I can't upgrade Flash player in Firefox

Report · Jun 12, 2008

For some reason I can't upgrade the plugin in Firefox. I go to websites with .swf's and I get the message:

"Content on this page requires a newer version of Macromedia Flash Player. Do you want to download it now?"

I click on "Yes" and it sends me here: " http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"

I download the file and run it and it says everything is correct. I go back to webpage and I get the exact same error again. If I click "No" the flash file plays correctly, but it's annoying and I don't understand why I can't get rid of this error message.

Can someone please help me! Thanks for your time.

Report · Jun 12, 2008

About 2-3 days ago I started to experience very similar problems on both IE7 and Firefox 3 rc2.
Every link to Flash content, is replaced by a link to download or update the Flash player. I have downloaded and reinstalled Flash (9.0.124.0) many times including directly from your web site as a separate .exe file. Every time the installation seems to work prefectly but when I try to open any Flash content, the same thing happend again.

I had never realized how much Flash content there is on the web or how much I depend on the Flash player unitl now.

...Bob

Report · Jun 12, 2008

Well this is unusual. Did either of you do any kind of Windows update? Or other software update?

nofx, are you on Windows or Mac? There was an issue with an OS X security update causing pretty much this exact behavior:
"Security Update 2008-003 and 2007-9 effects Firefox Flash Player version detection (Mac)" http://www.adobe.com/go/kb403845

On the Windows side, we know that there are things in the wild that are breaking Flash Player's permissions. Usually this only effects IE users and the Flash Player activeX control (which is the player that IE uses). If you're on Windows I'd advise using the steps in Download SubInACL from Microsoft to fix permission issues that prevent the Flash Player installation ( http://www.adobe.com/go/fb1634cb ) to try to resolve the problem.

Report · Jun 12, 2008

I am using Windows XP Home edition with all current updates on a Compaq Presario 6000.
I get Windows Live One Care through my ISP (Qwest) so I get various updates fairly often.

At first, since I had "up" graded to Firefox 3 rc2 about 5 days before, I assumed that that was the problem but I get exactly the same behavior on IE7. I even tried uninstalling Flash and then running only IE7 and using it to reinstall Flash but exactly the same thing happened again on both browsers. For what it's worth, I am able to open and view .swf files local to my computer using Irfanview with no problem.

...Bob

Report · Jun 12, 2008

Bentley, I did as you suggested and ran SubInACL with the command file you recommended and it worked!
I reinstalled Flash player and it works in Firefox now.
Thank you for your help.
If this problem is or becomes widespread, I hope there is an easier way to cure the problem. :)
Thanks again.
...Bob

Report · Jun 13, 2008

Thanks for your response. I'm running Windows XP Pro. I've been trying to get to your link ( http://www.adobe.com/go/fb1634cb ) but I can't get the page to open. Hopefully it will finish loading one of these tries so I can try out the tips. Thanks.

Report · Jun 13, 2008

Your solution fixed IE7 but I still get the message in firefox =[. Thanks.

Report · Jul 04, 2008

hi, I think I need some help
I have windows vista and for some reason flash player all of a sudden stopped working on my internet explorer(I believe I have IE7). Ive tried installing it a number of times, tried to use the FAQ to help myself, and still nothing works.
Ive downloaded firefox, and it was working fine...then the flash on that stopped working too. and again Ive tried reinstalling over and over again. =(
the really wierd part is that the other users desktop on my computer is working just fine...both internet explorer and firefox.
as far as I know I didnt change any of the settings before any of this started happening.
oh, and it gives me trouble when I reinstall the flash for IE. it says something about active X control...?
I dont think it installs all the way. when I finally do get an 'install' icon on my desktop, it says it finishes, but still nothing works.
I really dont want to have to delete my desktop, and start anew.

absolutely any help would be appreciated.
thanks. 😃

Report · Jun 17, 2008

Bentley, I had already used the method in your suggestion -
"... If you're on Windows I'd advise using the steps in Download SubInACL from Microsoft to fix permission issues that prevent the Flash Player installation ( http://www.adobe.com/go/fb1634cb ) to try to resolve the problem..." to fix IE7. It worked. That's when Firefox 2.0 stopped working. And I still get "Shockwave Flash has performed an illegal operation" message in Firefox.
is the script in reset_minimal.cmd from Adobe that runs for the SubInACL solution designed for Firefox registry permissions?

Report · Jun 17, 2008

Hi acrom116,

Microsoft’s SubInACL is used to fix Windows permission errors and is offered as a solution for end-users who can’t install the ActiveX version of Flash Player on Window IE. This is not used for Firefox. Flash Player for Firefox is simply a plug-in and does not rely on the system registry like IE does.

Is there one specific site that is giving you this error message?

Report · Jun 18, 2008

I'm running into this same problem. I'm just bringing up a workstation with CentOS 5 x86_64. It came with Firefox 1.5, but I ignored that and went straight to FF 2.0. I kept getting that "missing plugin" message, and tried again and again to install flash via the direct download. I tried the .rpm file, the .tar file, and just about everything in between. Oddly, I must have done something right somewhere along the way (though I can't imagine what), and it started working for some reason.

Well, I just upgraded to FF 3.0, and it's back with the same symptoms. I've tried the YUM install and the RPM install, but to no avail. Haven't tried the .tar file yet - maybe that's next. Any hints?

Does the fact that this is a 64-bit OS make any difference?

Report · Jun 18, 2008

Well, that was easy. I did download the .tar file and unpacked it. It contained only a library file (libflashplayer.so) and a script (flashplayer-installer). I tried running the script, but it said that the script wasn't tested for my x86_64 environment. So I searched for the lib file name, and found a forum post that said to simply copy it into the Firefox plugins directory (in my case, /usr/lib/firefox/plugins). I did so (after resetting a few permission), restarted FF, and Flash now works!

Note: my FF path under /usr/lib is intended as a common installation for all machine users. If you're doing a personal install of FF, your path might be a local path, something like /home/TDNerd/firefox. If you do this, look under your local directory for the plugins (e.g. /home/TDNerd/firefox/plugins) rather than the common location.

Report · Jun 19, 2008

quote:

Originally posted by: Darren McNally - Adobe

<snip>
Is there one specific site that is giving you this error message?

All sites that use Flash give this same response with Firefox 3. You get told you need new Flash, you go look for it, it acts like it is finding a later version but it ends up saying you need to do manual install. You do manual install but it does not work. Sounds like FF3 does not like the latest Flash add in so it keeps kicking it out.

Jim

Report · Jun 19, 2008

I have been facing a lot of problems with firefox 3. is there any other way to activate flash other than the silly plugin search that firefox has?

Report · Jun 26, 2008

I downloaded the Adobe Flash installer for FF again (fresh) and installed it again. This time it all works in Firefox. As near as I can tell I did everything the same each time but this is the first time it worked. I can't give any advice other than to just try it again and see what happens. It worked for me.

Report · Jun 29, 2008

I'm having trouble updating to the most recent version of flash player using Mozilla Firefox. I download the .exe file, but it won't open or do anything when I try to install it. Can anyone help?

Report · Jun 30, 2008

I think FF3 is still in beta

Report · Jun 30, 2008

FireFox 3 is in release now. As far as the .exe not doing anything, the first thing I'd do is check to see that the file properly downloaded. If it dropped even a couple of bytes, it won't work. Simplest thing might to be downloading it again, but I'd delete the file you have before doing that.

Report · Jul 02, 2008

Is it compatible with FF3 as its so new?

Report · Jul 04, 2008

FF3 is becoming the major browser i dont know why it wont be compatible

Report · Jul 04, 2008

It all works for me now in Firefox 3. No problems. Try installing it again. I can not honestly tell you what I did different in the last install, but it worked. Download the installer program for Firefox; it is different from the one for IE and other browsers. Then install it.