FireFox addon Video DownloadHelper: the lame new version 7.3.9 (or earlier ones already?)

Lots of people complain (https://groups.google.com/g/video-downloadhelper-q-and-a) about this widely used browser addon:
https://addons.mozilla.org/cs/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/

For quite some time (at least since 2019) users say it downloads only shorter videos (longer ones aren't finished). It also requires installing additional self-standing and quite slow companion videoconverter (VdhCoApp), adding a QR code watermark to converted videos. See
https://addons.mozilla.org/cs/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/reviews/

According to FAQ https://www.downloadhelper.net/faq this coapp is needed from FF 57. Also older versions of VDH are available only from FF 57.0a1.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/versions/

Sounds like a clue how to bury something successful the Microsoft way.
It seems that the author caved in to a profit - his own, that of videosites and ad companies, or all: you can buy a premium version (yet users complain about it too). No surprise here.

What to do in 2 steps

1.
If you have an old browser version (versions archive:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Ed./) with VDH 6.3.3 and have it backed up, then go to /Data/profile/extensions/{b9db16a4-6edc-47ec-a1f4-b86292ed211d}.xpi and replace it by the older version.

Older .xpi versions should be in these archives (I didn't try to dl them): ca-archive-2.0.1.xpi, ca-archive-2.0.2b1.xpi, ca-archive-2.0.2b2.xpi at https://github.com/JustOff/ca-archive/releases

Or ask around who may have it.

2.
Cancel automatic updates in the browser settings: addons/extensions: automatic updates - off
(This is also a lesson about automatic updates brought to you repeatedly by Microsoft. How many of those updates failed, dear Redmond folks?)

Or look for another solution, e.g.: 
https://getidmcc.com/ (FF addon)
https://vdownloader.fileplanet.com/
https://www.pepak.net/ytd/ytd

All the best.

--

video downloadhelper @Vr, 02.05.2020 20:28 #16

Může za to nová aktualizace 7.3.9 z letošního března. Nadává na ni spousta lidí.
Jako obvykle se nabízí dvojí motivace - neschopnost nebo záměr. Zde tipuju záměr - vydělat, nátlak od videosajtů a reklamy.
Co dělat: Odinstalujte ji, nainstalujte předchozí a zrušte automatický aktualizace.
Já mám starou verzi FF, na kterou verze online nejdou dát, tak jsem použil {b9db16a4-6edc-47ec-a1f4-b86292ed211d}.xpi ze zálohy, nahradil tu novou a funguje to.

https://pc.poradna.net/questions/2994976-nelze-stahovat-z-prehraj-to


vdh  |  03. 05. 2020 21:33  |

Podle https://www.downloadhelper.net/faq je tato "coapp" nutná od FF 57. Také starší verze VDH jsou dostupné jen pro FF 57.0a1 a novější.https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video... Starší .xpi pro FF: https://github.com/JustOff/ca-archive/releases

https://www.zive.cz/poradna/video-downloadhelper/sc-20-cq-674145/default.aspx?consultanswers=1