Larry wrote:
How does one go about changing the user agent string in SM2.40? Could
not easily find that information.
There's a couple of ways, as noted elsewhere in this thread.
1) You can do it permanently, via changes in prefs.js:
J. Weaver Jr. noted:
"about:config",
create string "general.useragent.override.chase.com"
set it to your current useragent string _without_ the "SeaMonkey".
(mine is "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:43.0) Gecko/20100101
Firefox/43.0")
2) Use an extension, either PrefBar or UserAgentSwitcher. Personally, I
prefer PrefBar, partially because it seems easier to use, and partly,
because I like some of the other options offered, of getting to
preferences quickly.
I do know that with PrefBar, the default strings offered are *very* old,
and you generally have to go in and edit to match something reasonably
current. I'm currently using:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:45.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/45.0
I also occasionally use a setting when I need to spoof that I'm running
a Mac:
Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.11; rv:45.0) Gecko/20100101
Firefox/45.0
Although I don't normally use them, I do have definitions for IE 11,
Opera and Chrome, as well as Firefox and Seamonkey in Linux. At Chase, I
wouldn't be surprised if spoofing a valid Chrome or IE string would get
you through, as well.
You can find a rather vast array of valid UA settings at
http://www.zytrax.com/tech/web/browser_ids.htm. There's a separate page
just for Firefox: http://www.zytrax.com/tech/web/firefox-history.html.
If you're using PrefBar, in the configs, you need to make sure that the
User Agent item has been dragged into the Enabled Items pane. Then
double-click on User Agent. There's enough examples there that it
shouldn't be difficult to get a setup that you want.
I contacted Chase Tech Support today and was told this was the first
time they heard there was a problem and I was the first caller. If we
want Chase to fix the problem we have to get their attention with enough
calls to tie up their web tech support phone lines. Don't forget to
escalate to a supervisor.
Chase's support is likely a call center that has hundreds of people
working for them (and entirely possible that they work from multiple
locations). Probably only a handful have even heard of Seamonkey, much
less complaints about Seamonkey/Gecko support issues. Until/unless the
majority of service reps have seen at least one complaint, this is an
issue that's pretty much under their radar.
And for the ones that have fielded this particular complaint, it
wouldn't surprise me if a high-level supervisor informs them that the
policy is "Firefox, Chrome, IE and Safari. Period." As has been
discussed before, the problem is that some technical higher-up at Chase
only knows brand name, and as far as they're concerned, they don't want
to be spending time supporting anything else, even a browser that has
all the capacities of Firefox, if it doesn't have the Firefox brand name
on it.
Given that Chase has been a problem in this area for years, it's
possible that the person who made the decision isn't even at Chase
anymore, but that successor(s) have decided that they're unwilling to
consider revisions.
My suspicion is that Chase was one of the longer holdouts in the era of
"IE only", and their support of more than one browser is reluctant. With
the growing share of Google Chrome (and decline of Firefox), I think the
chances of Chase dropping support for Firefox are higher than convincing
them to allow Seamonkey and other Gecko browsers that don't explicitly
identify themselves as Firefox. To Chase, doing things any differently
is merely an exercise in facilitating the cranks who insist on doing
things their own way, and to them, it's perceived as considerable cost,
and nearly zero corresponding benefit.
For those of us who choose to work outside the mainstream of "what
everybody else is doing", whether it's running a different browser,
using a different operating system, using different tools (think:
LibreOffice instead of Microsoft Office, or using a non-Adobe PDF
reader, etc.) we are more likely to hit compatibility issues, when
others aren't willing to affirm/celebrate the choices we've made. Sure,
it's possible to push back (as with Chase, making repeated pushes at
customer support), but there comes a point where it's not really worth
the effort.
With Chase, it seems that they're unwilling to change. Thus, for us,
the choice is either using a method that works (either spoofing or
allowing them to dictate which browser we use for interaction with
them), or finding another bank to do business with.
I really wish it was different, but when you're working in a
profit-oriented system, there's a lot of players with a variety of
agendas, and the altruism that comes from things like open source
software and choosing the tools you want are pretty low on the priority
list.
Smith
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