5 ms·

How to download a web browser without any web browser

2 points by FranzSunder 11y ago

Some days ago I found an old computer and wanted to download some software but I realized there were no web browsers installed. In addition, this computer has only one working USB port, so I cannot insert devices without disconnecting the keyword. How can I solve this situation?

LarryMade2 11y ago
Download browser installer on a second computer Hook the usb port to a hub, then hook the keyboard and usb stick in. or if it has gui unhook the keyboard and use the mouse to copy the file then eject the drive and hook back in the keyboard. If that doesnt work you zip up the browser installer and null-modem the file over with two modems and a phone wire.
- daveloyall 11y ago
  Two modems? I wasn't able to get ~1998 era modems to talk to each other without POTS. I don't remember if it was the dialtone, or the ring, but something was preventing the negotiation from even starting. Now, a "null modem" link without the modem, just via serial or parallel, that's easy.
  - LarryMade2 11y ago
    Yeah, you have to set a command on the "calling" modem to disable the "detect dial tone" feature with ATX3. Used the modem to modem to move stuff between 64 BBS and macintosh http://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=larry:projects:modem_line_switch&s[]=atx3 http://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=larry:proj...
dublinben 11y ago
Using the built-in FTP client of the OS, you can download the latest copy of Firefox.[0] [0] http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/latest/ http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla.org/firefox/r...
daveloyall 11y ago
Create a script which runs in a loop and copies any files found on a usb stick to the hard drive. Start the script, then remove the keyboard and plug in the USB stick.
daveloyall 11y ago
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=http+via+telnet https://duckduckgo.com/?q=http+via+telnet ;) Reasons this won't work: * Browser installers generally live on https. So, we'll cheat! scp ChromeSetup.exe mywebhost.besttldever:/var/www/html * Telnet displays the server's response on screen. .exe files are binary. I searched a bit and didn't find an obvious way to get the httpd to use some sort of 7-bit encoding. So, we'll cheat! $ base64 ChromeSetup.exe > ChromeSetup.exe.txt * Your console buffer is too short. You don't know how to terminate a telnet session. reconfigure... killall telnet... Let's do this! hobbes@metalbaby:~/scratch$ telnet mywebhost.besttldever 80 Trying 52.20.234.148... Connected to mywebhost.besttldever. Escape character is '^]'. GET /ChromeSetup.exe.txt HTTP/1.1 host: mywebhost.besttldever HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2015 16:04:16 GMT Server: Apache/2.4.16 (Debian) Last-Modified: Wed, 28 Oct 2015 15:59:21 GMT ETag: "132ad2-5232c470de522" Accept-Ranges: bytes Content-Length: 1256146 Vary: Accept-Encoding Content-Type: text/plain TVqQAAMAAAAEAAAA//8AALgAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAA+AAAAA4fug4AtAnNIbgBTM0hVGhpcyBwcm9ncmFtIGNhbm5vdCBiZSBydW4gaW4gRE9TIG1v ZGUuDQ0KJAAAAAAAAADrS9CIryq+268qvtuvKr7bonhf24UqvtuieGHbuyq+26J4XtvXKr7b6Xtf 260qvtuKXVvbqSq+23LVddukKr7bryq/294qvtuieGXbriq+268qKduYKr7bil1g264qvttSaWNo ryq+2wAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQRQAATAEFAJf06FUAAAAAAAAAAOAAAgELAQwAACYBAADKDAAA ...ok, copy and paste the whole thing into a file, and... hobbes@metalbaby:~/scratch$ base64 -d ChromeSetup.exe.txt > ChromeSetup.exe.fromTelnet hobbes@metalbaby:~/scratch$ diff ChromeSetup.exe ChromeSetup.exe.fromTelnet hobbes@metalbaby:~/scratch$ Viola!
- daveloyall 11y ago
  By the way, you didn't mention the OS of the machine with one USB port... So I don't know if you have a base64 decoder handy! Let's suppose Windows... The internet says that `certutil` can decode base64. If your machine doesn't have that tool, try constructing a .eml file and copy/paste the base64 content in as an attachment. OutlookExpress can open that.
lazylizard 11y ago
you can ssh or rdp to it and not have to use the keyboard perhaps
cylinder714 11y ago
If it has a CD or DVD drive, you could download and burn a LiveCD of an operating system like Ubuntu to another machine, boot from that, then download whatever you need to the computer's hard drive. You could also buy a computer magazine with a disk bound inside to save time, but that would cost some money.

2 points by FranzSunder 11y ago

LarryMade2 11y ago

Download browser installer on a second computer Hook the usb port to a hub, then hook the keyboard and usb stick in. or if it has gui unhook the keyboard and use the mouse to copy the file then eject the drive and hook back in the keyboard. If that doesnt work you zip up the browser installer and null-modem the file over with two modems and a phone wire.

daveloyall 11y ago
Two modems? I wasn't able to get ~1998 era modems to talk to each other without POTS. I don't remember if it was the dialtone, or the ring, but something was preventing the negotiation from even starting. Now, a "null modem" link without the modem, just via serial or parallel, that's easy.
- LarryMade2 11y ago
  Yeah, you have to set a command on the "calling" modem to disable the "detect dial tone" feature with ATX3. Used the modem to modem to move stuff between 64 BBS and macintosh http://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=larry:projects:modem_line_switch&s[]=atx3 http://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=larry:proj...

dublinben 11y ago

Using the built-in FTP client of the OS, you can download the latest copy of Firefox.[0] [0] http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/latest/ http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla.org/firefox/r...

daveloyall 11y ago

Create a script which runs in a loop and copies any files found on a usb stick to the hard drive. Start the script, then remove the keyboard and plug in the USB stick.

daveloyall 11y ago

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=http+via+telnet https://duckduckgo.com/?q=http+via+telnet ;) Reasons this won't work: * Browser installers generally live on https. So, we'll cheat! scp ChromeSetup.exe mywebhost.besttldever:/var/www/html * Telnet displays the server's response on screen. .exe files are binary. I searched a bit and didn't find an obvious way to get the httpd to use some sort of 7-bit encoding. So, we'll cheat! $ base64 ChromeSetup.exe > ChromeSetup.exe.txt * Your console buffer is too short. You don't know how to terminate a telnet session. reconfigure... killall telnet... Let's do this! hobbes@metalbaby:~/scratch$ telnet mywebhost.besttldever 80 Trying 52.20.234.148... Connected to mywebhost.besttldever. Escape character is '^]'. GET /ChromeSetup.exe.txt HTTP/1.1 host: mywebhost.besttldever HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2015 16:04:16 GMT Server: Apache/2.4.16 (Debian) Last-Modified: Wed, 28 Oct 2015 15:59:21 GMT ETag: "132ad2-5232c470de522" Accept-Ranges: bytes Content-Length: 1256146 Vary: Accept-Encoding Content-Type: text/plain TVqQAAMAAAAEAAAA//8AALgAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAA+AAAAA4fug4AtAnNIbgBTM0hVGhpcyBwcm9ncmFtIGNhbm5vdCBiZSBydW4gaW4gRE9TIG1v ZGUuDQ0KJAAAAAAAAADrS9CIryq+268qvtuvKr7bonhf24UqvtuieGHbuyq+26J4XtvXKr7b6Xtf 260qvtuKXVvbqSq+23LVddukKr7bryq/294qvtuieGXbriq+268qKduYKr7bil1g264qvttSaWNo ryq+2wAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQRQAATAEFAJf06FUAAAAAAAAAAOAAAgELAQwAACYBAADKDAAA ...ok, copy and paste the whole thing into a file, and... hobbes@metalbaby:~/scratch$ base64 -d ChromeSetup.exe.txt > ChromeSetup.exe.fromTelnet hobbes@metalbaby:~/scratch$ diff ChromeSetup.exe ChromeSetup.exe.fromTelnet hobbes@metalbaby:~/scratch$ Viola!

daveloyall 11y ago
By the way, you didn't mention the OS of the machine with one USB port... So I don't know if you have a base64 decoder handy! Let's suppose Windows... The internet says that `certutil` can decode base64. If your machine doesn't have that tool, try constructing a .eml file and copy/paste the base64 content in as an attachment. OutlookExpress can open that.

lazylizard 11y ago

you can ssh or rdp to it and not have to use the keyboard perhaps

cylinder714 11y ago

If it has a CD or DVD drive, you could download and burn a LiveCD of an operating system like Ubuntu to another machine, boot from that, then download whatever you need to the computer's hard drive. You could also buy a computer magazine with a disk bound inside to save time, but that would cost some money.