Adobe flash player either hangs or crashes in Firefox

Report · Aug 27, 2013

Adobe flash player either hangs up the web browser Firefox or crashes within Firefox. This has been occurring for about a year even though Firefox and the adobe flash player have been updated and upgraded many times over the last year. Multiple crash reports have been sent to either Adobe or Firefox (I am not sure which one actually gets the crash report) but it appears someone knows about this issue since I seem to be getting more pop up boxes from Firefox now when the Windows 7 system seems to hang (no response from mouse when I try to close the Firefox browser window). The pop up box states that Adobe flash player is not responding or in a loop so when I respond to the pop up window to cancel the task all the flash player displays in all of the open Firefox browser sessions crash. However, if I use google chrome and the same ESPN videos that use Adobe flash player so far I have not seen the same issue of hangs or crashes. So, is this a known issue with Adobe flash player and/or Firefox or has it just never been fixed correctly?

Configuration:

Sony VPCF2390X - I7-2760QM - 8 GB - GEForce GT 540M - 1920 X 1200 Resolution

Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 - 7.1.13.1088 64-bit

Firefox 23.0.1

Adobe Flash Player 11,8,800,115

Message was edited by: Stingray99

Report · Sep 25, 2013

Has anyone tried disabling Flash Player's protected mode to see if that makes a difference? You can find instructions for this procedure at the end of this FAQ:

I tried it, Chris. It makes no difference.

This morning I added FF's add-ons manager to my bookmarks toolbar for easy access to the FlashShockwave plugin. I started turning off the plugin unless a particular video tells me I'm missing a necessary plugin for viewing. This has given me a degree of relief. Obviously it's still a pain, however.

Report · Sep 25, 2013

I am also having the exact same problem with Firefox 23.0.1 (and even with older versions)/Windows 8 Pro. Usually this problem happen after a long session of Firefox usage and I noticed while loading/refreshing (I might be wrong) some sites like histats and Digi-passion

Its really annoying when Firefox suddenly hangs and after some time a yellow popup appears saying "The Adobe Flash Plugin has crashed (Learn More link).........Reload Page and Submit a crash report buttons". This popup appears at every tab opened.

After this I have to restart Firefox to see flash content on websites again.

I want to know is there any permanent solution to this problem as after every Flash update I think that the problem might have been addressed and gone but unfortunately this proves to be wrong every time.

Report · Sep 25, 2013

@dabidumda146 - For Mac issues, can you please install our latest 11.9 beta to see if that resolves the problem for you?

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer.html

Report · Sep 25, 2013

@Stingray99 - What report ID's do you have listed when you go to "about:crashes" in Firefox? Did you try disabling Flash Player's protected mode to see if that helped?

As for 32 vs 64 bit, you'll need to use a 64 bit browser if you want to have the 64 bit plugin be used. Chrome does indeed use a different plugin architecture called Pepper (PPAPI).

Ultimately, we need consistent steps to reproduce these bugs and crash logs (ID's) placed into bug reports at http://bugbase.adobe.com. Once added, I can ask the team to try and reproduce the issues.

Thanks,

Chris

Report · Sep 25, 2013

@ Chris Campbell, do you have any magic for me?

Report · Sep 25, 2013

@TalkBack101 Can you please post the contents of both the "about:support" and "about:crashes" page in Firefox?

Report · Sep 25, 2013

@TalkBack101 - I'd also recomment trying out our labs release to see if that helps.

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer.html

Report · Sep 25, 2013

When I try the labs release, should I remove the ProtectedMode?

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer.html

Report · Sep 25, 2013

Should I also return to hardware acceleration when using the labs release? By the way, if it looks like some of my drivers are outdated, I spent a whole afternoon trying to update what I could until my computer absolutely froze up and I had to do a system restore. I've got all my systems set to auto update, so I think I'm as updated as I can be.

Report · Sep 25, 2013

I would definitely update your video drivers if possible. Once you install the labs release I wouldn't change protected mode off. Hardware acceleration is a tougher call since your video driver is 8+ years old.

Report · Oct 07, 2013

ADOBE CRASH IS BACK TO TRASHING MY ONLINE LIFE. I THINK IT'S INSUFFICIENT FOR ONE SINGLE STAFF PERSON TO HAVE LANDED ON THIS PAGE OF COMPLAINTS EVER SINCE AUGUST 27TH. FROM THE TIME I TURN ON MY COMPUTER IN THE MORNING UNTIL I TURN IT OFF AT NIGHT, ALL IT DOES IS HANG AND FLASH THE SAME EFFING MESSAGE -- "Warning: Unresponsive plugin. Shockwave Flash may be busy or may have stopped responding." WHEN ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO GET IT FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Report · Sep 25, 2013

Hi,

I just downloaded it and rebooted. Usaed it on videos from mlb.com which used to hang for minutes in the recent past. Didn't have any issues! Hope this is the fix.

Report · Sep 25, 2013

Wow, the labs release is looking very promising, Chris. It hasn't bunged up since I installed it about an hour ago, which is A MIRACLE. May this please continue unabated!

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer.html

Report · Sep 25, 2013

about:crashes won't load. I repeatedly get popups about unresponsive scripts to do with chrome//global/content/crashes.js:59 and js:132

Report · Oct 03, 2013

Hi Chris, after using the beta version for about a week, I need to say that I find little difference. Instead of getting hung up 40 times a day with the message: "Warning: Unresponsive plugin. Shockwave Flash may be busy or may have stopped responding," I'm getting hung up about 20 times a day.

Why? Why oh why oh why?

Report · Oct 03, 2013

I've been using it since it was first suggested. Initially, it seemed to have solved the issue... but, all it has done is reduce the number of hangs/delays. I got so disgusted that I didn't bother to comment on this forum. Adobe doesn't seem to care. Maybe we could spam then with a DoS.

Report · Oct 03, 2013

Well, I've been trying to deal with this problem for about 4 months, from Adobe forums to Firefox forums to Chrome forums. I could write quite a lot about what not caring looks like. It's like shooting a cannon down the main street of a small town at 3:00 a.m. No one gives a shit.

I'm not yet convinced that Chris Campbell doesn't care.

Chris, where are you?

There's also some person at the bugbase who maybe cares. I'm currently trying to build a bridge between Chris and that person, Cao. The more open lines of communication there are, the better.

https://bugbase.adobe.com/index.cfm?event=bug&id=3625814

Report · Oct 07, 2013

Same problem here. Flash hangs Firefox whenever I go to an affected site - e.g. mail.yahoo.com, finance.yahoo.com, etc.

Has Adobe reproduced the problem? If not, do they have tools that could be used to identify the problem?

Report · Oct 03, 2013

Chris, following are the last 4 crash report ID's from Firefox.

ID: 3f863a5c-ba79-48a0-9047-3de2b2131003

ID: efa564aa-8d51-4c5e-ade4-8d7752131003

ID: fdbea7fe-b435-4253-a9fa-4f34c2131003

ID: 031ce824-0332-41c0-a4ff-9fb9e2130906

I have not tried disabling protected mode. Are there actual viruses out that take advantage of this situation that I should be aware of if I do try this?

According to what I have been able to find, there is no 64 bit mode version of Firefox or Google Chrome for Windows, so I am guessing there is no 64 bit mode version of the Adobe Flash player plugin for Windows either. I guess that a lot of folks would be upset if they were to find out that under that shiny new hood of the PC they had just purchased with 4 64 bit physical processors and 4 64 bit logical processors that most of the work being done by applications in that system were still using the older and slower 32 bit technology.

As I have mentioned before, the issues I have experienced with Flash player under either Firefox or Chrome are highly intermitent and unpredictable so producing a set of steps to produce a hang condition or crash in Flash is not possible at this point in time. In fact the last two issues I have seen occured while I was away from the pc.

For my usage, Chrome seems to work a lot better than Firefox with Adobe Flash player. I have only experienced 1 hang and 1 crash in the last week using the same web sites that I would normally have at least several hangs a day and 1 or 2 crashes per week with Firefox.

If I do get any smarter about this situation I will report it using the bugbase you provided.

Report · Sep 25, 2013

@Chris Campbell: Yes, the 11.9 beta release did it for my Mac. I can acces Youtube again, very happy!

Report · Oct 09, 2013

My Adobe has been hanging and crashing since April 9, 2013. From the time I turn on my computer in the morning until I turn it off at night, I'm spammed by the message "Warning: Unresponsive plugin. Shockwave Flash may be busy or may have stopped responding." I've been to Firefox forums, Chrome forums, Adobe forums and the Adobe bugbase. No one ever solves the problem of Adobe Schlockwave Flash Crash. They just tell you you have to fix something on your own computer. How many things can I try to fix? At first I thought the problem had to do with my antivirus program. I got rid of Avast and started using Zone Alarm. Then I though it was the browser. I got rid of Firefox and tried Chrome. Since then I've updated all my plugins, got rid of any plugin I possibly could, got rid of RealPlayer and DivX, updated all my Windows components, turned off hardware acceleration, done deep cleans, tried an older version (said to be more stable) and the labs release of Adobe Crash (no improvement). This problem is a problem of access to the internet. Where is corporate responsibility???

Report · Oct 09, 2013

Sorry, I've been out of the office the last couple of weeks. TalkBack101, at one point it sounded like the 11.9 release was helping you out. I assume that was just a false alarm?

Here's what I'd try if I was diagnosing your system.

1. Reset Firefox (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems)

2. Run a malware scanner (http://www.malwarebytes.org/)

2. Reboot Windows into safe mode with networking enabled (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-computer-safe-mode#start-computer-safe-mode=windows...)

What is occurring for you isn't common behavior and I suspect there's something else on your system that is contributing to these timeouts/hangs.

Report · Oct 09, 2013

Thank you Chris. I'm glad to have help, and I'd have to be quite stupid not to do what you say. I do have questions, though.

1. What would a Firefox reset do that a removal and clean install wouldn't? (I've done a removal and clean install in the past.) After a reset, which of my plugins should I reinstall?

Microsoft DRM 9.0.0.4503

npFFApi 1.0.0.1

Shockwave Flash 11.9.900.110

VLC Web Plugin 2.0.6.0

Windows Presentation Foundation 3.5.30729.1

2. Is there a different link for rebooting Windows into safe mode with networking enabled when you have XP and not 7? Is it quite evident how to enable the networking? Most important, will this be a permanent change, or is this something I'm supposed to do everytime I log on, or am I supposed to do something when I'm in safe mode before returning to ordinary mode?

Thanks

Dianne

Report · Oct 09, 2013

I'm not sure what the difference would be between what you did manually and what the Firefox reset provides. This is something that you should ask over on the Mozilla forums.

As for the plugins, I would definitely try Flash Player with all of them disabled. It's very possible that one of them is causing this conflict (the ZoneAlarm one in particular makes me suspicious.)

For rebooting in safe mode with networking enabled on XP, please see this link. It's very easy to do.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/boot_failsafe.mspx?mf...

Report · Oct 09, 2013

Hi Chris. I've done the Firefox reset. I was afraid of losing my bookmarks as well as all my plugins/extensions, but everything was restored during the reset.

I've also done a Malwarebytes scan -- 3 items were removed.

When I gave you an updated list of my plugins (I've got rid of a lot of them since I gave you my first list some weeks ago), I failed to scroll to the top of the screen to read them all. Here's the full list:

Plugins:

Microsoft DRM 9.0.0.4503
npFFApi 1.0.0.1
Shockwave Flash 11.9.900.110
VLC Web Plugin 2.0.6.0
Windows Presentation Foundation 3.5.30729.1
Adobe Acrobat 11.0.5.3
Java Platform SE7 U25 10.25.2.17
Microsoft Office 2010 14.0.4761.1000
Microsoft Office 2010 14.0.4730.1010

Extensions:

Microsoft NET Framework Assistant 0.0.0
Troubleshooter 1.1a
Zone Alarm is an extension, not a plugin, and it's been automatically disabled because (it says) it's incompatible with Firefox 24.0.

As for taking your advice and running my machine with all the plugins disabled, I need to say I'm worried about the functionality of everything from Adobe Acrobat to Java to MS Office to being able to watch movies through a movie player. How does functionality jibe with your idea of turning everything off? How am I going to do anything if everything is turned off? This is a very important question that I need to have answered.

As for rebooting in safe mode with networking enabled, you haven't quite answered my question: will this be a permanent change, or is this something I'm supposed to do everytime I log on, or am I supposed to do something when I'm in safe mode before returning to ordinary mode?

Thanks, Chris.