Flash and Hulu

Report · Jun 19, 2015

Hi,

Using Hulu to watch video full screen using Firefox. For a while, all worked well. But recently the prompt to Hit Esc to exit full screen mode stays on my screen.

I've deleted the local storage settings in the Flash Player Storage tab, and deleted cache and history in Firefox, exited Firefox and start again. For one or two videos it works ok (the prompt disappears), but then it comes back.

In addition, I learned that one can Ctrl-click to get a settings menu and potentially change how much storage Flash devotes to a particular site. It was set at 100 KB and the screen said I was using 7 KB, so seems like I have enough storage. But when I did that, the small Settings box would not go away and I lost control of the video (couldn't stop it, go to full screen) and couldn't close the box.

Mac PowerBook

OS X Yosemite, 10.10.3

Firefox

It doesn't make sense that I have to manually delete local storage settings and browser data every two or three videos (in the same session online) for it to work. Is there anything I can do to make Flash work consistently again?

Thanks!

Report · Jun 22, 2015

This is really odd behavior. Do you see the same issue in Safari or Chrome? What version of Flash Player and Firefox are you using?

Report · Jun 23, 2015

Jeromie,

Thanks for the reply. I don't use Safari or Chrome, so haven't had a chance to check that yet.

Firefox version 30.0.5

Flash version 18.0.0.160

That help?

Report · Jun 23, 2015

You might want to try a current Firefox build. We often make changes in tandem, and it's only practical to target compatibility to the latest Firefox and the ESR.

Report · Jun 23, 2015

Ok. Will do. I thought I was up to date on all my software, but apparently not! I'll let you know if this works.

Thanks!

Report · Jun 23, 2015

Oh well. It was worth a try. Downloaded the most recent version of Firefox and Flash. Refreshed Firefox. But still, if I watch full screen and then reduce the screen size, then go to full screen again, "Hit Esc to exit full screen mode" remains on the screen. The only way to get rid of it is to delete Firefox history and Hulu cookies, close out of Firefox and start again.

Report · Jun 24, 2015

Anyone have any thoughts on how to fix this? The problem has not been resolved

Report · Jun 24, 2015

I tried this on my Macbook Pro running MacOS 10.10.3, Firefox 38.0.5 and Flash Player 18.0.0.194, and I have no problems with the "Hit Esc" dialog fading out while logged in to Hulu. I tried on both a connected external monitor and on the laptop display and they're working fine for me.

I'm still curious to know whether this happens for you in Safari or Chrome. It would be useful information.

Report · Jun 25, 2015

Jeromie,

Still have the problem on Firefox. But not on Safari. That worked fine...I switched multiple times from full screen to regular and back and the message never stayed on the full screen.

Disappointing that it doesn't work on Firefox since that's my browser (and I hate it when things don't work as they should for no reason!). But at least I know I can use Safari as my Hulu watching browser.

Thanks,

Manya

Report · Jun 25, 2015

Since Safari and Firefox share the same Flash Player, then we know we can focus on Firefox. I can't think of a good reason for why this dialog would hang in Firefox. I have a very similar setup and it's not happening for me, nor have I heard about anyone else complaining about this particular issue. It's definitely not showing up in our in-house testing.

I'd try two things:

First, launch Firefox and go to Help > Restart With Add-Ons Disabled

If the problem goes away, then it sounds like a compatibility problem with a third-party add on. I've never seen this problem before, so I don't have any likely candidates. My recommendation would be to disable all of your plugins and extensions but Flash, then re-enable them one-by-one until the problem returns. I'd *really* like to know what plug-in is involved if this is the case.

If you restart with Add-Ons disabled and the issue doesn't resolve, then exit Firefox and re-launch it to get back to normal.

Then try creating a clean Firefox profile, and switch to it temporarily as a test. If the issue goes away, it's something specific to your Firefox profile, and you may just want to export your bookmarks and stuff, reset Firefox to factory defaults and then re-import your stuff (or just do a clean install of Firefox and import your stuff).

I can walk you through that if we arrive at that conclusion.

Use the Profile Manager to create and remove Firefox profiles | Firefox Help

If neither resolves the issue, I'm curious to know whether or not it reproduces if you temporarily create a new MacOS user on your machine and try from that account.

Report · Jun 26, 2015

Jeromie,

Ok. It worked for about a few hours after I turned off all the Plug-ins and started them one by one (apparently I have plug-ins but no extensions). It worked ok even after all the plug-ins were turned on. Then the problem returned after viewing for a while and running several full screen/esc/full screen cycles.

It worked ok in Safe Mode (restarted with Add-Ons Disabled) yesterday. Then it worked ok for a several full screen/esc/full screen cycles today. Then it got stuck again.

I refreshed Firefox, which removes all the profile info. It worked fine for a while. Then it got stuck again.

Honestly, I'm done trying to figure this out. It doesn't make sense to me why this keeps happening. Obviously there is a glitch in something on my computer or in my browser that is hanging this up. But I don't have the patience to identify it since doing things like restarting each plug-in, refreshing profiles and making new users acounts, and the like and then testing each iteration with several full screen/esc/full screen cycles takes a lot of time. I typically watch Hulu on my television, the laptop is a backup for when that is not available. Since I know I can watch Hulu on Safari without this problem that is how I will do it.

Thank you for trying to help. I really appreciate that!

Report · Jun 27, 2015

Yeah, no problem. It's definitely frustrating when this stuff doesn't work right. I totally get it.

For what it's worth, it feels there's something wrong underneath us, but I have no idea what's going on. When I see generalized flaky behavior, I start thinking hardware. If you haven't blown all the dust bunnies out of your computer in a while, grab a can of compressed air, take the thing outside and be amazed (or horrified) at how much lint and stuff shoots out! Cooling is critical, and if components in the computer are getting hot because the airflow is impeded, it can definitely make things flaky. You may also have a bad stick of RAM or your hard disk is on the way out (another really good reason to make a backup of any important stuff, if you don't currently have one).

I'm personally a big fan of the annual "wipe and re-install" on my Windows machines, but I don't like to recommend destructive solutions to customers. If you're having flaky problems besides Flash, backing all the stuff up to an external disk and/or an online service, then resetting the machine back to a factory state might make a huge improvement in how the computer runs. I'm always surprised at how fast my machines are after I do a clean install, compared to how they've been running after a year or two. It does waste the better part of a day though, but if things are still flaky, it's definitely time to start looking at hardware.

Anyway, thanks for your patience. Sorry I couldn't get you a better resolution.

Report · Jun 29, 2015

Jeromie,

Thanks for all the help. Nothing else flaky going on, which is a good thing!

This is a new computer--a 6 month old MacBook Pro. But I'm sure it can use some cleaning, so I'll definitely do that.

If I ever figure out what was happening, I'll let you know.

Best,

Manya

Flash and Hulu

1 Correct answer