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*.epub files downloaded become *.php files

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by gbc723

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My Firefox downloads/converts *.epub files from fadedpage.com as *.php files, yet it downloads *.epub files from Project Gutenberg perfectly well. If I use Brave to download the same *.epub files from fadedpage.com they download correctly as *.epub files.

What is wrong?

Using MX-Linux 1.0 and Firefox 85.0.2

                                                                     Thankyou
                                                                     [email protected]
My Firefox downloads/converts *.epub files from fadedpage.com as *.php files, yet it downloads *.epub files from Project Gutenberg perfectly well. If I use Brave to download the same *.epub files from fadedpage.com they download correctly as *.epub files. What is wrong? Using MX-Linux 1.0 and Firefox 85.0.2 Thankyou [email protected]

Modified by cor-el

Chosen solution

gbc723 said

The problem for me is that with the same extensions enabled I can download *.epub files from say https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?sort_order=release_date without any problems, but when I download *.epub files from fadedpage.com they download as php. If my extensions are the problem surely they would exhibit the same behaviour on both sites?

The two sites serve the epub files differently. My Firefox 85.0.2 handles both as expected, but yours seems to distinguish between them. I assume it's due an extension because as far as I know, there's no built-in way to get Firefox to disregard the filename= parameter.

HTTP Headerfadedpage.comgutenberg.org
Content-Typeapplication/octet-stream
(generic MIME type)
application/epub+zip
(correct specific MIME type)
Content-Dispositionfilename=20210263.epub(unspecified -- Firefox uses the page name)
pg64608-images.epub

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All Replies (6)

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I think that this is fixed in 86. It will be released on tuesday.

Can you test it after the update and reply here if it's OK? Thanks.

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Hmm, I'm not seeing that for the .epub link on this page:

https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20210263

Your add-ons list (thank you for sharing that) mentions a few different downloader-related extensions. Is it possible that any of them modifies the Content-Disposition or Content-Type header? The server is sending:

  • content-type: application/octet-stream
  • content-disposition: attachment; filename=20210263.epub

That should trigger this:

If an extension is throwing away the Content-Disposition, then Firefox wouldn't have the listed filename (20210263.epub) to refer to and would only have the script address (showbook.php).

If the extension is modifying the Content-Type, hmm, it would depend on what it is doing, exactly.

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The problem for me is that with the same extensions enabled I can download *.epub files from say https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?sort_order=release_date without any problems, but when I download *.epub files from fadedpage.com they download as php. If my extensions are the problem surely they would exhibit the same behaviour on both sites? Web-browser Brave has no problem with fadedpage.com - I am temporarily using that for their *.epub downloads. But if it is a website mis-configuration problem surely Brave should also exhibit problems too? Meanwhile I will wait for Firefox 86 and report back.

                                                     Thank-you for your prompt help
                                                         Graham Clark
                                                           [email]@ncable.net.au

Modified by Andrew

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gbc723 said

The problem for me is that with the same extensions enabled I can download *.epub files from say https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?sort_order=release_date without any problems, but when I download *.epub files from fadedpage.com they download as php. If my extensions are the problem surely they would exhibit the same behaviour on both sites?

The two sites serve the epub files differently. My Firefox 85.0.2 handles both as expected, but yours seems to distinguish between them. I assume it's due an extension because as far as I know, there's no built-in way to get Firefox to disregard the filename= parameter.

HTTP Headerfadedpage.comgutenberg.org
Content-Typeapplication/octet-stream
(generic MIME type)
application/epub+zip
(correct specific MIME type)
Content-Dispositionfilename=20210263.epub(unspecified -- Firefox uses the page name)
pg64608-images.epub

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I have disabled all of my extensions and that has solved the problem. I will let you know which is the offending one when I discover it.

Graham Clark [email]@ncable.net.au

email & formatting

Modified by Andrew

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Enabling my extensions one by one and found one culprit is Ninja Download Manager Firefox extension. That was #23 on my list. . . .