MERO Ballistic Program QUESTION

Good evening Edward, gents...

Here at last but they don't make it easy, do they? The confirmation emails went straight into the bin. Apparently my Mac thought they were spam and I only found them by accident.

Anyway, to business.

1) I'm the original author of the (sadly now defunct) ChairGun software but I'm not the original author of MERO. My long-time friend and associate George Conway (no, not that George Conway!) past away a year ago and I've taken on the development.

2) Windage can be viewed in several ways:

a) as a plot (with or without) an auxiliary table of deflection v. Range by selecting "Plots and Graphs" from the "Display" menu, right-clicking on the graph to raise the popup menu and selecting the top or middle items from the "Wind Drift..." sub menu.

b) on the "Scope Cap Label" display by right-clicking on the graph and selecting the "Label LHS" item and selecting the "Wind Drift" option

c) as b) but after selecting the "Range Card" display

d) from the "Visualisation" display (uses the Wind Speed and Wind Angle as set in the relevant data input textboxes. Remember to set the Inclination angle to zero!

Note that right-clicking on things is the gateway to many of the menus and features, etc.

All of this refers to the desktop MacOS, Linux and Windows MERO versions of course.
An Android version also exists but, apart from the totally unnecessary maintenance that Goggle inflicts on me with sickening regularity, I've yet to really get my head around that.

As Edward mentioned above, I'm really interested in the false positive (alleged) virus experiences of other users. Please let me know if you have a problem or if I can help.

Windows isn't my first (or even second) choice of O/S although I always test each new MERO iteration on WIN10(32/64bit), WIN11 and Ubuntu virtual machines on my Mac and I've never seen a problem before. Do any of you Windows enthusiasts/gurus know what I'm doing wrong (or right)?

ATB
Dave


Hi Dave, 😊

Your ChairGun Pro is still in active use on my cellphone and my Windows computer!

And I really appreciate you having taken on the responsibility from George Conway for MERO!
I had a few virtual exchanges with George, he must have been a remarkable man, in many senses. Very sad that he is gone.

You mention that keeping the Android version is difficult (the evil of the big bad machine with a capital G). I am sorry to hear that.
However, with Strelok being banned for so long now, MERO is a real alternative for many. I certainly use its many sub-programs several times a day (KECalc, PBRCalc, EasyBC, MaxRange, etc.).

Thank you for doing what you do. 👍🏼
Like I told George when I stumbled upon his wonderful program: I would be happy to contribute financially to the Android app if you decided to put a price to it. (When I insisted, George suggested a donation to a charity, which I was happy to do.)

Matthias
 
I checked the Google App Store and only the V1.2.4 is available, not the V2.3.6.
Oh well. I'll have to await an update.

mike
The Android - mobile - version is V1.2.4.
It's the desktop - Macos, Linux and Windows - version that's at V2.3.6.
Same name, similar basic utility but not interchangeable between platforms.
I still don't know what version of Android you've installed it on.
It's not impossible that Google will install MERO onto an Android version that's actually incapable of running it. :rolleyes:

ATB
Dave
 
Last edited:

Harrys_Lad

My android is a Samsung S23, Model Name: SM-S911U, Android Version 14, UI Version 6.1. New just over a year ago.

mike

With regard to the apparent Android 14 problem:

I seem to remember that George had three or four Android 'phones with diverse Android versions for development but I have no idea what happened to them. Probably ended up in landfill somewhere. The Android development environment (Android Studio) has provision for any number of customisable emulators which I (and George previously) use to test applications on the various applicable Android versions out there. However, I've run through all of the applicable versions again today (Android Lollipop to Android 15) just to be sure but the results are the same. No problems found.
All of which leads me to the conclusion that the problems that you're seeing are local rather than endemic.
Some 'phone setting maybe?

With regard to the MERO/Windows/Desktop installation problem:

I must admit that on all of my Windows VMs I've only ever run Edge once per installation (to download Firefox). ;)
Try as I may, I still can't get to see the Defender/false positive warning.
Are those affected using Edge by any chance?
Given the innate propensity of Windows to throw a random problem at the drop of a hat, is this just yet another Edge problem?

Just a theory. :)

ATB
Dave
 
Last edited:
With regard to the apparent Android 14 problem:

I seem to remember that George had three or four Android 'phones with diverse Android versions for development but I have no idea what happened to them. Probably ended up in landfill somewhere. The Android development environment (Android Studio) has provision for any number of customisable emulators which I (and George previously) use to test applications on the various applicable Android versions out there. However, I've run through all of the applicable versions again today (Android Lollipop to Android 15) just to be sure but the results are the same. No problems found.
All of which leads me to the conclusion that the problems that you're seeing are local rather than endemic.
Some 'phone setting maybe?

With regard to the MERO/Windows/Desktop installation problem:

I must admit that on all of my Windows VMs I've only ever run Edge once per installation (to download Firefox). ;)
Try as I may, I still can't get to see the Defender/false positive warning.
Are those affected using Edge by any chance?
Given the innate propensity of Windows to throw a random problem at the drop of a hat, is this just yet another Edge problem?

Just a theory. :)

ATB
Dave
Dave
The issues you and I talked about, and solved by using v2.3.5), were on a machine running Windows 11 and Microsoft Edge

Thanks for joining and helping other members
Edward
 
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Dave
The issues you and I talked about, and solved by using v2.3.5), were on a machine running Windows 11 and Microsoft Edge

Thanks for joining and helping other members
Edward

I know Edward. While I find the V2.3.5 situation confusing, I'm more focused on the failure to load V2.3.6 and future iterations. Microsoft Defender is being updated almost every day and it's quite possible that this sudden predilection for false positives is a new "feature". That is, MD previously recognized the false positives correctly but now it's become confused. :rolleyes: V2.3.5 may very well have been checked previously, found to be virus-free and entered into a MS database as a reference whereas V2.3.6 has not.
All theoretical at the moment. We may never find the truth of it all.

I know nothing of the Windows platform. Is it possible to inform Microsoft of these false positives?

ATB
Dave
 
Can confirm MD quarantined v2.3.6 for me with Windows 11, and while I have Edge installed I never use the browser.

I couldn't even get it to run while using the typical *run anyway* bypass. Something about the executable really upsets MD.


-Matt
 
Can confirm MD quarantined v2.3.6 for me with Windows 11, and while I have Edge installed I never use the browser.

I couldn't even get it to run while using the typical *run anyway* bypass. Something about the executable really upsets MD.


-Matt
How did you download the file without using a browser? What am I missing here?
If MD has quarantined the file, can it not be taken out of quarantine?
Thanks for the Microsoft Security Intelligence link. Unfortunately I can't use it. I don't have (have never had) a MS ID and Microsoft's data demands are way too much for me. No wonder Windows is so virus-prone with all that personal information on their servers.
If you have a valid MS ID (and are thus comfortable with Microsoft's security), could you send the V2.3.6 file for scrutiny?

ATB
Dave
 
I am running Windows 10 Home and it downloaded V2.3.6 after asking if I wanted to accept that it was a "Trusted" source.
One I accepted that it was Trusted, it downloaded without issue.
I also have the V1.2.4 loaded on my Android, but was looking to update if available. Apparently, there is no update from what am seeing in this thread.
Thanks for the help!

mike
 
How did you download the file without using a browser? What am I missing here?
If MD has quarantined the file, can it not be taken out of quarantine?
Thanks for the Microsoft Security Intelligence link. Unfortunately I can't use it. I don't have (have never had) a MS ID and Microsoft's data demands are way too much for me. No wonder Windows is so virus-prone with all that personal information on their servers.
If you have a valid MS ID (and are thus comfortable with Microsoft's security), could you send the V2.3.6 file for scrutiny?

ATB
Dave

I didn't say I didn't use any browser, just didn't use Edge. I used Firefox.

I could not take it out of quarantine.

I just tried to install it again a second time, and it worked...without any hiccup. Maybe its fixed now, or a fluke where it takes 2 attempts to bypass MD? Lol

1727102275592.png


*throws hands up*

-Matt
 
I didn't say I didn't use any browser, just didn't use Edge. I used Firefox.

I could not take it out of quarantine.

I just tried to install it again a second time, and it worked...without any hiccup. Maybe its fixed now, or a fluke where it takes 2 attempts to bypass MD? Lol

View attachment 498545

*throws hands up*

-Matt
Ah, right. I misunderstood the "the browser" bit. Apologies.

It's good that you finally got it working - and thanks for pointing out the error to MS.
Perhaps someone else had already told MS about it.
I wonder what MD's going to make of MERO_237_x86_Setup.exe? :rolleyes: (In test at the moment but available in the next week or so.)
I really hope we don't have to go through this again.

Thanks again,
Dave
 
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Ah, right. I misunderstood the "the browser" bit. Apologies.

It's good that you finally got it working - and thanks for pointing out the error to MS.
Perhaps someone else had already told MS about it.
I wonder what MD's going to make of MERO_237_x86_Setup.exe? :rolleyes: (In test at the moment but available in the next week or so.)
I really hope we don't have to go through this again.

Thanks again,
Dave

I can make another submission with just the executable if you wish? Let me know.

-Matt
 
Scanning the executable just now shows no threat, so strange...maybe they did fix it, over night, because last night it was flagged as PUA and quarantined. I can usually bypass PUA and run software no problem, but MD definitely was triggered last night to quarantine the EXE.

Maybe it being quarantined forced them to review it, which perhaps they did and added the exception? That or...somehow initial install creates flags where the second install doesn't? I could only explain that if something tinkers with windows registry upon first install that later allows the second install to work flawlessly.

1727104962854.png


-Matt
 
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