Firefox-Flash saga

[FFman]

I haven't been able to run Firefox 15 because of the Flash problem so I'm running 14 with no problems.
Does anyone know what the current situation is with the Firefox/Flash 'problem' as the posts about it seem to have dried up?
I.e. is Adobe going to solve the 'problem' or is Firefox going to be changed to get round it. Something surely has to be done!
Since Firefox is used by millions of people why hasn't there been an outcry?

[LIMPET235]

Hi,
There has been a great outcry about the Flash "update".
Check Adobe's forum.
> http://forums.adobe.com/community/flash ... w=overview
& if you use v10.3 or 11.2, I think you'll find they work O.K.
Some have no probs with the latest version, though.
Try them & see?

[FFman]

Thanks LIMPET235. I'll try them and reply.

[LIMPET235]

Good luck.
There's also the KB article that may assist.
> http://kb.mozillazine.org/Flash
If you have any probs with any version...
Please use their un-installer with everything that uses Flash, closed before installing another version.
> http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/ ... ndows.html

[FFman]

I've updated to the latest Flash and it seems to work with Firefox 14.0.1.
I've tried to update Firefox but there seems to be a hold on updates. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2570297
I'll keep trying.

[LIMPET235]

You can either use v15.0.1 or wait for the later v16.0.1 or whatever "they" decide to call it.

Moving this to the Support forum...

[Ortho_Fan]

I've updated to the latest Flash and it seems to work with Firefox 14.0.1.
I've tried to update Firefox but there seems to be a hold on updates. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2570297
I'll keep trying.

After the 15.0 update, Firefox started crashing again when Flash Player was run with "protected mode" enabled. I posted about it on this forum -- viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2551745 -- and was told "Just disable the broken feature and go about your day." (The NVIDIA graphics card is not installed on my system, so that's moot.)

I downloaded FF 16.0 a few days ago and tested the latest released version of Flash Player (11.4.402.287) with protected mode enabled. After a few hours of usage, the same crash reports--all "empty"--started coming in again.

I've been working with the techs at Adobe on this, and so far, they haven't a clue as to what is causing this.

In the meantime, and to prevent hundreds or thousands of empty crash reports, I've disabled protected mode by hacking the mms.cfg file, adding "ProtectedMode=0" to the string. According to what has been posted on the Adobe site, this makes the latest version the same as the recommended earlier version, 10.3. Both have the basic security updates. (However, Adobe discourages hacking the mms.cfg file, calling it a "last resort," because they're afraid that people will forget to remove ProtectedMode=0 when newer versions come out. Apparently, 10.3 will no longer be an option, once everything is fixed---if not in this world than in the next..... )

OF

[WilliamP]

I sure wish that someone would do something. My wife plays Farmville and complains to me all the time about crashing. I built her the computer that she is on. So of course she was blaming it on the computer, till I convinced her it was Flash and Firefox.

[duste]

Chrome bundles a customized version of Flash, and tests its functioning before releasing it. Firefox on the other hand has no power to stop the steady stream of lousy Flash versions from Adobe, and Adobe has proven themselves incompetent through decades of buggy, security flawed versions of Reader and Flash, as well as clearly not testing Flash with the beta versions of Firefox (which are available long before its official release).

You could advise her to use Chrome for the Farmville and Flash fooling around and use Firefox with its better adblocking and customizability from extensions for normal use.

[FFman]

Just updated Firefox to 16.0.1 and Adobe Flash plugin (11.4.402.287) crashes again playing Youtube videos.
Gone back to Firefox 14.0.1 and everything is working. What a pita!!

[patrickjdempsey]

So your choices are:

- Use an outdated version of Firefox with KNOWN and PUBLISHED security holes: http://www.mozilla.org/security/known-v ... refox.html

- Use Flash with Protected Mode disabled.

As far as the comments about Chrome goes, Adobe specifically designed Protected Mode *for* Firefox. These crashes are the result of a lack of communication and mutual testing between the two companies.

[Ortho_Fan]

Just updated Firefox to 16.0.1 and Adobe Flash plugin (11.4.402.287) crashes again playing Youtube videos.
Gone back to Firefox 14.0.1 and everything is working. What a pita!!

I tried that too. Unlike 16.0, which seemed to work okay for a few hours before the first crash, version 16.0.1 crashed the first time I tried it with Flash Player's ProtectedMode enabled.

Actually, the Youtube video I watched played fine. Then, I paused it, and closed Firefox. (I had the Windows task manager screen opened at the time, to see if there was any sign of a hang when I did this. Firefox was listed as operating for about 45 seconds after I shut it down.)

I then reopened Firefox, and while no crash report was listed in about:crashes, one did appear in the "minidumps" folder. Unlike other others I've gotten since FF 15.0, this one is 11 kilobytes in size, instead of zero kilobytes. I plan to email it to my contact at Adobe. Hopefully, he'll spot something.

O.F.

[malliz]

I plan to email it to my contact at Adobe. Hopefully, he'll spot something.

Pity they didn't "spot something" before they started the whole protection mode debacle.

[Guest]

I plan to email it to my contact at Adobe. Hopefully, he'll spot something.

Pity they didn't "spot something" before they started the whole protection mode debacle.

The funny thing is, the Firefox / Flash incompatibility problem seemed to be fixed with the release of version 13.0.1. It stayed fixed through 14.0.1, and then resurfaced when FF 15.0 was introduced. I posted about this on Adobe -- http://forums.adobe.com/message/4718898 -- and then, in another post, went through a whole rigamarole of copying and pasting various datasheets to help the Adobe techies help me -- http://forums.adobe.com/message/4744651#4744651

And, while I said "hopefully," I'm really not very hopeful that anything will be resolved soon.

(By the way, if you look at the Adobe forums, you'll see just about as many reports about Flash Player incompatibilities with Chrome and I.E., including some horror stories about overheating PCs/Laptops and spontaneous shutdowns.)

I think the ultimate solution would be for Firefox to dump Flash Player altogether, and find its own workable alternative. Along this line, I've been tracking html5, but don't really understand much about it.

Ortho_Fan

[Ortho_Fan]

Well, I just downloaded Flash Player 11.5.502.110 to test it with the current version of FF -- 16.0.2.

I re-enabled Flash Player's protected mode by deleting ProtectedMode=0 from the Flash Player mms.cfg file, and installed the Flash Player update. I then tested a few YouTube videos which seemed to play fine with no stalling, stuttering, stammering. I exited YouTube, by clicking on my Firefox Home Page (Google), then closed out Firefox. I opened Firefox up again, and saw NO crash reports (about:crashes).

After this, I called up another YouTube video, but this time, I paused the video and closed down Firefox while still on YouTube. Firefox seemed to close normally. I called it up again, checked for crashes and there was nothing listed.

I did this a few times to test, and no crash reports were generated. However, on the fifth try--closing down Firefox while on YouTube--I decided to check the minidump file. There were FIVE crash reports--all zero KB--corresponding to the times I closed out Firefox.

I closed down Firefox, called up mms.cfg, added ProtectedMode=0, and saved the file. Some more testing reveals that there are NO minidump crashes with protected mode disabled.

I'll try this again when either Firefox 17 or Flash Player 11.6.xxx is released--whichever comes first.

I think it's time for Adobe to admit that ProtectedMode=Garbage, and try another route; but, of course, that won't happen.

O_F