Safari + Flash not cooperating. UPDATE JAN.7. PLEASE READ

[acfusion29]

any flash video file that's loaded, or webpage, pretty much causes Safari to lock up for a good minute, sometimes more. i load up the same page in Chrome/Firefox and it works just fine.

i just switched from Firefox to Safari because i wanted to give it another try but this just annoys the hell out of me.

anyways, is there a way i could take all my cookies and stuff and bring them back over to Firefox/Chrome from Safari?

by the way, i found a temporary fix for this issue. if i restart my computer and play a flash file it's fine for the first couple of tries and then it starts to lock up again and a restart is required.

i've tried:

- re-installing flash
- installing an earlier version
- installing the BETA

clearly Safari is to blame

 

[asdf542]

Have you used the uninstaller to remove Flash before you install a new version? Do you have any extensions are add-ons installed to Safari that might interfere with it?

 

[robert05au]

Which version of flash have you tried?

Did you repair the permissions after installing flash as screws quite a few and maybe causing some of the issues. This is worth a try to rule one thing out.

 

[Apple OC]

ClicktoFlash rules

 

[robert05au]

ClicktoFlash rules

Agree with that

 

[acfusion29]

Have you used the uninstaller to remove Flash before you install a new version? Do you have any extensions are add-ons installed to Safari that might interfere with it?

yup, i used the un-installer

the only extension i have is click to flash, which i installed after the issue because websites with stupid flash ads would cause it to lock up

Which version of flash have you tried?

Did you repair the permissions after installing flash as screws quite a few and maybe causing some of the issues. This is worth a try to rule one thing out.

i tried a few, including the beta. a few earlier versions as well as the latest stable build.

repair permissions from disk utility?

ClicktoFlash rules

Agree with that

i'm using it already

 

[acfusion29]

ok it seems like my original issue fixed itself, however... i now have an even worse problem with this garbage.

if i load a flash webpage (nikestore.com for instance), my entire OS will lock up because of flash. i can move my cursor but i can't do ANYTHING. the entire computer is frozen, and i can't even bring up the force quit menu to close safari.

the only way to get my macbook to work is to shut it down (hold the power button) and restart the OS.

anyone have a fix for this? it happens in safari and chrome from what i've noticed.

 

[LPZ]

ok it seems like my original issue fixed itself, however... i now have an even worse problem with this garbage.

if i load a flash webpage (nikestore.com for instance), my entire OS will lock up because of flash. i can move my cursor but i can't do ANYTHING. the entire computer is frozen, and i can't even bring up the force quit menu to close safari.

the only way to get my macbook to work is to shut it down (hold the power button) and restart the OS.

anyone have a fix for this? it happens in safari and chrome from what i've noticed.

1) Get Flash uninstaller from Adobe: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/865/cpsid_86551.html#ostype=m,prob1=uninst,os=m10.6,

2) Quit browsers and run uninstaller.

3) Get latest Flash player from http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

4) Quit browsers and install Flash.

5) Repair permissions using Disk Utility.

6) Try Safari again and report back.

 

[TyWahn]

Even if you run the Flash uninstaller form Adobe, you need to go in an trash your preferences for Macromedia in the user/library/preferences. Trash them, re-install flash.
Better yet, after you do the above, use Firefox and get the Flashblock and Adblocker extensions. It will block all Flash ads and allow you to pick and choose which flash videos you want to use. I just did this and it is like a whole new browsing experience.

 

[acfusion29]

1) Get Flash uninstaller from Adobe: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/865/cpsid_86551.html#ostype=m,prob1=uninst,os=m10.6,

2) Quit browsers and run uninstaller.

3) Get latest Flash player from http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

4) Quit browsers and install Flash.

5) Repair permissions using Disk Utility.

6) Try Safari again and report back.

thanks, i'll report back in a few days.

Even if you run the Flash uninstaller form Adobe, you need to go in an trash your preferences for Macromedia in the user/library/preferences. Trash them, re-install flash.
Better yet, after you do the above, use Firefox and get the Flashblock and Adblocker extensions. It will block all Flash ads and allow you to pick and choose which flash videos you want to use. I just did this and it is like a whole new browsing experience.

thanks. i'll remove those preferences. maybe that will do the trick

and i have clicktoflash installed, which allows me to choose which flash content is displayed on the web.

i prefer safari. firefox is really clunky.

 

[acfusion29]

- i uninstalled/reinstalled flash as per LPZ instructions (as well as repaired permissions on the HDD)
- removed macromedia preferences as per TyWahn

so far so good... i loaded up nikestore.com a few times and it seemed like it wanted to lock up on me, but quickly recovered.

this is just a small update cause the flash player was really hit and miss before.

will post back with more updates in the future.

 

[acfusion29]

locked up again... any other suggestions?

on the plus side, it cooled down my computer a bit while watching youtube videos.

 

[LPZ]

locked up again... any other suggestions?

on the plus side, it cooled down my computer a bit while watching youtube videos.

Maybe look for information in your log files. Open Console (in Utilities) and look in Console Messages and system.log for messages whose time stamp coincides with the time of one of your "lockups".

 

[acfusion29]

Maybe look for information in your log files. Open Console (in Utilities) and look in Console Messages and system.log for messages whose time stamp coincides with the time of one of your "lockups".

alright i will and i'll post them here.

can i still see the log if i restart my computer? cause 99% of the time i have to force a restart.

 

[brandon.8602]

sometimes I experience problems with flash and it'll cause either the spinny beach ball of death for a minute or more and sometimes a total quit of Safari altogether

 

[munkery]

the only extension i have is click to flash, which i installed after the issue because websites with stupid flash ads would cause it to lock up

Do you use the ClickToFlash Safari extension or the ClickToFlash SIMBL based Safari Plugin. SIMBL plugins are known to sometimes cause Safari to become unstable.

Also, I recommend the Safari extension called Plugin Customs from the Safari Extension Gallery as it provides ClickToFlash functionality to all Safari plugins (Java, Silverlight, QuickTime, etc).

 

[acfusion29]

ok something isn't right.

i completely RE-INSTALLED Mac OS X a few days ago. everything was fine for the first couple of days and just now, i encountered the same exact problem (i doubt 10.6.6 screwed it up since i had this problem prior to 10.6.6)

reminder: it was a fresh install, i didn't restore from time machine backup.

can anyone think of anything else?

 

[Consultant]

The most "stable" version of Flash is buggy.

 

[munkery]

ok something isn't right.

i completely RE-INSTALLED Mac OS X a few days ago. everything was fine for the first couple of days and just now, i encountered the same exact problem (i doubt 10.6.6 screwed it up since i had this problem prior to 10.6.6)

reminder: it was a fresh install, i didn't restore from time machine backup.

can anyone think of anything else?

If you are using Snow Leopard, you have to erase the disk with Disk Utility from the Install DVD then reinstall the OS to have a clean install of Mac OS X. Just running the install DVD without erasing the disk will only attempt to repair the current installation which will not solve some problems.

Did you erase the disk before the re-install?

 

[acfusion29]

If you are using Snow Leopard, you have to erase the disk with Disk Utility from the Install DVD then reinstall the OS to have a clean install of Mac OS X. Just running the install DVD without erasing the disk will only attempt to repair the current installation which will not solve some problems.

Did you erase the disk before the re-install?

yes. i completely re-installed it, like stated in my post.

 

[munkery]

yes. i completely re-installed it, like stated in my post.

Have you run the hardware test that can be run from the install DVD?

Maybe you have a hardware issue that only appears when your system is taxed by items that are cpu/ram intensive such as Flash?

Do you use the ClickToFlash Safari extension or the ClickToFlash SIMBL based Safari Plugin?

If you use the SIMBL plugin, was it installed when you had the issues after the reinstall? SIMBL plugins sometimes create issues.

 

[acfusion29]

Have you run the hardware test that can be run from the install DVD?

Maybe you have a hardware issue that only appears when your system is taxed by items that are cpu/ram intensive such as Flash?

Do you use the ClickToFlash Safari extension or the ClickToFlash SIMBL based Safari Plugin?

If you use the SIMBL plugin, was it installed when you had the issues after the reinstall? SIMBL plugins sometimes create issues.

i'm gonna run the hardware test right now

i installed it directly from the clicktoflash website. it doesn't appear in my extensions. so, does that mean i have the plugin?

i installed the plugin/extension after flash locked up my browser a while ago.

 

[acfusion29]

so i re-installed clicktoflash from the extension gallery, and my system froze again.

i ran the hardware test and there's no hardware issues.

i'm gonna remove the extension completely and see if i can reproduce the issue sometime in the near future.

i'm gonna use google chrome for the time being as it hasn't given me any issues.

 

[munkery]

i'm gonna run the hardware test right now

i installed it directly from the clicktoflash website. it doesn't appear in my extensions. so, does that mean i have the plugin?

i installed the plugin/extension after flash locked up my browser a while ago.

You have the SIMBL plugin installed if it does not appear in the "Extension" tab of Safari's preferences.

Do you have anything else installed to modify the function of Safari? For example, other plugins such as Glims, Saft, Safari Cookies, Growl Safari, and etc. These types of plugins are known to sometimes make the browser unstable.

 

[acfusion29]

You have the SIMBL plugin installed if it does not appear in the "Extension" tab of Safari's preferences.

Do you have anything else installed to modify the function of Safari? For example, other plugins such as Glims, Saft, Safari Cookies, Growl Safari, and etc. These types of plugins are known to sometimes make the browser unstable.

nope i don't have any of those installed.