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Java Browser on Windows & Raspbian

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tmartin -  
Hello,

Java is removed from most browsers, that's fine, but the catch is that it is necessary for IP camera utilities, including those that, even at the end of their life, are still being sold (like the D-Link 5020, for example, but let's think about those who already have them).
I know that workaround is possible by calling the image via its web code (hard to find, but it exists, showing that the software publishers of the camera manufacturer are frustrating us with their java and vbscript when a cgi call is enough) and then blindly going to a page under Firefox for example that will indicate java needed when it doesn't support an old version (under Chrome we forget, the page will not display at all), but it is cumbersome!
As for using a third-party utility, it is always incomplete (and paid)

Anyway, after this intro: Which browser still supports Java?
- On Windows (Safari?)
- On Raspbian (the Debian version for Raspberry Pi, under ARM processor) - where we can display a cgi code (the image or video from the camera), but nothing in the D-Link utility

Thank you for guiding me
(and please don't talk to me about security issues, I know)

1 answer

  1.  jee pee Moderator
    Hello,

    I am using a Java client application. On Windows (I have never used Safari), IE11 is still compatible with Java. Otherwise, what you can use is a portable version of Firefox (up to version 52); such a version, without installation, does not interfere with the latest version of Firefox that would be installed on the PC.

    There is also another way to launch a remote Java application: https://java.com/fr/download/help/java_webstart.html

    This requires a configuration file (.jnlp) on the device serving as the web server, which is typically provided by the solution publisher. And on the PC, the application will launch with a shortcut like: 
    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_171\bin\javaws.exe" "http://192.168.0.11/xfs.jnlp"


    Best regards
    --
            a stranger is a friend we haven't met yet.
    1. tmartin Author
      Thank you, jee pee

      I don’t think I can manage with an app launch, since it’s a web page that only calls Java for displaying the IP cam (on a page), with Java itself called by a third-party PHP page.
      In short, total and absurd complications, when it would have been enough for the page to call a CGI (which it seems is what third-party apps do). But I don’t see how to change the PHP on the web server of the cam (a D-Link 5020L) to substitute the CGI commands for Java...

      Basically, I’m mainly looking for a browser that is still compatible, even if it’s an old version. IE didn’t want to, so I’ll check the old portable Firefox version that you mentioned.
      I haven’t tried Safari yet, but it seems that in the Java page they don’t give the harsh words found for Chrome and Firefox (no longer supported, etc.)
      I even believe that it’s more a matter of copyright than security, but as I said above, the web cam programmers unnecessarily slapped Java everywhere when, anyway, CGI was (and still is) there to do the job simply.

      I would have also (and especially) liked a solution for Raspbian (I have Chromium on it, which absolutely refuses to launch the page, and an ESR version of Firefox that the Java page says is incompatible and shows me boxes saying "Java needed" where I should have the image of the cam.

      So, I am reduced to juggling between a tab with the image in CGI and the HTML page without the image.

      Well, it could be worse; I have an old (but not that old actually) Trendnet that was designed for VBScript, which no longer works on the latest IE I still have, and it switches to Java for the others… which don’t work either, so likewise, I juggle because with CGI too, I can get the image separately.
    2. jee pee Moderator
      @tmartinOn my PC, I have Firefox ESR 52 (I haven't tested ESR 60 since Java won't work anymore). It's a 64-bit version, but for Java (JRE 1.8.171), I have a 32-bit version. I found that some features don't work with a 64-bit Java.
    3. tmartin Author
      Hello,
      I just saw your response: I tried 52 portable esr, but nothing works, it won't start on my old XP (as long as it’s not dead, I won't change my computer :-) )
      I've since made an HTML page with the camera image (I can't get live feed, it works under iframe, but stops as soon as you click somewhere ??? so I just have a static image in its frame that I refresh with a button), the main controls (preset, up, down... night on/off and even turning on an IP socket to see at night in color) - there’s still a lot missing, but hey...
      Thanks for the advice, I saw that 45.8 would be the last java version with a recommendation to download it and disable updates before installing java, but it annoys me, I already have Firefox 52.9 installed and I don’t think it will coexist, so first, I'll also try the portable version // I still find this abrupt and definitive infantilization absurd and I suspect more legal troubles than security issues, but oh well.
    4. tmartin Author
      Well, 45.8 on my laptop has put a Lego with "activate java", which doesn't work
      when trying to update Java, since it wouldn't install, I stupidly followed the advice to uninstall the old version, so no more Java, which means no access to certain programs (jdownloader, OpenStreetMap editor...), still impossible to install the new version (nothing actually happens).
      worse: the recovery to an earlier date no longer works after this uninstallation, all to please
      and I just posted another message on "installing Java impossible," since all the messages have been marked "resolved" by some unknown fixers: the only ones who solved this problem reinstalled everything...
      well all that for an IPCam!
      it's the Microsoft Sun Oracle war if I'm not mistaken?
      after all, Microsoft likes to prevent users from using old versions, old programs (Windows Mail, totally impossible to install on W10 with the workarounds for updates that remove it every time, they've invented a superuser whose rights we don't have, in fact, it's them...)

      anyway, I who was afraid every time an update was practically forced, I'm not likely to change my mind!

      but thanks anyway for your attempt to help.
    5. jee pee Moderator
      @tmartinThe banning of Java is not primarily due to Microsoft; it's the browser vendors. Down with third-party applications that launch from a browser (Java, Flash Player, ...). Just like in the past when we could run OS commands from the browser.

      I was an administrator of a Helpdesk platform for 7 years, where support staff used a lightweight Java client launched from a web page. The frequent updates of Java, not coordinated with the software updates, along with old installations, and friction between the JRE runtime and the JDK development version, often resulted in machines where it would no longer work.

      I never found a good solution that worked on all machines; I often combined a bit of everything you mentioned in your other discussion.

      Such as
      - uninstallation, standard, then with Java's online tool, then with JavaRA, ...
      - a thorough clean-up of the disk, deleting everything related to Java (there are hidden directories)
      -- C:\Program Files (x86)\Java or Oracle
      -- C:\Program Files\Java or Oracle
      -- C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java or Oracle
      -- C:\Program Files\Common Files\Java or Oracle
      -- C:\ProgramData\Java or Oracle
      -- C:\Users\XXXXX\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java
      -- C:\Users\XXXXX\AppData\Roaming\Sun\Java
      -- ...
      - cleaning Windows environment variables (like PATH)

      And when it comes to going to the next level, cleaning the registry (Glary Utilities, CCleaner, Wyse Registry Cleaner), then manually deleting all keys containing "Java"

      I never needed to go to the reinstallation of the machine.