Waterfox 18.0.1: 19 January [Firefox 64-Bit] - Page 271

Unfortunately I'm switching back to classic Firefox. All because of X-Fire incompatibility. Please do remember it's not a matter of any plugins (as some sometimes say). Whenever X-Fire launches xfire64.exe as its child process Waterfox crashes (if running) or crashes on start up (if starting). My previous solution was just to delete xfire64.exe from X-Fire directory thus preventing X-Fire from running it, but lately I've noticed that due to lack of that process in memory most of Steam games tend to be reported by X-Fire as being played even they are not (that gave me inaccurate game play timing on X-Fire webpage, for example playing Dota 2 for 40 hours in last two days). I'll give Waterfox a try once in a while but stability is more important to me than other Waterfox virtues.

Unfortunately incompatibilities like that is up to the third party vendors to address/fix/support.

Hmmmm. I noticed when everyone says there's a problem, it's always blamed on Waterfox. Most of the time it's not Waterfox. Anyway, lets get down to business. Have you tried other 64bit builds of Firefox to verify it's 100% NOT the XFire plugin/addon? Here's a good one to try:

HTGuard 64bit
http://htguard.island.ac/

If XFire works with both of the above builds, then please report back here so we can take a closer look at why Waterfox has this problem.

If XFire does not work with the above builds, then you need to contact XFire support to make a better 64bit plugin/addon.


UPDATE: I just read through the XFire FAQ and found the following answers for you:

First thing I noticed is the system requirements which doesn't mention 64bit:
http://www.xfire.com/download/

FAQ answers:
* Why aren’t the Windows games (Pinball, Minesweeper, etc.) detected on Windows Vista 64?
On Vista 64 the default games run as a 64-bit process which Xfire cannot detect. We may release a 64-bit Xfire client in the future.

* Some of my games are not detected on Windows Vista 64 or XP 64. Why?
Xfire is a 32-bit application and cannot interface with a 64-bit process. We are planning on releasing a 64-bit compatible client in the future.

This mostly affects Steam users since Steam will detect your OS and force HL2 based games to run in 64-bit mode. However, there is a command line switch you can add to force them back into 32-bit mode. Here’s how:

In Xfire, go to Tools | Options | Games tab.
Under Installed games, highlight the game you wish to run in 32-bit mode.
In the “Extra command line Parameters” field add this line:

-32bit

Click Apply | Click Ok.

You should now be able to launch this game in 32-bit mode from Xfire Tools | Launch menu.

* Xfire In Game messaging does not work for me at all. Why?
There are a number of factors that allow Xfire to run along with your games and send and receive messages from within the game. Things to check on your system are as follows:

What OS? (Vista, XP, Windows 7, etc...) Is your OS 32bit or 64bit?
Xfire In-Game messaging is currently only supported on Windows Vista, XP and 2000. If you are running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista or XP, some games will run in 64-bit mode and Xfire will not be able to detect them at all.
Edited by djkilla - 6/20/12 at 12:13pm

Pale Moon x64 does not use "Firefox.exe" as the process name, it also uses its' own profile. This makes it less useful to troubleshoot problems of this type.

HTGuard x64 would be a better testbed as it does use the Firefox name and profile.

I forgot about that. I remember reading that the developer of Pale Moon will be changing the release dates and version numbers to his own. Also changing the code and features of the browser so it's different and moves away from the original Firefox.

Pale Moon began moving away from Firefox quite some time ago (FX 4?), as has Waterfox over the last 7-8 months (FX 9?).

Depends what you consider moving away. Pale Moon has started drastically to move away and completely redo the code and features starting with version 12. Here's what the developer said:

"Pale Moon 12 sees the start of a different release cycle for Pale Moon because honestly, I'm sick and tired of the 6 week carousel forcing me to start from scratch because code merges fail with lumped-together patches (as became clear with Pale Moon 9). You'll have to stop thinking in terms of PM 13 and 14, considering a stable base in PM12 will see incremental implementations of relevant bugfixes on it, similar to 9.2 in lieu of 10, before. Pale Moon's development will become more independent of the staged release cycles @Mozilla from here on out."

Starting around version 13 of Firefox, Pale Moon announced some of the major changes that would be done. Here's the link:

http://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=710

The next version of Pale Moon will be entirely changed. Here's the link:

http://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=987

Waterfox hasn't in a major way moved away from Firefox. Everything remains the same except for the optimizing that's done. Features and settings remain faithfully true to Firefox and aren't changed. This makes Waterfox very stable and compatible for a 64bit build. Pale Moon is more like an entirely new browser. Personally, the direction Pale Moon is taking is aggressive but very interesting. I don't agree with some changes but other changes (even if introduced in a beta) is welcomed if deemed stable enough by the developer for a Pale Moon release.

Overall, Waterfox stays true to Firefox. Compare Waterfox and Firefox, there's no difference except for the branding and 64bit optimizations. Disabling debug, crashreporter, etc. in mozconfig are minor and not used by the average user so I don't consider that moving away from Firefox. That's a good thing and that's what makes Waterfox great. Anyway, that's my 2¢.
Edited by djkilla - 6/20/12 at 3:49pm

You'd do well to check that.

Just started using waterfox a few months ago and just found this community for it
Nothing to really say except for loving the browser as much as regular firefox
I am getting a flash plug in crash at random times, but other than that, its great.

FLASH!

No, really. Flash may have been fixed.

"Today’s Flash Player update to version 11.3.300.262 is said to fix the issues that Firefox users are experiencing with Flash contents in the web browser. The latest version of Flash is already available for download at Adobe’s official Flash download site, and also as a direct offline installer from Macromedia’s ftp server."

Your welcome!


VG