Why can't I log in to some sites with some browsers?

[hazel]

In my search for lightweight software, I've started using a browser called kazehakase. It's very nice, a sort of halfway house between dillo (which is almost a toy browser) and the heavy artillery of iceweasel/firefox. It loads fast and I think the page download speed is faster too though that's very subjective. But there are certain sites - not this one! - where I can't log in using kazehakase and have to fall back on iceweasel. I'm curious to know why this sort of thing happens.

[techieMoe]

A number of things could cause a page not to load, but I'm curious about something. Does kazekahase identify itself as another browser? When a website connects to your browser it requests the IP and can also request host information like your browser and operating system. Opera has the ability to let you choose what information you send like this, and even pretend it's Internet Explorer or some version of Netscape/Mozilla. I'm wondering if this browser you're using isn't sending any identification at all, and the websites don't know what to do with it?

[hazel]

That sounds as if it might be the problem. But how do I find out? I've browsed through the about:config list but haven't found an entry that seems to determine how the browser identifies itself. The one that looks most relevant is:

general.useragent.override Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; U Gecko/0 Kazehakase/0.4.2 Debian/0.4.2-1etch1");

[techieMoe]

Here's a cute little script that reads what your browser is calling itself:

JavaScript - Browser detect

[hazel]

Well, according to that site's detection setup, I'm using an "unknown version" of Mozilla! It looks to me as if this should be compatible with Mozilla 5.0 (see above) so I created an explicit navigator.userAgent with a value of "Mozilla/5.0", unset the general.useragent.override and tried again on one of the sites that has given me problems. No luck!

Well, it's a niggle, not a disaster. It just means I have to keep iceweasel as a backup for those sites that won't play ball with kazehakase. And at least I have learned something new about browsers in the process.

[hazel]

btw when I do it in iceweasel, I get Mozilla 1.8.