Internet Explorer Script Error

[andysink]

When ever I use the WinAmp 5.01 media libary Now Playing feature I get an Internet Explorer Script Error saying:

An error has occurred in the script on this page.

Line : 2
Char : 8
Error : Invalid character
Code : 0
URL : http://info.winamp.com/winamp/winamp.html?Alb=....[sic]

This happens everytime the winamp Now Playing page displays in the media libary, so it pops up everytime a track advances. I am using
Internet Explorer 6.0.2800.1106.xpsp2
Windows XP Pro SP1
Athlon XP 2800+ Barton
1GB Ram

I am not sure if this is an IE error not handling the script correctly or if this is a JS coding error. Any workaround would be greatly appreciated; it is annoying to see this error popup every time I switch tracks.

[DJ Egg]

Are you using any ad/script blocking software?

First of all, go to Internet Explorer > Tools > Options > Advanced.
Make sure "disable script debugging" is checkmarked
and "display a notification about every script error" is unchecked.

If the problem persists, then it can only be some ad/script blocking software to blame, or a custom Hosts file maybe.

You will need to configure it so it doesn't block ads/javascript from:

http://ar.atwola.com

http://ads.web.aol.com

[andysink]

Thanks, that fixed it. Apparently eDexter + Supertrick was blocking one of the addresses. I edited the hosts file and no more script error…

[Veej007]

what are some other programs that might cause this? i checked the options, and they are as you had recommended. this happens even if i quit both my firewall and my pop up blocker

[DJ Egg]

It'll be some ad/script blocker, eg. Norton AV Script Blocking...

[thefluffysky]

Thanks, that fixed it. Apparently eDexter + Supertrick was blocking one of the addresses. I edited the hosts file and no more script error…

Are you still using eDexter? What did you change in your hosts file that fixed the problem?

[kookbox]

Alternate solutions?

If the problem persists, then it can only be some ad/script blocking software to blame.
You will need to configure it so it doesn't block ads/javascript from:

http://ar.atwola.com

http://ads.web.aol.com

Okay, but what if I don't want to let those sites in? Is there another way to prevent these constant errors?

Surely there is a way to use the media library that doesn't require accepting ads from AOL. Well, besides just blocking info.winamp.com in the hosts file.

[DJ Egg]

Not if you want to use the "Now Playing" or "Info Viewer" features.

Sure, there's a workaround...

Prefs > Media Library > Library Options:
Uncheck: Display Info Viewer...
Checkmark: Do not allow media to auto switch to NP

What's so bad about those sites anyway?
For starters, they don't install any spyware tracking cookies.

Why not just remove those two addresses from whatever script blocking software you're using, and add them to "Internet Explorer > Options > Security > Restricted Sites" instead...? Hmm, though that'll probably result in the exact same problem :/

[edit]
Yeah, adding them to Restricted Zone produces the same error. Silly me, lol
[/edit]

[kookbox]

Yeah, adding them to IE's restricted sites does result in exactly the same problem.

Are you sure about atwola and cookies? I could be mistaken (it's been a long time since I accepted random cookies), but I thought atwola was among the ad sites that tried to set them.

Changing those Media Library options, however, is just the fix I was looking for. Thanks for the attention, and the quick reply.

[n2jtx]

I've noticed in the past two weeks that I have started seeing script errors. Apparently some of the servers at info.winamp.com have new page formats and the embedded script is buggy. When the old style page comes up then there are no errors. I suspect when all of the servers are upgraded this is going to be very very annoying.

Below are some screen shots showing the old format, new format and error:

old format

new format

[Nunzio390]

At times, script errors tend to occur with the info.winamp.com database, and it's been reported. Nothing we can do about it here though. That's entirely up to the Nullsoft/AOL site webmaster to correct.

The Winamp application uses the core dll files (mshtml.dll and others) from the Internet Explorer browser to display the Now Playing page (AKA minibrowser) in the Media Library. On a computer where IE is not installed (eg: Win98 Lite), Now Playing won't even display anything. It just won't work. Now, if the Winamp developers had included the ability to allow the minibrowser to utilize whatever default browser the user has installed on their system instead of relying on IE's core dll's, then a lot of scripting errors will not occur at all, since many other browsers suppress script error messages that IE always tends to display. This would be especially true with the much more speedy, stable and less buggy Firefox browser, which doesnt even allow ActiveX to come into play, which causes lots of error and warning messages in the IE browser. Unfortunately, there are virtually no more Winamp/Nullsoft developers left to even consider making this kind of a welcome change.

But you had it backwards when you said, "When the old style page comes up then there are no errors". Your first image supposedly depicting the old format (Old_NowPlaying.jpg) is in fact the newer format, based upon the current site design at Winamp.com. Your second image supposedly depicting the new format (New_NowPlaying.jpg) is in fact the older format, based upon Winamp.com's old site design, prior to when the new site came online on Dec 16, 2003. So, it's really, "When the new style page comes up then there are no errors". Therefore, I would assume that the site webmaster must have done something to suppress IE script errors on pages displayed with the new site design.

*Note: I changed your first 2 images in your above post to links instead since they generated a horizontal scrollbar on this page at 800x600 screen rez. The last error image was left embedded in your above post.

[n2jtx]

Oops, my mistake then. I thought the blue info screens were a new format as they are the ones giving me the problem. I guess when those servers are converted over to the orange info screens then my problem will go away.

On a side note, I noticed that at least one of the Winamp servers has a misconfigured http server as it throws a db_connect error from PHP. I guess things are hectic at Nullsoft.

[jwolosek]

don't forget to try clearing Internet Explorer's "Temporary Internet Files"

That is what hosed my media library for a while.

[Nunzio390]

Hi jwolosek, and welcome to the forums!

Out of curiosity, do you realize that just before your above post earlier today (03-12-2008), that the last poster in this thread posted what he did a long long time ago? - years, actually - 10-20-2004

LOL!
You could have replied to a more "recent" thread and not one that's long-dead, but no probs though, because you did in fact give good advice, and here's a bit more...

Depending on which IE browser version you are using, refer to one of these:

Clearing Cache on Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0

Clearing Cache on Microsoft® Internet Explorer 7.0

[jwolosek]

sorry about that. i noticed the date right after my reply.