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A
Anonymous
November 3, 2016
Answered

New FP version won't play some SWFs

  • November 3, 2016
  • 1 reply
  • 596 views

Hi all, this is my first time here.

I have an old video course which consists of an HTML launcher file. This in turn launches a main SWF that contains a menu and displays video contained in other SWF files. I had been going over this course without problem; however, a few weeks ago Flash Player (FP) updated and I have not been able to play the main SWF since then.

I tried opening the HTML and when that failed I tried dragging the SWF into the browser. No dice. The individual video-only SWFs play fine by dragging them individually into the browser, but this is inefficient in that I need to follow the order of the videos that are outlined in the main menu.

I am using both Windows 7 and Windows 10 with IE 11. Edge (on Win 10) does not display the SWF, although, in fairness, all the Win 10 PCs that I have have the latest FP version, so the problem may not be the browser. The last known FP version that is able to display the main SWF correctly is 21.0.0.242. The current version of FP that I have is 23.0.0.205. The latest version of FP does not play the SWF in question. I documented the problem in this 1 m 41 s video:

Flash Player version 23.0.0.205 issue - YouTube

As an additional FYI, the Win 7 PC with version 21.0.0.242 has updates disabled. This is why FP has not been updated there.

I would appreciate any help with this issue. Thank you for your time and assistance. Saga

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer _maria_

Hi,

Local file system access was disabled by default in Flash Player 23.0.0.162, released in September.  From the release notes:

Disabling local-with-filesystem access in Flash Player by default

Beginning with Flash Player 23, local-with-network permissions will now be applied to all local SWF content, regardless of the preference chosen at compile time.

Background:
When playing Flash (SWF) content from local filesystem, developers have historically been able to configure content to exclusively read from the filesystem, or communicate to the network. When this functionality was introduced over a decade ago, it enabled an interesting array of use-cases ranging from simple games to interactive kiosks. In context of modern web security, we believe that it is time to retire local filesystem functionality in the browser plugin. At the same time, Adobe AIR has been established as a robust, mature solution for delivering ActionScript-based content as a standalone application.

Vast majority of Flash Player users and content will be unaffected by this change. This change only impacts Flash content played from the local filesystem, using the browser. Flash content hosted on the internet and local webservers, as well as the Standalone Flash Player remains unaffected.If you are a user who requires this functionality, these files can be added to the list of Trusted Locations in Flash Player.

Workarounds for Legacy Content:
We highly recommend that you only circumvent these controls to enable content from sources that they trust.

For Individuals:
For Internet Explorer, Edge, Firefox, Opera and Safari:
On the affected system, go to the Flash Player Settings Manager:
• Mac: System Preferences > Flash Player
• Windows: Control Panel > Flash Player
Select the Advanced tab
In the Developer Tools section, click the Trusted Location Settings button
Click the "Add..." button and add relevant files and folders to the list


For Google Chrome (and other PPAPI browsers):
Navigate to the Settings Manager page
Choose Edit Locations > Add Locations from the popup list
In the text field that appears, type or paste the file/folder path that you'd like to trust
Click the "Confirm" button
Note: Please be aware that the "Browse for files" and "Browse for folder" buttons do not function properly. You must manually type or copy/paste your path into the text field above the buttons to add the file or folder to the trusted list.

For System Administrators:
The legacy behavior can be restored by applying the EnableInsecureLocalWithFileSystem=1 flag to mms.cfg.

--

Maria

1 reply

_maria_
_maria_Correct answer
Legend
November 3, 2016

Hi,

Local file system access was disabled by default in Flash Player 23.0.0.162, released in September.  From the release notes:

Disabling local-with-filesystem access in Flash Player by default

Beginning with Flash Player 23, local-with-network permissions will now be applied to all local SWF content, regardless of the preference chosen at compile time.

Background:
When playing Flash (SWF) content from local filesystem, developers have historically been able to configure content to exclusively read from the filesystem, or communicate to the network. When this functionality was introduced over a decade ago, it enabled an interesting array of use-cases ranging from simple games to interactive kiosks. In context of modern web security, we believe that it is time to retire local filesystem functionality in the browser plugin. At the same time, Adobe AIR has been established as a robust, mature solution for delivering ActionScript-based content as a standalone application.

Vast majority of Flash Player users and content will be unaffected by this change. This change only impacts Flash content played from the local filesystem, using the browser. Flash content hosted on the internet and local webservers, as well as the Standalone Flash Player remains unaffected.If you are a user who requires this functionality, these files can be added to the list of Trusted Locations in Flash Player.

Workarounds for Legacy Content:
We highly recommend that you only circumvent these controls to enable content from sources that they trust.

For Individuals:
For Internet Explorer, Edge, Firefox, Opera and Safari:
On the affected system, go to the Flash Player Settings Manager:
• Mac: System Preferences > Flash Player
• Windows: Control Panel > Flash Player
Select the Advanced tab
In the Developer Tools section, click the Trusted Location Settings button
Click the "Add..." button and add relevant files and folders to the list


For Google Chrome (and other PPAPI browsers):
Navigate to the Settings Manager page
Choose Edit Locations > Add Locations from the popup list
In the text field that appears, type or paste the file/folder path that you'd like to trust
Click the "Confirm" button
Note: Please be aware that the "Browse for files" and "Browse for folder" buttons do not function properly. You must manually type or copy/paste your path into the text field above the buttons to add the file or folder to the trusted list.

For System Administrators:
The legacy behavior can be restored by applying the EnableInsecureLocalWithFileSystem=1 flag to mms.cfg.

--

Maria

A
Anonymous
November 3, 2016

Thanks for the reply. Quote:

"Click the "Add..." button and add relevant files and folders to the list"

Does this mean that it is enough to add the folder where all the SWF files reside, instead of adding each SWF file individually?

(I am not near the PC where I need to do this, otherwise I would just test it instead of asking.)

Thanks again.

Saga

_maria_
_maria_
Legend
November 3, 2016

You should be able to add the folder.  To add the folder copy & paste the folder path into the text field.

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