12.15 forces Google as search engine

sipertruk

sipertruk

If you too are addicted to opera and search engines you can do something like this example for windows, for other os find the "hosts" file there "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_(file)".
Put that at the end of "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts" :

xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx google.com

Replace "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" by an ip address to your favorite engine, if you don't know how to find and ip address from a server name you can use that online tool : http://www.webdnstools.com/dnstools/dns-lookup first tool on the left "Look up DNS Entries".
You could also replace "google.com" by anything else that can be put as default like bing or ixquick.
And put "google.com" or whatever you used as the server name in the url of the default search engine in your opera's settings.

Deleted User

Deleted User

Originally posted by sipertruk:

xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx google.com
Replace "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" by an ip address to your favorite engine

:doh:

1. That would break a large number of Google services, including those on non-Google sites that don't require a Google account (e.g. Recaptcha).

2. It would be nonsensical anyway. Search query formats differ between engines. StartPage and Ixquick don't even use GET (like Google); they use POST.

frenzie

frenzie

Originally posted by Gingerbread-Man:

StartPage and Ixquick don't even use GET (like Google); they use POST.

Besides the point, but you can search Ixquick with GET. https://ixquick.com/do/search?query=test (of course that is still incompatible with Google's https://google.com?q=test)

sipertruk

sipertruk

Originally posted by Gingerbread-Man:

Originally posted by sipertruk:
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx google.com
Replace "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" by an ip address to your favorite engine
:doh:

1. That would break a large number of Google services, including those on non-Google sites that don't require a Google account (e.g. Recaptcha).

2. It would be nonsensical anyway. Search query formats differ between engines. StartPage and Ixquick don't even use GET (like Google); they use POST.

You failed to understand the post.
I didn't say to use google.com in hosts at all cost.
I didn't say to use the whole query from one server with another, just to replace the server name.
Did you even read it beside what you quote ?
The only nonsense is brought by the bug which allow only a few server names and forbid all others for the default engine.

Deleted User

Deleted User

Got the same problem as you guys.
I have my own google search engine entry with my settings shortcut g, when i try to use startpage as default engine, on the next start of Opera appears a new entry wich is now default, named google with shortcut g and it sets my google entry to shortcut o. That is just weired.

Osko

Osko

I've found another temporary solution. Go to Menu->Appearance in the "Buttons" tab choose "Search" category, drag and drop "Startpage Search Engine" field on the Address Bar next to the address field. Now you have a startpage search field that won't be overwritten next time you start opera. It's not like searching directly in the address field, but it's something.

Deleted User

Deleted User

Originally posted by Osko:

I've found another temporary solution. Go to Menu->Appearance in the "Buttons" tab choose "Search" category, drag and drop "Startpage Search Engine" field on the Address Bar next to the address field. Now you have a startpage search field that won't be overwritten next time you start opera. It's not like searching directly in the address field, but it's something.

I don't know if I understood your way correctly but isn't it much easier to define a key for the startpage-search, i.g. "s"? Following this you type in the adressbar "s words to look up" to search with startpage "words to look up". That's the way I search in wikipedia, imdb or amazon directly form the adress bar since years.

Deleted User

Deleted User

Originally posted by sipertruk:

I didn't say to use the whole query from one server with another, just to replace the server name.

Do you even understand how the HOSTS file works? You don't get to pick and choose when the IP address you specified is used for the server in question; it's always used.

When you type in bad advice into the address bar and press Enter, Opera submits a search query to Google that looks like this:

http://www.google.com/search?q=bad+advice&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest

If you mess around with the HOSTS file as you described, that would be the same as submitting the above query to StartPage:

http://www.startpage.com/search?q=bad+advice&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest

That's a query that StartPage doesn't understand; it will simply return you to the homepage at https://startpage.com instead of providing any search results.

sipertruk

sipertruk

Originally posted by Gingerbread-Man:

(...)

http://[PUT THE SERVER NAME YOU PUT IN HOSTS THERE, WHATEVER IT IS I DONT CARE]/do/search?cmd=process_search&language=english&enginecount=1&cat=web&query=%s

haythamfathey2

haythamfathey2

I have this problem too on Archlinux on a custom search engine "Startpage Web Recherche".
Is it possible to report this bug to an official bug tracker ?

leocg

leocg Moderator Volunteer

Originally posted by haythamfathey2:

Is it possible to report this bug to an official bug tracker ?

There is no need to do it as the problem is already known.

hal5000

hal5000

I am using Version12.15, Build1748, Platform x64, SystemWindows 7 and I deleted Google from the search engine list and replaced Startpage as my default search engine and every time I restart, Google reappears and becomes the default search engine. I reported this issue but Opera support referred me to the forums. I can see that a lot of others share the same concerns about Google and Opera. I use Opera to rid myself from google and also the ability to customize my browser. This has changed now with this issue. To me this is a big issue and not just a bug. I hope Opera will reconsider the handshake between Opera and Google, if not I will have to reconsider my options.

A Former User

Originally posted by hal5000:

I hope Opera will reconsider the handshake between Opera and Google

There's no such a thing, as Chirpie said earlier if your browser location was Russia then the Yandex search engine would keep coming back since it's the default there. It's a bug reseting the search engine to default in some cases.

stepanstas

stepanstas

Originally posted by rafaelluik:

There's no such a thing, as Chirpie said earlier if your browser location was Russia then the Yandex search engine would keep coming back since it's the default there. It's a bug reseting the search engine to default in some cases.

Yes there is. There is a separate deal with Google and Yandex. There is a handshake. Those two are "defaults" for a reason.

A Former User

Yes there are contracts to define the defaults. These very own contracts make Opera earn money and are the main reason why Opera is freeware to us.

But they just define the defaults at the time of installation and you can change them, but in 12.15 there's a bug resetting the choice, that's it.

hal5000

hal5000

All I did was uninstall 12.15 and loaded in 12.14 / 64 bit, so I will live with any bugs in 12.14 because it allows me to delete google and load in startpage as my default search engine. I'd rather wait and see if this issue is fixed and if not, well 12.14 never gave me too much trouble, (well java has been a issue with Opera but I will live with it). Now as for a free browser, yes Opera has been free but if they fix the issue I would pay to use Opera if they would need to charge for their browser.
"Even MS IE10 allows me change to startpage as my default search engine without issue."

Deleted User

Deleted User

I'm still using 12.01 for an unrelated reason, but you could use the RedirectToHttps extension (which can actually redirect any URL to any other URL, with regex support) to redirect all Google search queries to the engine of your choice, with proper formatting.

For example, you could redirect:
https://www.google.com/search?(.*)?q=(.+)&?(.*)?

to:
https://startpage.com/do/search?query=%2

Not an ideal solution, but it should work until Opera fixes the bug if you need to use 12.15 instead of an older version. (Also read my comment on the RedirectToHttps plugin page for instructions on how to disable the Google Docs redirection.)

noob256

noob256

Thanks tlwsyf for the most useful answer in this thread (for some reason i cannot quote here, well played). Since Prism i am finally sensitive to all this bs - and i am done with Opera today. It´s been a ride since Summer 2006 starting with 9.0 but alas, everything comes to an end - i kinda expected it soon, but not this way. Lame.

MLee1

MLee1

Thanks Phanx, but like noob256, I am getting just a little fed-up with Google-plex Opera. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of an older version of Opera that I could use. Is there an archive of past versions which I can access? If there is not I will likely reduce, or eliminate, my usage of Opera. I like the Bit Stream capability, but Opera is not the only such browser. This Google search engine "bug" has been an infliction for months and rather than resolving it the developers are hell-bent on creating more useless features for the next release.

luxor

luxor

Originally posted by MLee1:

Is there an archive of past versions which I can access?

Yes here. Download Opera