Flash Video Stops Buffering and Never Continues

Report · Dec 23, 2010

I recently have been experiencing trouble watching a full Flash video from a variety or sources. The video will buffer about 30sec to 3minutes of data and stop. The video plays perfectly up to the point where the buffering stopped, but will not continue. If I try to refresh the browser page, the video no longer loads, I just get the scrolling wheel in the center of the video screen.

This happens on Firefox v3.6.13 (32-bit), IE v8.0.7600.16385 (32-bit I think) & Chrome v8.0.552.224. I am using Flash version 10,1,102,64 for Firefox and IE, and Flash v10,1,103,20 for Chrome.

My Operating Systems is Windows 7 64-bit. I have tried uninstalling Flash and reinstalling it several times. I have disabled Hardware Accelleration and turned off AVG from any web protection. I have cleared my cache files and said several prayers! Every once in a while a video will fully buffer and play, but I cannot figure out a pattern to it. Most of the videos I watch are either YouTube or Photography tutorials on sites like Photoshopuser.com, planetphotoshop.com or Vimeo.

I've done lots of searching and haven't really found anyone else with this exact issue, but similar ones. I've tried everything I can think of and am pretty much at my wits end right now. I'm not a technical novice but this one has me stumped. Any assistance that can be provided is appreciated.

Thanks,

dave

Report · Jan 10, 2011

Hi, Pat takes care of Hi-Tech and I take care of Lo-Tech, LOL On that image disk, I think I'd call Microsoft and ask them why those .mui files are in your Flash folder:-)

I don't think it would hurt by contacting Comcast either and hope it helps. I was amazed at Qwest's response!! Also the other thread that helped the user from the Flash forum, that was nice.

Dave, if I can watch youtube videos, I know you should be able to with your PC/Specs!! Youtube have been warning and then threatening me for about a year to update my browser, but I still can watch their videos:-)

Speaking of youtube, I have been on their site for about an hour, gathering some very interesting info. There are many posts of people having the same problem, even after Java Script and Flash Player is confirmed.

On the debug vs, you could search the forums here, maybe some info has already been posted.

Thanks,

eidnolb

Report · Jan 10, 2011

I guess it makes me feel better to know that I'm not alone in experiencing this issue. That gives me hope that eventually it will be addressed. I've been thinking about anything that I've changed recently that may be causing the problem and the only think I can think of is my switch to Comcast Internet from DSL. I find it hard to believe that could be the issue since I now have so much more bandwidth. I have seen a number of comments about Comcast limiting bandwidth, but that gets in to the 100s of GB total and not specific streams. I'll definitely try to get through to them. Hopefully I will get someone who knows what they are talking about and not a bunch of canned responses.

I need to fireup my old XP machine and see how that responds. If that still has problems then it most likely is ComCast. If not, then something with Windows or Flash.

Let me know if anything pops up from the forums. I'm not sure what else can be done.

Thanks again.

Report · Jan 10, 2011

Hi, No you are not alone, not only on youtube forums but here on the Flash forum as well. I've seen several comments about changes that youtube have made, not only tonight, but I read them last year. And those threads involved earlier versions of Flash Player as well. I landed on one of the forums last year that had some very hi-tech posters on it and I was only able to understand part of what they were discussing! They created videos and were having those kind of issues, posting specs and (worse:-) for me anyway. Sounded to me as if someone was trying to explain electricity, LOL

I did find some info on a test for Java Script and Flash Player test and sample videos, which I'll post tomorrow. Also clearing the cache and history and also this:

Temporarily disable popup blocking software installed on your computer to test.
Allow YouTube.com as a trusted site in your Firewall software.
Ensure other applications like Quicktime, iTunes, Real Player, or Windows Media Player aren't set as the default streaming application, as this might affect the video player.

Now I wouldn't put youtube in my Firewall, that's just me. I watch youtube and don't have it as a trusted site in my Firewall.

The popup blocking software is ok; thot the other player info was interesting.

Speaking of Firewalls, do you use any other than Windows?

Perhaps the switch from the DSL carrier to Comcast caused a glitch that you nor I would be aware of.

Yes, fire up that XP!! I don't know what Service Pack you have on it, but SP3 is the latest(which includes the previous ones)

Ok, that's it for me tonight.

Thanks,

eidnolb

Report · Oct 17, 2011

hi there,

please make sure your adobe flash is up to date and your java is also if not remove it and redownload it,...also if you are useing broadband thats an issue too, roadrunner works pretty good but the wireless broadband is another story adobe reader can also help some but makes your computer vulnerable to hakers. free up some unused file also on your computer by deleating them in your control panel add remove programs.check your virual memory also!

for more info click this site: http://www.techyv.com/questions/how-can-i-stop-my-computer-buffering-videos

Report · Jun 13, 2011

Dav

This thread is quite old now but it may be still be very helpfulI for someone who like me (and Dav) experienced problems watching Flash videos.

After many days of struggling, trying and fighting with Flash videos finally I solved this problem. At least it works for me on my PC (Windows 7 64-bit).

Basically I removed my PC Tool Firewall Free Edition and went back to Windows Firewall. PC Tool Firewall started blocking Flash movies after one unfortunate update. Sad becaue it was quite good piece of software.

Hope it is helpfull.

Report · Jul 26, 2011

We have been having issues with Youtube videos stopping in the middle of buffering. We have seen this happen from all browsers. This is in a corporate setting. We verified that it does not happen on Windows XP machines or Windows 2003 server machines. It consistently happens on Windows Vista and 7 machines.

We narrowed it down to our Sonicwall 3060 Enhanced firewall. The Intrusion Prevention option on the firewall is causing the problem. When we check the firewall at the moment the video buffering stops, the firewall Intrusion Detection feature drops the TCP connection. Disabling Intrusion Prevention resolves the issue. We are working with Sonicwall to determine if this can be fixed

Report · Nov 13, 2011

I think I can be of some help. Hardware: HP P6770T, Intel i3-2100, RAM 6GB, no video card, 64 bit OS, OS: Windows 7 current as of 11/13/2011, Security: Norton Internet Security 2011, Software: Flash Player 11,1,102,55, Firefox 8.0, IE9, JAVA 6.0.290. I use Firefox primary browser. Youtube video involved in problem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOoCrCeHxpI . Video length: 2 hours, 15 minutes. Problem: while watching the video using Firefox, the download would stop after 45 minutes. I then switched to using IE9 and I did not get the problem. As for a posssible red herring, both browsers have 1GB of cache, I rarely use IE9 so its cache was nearly empty. The Firefox cache had 4.2 MB of data. Bottom line: with the above hardware and software the problem only hits Firefox. PS: Uninstall obsolete versions of JAVA and, after the uninstall process is complete, delete any orphaned files related to the obsolete versions. I have experienced software problems caused by the presence of obsolete JAVA files.

Report · Mar 06, 2012

Hi.

Very interestng this topic.

Since a few days (AFTER upgrading to 11.1.102.63) I notice an issue with all YT videos.

the grey bar (downloading status bar) works only during the playback.

If I press Pause, the donwload process (i.e. the grey bar) stops itself. it

restarts only when I press Play again.

this happens ONLY with 480p resolution!!

by selecting other resolutions (240, 360, 720, 1080p) the download process in

Pause mode went fine!

I'd like to understand this odd behaviour with the download process only at

480p or in Auto mode.

I hope that even if I will press Pause at 480p the video will still

continuing in the download process as it did in the past with build 102.62..

thanks.

please let me know if I should to take some settings.

(the video lenght should be bigger than 30 seconds).

best,

Report · Apr 21, 2012

did you ever fix this? i had same problem and use firfox 3.6 i found that the update was for flash 11 and it only works on 4.0 so i uninslalled and reinstalled falsh 10 and that fixed it. hope this helps.

Report · Apr 21, 2012

Hi, thanks for your reply

I did resolve the issue by uninstalling and re-installing noscript

Report · May 17, 2012

Hi people!

may be an flash issue...

https://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/#!msg/youtube/Sbejm2zuXJY/vpxWX5DU2wkJ

here there are a lot of posts regarding this issue (from january). today YT developers fixed the issue with expanded window, ok, but this buffering issue in pause mode remain unfixed, and they say that until flash 11.1 there are none issues.

after a few month I guess that this is an flash issue on some systems, please look here on YT forum.

thanks.

Report · May 17, 2012

workaround:

change the resolution for one second > doing so the buffer in pause mode is fine.

Report · May 17, 2012

noscript: no matter

Report · May 18, 2012

Could you point me to the post where a Google rep says that the buffer issue is related to Flash 11.1 and greater? I'd like to follow up internally.

Thanks,

Chris

Report · May 19, 2012

Hi Campbell, thank you for your reply.

the issue here did arise (for me) on the 5th march 2012 after a clean install of flash player, but I am unable to remember the flash build number.

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/youtube/watching-videos/Sbejm2zuXJY

here the post:

>>Hello Karl:

Looks like your post is from way back in January. Well i have only started to experience this problem in the last week and a half.

Youtube videos intermittently stutter during playback. I have noticed that videos no longer preload [buffer] when the video is stopped no matter at beginning ,middle or end of the video. I am not saying that is a solution, i am just informing you that its the only difference i noticed. I was hoping to preload the videos into the player before playback but it wont load anymore like it used to.

I recently updated adobe flash player for all browsers Opera,IE9,Firefox9, and Chome 18. They all are using the same flash version 11.2

** I was looking around on Adobe support forums and i saw similar complaints,some said that going back to 11.1 eliminated the problem.

Please advise, will be patient of course, thank you<<<

Dear Campbell, unfortunately I cannot post the link, but you can see the original post here

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/youtube/Sbejm2zuXJY/0kept2q0jEQJ

17 mai 2012, user: pasadenagene

thanks.

YT did resolve the issue with expanded video size, ok.

but the buffering issue didnt (workaround: change the resolution for one second and return to the default (480 or 360 if 480 doest exist). no issue with HD because if you want to watch in HD I have to change manually the resolution and this task is the "workaround", see above.

on booth pc's, with IE and FF, starting from the upgrade 5th .03.2012.

1) after 5 months YT is unable to resolve the buffering issue in pause mode (after a few seconds, you go no activity in the router! I have to press play again to get the buffering working again)

2) the same video in html5: ok, no issues.

3) issue did appear with flash upgrade in march.

=> I guess this has to do with flash plgin and flash activex.

thanks a lot.

(vista32 sp2).

Report · May 23, 2012

Ok, I've talked with members from the Adobe video team and Google's YouTube engineers. YouTube's new buffering behavior was an intentional change in the YouTube code. After extensive testing, it was found that this method ultimately improved video performance. If you discover that buffering does not work when paused, you can work around this by changing the size of the video player.

Adobe and Google will continue to work together to improve the video experience. I'll make note to update this post when we have new features that might be of interest to you in upcoming lab releases.

Thanks,
Chris

Report · May 23, 2012

Thank you very much for your reply and for did investigate by the engineers, super! I appreciate your job, congratulations!

I am very happy in reading what you wrote.

And thank you for updating this post when new features will be available (I will become a mail, because I subscribed to this topic) ))

PS: >>you can work around this by changing the size of the video player.<<

if you agree, about the workaround I would to say:

"by changing the resolution of the video", i.e. if my default (in expanded window) looks 480p > change to 360p and then > to 480p again, to resume the buffering even in pause mode. or, if your default looks 360p: change it to 240p> and then to 360p again.

only if the video is available at 240p only, you cannot use the workaround and the video in pause mode cannot be buffered". (HD resolutions: no problems, because you have to change manually every time when you like to watch in HD resolutions, or this happens by default when you go in full screen mode: by enabling "watch HD in full scrren mode" in your personal settings => another issue in YT, not flash => you go to the max resolutin available (720 or 1080p) in full screen, even if you DONT check the box "watch in HD in full screen mode" in your YT account settings, but this a different problem ).

right?

thank you thank you!

best,

Report · May 25, 2012

I took "changing the size" of the video player to mean going full screen (or the larger size) and then back to the previous size. However, if that doesn't work, by all means try changing the resolution.

Report · May 25, 2012

yes, I have to change the resolutions (only if the video is 240 I cannot change it).

this is a good workaround, but...

even if YouTube's new buffering behavior was an intentional change in the YouTube code, and even if it was found that improved video performance (?), I warmly hope that engineers will guarantee in the future that the buffering in pause mode will work again as in the past. (another change in YT's code required).

This is very very useful if you open 10 or more YT videos at a time, and in the meantime you pause them and let them buffer and in the meantime you watch the first video after watching the first video all other are ready for watching

The workaround works fine (I spend 2 seconds only for each video), but I hope, I warmly hope that the buffering process in pause mode will work fine without any workaround as until february 2012

thanks.

Report · May 25, 2012

I agree, and I can assure you we'll continue to work with Google to improve the video experience!

Report · May 26, 2012

wonderful

thanks a lot!

Report · Jun 07, 2012

Hi Chris, bad news today , very bad news!!

You now, due to the problem with all the videos not buffering while paused, the workaround is => change the resolution. very fine!

but starting from today...this is unpossible to do!!

if you change the resolution (workaround) the grey bar-load bar does disappear!!

so...please I need a workaround for the workaround ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhCJQo3J2DY&feature=youtu.be

the greay bar disappears if you change the resolution.

((

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/youtube/watching-videos/Sbejm2zuXJY

and now...

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/youtube/watching-videos/6zVPyUYr4wk

it is embarassing using youtube with flsh (html5 ok).

what are saying the engineers? instead of amelioraments I see (WE see) worsening in yt behaviour.

two big issues are too many issues

PS: here a post from a user from the yt forum with a link of som interest:

>>THE PROBLEM IS FLASH! The newest updates messed something up. I see that you've been having these issues since January, while I've started having those quite recently. Since I'm not really keen on updates than that's probably why I was "spared" from this for such a long time.

Maybe, by knowing this time span, we can deduce which precise update was faulty. (versions 10 and 11 are definitely damaged)

Anyhow, there's also this article here:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashmediaserver/articles/fms_buffering_strategies.html

Where the guy says something about buffering when paused. It's too high tech talk for me, so I don't really know what he's saying but I bet it has something to do with it. Also notice that it concerns the versions from 9 to later.<<

the buffer issue can easy be resolved with the workaround, but today....arises the newer issue with the grey bar. so..at this time there are 2 problems regarding the grey bar and no workaround ever

thanks.

Report · Jun 08, 2012

Dear Chris, good news!!!

after upgrading from flash 11.2 to flash 11.3 the issue has been resolved. now I can change the quality and the grey bar doesnt disappear!

unintsall flash 11.2

install flask 11.3.

without unintsller (NOT clean install!! cache cookie NOT deleted!!!)

you must upgrade to flash 11.3 only and the grey bar remains even if you change the video quality!!

very good.

=> therefore it was a bug in flash 11.2????

the issue "Video stops buffering while paused" still remains, not resolved, as you read in the YT forum (starting from january, for me from narch, for other people from yesterday, from today...from tomorrow ....

but now I am able again to take the workaround: "change the video resolution" for one second and the buffer in pause mode works.

Report · Jun 08, 2012

I've heard a few reports of issues with YouTube in the last day or two that seem to have cleared themselves up today. It's possible that you also ran into this.

The buffering change is still correct, nothing new to report back on that yet.

Report · Jul 10, 2012

I have exactly the same problem (Mac + Safari). Videos stop somewhere half way through, the point that indicates how far the playing is jumps in the beginning and it will keep buffering forever. Can't watch anything.

Adobe Community

Flash Video Stops Buffering and Never Continues