Questionmarks inside black diamonds

Everybody: I'm back home now after being out of town for a few days. I've read your posts. There are some things I have to do around here before I can follow any of your suggestions.

Ramona: I checked the link you provided. No, that wasn't me, but it is the same problem.

Right now I'm using trouble-free NS 7.02, but 7.1 is still installed and available if I should decide to try it again.

 

FWIW,

NS 7.1 (compact) - works fine.

Bobbo; can you check and see if you have these files.

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\UNICODE.bin
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\UNICODE.nls

also can you post what files you have in

C:\WINDOWS\INF\OTHER\*.*

My comments and suggestions are based on personal experience on my system and components that I actually have installed.

Comments refer to win98SE.

regards:

 

captjlddavis: In C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM, neither of those files appears, but in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 there is a UNICODE.NLS file but no UNICODE.BIN file.

In C:\WINDOWS\INF there is no OTHER folder. There are 932 files, though, occupying 28.7 MB of space.

Does the fact that you're running Win98SE and I'm running Win XP (HE) explain the differences?

In case it helps, I'm adding my system specs in the signature below. (It shows NS 7.1 -- not the compact version -- as my browser, but right now I'm running NS 7.02 Compact version.)

 

Bobbo,

Thank you for your reply.

This would could explain the differences.
I can not replicate the problem, so it is hard to come up with a solution.
The best I can come up with is that " arial unicode " font is needed to support some glyphs. Several programs use this family so it is hard to determine exactly which,if any, has enabled it.

Hopefully someone who uses NS 7.1 on an XP can come up with some answeres>

regards:

 

Bobbo,

Please check the "about:config" for :

"intl.accept_charsets "

If it is user set, backup your prefs.js file and select "Modify "
- "Reset "

This will reset it to defult value. - Please post back.

regards:

 

Jim: I checked and found no such listing.

 

Bobbo,

I am at a loss as to why that entry is NOT in the 7.1 "all.js" - it is set as default:

pref( "intl.accept_languages ", "chrome://navigator/locale/navigator.properties ");
pref( "intl.accept_charsets ", "iso-8859-1,*,utf-8 ");

Please verify that the entry IS in the "all.js" file.

I am not sure WHY it is not in the about:config ? IT should be there as "default" unless it was changed to "user set" - either way it should be there.......

Please post back.

We can then proceed on this track and see if we can do anygood.

 

Jim: I did a Search for the all.js file and found it in the Netscape 7.1\defaults\prefs folder, identified as a 42 KB JScript Script File. It doesn't want to be opened, though, so I can't tell what's in it. And I can't remember what the trick is to opening such folders. Do you?

Later: I have no idea why, but when I checked about:config again just now, this time the line was right there along with several others that I should have easily noticed the first time.

Anyway, the line looks exactly like you said it should:

intl.accept_charsets default string iso-8859-1,*,utf-8

 

Hi BOBBO,

While you're waiting on Jim, here's how to open any Netscape *.js file:

Start | Programs | Accessories | Notepad
File | Open
Navigate to the *.js file
OR
Open Notepad
Navigate to the *.js file
Drag it into Notepad with the left Mouse button

Also, just for information, would you look at your font list and see if your have this font: Arial Unicode MS
Start | Control Panel | Fonts

Thanks!

Ramona

 

Bobbo,

Don't worry about opening "all.js" if the line is a you state - it is in the all.js file.

Well, have to look farther. I can not replicate the problem, maybe it is specific to "XP ", though I don't think it is,as I see others experiencing the problem also.

There is a bug report:

http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=158285

Let me digest this bug a little and see if we can come up with something.

Will keep on looking.

regards:

 

Ramona: Yep, I have it. All 22730K of it.

captjlddavis: Good hunting. I'll stay tuned.

Thoughts:

1. I didn't have the problem (or at least I wasn't aware of it) until I changed from NS 7.02 to 7.1. That leads me to believe the problem lies somewhere in NS 7.1 or in the newer version of Mozilla that comes with it.

2. The problem has a curious tendency to occur when an AOL message or file is involved, either through arriving e-mails from AOL users or at a Web site where AOL appears as part of the URL. I don't know why.

3. Since I'm not the only person reporting having the problem, I suspect that the problem is "out there" rather than "in here." It's entirely possible, though, that there is a configuration setting "in here" that could either block or correct the probem that's "out there. "

4. Right now I have no more relevant thoughts to share, just the good feeling that help is available and being offered.

 

I found another bug report linked from the one captjlddavis found:
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=182764
OS: Windows XP
Version: Trunk
Summary: Incorrect auto-selection of Character Coding: UTF-8 instead of ISO-8859-1; some characters are displayed as Diamond (or "bare" on W95) Question Marks

Somehow Mozilla is getting stuck on UTF-8

Workaround:
*Manually select 'View > Character Coding > Western (ISO-8859-1)'.'

Netscape 7.02 is based on the Moziila 1.0.x branch while Netscape 7.1 is based on a much later branch (1.4) that is further out on the development trunk.

You could either live with the bug in Netscape 7.1 and try the workaround when you encounter those question marks to reset the page to Western (ISO-8859-1) using View.Character Encoding or..... stick with Netscape 7.02

 

Alice: Do I understand you correctly when you say:

Workaround: *Manually select 'View > Character Coding > Western (ISO-8859-1)'.' ... You could either live with the bug in Netscape 7.1 and try the workaround when you encounter those question marks to reset the page to Western (ISO-8859-1) using View.Character Encoding or ...

that the workaround won't stick, that I have to execute it each time I encounter the problem?

Later: The manual workaround seems to work. Using NS 7.1, I just checked that Web site I found earlier and the black diamonds didn't appear, the correct dashes and quotation marks showed up as they're supposed to. So now the question is, is the "fix" permanent or will it work only during this current session and need to be re-set each time I encounter the problem.

 

According to the bug report comments, the workaround will fix the problem for for awhile, and it will stay fixed even after a restart but eventually the bug comes back.

Try it and see.

 

Alice: " ... it will stay fixed even after a restart but eventually the bug comes back. "

That is definitely weird. Sounds more like a virus than a bug.

The problem is minor enough that I can live with what I have now and the way it is now. Wish I understood that weirdness better, though. If anything changes for the better or worse, I'll report it. And I'll keep watching for any additions to this thread.

 

I read through the two bug reports again and, from what I can gather, the bug shows up after a certain series of events which include:
-Viewing a webpage (or e-mail) that uses Unicode UTF-8 character encoding.
-Afterwards, opening a new browser window (or e-mail?) that does NOT specify a character set, Mozilla gets "stuck" on the Unicode (UTF-8) character encoding.

(I'm assuming you also show Western (ISO-8859-1) as the default in Preferences, Mail and Newsgroups, Message Display, under Languages...I do)

Iin other words, Mozilla continues to use the previously-viewed UTF-8 charset instead of switching to your default Western (ISO-8859-1). According to bug 158285 comment #13 "So it seems like Mozilla obeys the charset definition in a page, but ignores the default charset set if the page has none specified. "
bug 158285 comment #12 indicates that the bug also occurs in WinMe.

Hopefully captjlddavis (great bugzilla find, btw) will have some more insight once he finishes digesting

 

Alice: "(I'm assuming you also show Western (ISO-8859-1) as the default in Preferences, Mail and Newsgroups, Message Display, under Languages...I do) "

I show that, too.

 

Bpbbo,

Can you please check your "about:config" and see if you have ANY international settings "user set "

They are the "intl.???????" settings.

regards:

 

captjlddavis: I see two. I tried to copy and paste them, but that didn't work. I hope I have them typed accurately:

intl.accept_languages user set string en-us

and

intl.charsetmenu.browser.cache user set string windows-1252, UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-1, windows-1251

Later: Scrolling down a bit more, I also see:

intl.charsetmenu.composer.cache user set string UTF-8, ISO-8859-1

and

intl.charsetmenu.mailview.cache user set string windows-1255, ISO-8859-15, ISO-8859-2, UTF-8, windows-1252

 

Bobbo,
Thanks, other than OS difference things look pretty much the same.

Those are drop down menu items.

regards