There must be a new version of some developer's toolkit.

This problem started about a year ago, with the New york Times website. I have been having the problem more frequently, but I didn't expect to find it here:

Websites for whatever reason take me for a cell phone. I run BOINC and it's associated projects from a full-blown desktop machine. Yet when I attempted to download the latest version 7.8.3, which I received notice for today, I end up- on a webpage that insists I download BOINC for Android. Not that it would run, but it isn't even the same version number boinc tells me I should download.. I tried BOINC for android. It reduced my battery life to about 3 hours and made it run really hot. I do not wish to run BOINC on my smartphone. Only on my desktop which I have been doing successfully since BOINC came out, and really, at the inception of Seti@home back in about 1997. 20 years is a long time.

But if I cannot convince your website that I am indeed an HP all-in-one dual-core processor desktop with 2 terabyte hard drives and a 23 inch touchscreen monitor running Windows 7 Home Premium edition, then I suppose BOINC version 7.6.22 (x64) (my current version) be the last I can run.

I've actually had one or two websites fix this problem by offering a button to switch to the full site, or desktop webpage, instead of forcing me to use the simplistic and really hard to use on a desktop mobile version.

Which browser do you use when going to the BOINC download page?

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Do you have User-Agent Switcher installed as an Extension in your browser? If so, check what it's telling the world is your Device and Operating System

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rayf
running BOINC since Sept 2010

You have to understand that websites generally don't bother to check the capabilities of your browser and often just sniff your user agent string, which basically identifies what browser you are using. Depending on what it gets back it may offer a stripped-down version or just the wrong pages altogether.

So either websites aren't recognizing what your browser is (possibly it got corrupted) and guessing (literally) that you have some weird mobile browser OR, as previously noted, there is something in your user agent string identifying itself as a mobile browser. Do you have any addons that change how websites id your browser, like IETab? If so, try disabling or removing them. If that's not the case or doesn't do the trick, check the support pages for your browsers on how to reset your user agent string. There may or may not be an option to do it without editing any configuration files.

I know mobile browsers can request a desktop version of a site, but I haven't heard of a desktop browser doing the reverse of that unless your have a developers edition or tools installed or so type of addon installed.

Without knowing your browser, it's for us to narrow down the issue or offer more specific solutions.

~Yav

Which browser ... Let's see... Chrome (See Below) and Firefox (latest version - with -- or without -- useragent modified).

I understand more than the average computer user, having cut my teeth on an IBM 370 and a Digital PDP-11/24, 34, and 70 through VAX 11/780 and beyond.

Maybe I don't completely grasp that "useragent" thing, because it really doesn't matter (with boinc, or 95% of all the other websites that give me this problem) to what value my useragent string is set. They all still give me the mobile web page. Chrome requires that the developer window is open to engage the useragentoverride, while Firefox will keep it set to whatever I change it to until I undo that change. I still get the mobile version.
[img][/img]
I guess I can't post a screen capture here, unless it's "on the web"... And I don't seem to have a place to post the screen image on the web.

Firefox (just updated moments ago - 56.0.2 (64-bit)
Chrome Version 61.0.3163.100 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Thank you, Sir SekeRob. I wish I had seen your response first, as I wasted a lot of emotional energy assuming that others were assuming that I was assuming ...

You solved my problem elegantly, and with much aplomb.

First, thank you for taking the time to work on my problem.

Second, I'm sorry -- I should have stated up front what browser(s) I am using. I thought I had covered everything that was asked of me in terms of information required to substantiate the problem.

And now you have heard of many desktop browsers that do the reverse of what you said mobile browsers do. I didn't mention Internet explorer because I rarely use it. But just to be sure, I tried it and it did exactly the same thing as my usual ports to the information superhighway: I get the mobile offerings.

At any rate, SekeRob has solved my problem. I appreciate your efforts, however.

Doesn't matter which browser I use ... Chrome, Firefox, IE ... same result -- boinc for android. Anyway,

At any rate, it's a moot point now that I know the location of the version library.

I've played with the useragent string ever since this problem started about 14 months or so ago. In only one case did it make any difference whatsoever. And that was one of my first attempts months ago. After a while, even that didn't work any more...

At any rate, it's a moot point now that I know the location of the version library.

No, but I have manually modified the useragent string in all browsers I regularly use -- to no avail. No useragent string has ever made a difference to useful effect.

At any rate, it's a moot point now that I know the location of the version library.

No, I have no useragent extensions installed But even manually changing or resetting the UA string has no effect.

Thanks for your response, and please know my problem has been solved by being made aware of the version library. After downloading manually the latest BOINC, it is now running happily on my desktop.

Since you have the same problem with multiple browsers and changing the user agent string doesn't help you'd better check with some online service what user agent string the servers are really receiving. Here's one such service.

I'm guessing there is something between your browser and web server, some software on your computer, or a proxy server, or plain malicious server.

What does this report?

http://ipchicken.com/
(Is it seeing an IP from your ISP or does the IP belong to something else?)

AND

https://www.whatismybrowser.com/


Are you running any kind of antivirus/firewall software? I'm just wondering if some kind of security product is masking your true browser. under the auspices of protecting your privacy... it's a long shot, but if you see something weird with the above reports, try temporarily disabling it and rerun the reports.


Another thing you could do is download a small Linux distro such as Puppy, install to a USB stick, boot off it and then see what kind of results you get. If you get the normal websites, then it's probably something you have installed in Windows and you might have to go through the software and remove things while you troubleshoot.

It's a lot here, but I'm just trying to cover everything in one shot so you don't have to keep coming back for each thing.

I use Palemoon and I get those update your browser sometimes... I'd like to tell them learn how to program properly. ;)