Adobe FlashPlayer Will Not Install

Report · Sep 21, 2017

OS X El Capitan 10.11.6

Safari Ver. 9.1.2

Flash Player Version: N/A

1) I download Adobe for Mac OS X 10.6 - 10.12

2) I run the installation program

3) I enter in my password

4) An error pops up stating "application initialization error"

Along with the normal version I have also tried downloading the offline (standalone) version of Adobe Flash Player but no matter what version of the program I run I keep hitting the same error wall.

I use Kaspersky as my internet security program but it has never interfered with me downloading or installing programs like flash player, so I do not believe this is the issue.

I have tried downloading both the normal and standalone version of adobe flash player with the same results. I even tried downloading flash player using Chrome, but that version too is giving me the same error.

And yes, before you ask, I have done the general cleanup of cache, website data, and dump files on my Mac as well as restarted it. That hasn't worked either.

If anyone has any suggestions of things I have not yet tried please feel free to run it by me. I am rather at my wits end trying to figure out what is going on with this.

Report · Sep 21, 2017

If you open Terminal (in Utilities), then back on the mounted installer DMG right-click on the Flash Player installer, choose Show Package Contents, go into Contents/MacOS/, and double click on the Adobe Flash Installer Manager, it will run just like usual, except that everything it's doing will be traced in Terminal.

Doing that might give a clue as to where it's failing.

Report · Sep 21, 2017

Hi Colin,

I did what you suggested. Attached is the screenshot I took of the process as it ran through terminal. (name is inked out). Would you be able to pinpoint where the error is? I don't know how to read this. Thanks!

Report · Sep 21, 2017

I don't get to see the delete expired sessions line, but then my install worked fine first time. Perhaps this is the 7th time you've tried.

I found some reports where the problem turned out to be either proxy settings or firewall issue. See this report about Firefox, where the same error had occurred:

"Application initialization error" message when trying to install Adobe Flash Player | Firefox Suppo...

Report · Sep 22, 2017

Hi Colin,

Thank you for the link. It looks like that site is referencing the offline (standalone) flash player installer but, unfortunately, adobe seems to have discontinued that version. Someone asked about it here: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/906955 and was directed to this page: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/889580 where adobe stated their discontinuation of their offline (standalone) installer.

Since this is the case, I'm not really sure if there is a solution to be had. Nonetheless, thank you for taking the time to offer your assistance. Your help has been most appreciated.

Report · Sep 22, 2017

The 'Application Initialization Error' is only returned from the online (web, shim) installer (the one in your screenshot). According to the online installer team, this happens when the APP file is extracting out of the mounted DMG. Are you mounting the DMG and then dragging the APP file out of the mounted DMG onto the Desktop, or some other location, then launchign the APP from that location?

Along with the normal version I have also tried downloading the offline (standalone) version of Adobe Flash Player but no matter what version of the program I run I keep hitting the same error wall.

I've never seen the offline/standalone installer return the 'Application Initialization Error'. Please post a screenshot of the offline/standalone installer returning the error.

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/889580 where adobe stated their discontinuation of their offline (standalone) installer.

This document refers to the Extended Support Release, which we did stop supporting some time back. It is NOT referring to the offline/standalone installers for the currently available release, which have always been posted at the bottom of the Installation problems | Flash Player | Mac page, in the 'Still having problems' section.

Report · Sep 22, 2017

The 'Application Initialization Error' is only returned from the online (web, shim) installer (the one in your screenshot). According to the online installer team, this happens when the APP file is extracting out of the mounted DMG. Are you mounting the DMG and then dragging the APP file out of the mounted DMG onto the Desktop, or some other location, then launchign the APP from that location?

Originally, I had mounted the DMG and then opened the installation file from the mounted DMG. Should I be taking the installation file out of the mounted DMG and then opening it from my desktop? I just gave that a shot but it didn't seem to make any difference. I even tried extracting the installation file to the desktop and then unmounting the DMG and trying it that way too. All with the same results.

I've never seen the offline/standalone installer return the 'Application Initialization Error'. Please post a screenshot of the offline/standalone installer returning the error.

Apologies, I had gotten confused about this. I have never used the offline/standalone installer mostly because every link I tried to direct me to it brought me to this screen about "flash player distribution" and when I clicked on the "individual customer" option it sent me right to the regular flash player. I had mistakenly thought it sent me to the standalone one, which was why I thought I had used it but I actually hadn't.

This document refers to the Extended Support Release, which we did stop supporting some time back. It is NOT referring to the offline/standalone installers for the currently available release, which have always been posted at the bottom of the Installation problems | Flash Player | Mac page, in the 'Still having problems' section.

Ah, my apologies. It seems I didn't understand the context of that post.

As I have not before come across the page you linked, I will go ahead and read through it and let you know if it fixes the issue.

Thank you for taking the time to go step-by-step through this process with me. It's much appreciated!

Report · Sep 22, 2017

Hi again! It looks like the installation worked! I am so glad to finally have it fixed! Thank you so much for all your help!

I hope it's not too much trouble, but if I could just ask one more question? It looks like while the NPAPI Plug-in version has been installed the PPAPI Plug-in is not. I chose the automatic updates option when I first installed, but it doesn't seem to say anything about the PPAPI Plug-in. And when I tried to manually update that plug-in I got the same "application initialization error".

Any suggestions on how to fix this? Thanks!

Report · Sep 22, 2017

The PPAPI plugin is built into Chrome. For Safari and Firefox you would be using the NPAPI one. Google will do the updating of their version.

You have the option to do a PPAPI install too in case you are using the Opera or Chromium browsers, which are not under Google's control.

Report · Sep 22, 2017

Ah, gotcha! Thanks for that explanation Colin! ^_^

Report · Sep 22, 2017

When you download the online installer (the one in your very first screenshot) are you renaming the file when saving it?

You'll need to install the PPAPI plugin separately. We don't have a combined installer for both. There's a link at the bottom of the Installation problems | Flash Player | Mac for the standalone PPAPI installer.

I'd like to get the online installer log files from you to send them to the online installer team for further investigation. Go to Where do I find the Flash Player installation log on the Macintosh? and scroll down to the "File #3 and 4: Adobe_ADM.log and Adobe_GDE.log' section. Follow the instructions to locate both files. Upload them to cloud.acrobat.com/send using the instructions at How to share a document and post the link to the uploaded files in your reply.

Thank you.

Report · Sep 22, 2017

Hi m_vargas,

To answer your question, no, the online installer that I downloaded was not renamed when I saved it to my downloads folder.

I followed the instructions on both pages, and here is the link to those files:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/2bf3beeb-cb9c-443b-9b9b-074070018f1f

-------

I just want to take the time to once again thank the both of you. Colin and m_vargas your help has been much appreciated and I'm so glad to have flash player finally installed!

I'm going to mark this issue as resolved, but I hope you two enjoy the rest of your week! Thanks again to the both of you!

Report · Sep 22, 2017

You're welcome, and thank you for posting the log files. I will forward them to the online installer team for review.

Report · Sep 25, 2017

Hi Failisse

I heard back from the online installer team. The error in the log file states 'certificate mismatch'. This usual happens when a web proxy server is in use. To get more details on the error we would need to obtain the log file with debugging enabled. If you have time, we'd appreciate it if you could provide the log file with debugging enabled. To configure the system, please do the following:

Select the Go -> Go to Folder... menu item from the Finder menu
Copy and paste ~/Library/Logs/Adobe_ADMLogs into the Go to Folder dialog
Create an empty text file named ADM.trace inside the ~/Library/Logs directory. The file extension itself is .trace, not .txt or anything else. See show or hide file name extensions if file name extensions are not displaying.
Run the online installer again until it stops. Exit out of the installer dialog.
Locate the new Adobe_ADM.log and Adobe_GDE.log files in the ~/Library/Logs/Adobe_ADMLogs directory
Upload the log files to cloud.acrobat.com using the instructions at https://forums.adobe.com/thread/985831 and post the link to the uploaded files in your reply.

Thank you.

--

Maria

Adobe FlashPlayer Will Not Install

1 Correct answer