Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with firefox and flash

YouTube doesn't work, except when it does.

mikoroshi — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:20:16 -0800

Why isn't YouTube working? For the past few months YouTube just doesn't work on our desktop.

Latest version of Flash is installed on latest version of Firefox, java is so tuned on it's making obscene suggestions to other scripts. I've tried turning NoScript and AdBlock off, no dice.

The most bizarre thing is, every 12th or 15th time we boot up, YouTube works....until the computer gets turned off again.

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm at a loss.

This new-fangled internet thing is just too Flashy for me!

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:18:19 -0800

Firefox / Flash-filter: Currently, I'm running one of the last versions of Firefox 2.0 (2.0.0.20). I haven't upgraded to 3 yet, but I think I'm just about ready (well, YouTube is forcing me). I have a few concerns before I do... Okay, so my computer OS is old (Windows 2000), and I'm not planning on upgrading until I buy a new computer. My internet connection is a very slooow dial-up. As I said above, I use Firefox 2.0.0.20 for 75% of my internet browsing. I have the bare minimum installed on it so as not to weigh it down any more than it already is. I don't have Flash installed for Firefox, and, to be honest, I don't want it. There are very few websites I go to that use Flash for anything other than ads and other junk I don't want to see. I don't feel I'm missing out at all. I really don't want to install Flash and then install all the Flash and ad-blocking extensions. I just really don't want it on my Firefox period.

The only site I go to regularly that requires Flash is YouTube, and I go there daily using IE6 (the other 25% of my internet browsing). I never upgraded my IE, but now there's a little banner on YT threatening that they're not going to support IE6 any longer. Either I have to update to IE..8?, Google Chrome, or the latest Firefox. I really like having two separate browsers: one without Flash so that I can do my regular browsing as painlessly as possible and the other only going to YouTube, basically. So, I decided to check out Chrome, but I learned that both Chrome and IE8 only support WinXP+. Firefox 3.x is the only browser that still supports my OS.

Alright, if you're still reading, here's my question.
A) (My #1 choice) Would it be possible to have both the un-Flash-y Firefox I'm using now (2.0.0.20) (NO FLASH INSTALLED) AND the newest version of Firefox (which WOULD have Flash installed) (which I would use primarily for YouTube) on the same computer.. at the same time? If so, how (Keep in mind that I'm a MORON when it comes to technology. Please use SIMPLE, detailed explanations.)? To clarify, I want something like two icons on my desktop: one for FF2 (no Flash) and one for FF3 (with Flash) and to be able to have them running at the same time.
B) (My #2 choice.. I think) If Option A is impossible, it looks like I have to upgrade FF and install Flash. Would it be possible to have two ... profiles (is that what they're called in Firefox): one that HAS Flash and one that DOESN'T have Flash installed?? Possible or no? If so, once again, how? And how would I switch between the two? Could I have both profiles running at once, or do I have to choose (if this is even possible)? Once again, I'd want one profile that has no Flash installed and one that has it installed.
C) (My absolute LAST choice) If I really have to suck it up and install the newest Firefox as my sole browser AND I have to choose completely between having Flash and not (so basically, if I'm forced to upgrade and install Flash), what extensions are most recommended so that I have total control over what my browser displays? And I only want it to display YouTube videos on the YouTube website. I don't want to see anything else basically (Flash-wise, I mean). This is my LAST choice option, so this is what I'll do ONLY if I have absolutely no other choice.

Anyway, if you've read this entire thing, bless you and thank you in advance for your patient responses. I've made this anonymous because I have too many stupid tech questions to my name already. And I kind of think that I don't get good results because people are just like, 'sheesh, it's this idiot again!' I will pop in later today, and I will respond to comments/questions. Thanks again!

Flaaaaaaash!!!

GleepGlop — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:02:04 -0800

I installed Flash CS4 on my Mac and ever since then when browsing in Firefox I get all kinds of Flash 10 popup errors with an option to 'dismiss all' or 'continue'. It's like Flash thinks I want to debug everything in the course of my browsing. How do I turn that off?

How to get mp3s without "save link as" option (from THIS filesanywhere page)

omnigut — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:10:32 -0800

how do I download mp3s from fileshare? My friend plays for the orchestra these songs are there to practice for, but has no internet connection, and wants these files on cd. I want to help him. I'm using Mac OSX, 10.5.

I'm using Firefox 3.0.6.

I've tried "firebug" and "downloadthemall" firefox extensions, and unless I'm using them badly, I don't think they work.

The recording quality has to be good (it's for an orchestra violinist), so I don't think I can record the sound with an external mp3 recorder (which I do have), although that will be a last resort. Any other ideas before them? This is the link:

http://filesanywhere.com/fs/v.aspx?v=896c6b87606376ab73a2

Thanks in advance, hice mind!!!

How to prevent Flash from stealing keyboard focus in Forefox

stovenator — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:53:33 -0800

How can I prevent flash from stealing my keyboard focus in Firefox on Win XP? I constantly use ctrl-tab and other keyboard shortcuts to flip between tabs in Firefox, and invariably some stupid flash application will steal keyboard focus, and I must use the mouse to click somewhere to regain it. Is there an add-on or other trick I can use to never let flash take certain key combinations, and only send them to Firefox? Does Greasemonkey allow this?

Why won't Flash files (SWFs) open in Firefox?

alby — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 08:05:04 -0800

Why doesn't Flash work properly in Firefox (WinXP)? When flash is embedded in a webpage Firefox handles it with no difficulty. But when I just want to view the applet itself, without it being embedded I get a message from the program asking me what I want to do with the file and then I get into a loop because it opens another instance of Firefox to handle it! I'm sure the problem is something to do with the way Firefox handles the data type. In the 'Applications' submenu of the 'Options' dialogue it reads

'Shockwave Flash Object - Always Ask'

The option to 'Use Shockwave Flash (in Firefox)' isn't available as it is for SPL and SWF files.

My Google-fu has totally failed me (looks like there are just too many problems with the Flash player). I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling Flash/Shockwave/Firefox and in different orders and I've even trawled through the registry but it's all been in vain.

Flash Video Limit?

philosophistry — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:51:13 -0800

How do I fix this: too many browser windows with flash open stops YouTube from functioning I use Firefox. This all started happening after a recent update to the flash player software. Whenever I have a 10 or more tabs open, often to news sites that have flash ads, and try to watch YouTube, the videos don't start.

If I close most of the tabs and refresh the page with video, then the video works.

Is there a fix for this?

Flash me!

princeofpersiaxz — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:25:43 -0800

Adobe Flash Player apps won't work on my Internet Explorer 7 browser. All of my settings are positioned to allow flash and ActiveX. I downloaded Adobe Flash Player multiple times within Explorer. But heres the thing, I was having the same problem with my Firefox browser, but everything was fine after downloading Adobe Flash. I really don't want to use Firefox, I want to fix this problem with Explorer.

I know there is some issue with Microsoft and ActiveX, up until last week, I was promted to click the app to allow me to intereact with it, now I dont even get that far, all I get is a red 'X'.

Make the music continue playing please

!Jim — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:47:30 -0800

Flash Player 9, running in Firefox pauses when it senses that it is no longer on screen. Please make it stop doing this so that I can listen to music (and videos) in the background. Say I have a video playing on youtube. When I switch from the video's tab (this is in Firefox 2.0.0.6) to another tab, or switch to another window, the video stops playing until I return to that tab. It happen on sites other than youtube as well (including the wonderful Mefi Music). This is incredibly undesirable. I'm using Flash 9, on a relatively vanilla Firefox 2.0.0.6 install (it has tabmixplus installed, and something from Evernote note clipper.) OS is Windows XP SP 2.

Also, I apologize in advance if this is easily googleable. I did try, but could not conjure the right words.

Flash won't play nice

cbrody — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:04:10 -0800

Firefoxfilter: Flash stops playing in background I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.2 on WindowsXP. When moving to another tab, scrolling down the page or switching to another application, embedded Flash objects stop playing (e.g. music, videos). That is, unless I have another FF tab in the foreground that also contains a Flash object. Also, sometimes Flash objects will only play on one page if another Flash-containing page is in the foreground.

This must be a bug or a problem with my setup but I can't find it in BugZilla and I've tried disabling all extensions, reinstalling Flash and Firefox to no avail.

It doesn't happen in IE.. Any ideas how I can fix it?

No Flash sound in Firefox

Orange Goblin — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 06:43:43 -0800

I'm hesitant to ask, because there is probably an easy fix, but Googling has failed me: why do I have no sound when using Flash in Firefox? The details:

Firefox: 1.5.0.6
Flash: 9
OS: XP

Anything like YouTube, MySpace, even Mefi Music that uses Flash to play sound is giving me nothing. Sound works for everything else, even Flash 9 on IE. Uninstalling and reinstalling doesn't work. Installing an older version doesn't work. This only started happening in the past week or so, and as far as I know nothing changed. Googling just gives me a bunch of people having the same problem but on Linux, so not much help there. Any ideas?

using flash macromedia on intel based IMac

Postroad — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 04:12:33 -0800

Getting Flash/Macromedia in intel based IMac Recently bought IMac and find that using Firefox, I am not able to see lots of things that requi9rte flash/macromedia. Tech guy at Mac said I could download and use the newest version with Mac's default browser, Safari. He is right. But I prefer Firefox. Is there a way I might use flash on firefox? Or, if not, how to traswfer bookmarks to Safari?

why did flash randomly stop working in Firefox 1.0.7 on Linux and how can I get it working again?

Grod — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 18:26:46 -0800

arrrrh. This is probably a stupid question. Flash 7.0.61 plug-in, Firefox 1.0.7, and Linux 2.6.14 : Flash was working. Then it stopped working. I've tried everything. I didn't update anything. ObjTabs in Adblock are disabled. I even disabled all my extensions. It still isn't working. So I removed libflashplayer.so and flashplayer.xpt from /usr/lib/firefox/plugins and from .mozilla/plugins Firefox told me it was missing a plugin. I then re-installed the flash plugin. Firefox doesn't complain but no Flash is visible. Right clicking where I know there is a movie or a bit of interface shows the usual Flash menu. Googling didn't help. I don't know why Flash disappeared but it wasn't due to any extensions. I'm rather pissed because I can't find anyone with a similar problem and I can't navigate several flash-based sites I visit regularly. Suggestions?

Help me fix my Firefox!

XiBe — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:20:34 -0800

A couple of Firefox questions, if you please... Mostly Flash-display related. I've googled a bit, but can't seem to find the right answer. I thought v1.5 would solve it all, but nope. So, I'm turning to you, fellow MeFiers...

1/ The drop-down URL list (from the URL bar) shows the most accessed URL at the bottom, not at the top, which seems illogical, Captain. How come ? Can't find a setting for it in about:config...

2/ Why won't Flash always show ? It works for some, but not all. For instance, the menus in http://www.macromedia.com/ are replaced by an empty space (not even replaced by JavaScript menu), http://www.hi-res.net/ is just a white page, as is http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/.
OTOH, the del.icio.us mp3 player plays, as does the fine French equivalent DewPlayer, or yet another one from, used by robotwisdom.

My wild guess is that the the ones that work do because they would use some kind of simpler markup, maybe, but I really can't tell.

I tried removing NPSWF32.dll wherever I found it, or putting suspect files in plugins_disabled, then reinstalling from Firefox itself, to no avail (what more, it only suggests to install Flash for the SWF that worked before).
My about:plugins shows this, among others (Quicktime, Java, Acrobat, MS DRM...) :

Shockwave Flash
Nom de fichier : NPSWF32.dll
Shockwave Flash 8.0 r22

And, finally : it only does this on my work computer (Win2k, IE6 and Opera play Flash fine), not my home one.

Any idea ?

Sound in Firefox

andrewzipp — Thu, 09 Jun 2005 07:56:51 -0800

Is there a way to disable sound in Firefox, expecially from Flash? I have the sound in my system settings turned up all the way, and music in WinAmp playing at about 5%. I went to Sleater-Kinney's website, tabbed over while it loaded in the background, and about had a heart attack when I was blasted with music from a flash intro.

I even hate that little brrrrrp sound it makes when you search for something on a page and it dosen't find it. Can I shut Firefox up completely?

A site I created in FrontPage is shown updated in IE but not Firefox, on several computers.

Arch Stanton — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:59:30 -0800

I created a web page using FrontPage (no snarks, please) and put it online. IE shows the new, updated web page. However, Mozilla and Firefox show the old web page. I thought it was just a cache problem with me, but I've loaded it on several different computers with the same result. How can I fix this?

Flash problems in Firefox?

riffraff — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 17:43:26 -0800

This may be old hat, but does anyone know why Firefox (any version) chokes on Flash? It bogs down on both Mac and PC and generally runs terribly whenever anything Flash-related is on the webpage. Also, can anything be done to fix the problem that doesn't involve blocking the flash movies/animation?