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Xyrio edited this page Apr 6, 2022 · 30 revisions

Solving Issues running RSSOwlnix:

Install and Update questions:

General questions:

What are the requirements to run RSSOwlnix?

In order to run RSSOwlnix, make sure that Java is installed. 2.2.1 needs at least java 5 32bit and at most java 8 32bit. See releases page for required java version of other releases

I am not sure if I use the latest RSSOwlnix version.

To make sure you run the latest version of RSSOwlnix you might check for an update (just click Help | Check for Updates). By default RSSOwlnix does not automatically perform an update check after startup.
This setting may be changed (see Tools | Preferences | Install/Updates | Automatic Updates).

How do I update from previous versions?

Updating an existing RSSOwlnix is very easy! All settings and subscriptions are stored in your user-home directory in a folder called ".rssowlnix-beta" that is independent from RSSOwlnix's installation folder. We recommend using Help | Check for updates to update your version to the latest one. Otherwise, simply copy the new RSSOwlnix into the same folder of the old RSSOwlnix, overwriting it.

Why is the automatic update not working?

This can happen in rare situations but is easy to solve. Follow these instructions:

  • Exit RSSOwlnix
  • Start RSSOwlnix with the -clean argument (e.g. "rssowl.exe -clean" from the command line)
  • The update dialog should now show up
  • If not you may report it to https://github.com/Xyrio/RSSOwlnix/issues

How do I update from RSSOwlnix 1 to RSSOwlnix 2?

There is no way of migrating all your data from the ancient RSSOwlnix 1 to RSSOwlnix 2, sorry. You can however easily rescue your list of subscriptions and folders to RSSOwlnix 2. This is not too bad because RSSOwlnix 1 was never able to store more than the news that where part of the feed (approx. 20-50). So, when you load the feeds in RSSOwlnix 2, you will likely see the same content.

Please follow ollow these instructions:

  • If RSSOwlnix 1 is already deleted, install it again from here
  • Start RSSOwlnix 1
  • Select File | Export | To OPML File
  • Save the rssowl.opml to a common location like your desktop
  • Close RSSOwlnix 1
  • Start RSSOwlnix 2
  • Select File | Import...
  • Select the OPML file you just exported and follow the instructions of the wizard
If you are unhappy with RSSOwlnix 2, you can always go back to RSSOwlnix 1. The profile folders being used for RSSOwlnix 1 and RSSOwlnix 2 are not the same. Simply start RSSOwlnix 1 and all your data is back where you left it!

How do I install RSSOwlnix into Eclipse? (for version 2.2.1)

Instructions for Eclipse 3.4.x:

  • Install Eclipse 3.4.2 or later if not yet done
  • Start Eclipse
  • Open the Menu Help and select Find and Install from the Software Updates item
  • In the dialog select Search for new features to install
  • Select New Remote Site
  • Choose any name for the site
  • Type in http://boreal.rssowl.org/update/eclipse/ as URL and press OK
  • Press the Finish button
  • You will now see a list of downloads available for RSSOwlnix 2
  • Expand the elements of the list and put a mark into the RSSOwlnix 2.0 for Eclipse checkbox
  • Press the Next button
  • Read through the license agreement if you want, and accept it below
  • Press the Next button followed by the Finish button
  • Eclipse is now downloading RSSOwlnix 2.0 and will ask for a restart when done
  • Restart Eclipse and find a new perspective RSSOwlnix
Instructions for Eclipse 3.5.x and later:
  • Install Eclipse 3.5.2 or later if not yet done
  • Start Eclipse
  • Open the Menu Help and select Install New Software
  • Type in http://boreal.rssowl.org/update/eclipse/ in the top input field and select Add
  • Choose any name for the site and press OK
  • Uncheck Group Items by Category if not yet done
  • You will now see a list of downloads available for RSSOwlnix 2
  • Expand the elements of the list and put a mark into the RSSOwlnix 2.0 for Eclipse checkbox
  • Press the Next button twice
  • Read through the license agreement if you want, and accept it below
  • Press the Next button followed by the Finish button
  • Eclipse is now downloading RSSOwlnix 2.0 and will ask for a restart when done
  • Restart Eclipse and find a new perspective RSSOwlnix

Can RSSOwlnix be installed silently and unattended?

Yes! Just append /S to the installation executable for a silent install.

How do I specify the location of the profile folder?

RSSOwlnix automatically creates a folder called .rssowlnix-beta to store the application profile:

  • Windows 7: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowlnix-beta
  • Windows Vista: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowlnix-beta
  • Windows XP: C:/Documents and Settings/<your.name>/.rssowlnix-beta
  • Linux: <home.dir>/.rssowlnix-beta
  • Mac: <home.dir>/.rssowlnix-beta
To change the location of this profile, do as follows:
  • Close RSSOwlnix
  • Open config.ini from the folder configuration in the installation directory of RSSOwlnix
  • Adjust the value of osgi.instance.area.default to match with the desired location
  • Make sure to copy over existing profile data from the .rssowlnix-beta folder to not loose your data
  • Adjust the value of osgi.configuration.area to match with the desired location
  • Save config.ini
  • Start RSSOwlnix
RSSOwlnix is now using the specified location for its profile. You can even set the location to be a USB key or other external drive.

Is it possible to install RSSOwlnix with a preset list of feeds?

Yes! You can point RSSOwlnix to a OPML file that it should import on the first startup. Just start RSSOwlnix like this: rssowl -vmargs -Dimport=<OPML File>. Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwlnix with a parameter like that. You can create such an OPML file by selecting File | Export from RSSOwlnix itself. It is even possible to include settings, labels and news filters.

Is there any log to find out about issues while running RSSOwlnix?

You can export the log file from Help | Export Logfile. In case of a serious error, where RSSOwlnix would not even start, you can find the log file in the filesystem here:

  • Windows 7: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowlnix-beta/.metadata/.log
  • Windows Vista: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowlnix-beta/.metadata/.log
  • Windows XP: C:/Documents and Settings/<your.name>/.rssowlnix-beta/.metadata/.log
  • Linux: <home.dir>/.rssowlnix-beta/.metadata/.log
  • Mac: <home.dir>/.rssowlnix-beta/.metadata/.log

General Advise before reading on

Many issues can be solved easily by running the clean up operation (Tools | Clean-Up). It will list some recommended operations and ask you for a restart to optimize your profile. If you continue to see issues after running the clean-up operation, read on in this FAQ.

RSSOwlnix stopped working. What shall I do?

This entry will help you in case RSSOwlnix refuses to start up or you see errors showing up while using RSSOwlnix. You can help the developers making RSSOwlnix more reliable by posting on the issue tracker about the issues you see. Make sure to paste the error log that you can find here.

All the data of RSSOwlnix lives in a single database. Under certain circumstances, this database can get into a state where RSSOwlnix is no longer able to properly function. These circumstances usually are a computer crash or a power-cut. We built RSSOwlnix to be reliable even in these extrem situations, but we can not guarantee reliability in all situations.

Luckily, RSSOwlnix is creating backups of its database at frequent times. As such, you are able to recover your data from one of these backups.

Please follow these instructions:

At first, please shutdown any running instance of RSSOwlnix and then open the RSSOwlnix profile directory:

  • Windows 7: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowlnix-beta
  • Windows Vista: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowlnix-beta
  • Windows XP: C:/Documents and Settings/<your.name>/.rssowlnix-beta
  • Linux: <home.dir>/.rssowlnix-beta
  • Mac: <home.dir>/.rssowlnix-beta
Note: On Linux and Mac you might not be able to see the .rssowlnix-beta folder using the explorer. Instead, please use a terminal and type:
 
cd ~/.rssowlnix-beta
From here, open the folder .metadata\.plugins\org.rssowl.core. The RSSOwlnix database is called rssowl.db and should be one of the files in that directory. Now, make sure to backup the rssowl.db before making any changes. For instance, copy the file to your Desktop.

RSSOwlnix performs frequent backups of its database. Please sort the backups by modification date to find the most recent one. Usually the most recent backups contain .onlinebak in their names, while the older ones contain .backup.

You should start with the most recent backup by looking at the modified date and repeat the steps below for each backup until RSSOwlnix is working again. Usually the most recent backup should bring RSSOwlnix back into a working state.

Rename the chosen backup to rssowl.db and start RSSOwlnix with a special startup parameter that will indicate the changes you made:
-vmargs -Drssowl.reindex=true -Xmx1024m


In case none of the backups result in a working RSSOwlnix, you can still recover your list of subscriptions, saved searches, news bins, labels, news filters and settings by importing either backup.opml or backup_weekly.opml from the profile directory. The former is a daily backup while the latter is a backup from up to seven days in the past. To import the OPML file, follow these instructions:
  • Note: All your previous downloaded news will be lost as a result
  • Copy backup.opml and backup_weekly.opml to your Desktop
  • Delete the .rssowlnix-beta folder
  • Start RSSOwlnix
  • From the Welcome Wizard, select Import Feeds from a File or Website
  • Select one of the OPML files to import
  • Click Next
  • Click Next
  • Select all Import Options
  • Finish and Restart
If RSSOwlnix still fails to work properly, consider opening a bug report on the issue tracker.

Once RSSOwlnix works again, make sure to start it as before without the extra startup parameters.

RSSOwlnix consumes too much memory. What can I do?

There are two solutions to the out of memory problem. First, you can simply allow RSSOwlnix to use more memory and so it will be less likely that you see the problem again. And second, you can change RSSOwlnix's settings to perform better and use less memory.

Please follow these steps to assign more memory to RSSOwlnix:

  • Close RSSOwlnix
  • Open RSSOwlnix.ini in the installation directory of RSSOwlnix
  • Find the line -Xmx192m
  • This line configures RSSOwlnix to use a maximum of 192MB of memory
  • Change the line to a higher value, e.g. -Xmx512m
  • Start RSSOwlnix
And second, if RSSOwlnix is consuming too much memory and suddenly crashes while using it, here are some tricks how to optimize RSSOwlnix for minimal memory use:
  • Frequently run the Clean-Up wizard with the options enabled to improve application performance and search performance (Tools | Clean Up)
  • Configure Clean-Up options to delete old news (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Clean Up)
  • Limit the number of opened tabs (Tools | Preferences | View)
  • Configure your news filters to match on specific feeds instead of folders
  • Enable filters to only show relevant news (View | Filter News)
  • Use newspaper or headlines layout with pagination (View | Layout)
  • Make use of Saved Searches (see below)
  • Always have the latest supported version of Java installed (see changelog.md)
The clever use of saved searches can be the key to a fast RSSOwlnix especially when you have thousands of news and feeds:
  • Create a saved search per feed or folder you are often reading
  • Configure the search to only match on new, unread and updated news
  • Use the saved searches as usual to read your news
This makes RSSOwlnix perform good even if you are one of those that wants to keep every news ever downloaded in RSSOwlnix.

RSSOwlnix fails to create a Browser for reading news (Linux)!

Note: Beginning with RSSOwlnix 2.1, a new logic was implemented to find a browser to use within RSSOwlnix. The steps are as follows:

  • First try the OS configured browser if present
  • Second, use the browser that is specified from the -Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.XULRunnerPath argument if provided
  • Third, try to use the browser that is bundled with RSSOwlnix
If the error persists even with RSSOwlnix 2.1, follow these instructions to manually install a browser to use with RSSOwlnix:
This error can be seen on Linux where RSSOwlnix tries to create an embedded Browser for reading news, but fails. RSSOwlnix is relying on a proper XULRunner version to be installed. Please make sure to have XULRunner 1.9.2.x installed on your system. RSSOwlnix can not use XULRunner 2 and above. XULRunner 2 was first introduced with Firefox 4 in 2011. Instructions:
  • Download XULRunner 1.9 Runtime
  • Extract it to any directory that RSSOwlnix can read
  • Add a new startup property to rssowl named -Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.XULRunnerPath=[XULRunner Runtime Directory]
  • Start RSSOwlnix and it will pick up the browser from the provided location
Please refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwlnix with parameters like that.

How can I get the best performance out of RSSOwlnix?

If RSSOwlnix is running slow for you or RSSOwlnix suddenly stopped working because your computer was running low on memory, here are some Tips and Tricks that will likely help you.

  • Always have the latest version of Java installed (see changelog.md)
  • Frequently run the Clean-Up wizard with the options enabled to improve application performance and search performance (Tools | Clean Up)
  • Configure Clean-Up options to delete old news (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Clean Up)
  • Limit the number of opened tabs (Tools | Preferences | View)
  • Configure your news filters to match on specific feeds instead of folders
  • Enable filters to only show relevant news (View | Filter News)
  • Use newspaper or headlines layout with pagination (View | Layout)
  • Make use of Saved Searches (see below)
The clever use of saved searches can be the key to a fast RSSOwlnix especially when you have thousands of news and feeds:
  • Create a saved search per feed or folder you are often reading
  • Configure the search to only match on new, unread and updated news
  • Use the saved searches as usual to read your news
This makes RSSOwlnix perform good even if you are one of those that wants to keep every news ever downloaded in RSSOwlnix.

Why is the profile folder consuming so much disk space?

All your subscriptions and news entries are stored into a database in the profile folder. The more subscriptions and news you have, the larger the database will get. In addition, RSSOwlnix performs frequent backups of your database. Here are some simple ways to reduce the profile folder size:

  • Configure Clean-Up options to delete news automatically (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Clean Up)
  • Frequently run the Clean-Up wizard with the options enabled to improve application performance and search performance (Tools | Clean Up)
  • Since 2.0.7: Reduce the number of backups (Tools | Preferences | Backups)
It is important to frequently run the Clean-Up wizard as this is the only method to reduce the size of the database after deleting subscriptions and news.

The embedded browser is not showing any content for a news, why?

If RSSOwlnix is showing no content for any news you select or the embedded browser is showing an error, then maybe your firewall is blocking RSSOwlnix from using the embedded browser to display the content. Try turning off your firewall for a moment (while not being connected to the internet) to see if its working then. If the firewall is the reason, configure it to allow connections to 127.0.0.1 on port 8795. This is what RSSOwlnix uses to retrieve content from. Adding this exception is not causing any harm.

RSSOwlnix behaves weird with GTK 2.18 (like Ubuntu and Fedora 12)

Please make sure that you are running RSSOwlnix 2.0.5 or later.

How can I run RSSOwlnix on Windows 64 Bits?

Just run RSSOwlnix like you would do on Windows 32 Bits, there is no need for an extra download. The Java Virtual machine that is necessary to run RSSOwlnix and any other Java application can run both 32 and 64 Bit applications.

RSSOwlnix is not using the language if selected, why?

If your operating system language is different from the language you want RSSOwlnix to use in, you have to tell RSSOwlnix to use a specific language. In order to do so, start RSSOwlnix with an additional parameter -nl followed by the two letter language code, for example: -nl de for german. Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwlnix with a parameter like that. Alternatively you can add the following line to rssowlnix.ini somewhere after the -vmargs line, first 2 letters are the language and the other 2 the country: -Duser.language=en_US

Some words in RSSOwlnix are wrong or not translated in my version

The translations of RSSOwlnix are provided by the community and there is lots of work involved. However, some words might be missing from the translation or translated wrong. In this case, you can help us out correcting the translation. You may report it to Translations Project Issue Tracker.

On Mac I am always being asked to allow incoming network connections for RSSOwlnix, why?

Please refer to this news post on how to get rid of this annoying dialog: http://www.rssowl.org/node/311

mac zip: starting the app gives error "launcher was unable to locate its companion shared library"

Sometimes unzipping the app leaves extended attributes that seem to prevent the startup. The following command line removes extended attributes and seems to fix the problem:
xattr -c RSSOwlnix.app
source: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7070968/eclipse-executable-launcher-error-unable-to-locate-companion-shared-library
more: https://github.com/Xyrio/RSSOwlnix/issues/4

I found a bug or would like to suggest an enhancement. Where can I report it?

RSSOwlnix Project Issue Tracker

Is there a portable version?

How To Portable

what other ways exist to get rss data?

  • use a web proxy/passthrough server that gets the rss/whatever and provides it over http/https as rss/atom/etc (using your favourite programming/scripting language or something like NodeRed)
  • use a program to download the rss to a file like: curl, wget or powershell
  • periodically get and write the rss to a file and get that file. example: file:///c:\rss_downloads\sitexy.rss
  • (2.8.0+) use shell:// to have rssowlnix read the rss from stdout of a script. example: shell://python http2rss.py https://website/
  • use something like selenium to have a script or program control a browser like firefox or chrome to get the rss of more complicated cases, like when javascript needs to be processed to be redirected correctly or pages which are created dynamically using javascript in the browser

How to view db file contents directly?

http://www.softsea.com/review/db4o-Object-Manager.html

Is there any tutorial available?

Yes! Just select Help | Tutorial or press F1.

Can I use RSSOwlnix in my language?

see How To Install Addons or Translations or Translations Project Issue Tracker for the translation project.

How can I start RSSOwlnix with specific parameters?

At some point you might want to start RSSOwlnix with a specific parameter to control some specific behavior or restore to a previous backup. Please follow this advise depending on the operating system you are running RSSOwlnix on:

Windows

  • On Windows XP: Go to Start and select Run
  • On Windows 7/Vista: Press WindowsKey+R
  • Enter the file path and file name of RSSOwlnix followed by the parameters
  • Use quotation marks if the file path contains blanks
  • For example: "C:\Program Files\RSSOwlnix\RSSOwlnix.exe" -noSplash
  • Click OK

Linux

  • Open a Terminal
  • Browse to the RSSOwlnix installation directory
  • Execute the RSSOwlnix launcher and simply pass the arguments after

Mac

  • Open a Terminal
  • Browse to the RSSOwlnix installation directory
  • Type open -n ./RSSOwlnix.app --args followed by the arguments
  • For example: open -n ./RSSOwlnix.app --args -noSplash

What are the supported arguments of the launcher of RSSOwlnix?

Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwlnix with a parameter like the following.

  • -nosplash will hide the splash screen on startup
  • -data <path> denotes the directory to use for storing the profile
  • -vm <javaVM> specifies the Java VM to be used
  • --launcher.appendVmargs will add the arguments from the ini file and those directly appended to the exe together. otherwise when RSSOwlnix.exe itself has arguments only those will be used.
  • -vmargs <arguments> where arguments can be any of the following:
  • -DdisableUpdate=true will disable the integrated update feature
  • -DdisableNotifierTransparency will disable transparency for the notifier
  • -DmultiInstance allows to run more than one instance of RSSOwlnix at the same time
  • -Dportable makes RSSOwlnix more portable by disabling caches of the embedded browser
  • -DcsvSeparator allows to specify the character that should be used as CSV separator
  • -Dimport=<OPML file> will import the given OPML file on first startup of RSSOwlnix
  • -DconTimeout=<millies> the connection timeout when loading feeds in millies
  • -DmaxReloadJobs=<number> the number of concurrent connections to load feeds
  • -DnoFolderLimit will always show all news of a folder instead of limiting to 500
  • -DnoXulrunner will disable the use of XULRunner even if it was registered in the OS
  • -DdisableStopWords will avoid ignoring stop words for fulltext searches
  • -Dlocalhost=<IP> will use the provided IP to display the content of news
  • -Dport=<Port> will use the provided port to display the content of news
  • -DenableNtlmProxy will enable support for NTLM proxy
  • -Duser.timezone=<zone> will use the provided Timezone for the dates of news
  • -DshortDateFormat=<format> the format used to render dates in the news table
  • -DlongDateFormat=<format> the format used to render dates in the article
  • -DshortTimeFormat=<format> the format used to render times in the article

How do I disable the splash-screen on startup?

Just pass -noSplash to the rssowl launcher. Example: rssowl.exe -noSplash on windows. Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwlnix with a parameter like that.

What are the steps to use Mozilla as Browser in RSSOwlnix?

Note that using Mozilla as Browser in RSSOwlnix lacks quite some features over using Internet Explorer. If your only concern against using IE is it's vulnerability against JavaScript, then you should know that beginning with Milestone 9, JavaScript is disabled by default.

Note that you can only use the rendering engine of Mozilla inside RSSOwlnix. Any other feature of Mozilla or Firefox can not be used from within RSSOwlnix. Download XULRunner for your operating system:

Then follow these short instructions on how to complete the installation after the download. Make sure to restart RSSOwlnix. It will use XULRunner from now on automatically until you uninstall it again.

RSSOwlnix 2.1 disables support for XULRunner 1.9.x due to some issues. If you still want to use XULRunner 1.9.x on Windows, follow these steps:
  • Download and Install RSSOwlnix 2.0.6
  • Update from within RSSOwlnix to version 2.1.x (Help | Find Updates)
  • Install XULRunner 1.9.x and register it as described above

Some images are not being displayed in articles, why?

This is a known issue called hotlink protection and there is a workaround at least on Windows when using XULRunner:

  • Setup RSSOwlnix to use XULRunner
  • Open Tools | Preferences | Browser and enable to use embedded browser
  • Open a Browser Tab in RSSOwlnix and type about:config
  • Type network.http.sendRefererHeader in the filter bar
  • Change the value to 0

Ctrl+C stops working when I use Mozilla as Browser!

This is a known issue. To solve it, you have to remove the keybinding for Copy in Tools | Preferences | Overview | Keys.

Is it risky to use the Internet Explorer in RSSOwlnix?

RSSOwlnix helps making the embedded Internet Explorer more secure by disabling JavaScript by default. You can change this in Tools | Preferences | Browser. You can also globally disable to load media content for news (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Reading).

What key bindings does the notifier support?

The notification window showing incoming news supports the following key bindings provided it has the keyboard focus:

  • Arrow Keys to navigate between pages
  • Page Up and Page Down to navigate between pages
  • Home key to navigate to first page
  • End key to navigate to last page
  • Space key to mark a page as read and open next page
  • Escape to close the notifier
  • Enter to restore RSSOwlnix
  • Ctrl+Click on a link to open it in the browser
  • Mouse-Wheel to navigate between pages

How can I bring back the Internet Explorer as Browser in RSSOwlnix on Windows?

Execute xulrunner.exe --unregister-global from the command line. If that does not work, you can force to use Internet Explorer by starting RSSOwlnix with the parameter -vmargs -DnoXulrunner.

I am hearing annoying click sounds while using RSSOwlnix

Here are the steps to turn off the click sounds when using RSSOwlnix:

  • Click Start | Control Panel | Sounds and Audio Devices
  • Click the Sounds tab
  • Scroll down the list under Program Events. Under the Windows Explorer section, highlight Start Navigation
  • Under the Sounds box, select (None) and OK to close the Control Panel

RSSOwlnix refuses to open my feed on startup!

Beginning with RSSOwlnix 2.0.4, the behavior of feeds that open on startup has changed slightly in case you have disabled tabs in preferences. There is a conflicting option that is enabled by default that will reopen the last opened feed on startup. If tabs are not enabled, then only one tab can be displayed at the same time. To ensure your selected feed opens on startup, do as follows:

  • Click Tools | Preferences | View
  • Uncheck Reopen last opened feeds on startup and click OK
  • Open the properties of the feed you want to open on startup and enable Open on startup

Can links open external in the background?

If the browser supports a startup parameter to open links in the background, you can simply append it after the path for the browser executable in preferences. For Firefox, you can do this:

  • Start Firefox
  • In the address field, type about:config and press enter
  • Set the option browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground to true

Is it possible to use RSSOwlnix on a different PC and keep my settings and articles?

Yes! Simply run File | Export and select all your feeds, labels, filters and preferences. On the other PC, start RSSOwlnix and select File | Import to import everything back.

Which newsfeed formats are supported?

RSSOwlnix is supporting RSS versions 0.91, 0.92 and 2.0, RDF version 1.0, Atom Syndication Format 0.3, 1.0 and OPML.

What are the steps to install an add-on to RSSOwlnix?

  • Select Tools | Add-ons | Find Add-ons
  • Select the Add-ons you want to install from the Dialog
  • Follow the instructions of the installation wizard

What are the steps to uninstall an add-on from RSSOwlnix?

Uninstalling add-ons in RSSOwlnix is a 2-step process. At first, the add-on has to be disabled before it can be uninstalled. A disabled add-on can always be enabled again later if you think that you want the add-on back. To disable an add-on:

  • Select Tools | Add-ons | Manage Add-ons
  • Select the Add-on you want to uninstall from the tree on the left
  • Select Disable from the right hand side
  • Follow the advise to restart RSSOwlnix

Now, to uninstall the add-on from your computer:

  • Select Tools | Add-ons | Manage Add-ons
  • Select Show Disabled Features from the top toolbar of the dialog to make your previously disabled add-on show up
  • Select Uninstall from the right hand side
  • Follow the advise to restart RSSOwlnix

Can I read my newsgroups in RSSOwlnix?

With a separate add-on you can read any newsgroup inside RSSOwlnix as if the newsgroup was a normal feed. To install the add-on select Tools | Add-ons | Find Add-ons and choose the Simple Newsgroup Support from the list. To add a new newsgroup, simply create a new bookmark and use the following format for the Link: news://server/groupname (e.g. news://news.eclipse.org/eclipse.platform.swt).

How can I search for more news feeds?

Use the Import Wizard (Tools | Find more Feeds) to either search for feeds by keyword or from a web site of your interest.

Is it possible to read Newsfeeds from a source that needs authentification?

If RSSOwlnix attemps to open a newsfeed from a site that is protected with a username and password it opens a dialog for you to authenticate. After a successfull authentification the newsfeed is displayed. You can manage stored passwords from Tools | Preferences | Passwords and even assign a master password to protect them.

Is it possible have different authentification for the same feed?

Yes. However, you need to let RSSOwlnix know. The following is an example for how to achieve this with the RSS feed of a GMail account. We want to subscribe to the GMail account with 2 different accounts:

  • Make sure to delete any existing saved passwords for gmail.google.com
  • Subscribe to https://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom#1
  • When prompted for a password, cancel
  • Subscribe to https://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom#2
  • When prompted for a password, cancel
  • Open Tools | Preferences | Passwords
  • Add passwords for the two added feeds
  • Delete the entry for gmail.google.com if existing
  • Reload both feeds
The key things to do as you can see from the example are:
  • You need to make the feeds different by appending some characters to the URL that cause no harm
  • You need to provide different username and password per feed

Is it possible to use a proxy server with RSSOwlnix?

Yes! Configure the proxy in Tools | Preferences | Overview | Network Connections.

Is it possible to use a NTLM proxy server with RSSOwlnix?

Yes!

  • Start RSSOwlnix with the parameter -vmargs -DenableNtlmProxy
  • Configure the proxy in Tools | Preferences | Overview | Network Connections
  • Use the following format for the username: DOMAIN\Username
  • RSSOwlnix will then extract the domain from the username for NTLM authentication
Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwlnix with a parameter.

Why am I asked for proxy credentials on each startup?

RSSOwlnix checks for updates on each startup. This eventually brings up a dialog asking for proxy credentials. You can disable the automatic update check setting a startup parameter -vmargs -DdisableUpdate=true. Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwlnix with a parameter.

Is it possible to convert an article to PDF?

Yes! Just select the article and select PrintFriendly from the list of share providers (News | Share News).

Is it possible to filter out media content from news?

Yes! You can configure this globally (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Display) or per feed (Edit | Properties | Display).

What are the steps to show Flash content on Linux?

The Browser looks for plug-ins in ~/.mozilla/plugins and <nativeBrowserDir>/plugins. If a plug-in is installed anywhere else then MOZ_PLUGIN_PATH must be set in order to find it, see http://www.eclipse.org/swt/faq.php#mozillaplugins.

Why do I see duplicate news or old news marked as updated or missing news?

Note: Beginning with RSSOwlnix 2.1 this feature can be turned off (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Reading | Mark Duplicate News as Read).

Whenever a feed gets reloaded, RSSOwlnix has to compare the news that are part of the feed with the news that where downloaded from a previous reload to find out:

  • if there is any new news to store locally
  • if any of the local news has been updated
The following algorithm is then used to find out if any of the news in the feed are identical to news that have been downloaded before. This algorithm defines if a news is showing up as new, updated or not at all:
  1. Compare the <guid> value: News are identical if this value is identical. If not, the News is not considered to be the same if the isPermaLink value is set to true
  2. Compare the <link> value: News are identical if this value is identical. If not, the News is not considered to be the same.
  3. Compare the <title> value: News are identical if this value is identical. If not, the News is not considered to be the same.

And finally, to find out if a local existing news has been updated, RSSOwlnix only compares the title of the news because normally authors tend to append a little word to the title (e.g. Updated) to highlight the update. If the title of a news is identical to the local version but the content is different, RSSOwlnix will not indicate this as an update.

Why is RSSOwlnix 2.0 consuming more memory compared to 1.x?

RSSOwlnix 2.0 uses a couple of technologies that make it possible to add new features very easily and allows one to manage, search and read news in a way that is far beyond what RSSOwlnix 1.x supports.

Please refer to this FAQ entry how to improve RSSOwlnix for best performance.

If you are subscribed to more than 200 feeds, you will notice that RSSOwlnix 2.0 performs a lot better compared to RSSOwlnix 1.x

Why is RSSOwlnix 2.0 15 MB in size compared to 5 MB for RSSOwlnix 1.x?

Because RSSOwlnix 2.0 is at least three times cooler than any previous version ;-).

Is it possible to contact the developers?

You can use the issues tracker.

Is there instructions on how to build RSSOwlnix from source?

Not currently.

How to use a separate java version only for RSSOwlix?

Download the jre or jdk as a zip or copy the folder of an installed version so that the following folder structure exists: RSSOwlnix\jre\bin\java.exe.

I have a question that is not answered in this FAQ. What can I do?

Consider starting the RSSOwlnix Tutorial from Help | Tutorial that will help you getting started with RSSOwlnix. You can also use issues tracker to ask questions.

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