ListDD-2.1 it showed it as having no missing dependencies.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikewalsh »

@keniv :-

You're quite right, Ken; this IS confusing. Running either

Code: Select all

ldd

.....in the terminal, OR "ListDD" from the context menu, in both cases it tells you there's nowt missing. You then try and launch it from the terminal, and it turns round and complains that it wants not just one, but TWO more dependencies!

I borrowed 'em from Xenialpup64, and I've attached a .pet to this post. Just install that, and Iron should fire straight up, after the usual delay.

This is par for the course with Slacko Pups, mate. It's not Micko's doing, it's simply a legacy of Slackware's very conservative approach to creating an operating system.....although this is nowhere NEAR as bad as the very first 64-bit Slacko Puppy was, I tell you! That seemed to want no END of stuff adding before it would do much of anything at all.

Let us know what happens, please.

Mike. ;)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by keniv »

mikewalsh wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:18 am

@keniv :-

You're quite right, Ken; this IS confusing. Running either

Code: Select all

ldd

.....in the terminal, OR "ListDD" from the context menu, in both cases it tells you there's nowt missing. You then try and launch it from the terminal, and it turns round and complains that it wants not just one, but TWO more dependencies!

I borrowed 'em from Xenialpup64, and I've attached a .pet to this post. Just install that, and Iron should fire straight up, after the usual delay.

This is par for the course with Slacko Pups, mate. It's not Micko's doing, it's simply a legacy of Slackware's very conservative approach to creating an operating system.....although this is nowhere NEAR as bad as the very first 64-bit Slacko Puppy was, I tell you! That seemed to want no END of stuff adding before it would do much of anything at all.

Let us know what happens, please.

Mike. ;)

Hi Mike,
Have installed your .pet but still have had no luck on getting portable iron64 to work. Also tried running in a terminal but get the same output as before i.e.

Code: Select all

# /mnt/home/Iron-portable/LAUNCH
/initrd/mnt/dev_save/Iron-portable/iron64/iron-pup: error while loading shared libraries: libpcre.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
# 

As it again reported that libpcre.so.3 was missing I thought I'd check to see if it had been installed by your .pet using pfind. The output is shown on the attached image. To me it looks to now be installed. The files also look to be in the right place in that they are .so files and they are in /lib but as I don't know much about this so I though I'd ask if they look OK to you. I also tried right-clicking on the chrome-binary, selecting ListDD>Missing and I still get no missing dependencies. I don't suppose this is any surprise.

Regards,

Ken.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by s243a »

keniv wrote:

As it again reported that libpcre.so.3 was missing I thought I'd check to see if it had been installed by your .pet using pfind. The output is shown on the attached image. To me it looks to now be installed. The files also look to be in the right place in that they are .so files and they are in /lib but as I don't know much about this so I though I'd ask if they look OK to you. I also tried right-clicking on the chrome-binary, selecting ListDD>Missing and I still get no missing dependencies. I don't suppose this is any surprise.

Regards,

Ken.

If you start iron with strace then you can see where it is looking for libpcre.so.3
BTW, I think that is an old lib.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by keniv »

s243a wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 1:53 pm

If you start iron with strace then you can see where it is looking for libpcre.so.3
BTW, I think that is an old lib.

Have been trying to start it with

Code: Select all

/mnt/home/Iron-portable/LAUNCH

in a terminal. Can you tell me where "strace" would go here? I've checked and Slacko 7 does appear to have strace.

Regards,

Ken.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikewalsh »

@keniv :-

Ooops. My bad... :oops:

I haven't used a 64-bit Slacko for so long that I forgot the difference in the filesystem layout. In the 'buntu/Debian-based Puppies, /lib64 & /usr/lib64 are symlinks, respectively, to /lib and /usr/lib. In 64-bit Slacko Puppies, /lib64 and /usr/lib64 are in fact separate directories...

I forgot this when I built the .pet. Sorry!

Move these items:-

Image

.....from /lib to /lib64. Things should work then. (I posted from Iron-portable running in 64-bit Slacko 7 last night, so it ought to work for you, too!)

-------------------------

@s243a :-

Old version or not, for our purposes it works.....and that's all Ken is concerned with ATM.

Mike. ;)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by keniv »

mikewalsh wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:48 pm

@keniv :-

Ooops. My bad... :oops:

I haven't used a 64-bit Slacko for so long that I forgot the difference in the filesystem layout. In the 'buntu/Debian-based Puppies, /lib64 & /usr/lib64 are symlinks, respectively, to /lib and /usr/lib. In 64-bit Slacko Puppies, /lib64 and /usr/lib64 are in fact separate directories...

I forgot this when I built the .pet. Sorry!

Move these items:-

Image

.....from /lib to /lib64. Things should work then. (I posted from Iron-portable running in 64-bit Slacko 7 last night, so it ought to work for you, too!)

Hi Mike,
Glad to report that portable Iron64 is now working in Slacko7 64bit. Can I just ask If it's possible to use the profile I'm using in the 32bit version in the 64bit version by removing the 64bit profile and symlinking the 32bit profile I'm already using in dpupstrech 7.5. Thanks again for all the effort you've put into this. As you can probably guess from the content of my posts I don't know much about this stuff and so I have to rely on the goodness of those who do to help when things don't work.

Regards,

Ken.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikewalsh »

@keniv :-

Ah, good, good. Glad you're up-and-running!

Now then....well, you CAN 'share' profiles (to a degree).

I share (most of) a "common" profile between my own 2 Iron-portables, but it's not quite as simple as sym-linking the entire thing. Certain items, like the Widevine DRM stuff, need to have their own separate location; nothing to do with architecture, the profile specifies the exact $PATH for the browser to use when it needs it.....and the 64-bit items don't sit in the same place as the 32-bit ones, y'see. In each case, they live within their own browser directory, and, of course, these can't occupy the same 'space'.

I can show you how to do it if you like; you'll need to have a 3rd, "central" profile in a location accessible by both browsers, then sym-link the relevant stuff out to each one. It's not hard to do, just a little bit time-consuming.....but it's well worth it when you're finished, because all the shared items are only scripts/text-items anyway.

The choice is yours...

Mike. ;)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by keniv »

mikewalsh wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 4:23 pm

Now then....well, you CAN 'share' profiles (to a degree).

I share (most of) a "common" profile between my own 2 Iron-portables, but it's not quite as simple as sym-linking the entire thing. Certain items, like the Widevine DRM stuff, need to have their own separate location; nothing to do with architecture, the profile specifies the exact $PATH for the browser to use when it needs it.....and the 64-bit items don't sit in the same place as the 32-bit ones, y'see. In each case, they live within their own browser directory, and, of course, these can't occupy the same 'space'.

Hi Mike,
Trying to run portable iron was part of weaning myself away from 5 series pups and use more modern pups now that support for 32bit browser is disappearing. The machine I have in my shed is 32 bit and you might remember you helped me get the 32 bit version of portable Iron working on Dpupstretch 7.5. I also now have a workaround for palemoon updating from another thread. The machine I'm using just now is 64 bit so I thought it best to try to use some 64 bit pups. I now have bionicpup64 and slacko7 64bit working and it's good to have two browsers. Both of these now run portable Iron64 so I have a common profile for these. I also have the 32 bit pups on this machine which work with portable Iron32 and have a common profile for these. I'm not sure about the Widevine DRM stuff but I don't think I use this much.

I can show you how to do it if you like; you'll need to have a 3rd, "central" profile in a location accessible by both browsers, then sym-link the relevant stuff out to each one. It's not hard to do, just a little bit time-consuming.....but it's well worth it when you're finished, because all the shared items are only scripts/text-items anyway.

The choice is yours...

Thanks for the offer Mike but I think I'll stick with what I've got for now. If I have trouble with it you'll be sorry to hear I might come back to take you up on your offer.

Regards,

Ken.

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by greengeek »

mikewalsh wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:18 pm

Same routine as always. Download, unzip, put the portable directory anywhere you like. Click to enter, click "LAUNCH" to fire it up.

Hi Mike, i just downloaded ironortable32 to try on Tahr32 but got the following output. I have not read every post but do you have any tips?
cheers!

Code: Select all

root# ./LAUNCH
Fontconfig warning: "/etc/fonts/fonts.conf", line 86: unknown element "blank"
[22520:22520:0121/213840.303487:ERROR:process_singleton_posix.cc(279)] Failed to create /mnt/sdb1/Tahr32gg/Tahr_gg_Repo/UnderTest/ironportables2021/Iron-portable/iron32/PROFILE/SingletonLock: Operation not permitted (1)
[22520:22520:0121/213840.304631:ERROR:chrome_browser_main.cc(1251)] Failed to create a ProcessSingleton for your profile directory. This means that running multiple instances would start multiple browser processes rather than opening a new window in the existing process. Aborting now to avoid profile corruption.
[0121/213840.353385:ERROR:nacl_helper_linux.cc(308)] NaCl helper process running without a sandbox!
Most likely you need to configure your SUID sandbox correctly
root# 

As per my usual peculiarities i have not created a savefile.
(My Tahr32 is version 6.0.6 with a couple of manual modifications to the sfs - so pristine boot but with some mods - although nothing that i would expect to interfere with a portable)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikewalsh »

@greengeek :-

Mm. Might be your "mods" that are doing it.

I've just fired-up the current 32-bit Iron-portable in a pristine Tahr 606, and for me it runs straight away - after the usual delay, that is. I don't know what to suggest until I know what your modifications are, and what they affect. Posting this from it now.

Over to you....

Mike. ;)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by greengeek »

mikewalsh wrote: Thu Jan 21, 2021 12:52 pm

I've just fired-up the current 32-bit Iron-portable in a pristine Tahr 606, and for me it runs straight away - after the usual delay, that is. I don't know what to suggest until I know what your modifications are, and what they affect. Posting this from it now

Hi Mike, thanks for confirming that. Turns out that it runs perfectly if I copy it to /root, but gives me the errors only when i try to run it direct from the usb stick where i store my local repo. (Maybe i have misunderstood how the portables work and shouldn't be running it from usb??)

Anyway - it's running well from root and posting from it now. Will try to give it a thrash over the next week or so and see how banking sites etc respond.
Cheers!

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikewalsh »

@greengeek :-

Ian:-

I've just set-up a flash drive, with both 32-bit & 64-bit versions of Iron-portable.....both sharing large parts of a "common" profile. Certain profile items have to be kept separate; not because they're 'architecture-specific', but because they detail specific $PATHs to certain items - like the Widevine DRM stuff (for NetFlix, Spotify, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, etc, etc) - and those items are 'arch-specific'. Obviously, like that they can't occupy the same location...

Posting from Iron-portable64 in Fossapup64 9.5 right now, running from the flash-drive. Works fine. It should work for you. Needs to be formatted Ext2/3/4, goes without saying; FAT32 is no good for this, y'know.....has to be a Linux file-system.

(I'm fast becoming a very atypical Puppy user with this new HP Pavilion tower; 32GB RAM, 5 TB+ of storage.....I no longer have the constraints of your average 'Puppy' box. I have to remember, when I'm putting packages together, that MOST don't have this luxury..!!)

Mike. ;)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by Dingo »

@mikewalsh

thanks Mike, it works like a charm! I accidentally downloaded 32 bit version while working in my Xenialpup64, but, maybe since I have 32 bit sfs compatibility libs loaded, it works very good, fonts are much better than palemoon fonts. It seems your portable Iron do not write anything in pupsave, I'm right?

only issue is that I'm unable to sign in my google account, it says that this device is not secure and after inserting email address there is no form to insert password

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by mikewalsh »

@Dingo :-

Glad it's working for you.

The Google sign-in thing, I know it's an issue with the 32-bit version. I haven't tested it recently with the 64-bit Iron-portable; it's not an issue for me, because I've been using the same profile from one release to the next for a long time.

I am looking into it, ATM. Give the 64-bit variant a try, and let me know if the issue is still there, please. If it is, I'll need to do some more research, I think.

Mike. ;)

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Re: Iron 'portable' browsers - 32- & 64-bit

Post by Dingo »

mikewalsh wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:47 pm

@Dingo :-

Glad it's working for you.

The Google sign-in thing, I know it's an issue with the 32-bit version. I haven't tested it recently with the 64-bit Iron-portable; it's not an issue for me, because I've been using the same profile from one release to the next for a long time.

I am looking into it, ATM. Give the 64-bit variant a try, and let me know if the issue is still there, please. If it is, I'll need to do some more research, I think.

Mike. ;)

No way, same issue (unable to login in my google account) also with 64 bit version

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