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A
Anonymous
June 6, 2017
Question

In what circumstances does Chrome use system flash vs pepperflash?

  • June 6, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 2992 views

We are seeing some cases on Windows machines where users have an outdated version of system flash installed, and Chrome defaults to using that over Pepperflash. These are for new Windows profiles, and when you go to chrome://components its still 0.0.0.0 for Adobe Flash (Chrome version 57) and users have a banner saying 'Flash is outdated and blocked'.

I am not clear why Chrome would ever default to system flash, especially an older version? If users click on the component update button for flash, the correct Pepperflash version is installed and the problems go away.

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1 reply

_maria_
Community Manager
_maria_Community Manager
Community Manager
June 6, 2017

Hi Amal,

Beginning around Chrome 50, 51, 52 (I don't recall the exact version) Chrome defaults to using the system plugin if the system plugin version is >= to the embedded version.

users have a banner saying 'Flash is outdated and blocked'.

When is the banner displaying?  Please provide exact steps to reproduce.

Please launch Chrome and navigate to chrome://flash.  Post a screenshot of the following fields: Google Chrome, OS, and Flash plugin.

I'll request/have more information after receiving this information.

Thank you.

--

Maria

A
Anonymous
June 6, 2017

Thanks for the quick response Maria!

We were are seeing contradicts this because the version of System Flash that is installed 25_0_0_127 and the latest version which Chrome installs is 25.0.0.171.

Screenshots are below, and please note that when we click on 'check for updates' the Pepperflash component version gets bumped from 0.0.0.0 to 25.0.0.171. But if a user does not manually trigger this update, then Chrome continues to use the outdated system flash version.

Windows 7/Chrome 58x

A
Anonymous
June 6, 2017

That's not a browser bug, it's by design.  This change was made in Chrome 54, when Google stopped including Flash Player in the Chrome installer.  See Manage Flash in Chrome - Chrome for business and education Help​ for more information.  When Chrome is installed, Flash will be either installed when a user views Flash content or 6 minutes later, whichever comes first.  The support doc refers to the first part of this (Chrome installer not including Flash Player) but doesn't mention the 6-minute delay.


I wasn't sure if you were encountering this 6-minute delay issue or a roaming profile issue.  I'm glad you were able to identify which one was causing the issue.  The Manage Flash in Chrome - Chrome for business and education Help  support doc also includes Flash deployment recommendations that may be of assistance to you.


Thanks Maria! So, I was previously aware of the 6 minute window, however this does feel like a bug because the JIT mechanism for PepperFlash should superceed running an outdated version for system which Chrome will block.

Is there is something I am missing here? Why are we blocking users from 0-6 minutes when it should use PepperFlash instead, especially when after 6 minutes it automatically switches to using PepperFlash.

Here is the bug I just filed on Chromium 730207 - Chrome's flash component loads user's out-dated version of system flash vs PepperFlash during the initial 6 mi…

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