cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Flash, Browsers and Linux. Whats going on with it these days? [SOLVED]

AWB70
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,197
Thanks: 20
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎28-08-2007

Flash, Browsers and Linux. Whats going on with it these days? [SOLVED]

Like the title says, what is going on? From what I can gather so far flash isn't supported any more from the repo and you have to get flash from Adobe and keep updating it yourself is that correct? Also there appears to be some security issues with flash at the moment with it being blamed on the recent spate of malicious attacks.
I have installed the iced tea browser plugin as well as flash from the software centre. Flash games don't appear to work in my browser and neither do youtube videos. On pages from forums I can't see videos embedded in posts but only on my linux systems. They work fine when I switch back over to xp.
Any work around for this at the moment, do I need to be installing something else? Searching about some people are recommending disabling other plugins with various levels of success. If flash isn't supported anymore on linux distros what will be the alternative?
58 REPLIES 58
AWB70
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,197
Thanks: 20
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎28-08-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Been looking at gnash with mixed reviews, I find it hard to believe that with the impending end of adobe flash with linux no real alternative has been sorted out yet. It's as if Adobe is holding linux users to ransom  Shocked With linux distros getting ever more popular why would adobe have taken this decision in the first place I ask myself. They do seem to be still going to support chrome I notice.
I actually worked on a site recently and slipped ubuntu into the conversation expecting the usual pretending they were taking some notice but not really reaction and found that out of the 5 people there 4 of us used linux and the 5th one's dad did! Seems like software developers are now more of a stumbling block than the end users. Worries me that no matter how many people come on board if the devs don't recognise the need to develop for linux systems they are going to be the reason people don't switch. Maybe it's not a lucrative enough market for them as the Free element is a big attraction but I'm sure people would pay good money for the software even if the OS is free.
HMRC have even recognised this fact and brought out their PAYE tools for linux and they're notorious for being behind the times and incompetent sheeshh
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Flash is still in the repo's (as is Java) - they are not included in the default install though.
Stay away from the Adobe web site as it has bugs - just select Flash from the repo.
In any case, Flash is dying as "proper sites" replace it with HTML5.
Open Java seems to work O.K.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

Waldo
Grafter
Posts: 473
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Quote from: AverageWhiteBloke
From what I can gather so far flash isn't supported any more from the repo and you have to get flash from Adobe and keep updating it yourself is that correct?


waldo@gouda:~$  apt-cache policy adobe-flashplugin
adobe-flashplugin:
  Installed: 11.2.202.235-0precise1
  Candidate: 11.2.202.235-0precise1
  Version table:
*** 11.2.202.235-0precise1 0
        500 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ precise/partner amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

You might have to edit /etc/apt/sources.list to read as follows:
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner
AWB70
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,197
Thanks: 20
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎28-08-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Thanks so far! It's getting a bit confusing now. Flash is in my standard repo unless there is another version from some other repo? I uninstalled flash and re-booted the machine as well as emptying the browser cache. First youtube page I went to firefox nags me that a plug in is missing do I want to install, I install and can no longer see the youtube vids just a blank square. Checking with the software centre it now says flash is installed again so I guess that whether you install from the browser or the software centre doesn't matter  Undecided
Tried checking in terminal with apt-cache policy adobe-flashplugin it returns....
adobe-flashplugin:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
Crazy next move I disable the add on in the browser and some youtube videos work but it tells me that the plugin is disabled and I'm watching in html5 trial do I want to leave the trial!
So now I'm stuck between adobe flash not working at all but if I disable it I can watch some vids as long as they are html5, bit difficult to work out if my flash is working if I don't know the format of the video I'm watching. Links to vids I have posted on other boards embedded are invisible to me but others can see them, if I switch back to my windows set up using firefox there they are.
Bit of a headache this, I haven't even started on java yet  Grin The java test page says there is an update sun microsystems but a version is installed. The only thing I have installed is the iced tea java plugin from software centre. Hmmm
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

You don't need to update Java.  Smiley

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

The open source Java packages won't always report the same version as the latest Oracle update number, but they will have security fixes and updates applied by your distribution the same way as any other package.
e.g.
[tt]$ java -version
java version "1.7.0_03-icedtea"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (fedora-2.1.fc17.7-x86_64)[/tt]
Waldo
Grafter
Posts: 473
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Quote from: AverageWhiteBloke
Flash is in my standard repo unless there is another version from some other repo?


waldo@gouda:~$ apt-cache search adobe | grep flash
flashplugin-installer - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer
flashplugin-downloader - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer (transitional package)
flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound - Adobe Flash Player platform support library for Esound and OSS
adobe-flashplugin - Adobe Flash Player plugin version 11
adobe-flash-properties-gtk - GTK+ control panel for Adobe Flash Player plugin version 11
adobe-flash-properties-kde - KDE control panel Adobe Flash Player plugin version 11

The flashplugin-installer package is in one of the standard repos; it doesn't install the adobe-flash-properties-gtk package (which isn't essential for viewing flash content).
Quote
I uninstalled flash and re-booted the machine as well as emptying the browser cache. First youtube page I went to firefox nags me that a plug in is missing do I want to install, I install and can no longer see the youtube vids just a blank square. Checking with the software centre it now says flash is installed again so I guess that whether you install from the browser or the software centre doesn't matter  Undecided

I don't have software-center installed, but removing gnash and adobe-flashplugin and having the browser install the plugin I now have the flashplugin-installer package installed:

waldo@gouda:~$ apt-cache policy flashplugin-installer
flashplugin-installer:
  Installed: 11.2.202.236ubuntu0.12.04.1
  Candidate: 11.2.202.236ubuntu0.12.04.1
  Version table:
*** 11.2.202.236ubuntu0.12.04.1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-security/multiverse amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
    11.2.202.233ubuntu2 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/multiverse amd64 Packages

 
Whichever package you use will install libflashplayer.so; it's worth checking you only have one installed:

root@gouda:/home/waldo# updatedb && locate libflashplayer
/usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so

Worth checking that debian-alternatives is correctly configured, too:

waldo@gouda:~$ ls -l /etc/alternatives | grep flash
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  48 Jun  9 13:16 mozilla-flashplugin -> /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so

With the plugin installed do you see anything on the Adobe help page?
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Mine isn't like that (Mint 12)...
But it still works.  Grin
Quote
jeremy@HECTOR:~$ apt-cache search adobe | grep flash
mint-flashplugin-11 - Adobe Flash plugin 11
mint-flashplugin - Metapackage for Adobe Flash plugin
mint-flashplugin-10.2 - Adobe Flash plugin 10.2
mint-flashplugin-10.3 - Adobe Flash plugin 10.3 Beta 2
flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound - Adobe Flash Player platform support library for Esound and OSS
red5-doc - flash streaming server - documentation
red5-server - flash streaming server
flashplugin-downloader - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer (transitional package)
flashplugin-installer - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer
adobe-flashplugin - Adobe Flash Player plugin version 11
adobe-flash-properties-gtk - GTK+ control panel for Adobe Flash Player plugin version 11
adobe-flash-properties-kde - KDE control panel Adobe Flash Player plugin version 11

Quote
jeremy@HECTOR:~$ apt-cache policy flashplugin-installer
flashplugin-installer:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 11.2.202.236ubuntu0.11.10.1
  Version table:
    11.2.202.236ubuntu0.11.10.1 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/multiverse amd64 Packages
    11.0.1.152ubuntu1 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/multiverse amd64 Packages

Quote
jeremy@HECTOR:~$ sudo updatedb && locate libflashplayer
/etc/alternatives/libflashplayer.so
/opt/mint-flashplugin-11/libflashplayer.so
/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so
/var/lib/dpkg/alternatives/libflashplayer.so

Quote
jeremy@HECTOR:~$ ls -l /etc/alternatives | grep flash
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  42 2011-11-28 22:30 libflashplayer.so -> /opt/mint-flashplugin-11/libflashplayer.so

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

Waldo
Grafter
Posts: 473
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Quote from: Un
Mine isn't like that (Mint 12)...
But it still works.  Grin

All neatly symlinked  Smiley

waldo@schabziger ~ $ apt-cache policy mint-flashplugin-11
mint-flashplugin-11:
  Installed: 11.0.1.152
  Candidate: 11.0.1.152
  Version table:
*** 11.0.1.152 0
        700 http://packages.linuxmint.com/ maya/import i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
waldo@schabziger ~ $ sudo locate libflashplayer.so
/etc/alternatives/libflashplayer.so
/opt/mint-flashplugin-11/libflashplayer.so
/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so
/var/lib/dpkg/alternatives/libflashplayer.so
waldo@schabziger ~ $ ls -l /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 35 Feb 11 21:37 /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so -> /etc/alternatives/libflashplayer.so
waldo@schabziger ~ $ ls -l /etc/alternatives/libflashplayer.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 42 Feb 11 21:35 /etc/alternatives/libflashplayer.so -> /opt/mint-flashplugin-11/libflashplayer.so
AWB70
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,197
Thanks: 20
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎28-08-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Thanks for the advice, just tried the adobe help page and my laptop is ok. I'll try my work one when I get in tomorrow. Been working away for a while.
AWB70
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,197
Thanks: 20
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎28-08-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Still having major problems with flash on two of my systems. I have tried all I can think of using both chromium and Firefox. Firstly I have installed flash from the software centre, When I go to http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/find-version-flash-player.html no flash is detected even though software centre says it is installed.
neil@XL Desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree
sudo: unable to resolve host XL Desktop
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree      
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'flashplugin-installer' instead of 'flashplugin-nonfree'
flashplugin-installer is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

*still working on the unable to resolve host part, not sure if it's significant?
apt-cache search adobe | grep flash
flashplugin-installer - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer
flashplugin-downloader - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer (transitional package)
flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound - Adobe Flash Player platform support library for Esound and OSS
red5-doc - flash streaming server - documentation
red5-server - flash streaming server

apt-cache policy flashplugin-installer
flashplugin-installer:
 Installed: 11.2.202.236ubuntu0.12.04.1
 Candidate: 11.2.202.236ubuntu0.12.04.1
 Version table:
*** 11.2.202.236ubuntu0.12.04.1 0
       500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates/multiverse i386 Packages
       500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-security/multiverse i386 Packages
       100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
    11.2.202.233ubuntu2 0
       500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/multiverse i386 Package

I've searched as many related posts as I can and tried everything that has worked for others. Made sure gnash or any alternative flash players are uninstalled. Tried using flashaid firefox plugin that uninstalls all flash related files and installs the best one for my machine. Tried using the beta version. Tried uninstalling from software centre and letting the browser install the plugin instead. Tried installing from the cmd. All same result, flash doesn't work on the adobe checker with firefox and if I go to a site containing flash chromium says the plugin has crashed.
Running out of ideas at the moment, I installed the flash for chromium using chromium could this be conflicting with the version from the repo? When I look at plugins in both browsers flash is installed and enabled.
Got me stumped this one, bizarrely my laptop is ok just my two desktops and I have not did anything different when setting up all the machines. Could it be that flash is installed but is just that buggy it's crashing all the time giving me the impression it's not installed properly?
*edit just installed gnash, flash check now works as do youtube videos but most flash games don't. Looks like ill be getting a hard time off my daughter for swapping OS, she loves her flash games  Smiley Chromium also works now if I disable the built in flash.
Anybody with any suggestions please let me know, I appreciate flash is on its way out in favour of html5 but I guess there will still be a lot of flash content out there for a while.
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

XL Desktop - hostnames don't tend to have spaces in them!
Quote from: AverageWhiteBloke
neil@XL Desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree
Note, selecting 'flashplugin-installer' instead of 'flashplugin-nonfree'
flashplugin-installer is already the newest version.


flashplugin-installer is just a package that is supposed to download and install the flash plugin but I guess it failed to do that.
AWB70
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,197
Thanks: 20
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎28-08-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Quote
XL Desktop - hostnames don't tend to have spaces in them!

Hmmm I did rename this machine when setting up ubuntu one as both my home and work computers had the same name. Should I have an under score between the words? I've been messing for a couple of hours at work and got nowhere with that one and a couple tonight on my home system, exact same issue. If I don't install flash I get a grey box and if I do I see nothing! I've also ruled out the possibility of chromium and FF arguing over flash as I don't have chrome on this one. I think the stuff I was finding was more to do with conflicts between the flash in the repo and the one built into chrome. I have tried disabling both one at a time and chromium plugin still crashes. Angry
More confusing is what my laptop has that these two don't, never did anything different and no problems on there. Maybe the reason adobe flash only has three stars in the software centre  Undecided
Waldo
Grafter
Posts: 473
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Java and Flash, whats going on with it these days?

Chromium installed from the Ubuntu repo worked just fine with the already-installed libflashplayer.so on my system.

root@gouda:/home/waldo# ps ax | grep flash
31613 ?        Sl    3:47 /usr/lib/firefox/plugin-container /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so -greomni /usr/lib/firefox/omni.ja 15130 true plugin
32221 ?        Sl    1:29 /usr/lib/chromium-browser/chromium-browser --type=plugin --plugin-path=/usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so --lang=en-GB --channel=32157.0x7fede33a2230.1404989245

Do you see similar processes when accessing flash-enabled sites using Firefox and/or Chromium?