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O
oicv76328831
Participant
August 24, 2018
Answered

Is this a scam?

  • August 24, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 2409 views

From time to time I get a popup on entering Safari browser 10.1.2 on a MacBook Air 10.10.5.

Don't know if related but this happened within a week of my installing Flash Player PPAPI Plug-in version 30.0.0.154 -- by clicking in SystemPreferences>FlashPlayer> install now, which took me to

the Flash Player website.  I did this a little differently than in the past: at the end of the installation

the last panel says "finish", which I have in the past clicked and then gone to downloads and double

click to the installation.  This time I  went to the downloads and double clicked, and the panel that

said 'finish' did not reappear to click that tab.

The popup that appears from time to time has at the top of it 'Join ______" (with my modem SSID number

next to it).  The apple icon is a white apple in the horizontal menu under this followed by: MAC  iPad  iPhone

.. TV New Support  a search icon and the icon for shopping.   Then appears the message: "The page you're looking for can't be found".   (I very large dark font)  {this is different color and size font that I have otherwise

seen for this message before, and it otherwise only appears when trying to visit a website and never

at the opening of Safari alone}   Under this message is a search box with that magnifying glass icon and

"Search apple.com" written in the box.   Then this very large pop-up says: "or see our site" and gives the

address:  https://apple.com/Ooktq3s55/prop47u3c.html

I am feeling frozen to click or explore any of it.  I click the 'cancel' tab in the lower right hand corner or the

red button at the upper left hand corner to close the window, and it closes -- but then appears again on entering Safari on another daily, perhaps every third day (which is to say not every time I enter Safari).

Unless I close or cancel this popup anything else is behind it: Sys Pref screens ,etc.

Is there a notice of this scam happening that I can read about?  What to do? (Please don't ask for a screenshot-

never done one before and trying something new at the same time as fearing the consequences of this as a

scam is too much for me right now.)

Thank you for your time and consideration.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer jeromiec83223024

Thank you very much.

I wonder why the PPAPI appears in the Safari>SystemPreferences>Flash Player >"updates"

and gives a tab to "install" it???!!

Would you explain so I can learn.  Thank you.


Each browser has a plug-in interface.  Firefox (originally Netscape) offers the Netscape Plug-In Application Programing Interface (NPAPI).  Google Chrome and Chromium-based browsers (like Opera) offer something called the Pepper Plug-In Application Programing Interface (PPAPI).  Because nobody can resist a cutesy pun, Pepper is a companion to the NaCl (Native Client) interface, 'cause Salt & Pepper. 

There's also the ActiveX control, used by Internet Explorer and Edge on Windows.

Flash Player's job is to smooth out all the lumps between browsers and make everything look uniform, so what you see as one product is something like 30 distinct pieces of software, which serve various needs and various combinations of operating systems and browsers.

So, while Google Chrome both supports PPAPI and bundles Flash Player as a built-in component, there are other totally legitimate use-cases which would call for installing a system-wide copy of the PPAPI Flash Player.

In general, if you have a browser and you want to use Flash Player, all you have to do is go here:

https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

We try to make it super easy by detecting what you're using and give you the right download (or telling you that you don't need one).

If you dig around in the control panel, you'll run across the more advanced controls.

If you want all the nitty-gritty details, the Flash Player System Administrator's Guide is pretty comprehensive:

Adobe Flash Player Administration Guide for Flash Player | Adobe Developer Connection

1 reply

_maria_
Community Manager
_maria_Community Manager
Community Manager
August 24, 2018

That doesn't sound like it has anything to do with Flash Player.  It's difficult at best to determine what it is without a screenshot (redacting the SSID of course).

Are you installing the PPAPI plugin for a browser other than Chrome?  If it's for Chrome, installing the PPAPI plugin is not necessary as Google embeds Flash Player in Chrome.  However, like other modern browsers, Flash is disabled by default in Chrome and user must enable it.

O
oicv76328831Author
Participant
August 24, 2018

It is for the Safari browser (10.1.2) not Chrome.

For MacBook Air 10.10.5  should I have disabled either of these two Safari extensions

before installing Flash Player:

- Adblock Plus 1.12.4 by Eyeo Gmb H

- Pin It Button 1.37.01 by Pinterest, Inc.

_maria_
Community Manager
_maria_Community Manager
Community Manager
August 24, 2018

Flash Player PPAPI plugin is for Chromium-based browsers.  It won't work on Safari.  For Safari you'll need to install the NPAPI plugin.

To uninstall the unneeded PPAPI plugin, download the uninstaller posted at Uninstall Flash Player for Mac OS .  Alternatively, navigate to /Applications/Utilities/Adobe Flash Player Install Manager.app and use that to uninstall Flash Player.

After uninstalling the unneeded PPAPI plugin, launch Safari and navigate to https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer.  The page will auto-detect the operating system and browser and offer the correct NPAPI plugin.

Neither of those extensions should impact the Flash Player plugin installation, however, you can always try with them disabled.

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