Companion app installed but not recognized by VDH

[Jon Doh]

Hi,

Since the update, I downloaded and installed the companion app. Installation was successful. When I then tried to download and convert, I was told by VDH that I needed to install the companion app. I checked the settings page for VDH and it says "Checking companion app returned: No such native application net.downloadhelper.coapp". Pressing the "Recheck" button yields no result. Pressing the "Install companion app" button just repeats the cycle.

I have tried twice to install the companion app and reboot etc, but had no success, even though ConvertHelper 3.2 shows up in the installed programs list in Windows.

Also, since the update, I can now no longer download any videos with VDH, even without conversion. To be more precise, when I download, the file downloads to my computer but is always 1KB. I'm not sure whether the two issues are related.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[mig]

Doesn't clicking the "Install companion app"  button in the "Companion application" section of the add-on settings open a tab to https://www.downloadhelper.net/install-coapp ? Or is it from there that you are having problems understanding what to do ?

[Jon Doh]

It does open the URL. From there, I downloaded the companion app and installed it successfully. Then I closed the browser and re-started it. But it still had the same issue of not being able to convert or recognizing that the companion app had been downloaded and installed; and I cannot download any videos now at all, even those that do not need conversion.

[Jon Doh]

Hi,

I was finally able to get the companion app installed. However, I still cannot download any videos, and I cannot convert them either. Not sure why. I have downloaded and installed ConvertHelper but VDH is asking me to buy a conversion license, even though I did so a long time ago already and conversion worked before the v7 update.

My installation specs, in case it should matter, are as follows:

Video DownloadHelper 7.0.1a2

Video DownloadHelper

Version 7.0.1a2

Browser locale: en-US

Production build

Built on Thu Nov 16 2017 14:16:42 GMT+0100 (CET)

Build options: browser = firefox

Platform

Platform Win x86-64

Browser Mozilla Firefox 57.0

Companion App installed

Found companion app: VdhCoApp 1.0.7

Companion app binary: C:\Program Files\net.downloadhelper.coapp\bin\net.downloadhelper.coapp-win-64.exe

License verified

[mig]

On Friday, November 17, 2017 at 9:48:55 PM UTC+1, Jon Doh wrote:

...I still cannot download any videos ...

 

One in particular ? With full the URL, not a server that requires a subscription or accessible only from a few countries

... but VDH is asking me to buy a conversion license ...

Can you share a screenshot of VDH asking that ?

 

Companion App installed

Found companion app: VdhCoApp 1.0.7

Companion app binary: C:\Program Files\net.downloadhelper.coapp\bin\net.downloadhelper.coapp-win-64.exe

License verified

This means you are all set.

[mig]

John Doh: i deleted your post as the embedded video showed sensitive information. Your license key is to be kept secret.

And VDH does not request you to buy a license, on the contrary, it actually says your license is verified. Of course, if you click the button to buy another one, it takes you there.

That link https://charlierose.com/videos/31181?autoplay=true is very useful. Thanks.

[mig]

Yep, (almost) too useful :(

I found the problem downloading this video. This is probably the same issue a number of other users reported without giving a usable link to test with.

The bad news is that the problem is related to another restriction of Firefox 57 and cannot be fixed purely in an add-on. The only solution i can think of is to use the companion app to perform the actual download. So far, this app was required for ADP and chunked streaming only.

[Jon Doh]

Thanks for removing the link and for the explanation. What's the solution going forward? If using the companion app for download is the required process, how does one go about doing so?

[mig]

This has to be developed but i'm not afraid of that. As often, the problem is communicating to the users that on some sites downloading with the coapp is mandatory and this cannot be determined in advance.