[Marc_]

Hey folks.

Uhm, first time poster. I was directed here by a friend on a mux, and I figure at this point there's nothing to lose. From this past Wednesday up, my copy of Opera 9.02 has been having problems dealing with the drop down bar from fanfiction.net as well as the tab info on various author pages. It also refuses to work with Youtube.com, claiming that I have an older version of Javascript or something. I have Java 6 update 2 and Java 6 update 3, I believe and have for a long time now. When I was trying to fix the problem, I located an 'error console' option, and proceeded to email the following to my friend. She in turn has referred me to you guys since it seems to have something to do with both Java and something called CSS. I am a complete idiot when it comes to coding or anything, so if anyone has any information about how to fix this problem, whatever it may be, I would greatly appreciate it if you put it in terms that someone who has NO clue what the devil he'd be doing so that I don't screw up on trying to fix things. The following is the information that came up during the check of the error console, all cut and pasted verbatim into a .txt file. I have a preference for Opera 9.02 since I detest the appearances of the later versions and I can't stand the speed dial function and have no idea how to permanently disable it or I might consider upgrading to Opera 10.

Also, I'm running Windows XP on a Dell Dimension 8200, if that helps at all.

[TOGG]

I'm an Opera user and I don't dislike the Speed Dial feature, (mainly because I haven't bothered to find out how it works) so I just ignore it. Many of the upgrades since version 9.0 have been for 'security' reasons so you really should think about holding your nose and jumping into the deep end. You never know, one of the recent changes may be a 'fix' for your specific problem!

I'm sorry to say that your error console message is meaningless to me as well. (all I know about CSS is that it stands for 'Cascading Style Sheets' and will mean something to compilers of web pages). JavaScript and Sun Java can both be involved in website design/construction and so may play some part in the problem. Your versions of Sun Java are hopelessly out of date and, you guessed it, most of the subsequent upgrades (the latest is 6 Update 17) have been for 'security' reasons, so you should upgrade to 17 and remove the older versions. Perhaps upgrading will resolve the problem? I can provide a link if you have trouble finding it.

JavaScript is, I understand, embedded in your browser and has not changed for some time (the version used by Opera is JS 2.1) You can verify your current Sun Java and JS status by going here; http://www.javatester.org/ and clicking on the box at top centre to confirm your Sun version (presumably the latest one of the two you currently have). If you then click on the orange 'JavaScript' box on the left hand side of the page, a message should appear confirming that JS is working and identifying the version number and browser.

[Marc_]

Well, which version of Opera are you currently using? I've tried 9.10 and 9.30 before I think, and just couldn't get into them. If 9.02 will run with a new version of Java, I could easily make the jump, I think. And sure, post the link. If nobody else has a better means to fix the problem, I'll try first a new Java, and if that doesn't work, I'll up to 10.0

[TOGG]

I'm currently using 10.01. Here's the Sun link; http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp It's the fifth on the list but I don't think it does much harm if you get a DK (Developer Kit) version, you probably just get stuff you don't want/need.

[Marc_]

I'll give it a look. Interestingly though, the java tester said my Java was working on Opera, but I dunno yet if the same applies to the applets.

Edit: According to that website, the thing can and apparently is running applets, so now I'm completely confused as to what's going on. I dunno if the bars under the beige (or whatever color it is) bar under the fanfiction.net blue bar are applets or not. Can you look and see what they are? It may not be a Java problem, it might be something else entirely. o.o

[TOGG]

It wouldn't be surprising if the JavaScript test is OK because the JS version used in Opera (2.1) hasn't changed for a long time, nor has the 1.8 used by Firefox or 1.3 in IE. They stay the same even when the browser version changes.

On fanfiction.net, under the biege bar and an invitation to browse for beta readers, I see an advert for Play.com which initially moved but is now static. That seems very likely to be produced by a Sun Java applet, although JS could also be involved (they seem to do very similar things).

Do you have any toolbars or popup blockers installed? I have everything enabled under 'Content' in the Advanced tab of Opera's Preferences so I see stuff like this play.com advert.

PS. On returning to the fanfiction page I see that the content under the beige bar has now changed to a list of 'Communities' and the play.com advert is mobile again. Clearly this content is modified over time.

[Marc_]

I'm not sure. The beige bar is supposed to give you a drop down window as you scroll your mouse over the various things on there such as Home, just in, communities, etc.. The site has it's own 'ad blocker' and I do have pop-ups in general blocked from Opera. I've talked to someone who knows computers, who thinks it may have something to do with the settings, but he isn't sure where Opera sends it's settings on the computer, since uninstalling the program and deleting all folders with the info off of it didn't seem to work.

[TOGG]

I just went to fanfiction using my Firefox browser with the NoScript addon. If I partially allow scripts (which would include Sun Java and JS) I see the options on the beige bar which, when moused over, produce more clickabe links.

I had to allow the whole of the page (including some Google stuff) before the play.com advert was displayed. So, it seems clear that your version of Opera, or something else you have installed, is at least blocking scripting and possibly other stuff as well. What do you see if you check the Preferences setting I mentioned in my last post?

[Marc_]

As far as popups or toolbars, no, nothing is installed, that I'm aware of anyway. I see one add on Peteristhewolf.com that seems to be moving fine. I'm still getting the beige bar on the site but it's not bringing up the bar that's supposed to show up when you scroll the mouse over it. I did try checking everything under the content listing. It doesn't seem to help any, that I can tell, anyway.

Odd note. For awhile I wasn't even getting the bar. Every option on that drop down bar was showing up but no images for the bars at all, which was weird.

[Marc_]

Hmm. Still having no luck with Opera. And not too keen on going past 9.02. Anyone have any ideas what could be the problem here? So far none of my friends online have been able to help.