VDH will not link to Companion app

[Vik]

Hello.

First, let me say, VHD is brilliant. 

I have seen many posts here (and elsewhere on the net) reporting various problems with VDH not recognising that the companion app is installed. This seems to affect firefox more than other browsers

I have two PCs - and on one VDH works flawlessly, including by using the companion app, and on the other refuses to recognise the app is installed. 

[All installations performed as sudo.] 

The details are:

1. the machine where VDH works:

NUC, i5

OS: fully patched, up to date Ubuntu, 22.04.3 LTS

Browser: Firefox, snap, 119.0.1

VDH: 8.0.0.6

Companion app: vdhcoapp-1.6.1

the companion app appears to be installed in:

/opt/net.downloadhelper.coapp/

/usr/lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts

I know this version of the companion app is out of date, but it is working. And as I'm a finishing my studies, I can't afford for a vital piece of software to go west.

This combination downloads all manner of formats,, including m2ts - files in that format show up in the file list.

2. the machine where VDH does not work:

[It did but then stopped, after an update - but I am not sure which.]

Intel i5

OS: fully patched, up to date Ubuntu, 22.04.3 LTS

Browser: Firefox, snap, 119.0.1 but now: 120.0b9 - it fails on both versions

VDH: 8.0.0.6 then: 8.1.0.0a8.

Companion app :

(a) Version 8.0.0.6; then I deleted it, via synaptic and installed:

(b) vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64.deb

How I installed both companion apps: sudo dpkg -i <deb file> from package located in Home.

I have followed the instructions to re-register the companion app (for both versions of the companion app):

Run: /opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp
vdhcoapp is running successfully. This is not intended to be used directly from the command line. You should press Ctrl+C to exit. If your browser is unable to detect the coapp, run: "vdhcoapp install".

And then:

/opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp install
Installing…
Writing /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.var/app/org.mozilla.firefox/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
VdhCoApp : VdhCoApp is ready to be used

Youtube videos and those from other sites, do appear to be downloadable. However, sites that on my other machine are m2ts, do not appear - only mp4.

But: when I try to down load the video, I receive the error message that the companion app needs to be installed.

When I check VDh settings, the companion app part says the app is not installed.

And checking companion app returned: An unexpected error occurred

I checked the file path for the json files. I saw that on the machine  where VDH does work, the json file is store in: /usr/lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts

I created a folder, /usr/lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts, and placed in it a copy of the json file foudn in /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json

VHD still did not find the companion app.

I apologise for taking so long to explain all this. I would be most obliged if someone who know a lot more than me could let me know what to do.

The forum is so helpful and this is the first time I've not been able to solve a puzzle that my machine have thrown up.

Thank you for reading.

Vik.

[Paul]

Hi Vik.

Thanks for your detailed report, this is really useful.

Can you please copy/paste the content of  /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json ?

[Paul]

And can you run:

/opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp --info

[Vik]

Hello Paul

Thank you for taking the time to read my note and looking into this.

As requested, here is the content of home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json:

{
    "name": "net.downloadhelper.coapp",
    "description": "Video DownloadHelper companion app",
    "path": "/opt/net.downloadhelper.coapp/bin/net.downloadhelper.coapp-linux-64",
    "type": "stdio",
    "allowed_extensions": [
        "weh-nat...@downloadhelper.net",
        "{b9db16a4-6edc-47ec-a1f4-b86292ed211d}"
    ]
}

Four additional pieces of information:

(a) My firefox snap on my i5 machine updated today to 121.0b1.

(b) my friend who has a i7 laptop, and also is racing towards the end of her studies, has encountered the same issue when she upgraded the companion app from net.downloadhelper.coapp-1.6.1-1_amd64 to /home/aesop/Documents/VDH-DownloadPC/net.downloadhelper.coapp-1.6.3-1_amd64.deb and when that broke VDH, she tried vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64, with no success.

(c) Like me she has tried the recommended fixes - but with no success.

(d)  I have tried installing VDH on a fork of Firefox, Librewolf  119.0.1-1. This is a non-snap program. VDH companion apt comes up as not installed and a recheck returns this message: Checking companion app returned: No such native application net.downloadhelper.coapp.
I do not know enough about the inner workings of VDH but I wonder if there is some issue to do with the permissions on the /opt/ folder, preventing the companion app from accessing /opt/ - or the VDH app finding the /opt/ folder?

The /opt/ folder is not, AFIK, installed any where weird. When I open a file manager, and select Computer, /opt/ is in the same list as /home, /lib, /etc, /dev, /media.  Their permissions are root, root. 

I tried going back to net.downloadhelper.coapp-1.6.1-1_amd64, but had no success. VDH would not find the companion app.

Thank you for reading and again, looking into this.

very much appreciated.

Vik

[Vik]

Hello Paul.

I ran /opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp --info

and this was returned:
bash: /opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp: No such file or directory

[Vik]

Hello again Paul.

Here is a screen shot of the directory and folder and file path:

[Paul]

Hello.

This is the old coapp.

Can you install the coapp v2?

https://www.downloadhelper.net/install-coapp-v2

[Paul]

Download the .deb.
then:

sudo dpkg -i ./vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64.deb
/opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp install
/opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp --info

Then in Firefox, go to the download helper settings, and check the coapp like this:

https://github.com/aclap-dev/vdhcoapp/blob/master/assets/instruction1.png

https://github.com/aclap-dev/vdhcoapp/blob/master/assets/instruction2.png

[Vik]

Hello Paul.

I will detail step by step, what I did, to put into effect your instructions:

1. via synaptic, I removed net.downloadhelper.coapp-1.6.3-1_amd64

2. vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64 is stored on my PC, i5 in /Documents/VDH-DownloadPC. I opened a terminal and navigated to that folder.
3. I then ran the script you posted, with the following output:
/Documents/VDH-DownloadPC$ sudo dpkg -i ./vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64.deb
Selecting previously unselected package net.downloadhelper.coapp.
(Reading database ... 290516 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64.deb ...
Unpacking net.downloadhelper.coapp (2.0.7) ...
Setting up net.downloadhelper.coapp (2.0.7) ...
Installing…

VdhCoApp : VdhCoApp is ready to be used

Installing…
Writing /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
/home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json : Cannot write manifest file: EACCES: permission denied, open '/home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json'
4. I ran /opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp install and received this output:
/Documents/VDH-DownloadPC$ /opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp install
Installing…
Writing /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
/home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json : Cannot write manifest file: EACCES: permission denied, open '/home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json'
5. I then ran /opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp --info and received this output:
{
  "id": "net.downloadhelper.coapp",
  "name": "VdhCoApp",
  "version": "2.0.7",
  "binary": "/opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp",
  "displayName": "VdhCoApp",

  "description": "Video DownloadHelper companion app",

  "target": {
    "os": "linux",
    "arch": "x86_64",
    "node": "18"
  },
  "home": "/home/i5",
  "converterBinary": "/opt/vdhcoapp/ffmpeg",
  "converterBase": "ffmpeg",
  "converterBaseVersion": "6.0"
}
4. I then went to VDH app in Firefox and looked at VDH settings. It showed the companion app was not installed.
5. I ran Recheck and received this message: Checking companion app returned: No such native application net.downloadhelper.coapp

On a possibly unrelated note, the folder /opt/vdhcoapp has curious permissions:

Thank you for looking into this. We are very appreciative.

Vik

[Paul]

Ignore my previous message, I didn't realize you had a write manifest issue.

Can you type these 3 commands for me:

id
ls -ld /home/i5/.mozilla
ls -l /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/

[Vik]

Hello Paul

Thank you for your message and massive work to resolve this issue. [Apologies for my break in transmission - life/studies got in the way!]

I ran the commands as you asked. Here is the output:

i5@Delphi:~$ id
uid=1000(i5) gid=1000(i5) groups=1000(i5),4(adm),24(cdrom),27(sudo),30(dip),46(plugdev),108(lpadmin),124(sambashare)
i5@Delphi:~$ ls -ld /home/i5/.mozilla
drwx------ 6 i5 i5 4096 Nov 20 19:50 /home/i5/.mozilla
i5@Delphi:~$ ls -l /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/
total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 i5 i5 268 Nov 22 12:38 net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
i5@Delphi:~$

My friend has been following your instructions on her laptop, which is configured the same as my i5. [Most recent, and up to date patched Ubuntu, and most recent Firefox.]

She had been receiving the exact same errors.

She then totally removed VDH and the coapp, and then reinstalled, checking whether the coapp was linked to VHD.

Interestingly, she received the following messages:

When coapp totally removed (via synaptic and manual search for files with name string that includes: coapp.json and net.download) but VDH is still installed in browser, a check for coapp returns:

Checking companion app returned: No such native application net.downloadhelper.coapp

After executing Paul's commands:
Companion App not installed
Checking companion app returned: An unexpected error occurred

Possibly unrelated, but on my NUC (on which VDH still works), the only two locations for VDH related files are:

/opt/

/usr/ lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/ - which contains the json file, net.downloadhelper.coapp.json.

I believe this is the manifest and according to mozilla, is the place to store manifests for global visibility.

On my NUC,  /home/ does not contain any VDH or coapp files and no manifest.

Yet, on the i5, VDH/coapp seems to treat /home//i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts as the storage place for manifests. But I note that the same json file is in: /home/i5/.var/app/org.mozilla.firefox/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts

My friend took the plunge and created a folder in /usr/lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/ and into it net.downloadhelper.coapp.json, from /home/i5/.mozilla.

VDH became completely unfunctional, not able to identify any files on, say, youtube. Removal of /usr/lib/mozilla again enabled VDH to "see" potentially downloadable files, which could not be downloaded due to the "absence" of coap (in VDH).

Thank you for reading and for all the work you are doing. We very much appreciate it. Searching the internet, I find that a problem with this description (VDH can't see coapp) is reported often. Solving it will help a lot of people.

Thank you so much.

Vik.

[Paul]

Do not uninstall or re-install the coapp v2.

Do this:

/opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp install

ls -ld /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/

cat /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json

And please report the output back to me.

Thank you

[Vik]

Hello Paul

Here, as requested:

i5@Delphi:~$ /opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp install

Installing…
Writing /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.var/app/org.mozilla.firefox/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json

Writing /home/i5/.config/google-chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.config/chromium/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.config/opera/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json

VdhCoApp : VdhCoApp is ready to be used

i5@Delphi:~$ ls -ld /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/
drwx------ 2 i5 i5 4096 Nov 22 12:36 /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/
i5@Delphi:~$ cat /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
{

  "type": "stdio",
  "allowed_extensions": [
    "weh-nat...@downloadhelper.net",
    "{b9db16a4-6edc-47ec-a1f4-b86292ed211d}"

  ],

  "name": "net.downloadhelper.coapp",
  "description": "Video DownloadHelper companion app",

  "path": "/opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp"
}i5@Delphi:~$

[Paul]

Can you send me a screenshot of the About window in Firefox (Main menu > Help > About Firefox)

[Paul]

Also, can you try this:

1. close Firefox

2. sudo snap install snappy-debug

3.  sudo journalctl --output=short --follow --all | sudo snappy-debug

 Keep your terminal open

4. run Firefox, go to VDH setting and the coapp like this:

https://github.com/aclap-dev/vdhcoapp/blob/master/assets/instruction1.png

https://github.com/aclap-dev/vdhcoapp/blob/master/assets/instruction2.png

Once you confirmed it failed, please go back to your terminal and copy paste any error that you see!

Thank you :)

[Vik]

Paul

Thank you for your instructions!

Below, the About of Firefox, and below that, the output of the terminal, as per your instructions.

$ sudo journalctl --output=short --follow --all | sudo snappy-debug
kernel.printk_ratelimit = 0
= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:18
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="open" profile="snap.firefox.firefox" name="/etc/igfx_user_feature_next.txt" pid=9650 comm="vaapitest" requested_mask="r" denied_mask="r" fsuid=1000 ouid=0
File: /etc/igfx_user_feature_next.txt (read)
Suggestions:
* adjust program to read necessary files from $SNAP, $SNAP_DATA, $SNAP_COMMON, $SNAP_USER_DATA or $SNAP_USER_COMMON
* adjust snap to use snap layouts (https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/snap-layouts/7207)
* add 'system-files (see https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/the-system-files-interface for acceptance criteria)' to 'plugs'

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:19
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call"  bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/login1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.4" pid=9531 label="snap.firefox.firefox" peer_pid=1455 peer_label="unconfined"
DBus access

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:19
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call"  bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/timedate1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.198" pid=9531 label="snap.firefox.firefox" peer_pid=9681 peer_label="unconfined"
DBus access
Suggestion:
* try adding one of 'time-control, timeserver-control, timezone-control' to 'plugs'

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:19
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call"  bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/login1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.4" pid=9531 label="snap.firefox.firefox" peer_pid=1455 peer_label="unconfined"
DBus access

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:19
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call"  bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/timedate1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.198" pid=9531 label="snap.firefox.firefox" peer_pid=9681 peer_label="unconfined"
DBus access
Suggestion:
* try adding one of 'time-control, timeserver-control, timezone-control' to 'plugs'

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:24
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="open" profile="snap.firefox.firefox" name="/etc/igfx_user_feature_next.txt" pid=9764 comm="vaapitest" requested_mask="r" denied_mask="r" fsuid=1000 ouid=0
File: /etc/igfx_user_feature_next.txt (read)
Suggestions:
* adjust program to read necessary files from $SNAP, $SNAP_DATA, $SNAP_COMMON, $SNAP_USER_DATA or $SNAP_USER_COMMON
* adjust snap to use snap layouts (https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/snap-layouts/7207)
* add 'system-files (see https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/the-system-files-interface for acceptance criteria)' to 'plugs'

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:25
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call"  bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/login1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.4" pid=9531 label="snap.firefox.firefox" peer_pid=1455 peer_label="unconfined"
DBus access

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:25
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call"  bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/timedate1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.198" pid=9531 label="snap.firefox.firefox" peer_pid=9681 peer_label="unconfined"
DBus access
Suggestion:
* try adding one of 'time-control, timeserver-control, timezone-control' to 'plugs'

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:25
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call"  bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/login1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.4" pid=9531 label="snap.firefox.firefox" peer_pid=1455 peer_label="unconfined"
DBus access

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:25
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call"  bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/timedate1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.198" pid=9531 label="snap.firefox.firefox" peer_pid=9681 peer_label="unconfined"
DBus access
Suggestion:
* try adding one of 'time-control, timeserver-control, timezone-control' to 'plugs'

= AppArmor =
Time: Nov 22 20:57:30
Log: apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call"  bus="session" path="/org/gnome/Mutter/IdleMonitor/Core" interface="org.gnome.Mutter.IdleMonitor" member="GetIdletime" mask="send" name=":1.35" pid=9531 label="snap.firefox.firefox" peer_pid=2691 peer_label="unconfined"
DBus access

[Paul]

Hmm. I don't see anything wrong (thanks again for doing all of this).

But I really want to figure out what's going on though, as it's working well on my Ubuntus installations.

If you don't mind, here is some other commands that I'd like you to run. Here are 3 things to do:

## FIrst:

mkdir /tmp/vdh-tmp

cd /tmp/vdh-tmp

wget https://github.com/aclap-dev/vdhcoapp/releases/download/v2.0.7/vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64.tar.bz2

tar -xf  vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64.tar.bz2

./vdhcoapp-2.0.7/vdhcoapp install # Please show me the output of this

find ~ /usr -name net.downloadhelper.coapp.json  -exec grep -nw path {} + # Show me the output of this too

## Try Firefox Snap

Open your Firefox, and send me a screenshot of the Coapp error message (in the addon VDH menu)

## Try Firefox non Snap

# Quit Firefox

cd /tmp/vdh-tmp

wget https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/120.0/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-120.0.tar.bz2

 ./firefox/firefox

Same, check if the coapp is recognized (it should be).

After all of this, you can delete /tmp/vdh-tmp.

Thank you Vik.

[Vik]

Hello Paul

Thank you for spending so much time on this. I'm most appreciative. I have learnt a lot.

I ran the commands you sent and below, the result, as  requested.

Conclusion: your last approach did work.

2023-11-23 17:41:13 (8.52 MB/s) - ‘vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64.tar.bz2’ saved [52816469/52816469]
i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$ tar -xf  vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64.tar.bz2
i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$ ./vdhcoapp-2.0.7/vdhcoapp install

Installing…
Writing /home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.var/app/org.mozilla.firefox/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.config/google-chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.config/chromium/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
Writing /home/i5/.config/opera/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json
VdhCoApp : VdhCoApp is ready to be used

i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$

i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$ find ~ /usr -name net.downloadhelper.coapp.json  -exec grep -nw path {} +
find: ‘/home/i5/.gvfs’: Permission denied
find: ‘/home/i5/.macromedia/Flash_Player/macromedia.com/support/flashplayer/sys’: Permission denied
find: ‘/home/i5/.cache/dconf’: Permission denied
find: ‘/home/i5/.cache/mozilla/firefox/fj5karim.default/cache2/entries’: Permission denied
find: ‘/home/i5/.mozilla/firefox/fj5karim.default/sessionstore-backups’: Permission denied
find: ‘/home/i5/.dbus’: Permission denied
/home/i5/.var/app/org.mozilla.firefox/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json:9:  "path": "/tmp/vdh-tmp/vdhcoapp-2.0.7/vdhcoapp"
/home/i5/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json:9:  "path": "/tmp/vdh-tmp/vdhcoapp-2.0.7/vdhcoapp"
/home/i5/.config/chromium/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json:9:  "path": "/tmp/vdh-tmp/vdhcoapp-2.0.7/vdhcoapp"
/home/i5/.config/opera/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json:9:  "path": "/tmp/vdh-tmp/vdhcoapp-2.0.7/vdhcoapp"
/home/i5/.config/google-chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json:9:  "path": "/tmp/vdh-tmp/vdhcoapp-2.0.7/vdhcoapp"
/home/i5/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/NativeMessagingHosts/net.downloadhelper.coapp.json:9:  "path": "/tmp/vdh-tmp/vdhcoapp-2.0.7/vdhcoapp"
i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$

i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$ wget https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/120.0/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-120.0.tar.bz2
--2023-11-23 17:56:29--  https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/120.0/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-120.0.tar.bz2
Resolving ftp.mozilla.org (ftp.mozilla.org)... 34.117.35.28
Connecting to ftp.mozilla.org (ftp.mozilla.org)|34.117.35.28|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 81768284 (78M) [application/x-tar]
Saving to: ‘firefox-120.0.tar.bz2’

firefox-120.0.tar.bz2             100%[==========================================================>]  77.98M  8.41MB/s    in 9.9s    

2023-11-23 17:56:39 (7.88 MB/s) - ‘firefox-120.0.tar.bz2’ saved [81768284/81768284]

i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$ ./firefox/firefox
bash: ./firefox/firefox: No such file or directory
i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$

This did not work.

Solution?

I suspected that you may have omitted a command to unpack the downloaded non-snap firefox.
So, I took the liberty to use the same unpacking command you used above: tar -xf  vdhcoapp-2.0.7-linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 and did the following:

cd /tmp/vdh-tmp
tar -xf  firefox-120.0.tar.bz2

Then I launched firefox:

./firefox/firefox

And received the following output by running these commands:

i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$ cd /tmp/vdh-tmp
i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$ tar -xf  firefox-120.0.tar.bz2
i5@Delphi:/tmp/vdh-tmp$ ./firefox/firefox
ATTENTION: default value of option mesa_glthread overridden by environment.
ATTENTION: default value of option mesa_glthread overridden by environment.
ATTENTION: default value of option mesa_glthread overridden by environment.
ATTENTION: default value of option mesa_glthread overridden by environment.
libva info: VA-API version 1.14.0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/iHD_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_14
libva error: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/iHD_drv_video.so init failed
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 1
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/i965_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_10
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
ATTENTION: default value of option mesa_glthread overridden by environment.

Firefox fired up firefox and then checked VDH, and found , yes, VDH showed the coapp was installed. I downloaded a video from a non-youtube site. It came down as MP4, rather than m2ts, which is one format my NUC downloads from this site (the other being various resolutions of MP4.

Some additional queries:

1. Should I remove the snap firefox and install the apt version? I have lots of book marks etc and about 6 profiles. So, if I can avoid that, I would prefer to.

2. I had VDH installed on Chromium , Librewolf and Brave. NONE of them could detect the coapp. But I do most, if not all the downloading with firefox.

3. I noted in an earlier version of the coapp that there was a folder with many different formats. This seems to have been removed. I see that VDH will down load in MP4 at the highest quality, but where did m2ts format go?

Thanks for all your efforts on this and I do look forward to finding out what the cause of this is - and your recommended solution.

Kind regards

Vik.

[Paul]

> 1. Should I remove the snap firefox and install the apt version? I have lots of book marks etc and about 6 profiles. So, if I can avoid that, I would prefer to.

Well that should not be necessary. Snaps Firefox should really work out of the box.
I'm re-installing Ubuntu here, to see if I can reproduce your issue.

You also mentioned that it works with the old coapp, is that correct?

Can you verify again that it works with the old coapp.

[Paul]

# Please do this:

Close Firefox

sudo apt-get install -y flatpak

flatpak permissions webextensions # Tell me what it says.

# If it says nothing:

flatpak permission-set webextensions net.downloadhelper.coapp snap.firefox yes

Start Firefox.

[Vik]

Hi Paul.

Thanks for your note. And ...

Q: You also mentioned that it works with the old coapp, is that correct?

A: Yes. But on a different machine from the one where VDH is not working.

The machine where VDH works:

NUC, i5
OS: fully patched, up to date Ubuntu, 22.04.3 LTS
Browser: Firefox, snap, 119.0.1
VDH: 8.0.0.6
Companion app: vdhcoapp-1.6.1
the companion app appears to be installed in:
/opt/net.downloadhelper.coapp/
/usr/lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts

The machine where VDH does not work - i.e. the one where I have been testing your instructions:

Intel i5
OS: fully patched, up to date Ubuntu, 22.04.3 LTS
Browser: Firefox, snap, 119.0.1 but now: 120.0b9 - it fails on both versions

I should also say that VDH did not work on this machine on:
1. Librewollf
2. Brave
3. Chromium.

[Vik]

Hello again Paul

I executed the commands, above, and the following was the result:

i5@Delphi:~$ flatpak permissions webextensions
Table         Object                   App          Permissions Data
webextensions net.downloadhelper.coapp snap.firefox no          0x00

[Paul]

Ah!

This is the problem: webextensions net.downloadhelper.coapp snap.firefox no.

It should say "yes".

See here for the explanation: https://github.com/aclap-dev/vdhcoapp/#ubuntu-firefox-missed-prompt

Fix it like this: flatpak permission-set webextensions net.downloadhelper.coapp snap.firefox yes

At some point, Ubuntu should have asked you if you allow the coapp to run. You might have missed the prompt:

[Vik]

Paul

I can't thank you enough! But so many thanks. And my friend, Soph, sends many thanks too. Your efforts have taken an incredible stress out of the last few weeks of our studies.

I am very red faced - I do not recall seeing that permission screen (and can't find it referred to in the privacy settings in firefox).

The idiot in my head is railing again at his inexhaustible stupidity.

Might I suggest this problem and fix be posted on the DownloadHelper page, as I fear I'm not the only one with an idiot in his head.

One final question. I note that the coapp installed on my NUC, which is out of date, allows for m2ts download. But when I test that site on this now working machine, I can get a high def MP4 - 1920x 1080, but m2ts does not show up.

Thanks again for all your hard work. Apologies for being an idiot.

Vik.

[Paul]

On Friday, November 24, 2023 at 2:14:57 PM UTC+8 Vik wrote:

I can't thank you enough! But so many thanks. And my friend, Soph, sends many thanks too. Your efforts have taken an incredible stress out of the last few weeks of our studies. I am very red faced - I do not recall seeing that permission screen (and can't find it referred to in the privacy settings in firefox).

Thank you for using the addon :)

To be frank, it's a bug in Ubuntu. First, you're not the first one to run into that issue (some people never see the popup indeed), and the privacy settings actually does not exist (again, that's a Ubuntu bug).

 

Might I suggest this problem and fix be posted on the DownloadHelper page, as I fear I'm not the only one with an idiot in his head.

I added a reference to that specific problem to our troubleshooting page (see the link I sent earlier).

 

One final question. I note that the coapp installed on my NUC, which is out of date, allows for m2ts download. But when I test that site on this now working machine, I can get a high def MP4 - 1920x 1080, but m2ts does not show up.

Could it be just that the website doesn't provide M2TS?

You could convert from MP4 to M2TS though.

 

[Wild Willy]

Allow me to chime in here. I am just another user, not an employee of VDH. Plus I don't
know diddly squat about Linux. But there's some items here I might be able to illuminate
a bit.

In Firefox, type Ctrl+Shift+a. On my Windows Firefox, that opens the Extensions settings
dialog. I assume it does the same on Linux. These are browser settings & if I were
working for Mozilla, I would make it work the same on Windows & Linux. Anyway, open the
Firefox settings & go to the Extensions section On the entry for VDH, to the right,
there's the button for enabling & disabling the extension. Right beside that there is a
button with ... in it. When you click the ... it pops up a menu. Select Manage on that
menu. That takes you to a page that has 2 tabs. It might not be immediately obvious
that it's got 2 tabs. The tabs are labelled Details and Permissions. The display opens
by default on the Details tab. Click Permissions. I think you'll be able to take it
from there.

For the m2ts thing, I don't know why you want those. MP4 is a lot more common. But I'm
not here to tell you how to operate. Go into the VDH settings dialog. Click on the
Behavior tab. Scroll down until you see a setting named Hide .ts. The default for this
setting is that it is checked. Uncheck it & see if that gives you what you want. Don't
forget to click Save in the bottom right corner to make sure your change to the setting
sticks.

[Paul]

On Friday, November 24, 2023 at 2:43:01 PM UTC+8 Wild Willy wrote:

Allow me to chime in here. I am just another user, not an employee of VDH. Plus I don't
know diddly squat about Linux. But there's some items here I might be able to illuminate
a bit.

In Firefox, type Ctrl+Shift+a. On my Windows Firefox, that opens the Extensions settings
dialog. I assume it does the same on Linux. These are browser settings & if I were
working for Mozilla, I would make it work the same on Windows & Linux. Anyway, open the
Firefox settings & go to the Extensions section On the entry for VDH, to the right,
there's the button for enabling & disabling the extension. Right beside that there is a
button with ... in it. When you click the ... it pops up a menu. Select Manage on that
menu. That takes you to a page that has 2 tabs. It might not be immediately obvious
that it's got 2 tabs. The tabs are labelled Details and Permissions. The display opens
by default on the Details tab. Click Permissions. I think you'll be able to take it
from there.

Here we are talking about Flatpak setting, not Firefox or Addon settings. The UI is missing in the OS (it has nothing to do with Firefox).

 

For the m2ts thing, I don't know why you want those. MP4 is a lot more common. But I'm
not here to tell you how to operate. Go into the VDH settings dialog. Click on the
Behavior tab. Scroll down until you see a setting named Hide .ts. The default for this
setting is that it is checked. Uncheck it & see if that gives you what you want.

Agreed.

 

Don't forget to click Save in the bottom right corner to make sure your change to the setting
sticks.

On an unrelated note. I keep forgetting clicking "Save". In some coming work I'm doing, clicking Save won't be necessary anymore.

 

[Wild Willy]

Right above the Hide .ts setting, there's a Hide .m4s setting that also is checked by
default. Maybe you'll want to uncheck that one as well.

Then there's HLS as M2TS further down in the settings. You might want to experiment with
that one as well.

[Wild Willy]

Flatpak? OK. I did say I don't know diddly squat about Linux. Still, there is a
permission within the Firefox settings that says, "Exchange messages with programs other
than Firefox." Are you saying that even with that one enabled in the Firefox settings,
there's an additional setting in Flatpak on Ubuntu & there's no way to access it via the
GUI? Worse, the Ubuntu setting can be in conflict with the Firefox setting?

No more Save button? Oh my goodness. I don't know how I'll be able to survive without
it. I mean, just because I have repeatedly forgotten about it, too . . .

[Paul]

On Friday, November 24, 2023 at 3:00:31 PM UTC+8 Wild Willy wrote:

Flatpak? OK. I did say I don't know diddly squat about Linux. Still, there is a
permission within the Firefox settings that says, "Exchange messages with programs other
than Firefox." Are you saying that even with that one enabled in the Firefox settings,
there's an additional setting in Flatpak on Ubuntu & there's no way to access it via the
GUI? Worse, the Ubuntu setting can be in conflict with the Firefox setting?

Actually, to be specific, this only happens when use the Flatpak sandboxing without a Flatpak Firefox (that what Snaps are…).

So that option you're talking doesn't exist in that case.

 

[Vik]

Thanks again, Paul. This has made the next few weeks much easier for both of us. And I have learnt so much.

I went back over my notes, before I bothered you and I had followed the troubleshooting instructions. But being a bit dim, I did not associate the section  "Ubuntu Firefox: missed prompt" with the problem we were having. I had searched firefox for a setting, and of course found no entry - because as you say, there is no setting there. We we purged the machine of firefox and also hunted any references to firefox and coapp and removed them, but the vital string does not show up in a search. I also searched the web for any references to the error message we were getting. I thought there may be a communication

May I suggest that the Ubuntu Firefox: missing prompt, be amended for idiots like me, to include the typical error messages, (so the solution can be found by a google search) and also something along the lines of: 

If all of the above does not work, then try this:

Close firefox

run: webextensions net.downloadhelper.coapp snap.firefox no.

It should say "yes".

Fix it like this: run: flatpak permission-set webextensions net.downloadhelper.coapp snap.firefox yes

Then re-register the coapp: run: /opt/vdhcoapp/vdhcoapp

Launch Firefox.

Check VDH.

I'm not criticising; its just that the well of human stupidity and obtrusiveness is bottomless and I and many others drink there.

Thank again for being so patient. 

This app is brilliant.

Vik.

[Wild Willy]

Have you experimented with the 3 VDH settings Hide .ts, Hide .m4s, & HLS as M2TS? Did
they make any difference? What are the values for these 3 settings in your setup now?
Is everything working the way you want?

[Vik]

Thank you Wild Willy for pointing out that preferences setting.

You wrote: "For the m2ts thing, I don't know why you want those. MP4 is a lot more common"

Yes, I'm aware that MP4 is far more common. There are two reasons.

First, my understanding (am I wrong?) is that m3ts is a higher quality than MP4. We need to be able to take, for our projects and presentations, the best quality screenshots as well as have the best available video for screening during presentations and audio for making transcripts. As well, we are required to keep a record of our work,  including the media file we used. I recognise m2ts is over kill. But if one starts with the best quality, one can lower it for other purposes. Different folks have different approaches.

Second, a number of sites stream concerts in m2ts format and the sound quality is excellent. Again likely overkill, as there is often negligible difference between the sound on m2ts and MP4. But if one begins with a high quality, there is more flexibility if one needs a smaller file. I should say that I extract the sound from the m2ts or MP4 file, using the command line, to FLAC and go from there. My older friends have told me that prior to the digital revolution people used to make their own mix tapes, from vinyl to cassette tape. Well, I guess what I'm doing is kind of like that. I need also to say, that when the performances become available I do purchase them.

In all of this VDH has been indispensable and a big "thank you!" to the VDH team!

[Vik]

Hello Wild Willy

Yes, everything is working perfectly. It is such a relief. And such a simple fix. [Red-face. Note to Vik: Read instructions more carefully.]

I have not experimented with the other settings, but when I get a bit of time, I will do so. I have briefly look at them, but will need to investigate what's on offer. I am a little familiar with m2ts, MP4, FLAC, OGG and MP3, which tend to be the formats I use most.

Thank you for your comments and pointers, by the way.

[Wild Willy]

It is my understanding that quality is not something that differs between m2ts & mp4, nor
webm, mkv, or any other format. There are 2 attributes of media content that people get
confused all the time: resolution & quality. Those are entirely distinct attributes of
content. Resolution is not quality. Sadly, YouTube uses the word "quality" to describe
what is more properly labelled resolution. This seems to have spread like a disease
around the web & people don't realize that the words "quality" & "resolution" are most
decidedly not synonyms.

Resolution is an obvious attribute of video media. It is the dimensions at which the
content is displayed during playback. There are lower resolutions & higher resolutions.
But that is not a measure of quality. Something else is a measure of quality. You can
have 2 videos side by side. Let's say for the purposes of this discussion that both are
1920x1080 resolution. But one can have a muted, blurry image & the other can be clear &
sharp. That is quality. Same resolution, different quality. The attributes of media
files that are best correlated with quality are the bit rates. The higher the bit rates,
the higher the quality. It sounds to me like you are adept at video editing. You must
have tools that display the bit rates of your content. You should be able to compare 2
videos of the same resolution & decide which is of better quality. You will no doubt
notice that quality improves with higher bit rates.

My observation is that content of all types is transmitted in chunks of .ts data. After
you receive it, there is a manipulation of the data to present it as mp4, mkv, or some
other format. I hesitate to call it conversion because I'm not sure it's actually
converted. It's just packaged differently. You should not be fixating on the m2ts
thing. You even said yourself that you can't always observe a difference between things.
Go with what is most convenient. VLC plays mp4 quite nicely. I have noticed weird
problems with m2ts & mkv in VLC. My preferred format is mp4. There is no quality
difference between mp4/mkv/m2ts. But there are convenience differences.

It is more likely that the author of the content determines both the resolution & the
quality. The higher the resolution, the larger the file. The higher the bit rates
(quality), the larger the file. So the author decides what compromise to make between
the resolution & quality of the content and the size of the file that will contain it.
These are things that we, as users, can't control. We get whatever has been posted
online & we can't make it either better or worse. It just is what it is. VDH does not
manipulate those attributes. VDH just downloads what is there. My observation is that
VDH gets what is there without changing it in any way. It's neither worse nor better
than what the author posted.

Now, content gets posted on host web sites like YouTube. The process of posting is very
much subject to conventions imposed by the hosting site. It could be that an author
creates a video at resolution 1920x1080 with bit rates in the 6,000 kbps range.
Uploading it to YouTube results in something that is still resolution 1920x1080, but
YouTube typically compresses the bit rates because they are trying to save some disk
space. That's to be expected. They do host an immense amount of content. So the
author's original 6,000 kbps drops to maybe 2,000 bps. In other words, YouTube
sacrifices some quality in the interests of saving disk space.

To sum up, be clear in your mind that resolution & quality are measures of different
attributes of media. Don't worry about mp4. Be happy with it.

[Vik]

Hello Wild Willy

Your post in extremely useful and informative. I was being lazy, I guess, given everything else that's going on.

I decided to play around with VDh, given I've a couple of hours.

I just downloaded from a streaming site (not youtube) that posts videos that appear in VDH as m2ts format. I downloaded the video first as m2ts and then unchecked the box in VDH and downloaded the same video as MP4.

Then I extracted the audio from both, as FLAC.

Upshot?

No audible difference on my audio system. And the file size was identical (but given the length is identical, I'd expect that).

In short, I'll uncheck the box and capture the videos in future as MP4.

Thank you for your contribution and also explanations. And pushing me out of my unreflective slumbers.

Vik.

[Vik]

I might have spoken too soon: although VDH will now download from many sites, it now does not download from youtube or cnn. As this may be a different issue, I'll begin another thread.