[SOLVED] issue with update of Adobe Flash

[cmdrmic]

I think it's Mint 17 combined with Firefox.

Mint 17 Firefox - does not work
Mint 17 Opera - works
Mint 17 Vivaldi - works
Mint 19 Firefox - works

Update: Mint 19 Chromium works, Mint 19 Opera works.

A little interesting testing via MINT 17.3
Firefox: Flash launches but is blank - inoperative.
Chrome:Flash launches but is blank, just like Linux.
Opera: Seems all goofed. Will not display Catchas, they are blank. Crashes on Adobe Test page.
Drum Roll....
MIDORI BROWSER: Flash Works! Adobe test page detects and displays test tree animation with swinging tire. I then tried it with HABBO. It works perfectly. HABBO is an ALL FLASH online game. I really don't think MIDORI has flash built in, so it must be using the underlying repository. LOL. Well boyz, we got something that works... IF you trust MIDORI. Should I? (Seems fine...)

[cmdrmic]

I am using Linux Mint 17.3 I have been working all night trying everything trying to get Flash to function within Firefox or Chrome, or Opera even. The behavior is always the same... I get the dialogue box to allow Flash. I say yes. The Flash app then starts and DOES NOT RUN. The app window remains blank, or without info. I have tried everything. It seems to uninstall and install just fine. Adobe test sees Flash, but on their test site, the animation does not run. Just blank. Like everywhere else. Any help greatly appreciated. I have tried everything I could find. Ugh!

Forget about Firefox, for now at least.

Did you try http://www.kidsgamehouse.com/games/casual-bowling to test.

What versions of Chrome and Opera are you using.

I just did, I get the page, they the Authorize Flash Notice, I say OK, then it is a BLANK. Let me try it in MIDORI. Ha ha. Works great. Love the Intro Music. This is the MIDORI from the Package Manager... Crazy!

[kevin987]

I had just tested that old Midori and the Flash works.

If you're using it just to play a flash game it might be ok.

I wouldn't use it for banking and other financial / personal information transactions.

[cmdrmic]

I had just tested that old Midori and the Flash works.

If you're using it just to play a flash game it might be ok.

I wouldn't use it for banking and other financial / personal information transactions.

So, what does MIDORI working tell us, if anything. Is the problem with Flash or Firefox?

[cmdrmic]

I had just tested that old Midori and the Flash works.

If you're using it just to play a flash game it might be ok.

I wouldn't use it for banking and other financial / personal information transactions.

Hmm. How about that VIvaldi? Do you consider that secure for online banking? Not at all familiar with Vivaldi, and it is not in the Package Store for 17.3, as far as I could see...

[kevin987]

It's Firefox and how it works with Mint 17. The latest Chromium won't work with Mint 17. Midori hasn't been updated in a long time so the old Mint 17 still gets along with it

Vilvaldi is safe. It just updated on my system. You have to download the DEB package from www.vivaldi.com

[cmdrmic]

It's Firefox and how it works with Mint 17. The latest Chromium won't work with Mint 17. Midori hasn't been updated in a long time so the old Mint 17 still gets along with it

Vilvaldi is safe. It just updated on my system. You have to download the DEB package from www.vivaldi.com

Thanks! Just grabbed the deb. Little rusty there. I just use DPKG in terminal for that, right?

sudo -i dpkg (filename) - I think. Did you have any broken dependencies? (sorry to be a bother).

[kevin987]

Thanks! Just grabbed the deb. Little rusty there. I just use DPKG in terminal for that, right?

sudo -i dpkg (filename) - I think. Did you have any broken dependencies? (sorry to be a bother).

I believe that's how you do it. If it doesn't work you'll have to do a web search on the proper command. I don't have it memorized since I normally use the Software Manager. I didn't have any dependency issues.

To get updates you'll have to add

deb http://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main

to your Update Manager under Additional repositories. Input that whole line, not just the web link part.

[cmdrmic]

Thanks! Just grabbed the deb. Little rusty there. I just use DPKG in terminal for that, right?

sudo -i dpkg (filename) - I think. Did you have any broken dependencies? (sorry to be a bother).

I believe that's how you do it. If it doesn't work you'll have to do a web search on the proper command. I don't have it memorized since I normally use the Software Manager. I didn't have any dependency issues.

To get updates you'll have to add

deb http://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main

to your Update Manager under Additional repositories. Input that whole line, not just the web link part.

Oh right! Thanks so much for that, pal. I forgot totally about the Update Manager! ha ha. Nite, and thanks very kindly for your attention to myself and this issue!

[redlined]

So, what does MIDORI working tell us, if anything. Is the problem with Flash or Firefox?

or problem with your other browsers settings? perhaps addons interfering? plugin.dat corrputed? cache needs clearing?

idk, but if Midori is an outdated browser (in the repos? it appears very active dev on their homepage) to run barely safe flash (which is in it's death year throes) on an OS that obsoletes in April 2019 all sounds like a recipe for disaster. Midori is webkit engine, meaning apple safari and to lesser extent google chrome and opera. Not sure what Midori uses to render flash, but google uses their own dev, pepperflash, which is separate from adobe flash used by most other engines.

just things to consider, also trust, which you asked if midori could be- that is something only you can decide. If you find them worthy then do consider getting latest version for your flash needs, especially if repos offer outdated version (I haven't checked, but it sounded like that in thread above). They are some distro main browser now, so I imagine they will be staying active and maintaining it going forward.

about the .deb install, just double-click the download, it'll pull up gdebi-gtk and check for dependencies, installing them as well if needed. Since this is a browser though I'd definitely consider adding it to software sources (additional repo or ppa, if present) so system update manager can keep the browser updated. Browsers are the main vector for attack on any OS and the inherently insecure piece of every OS puzzle, they are not something to consider letting fall out of date, engine and addons.

it's really time to consider what the future looks like in two months though... When LM17 support ends update manager won't be very much help in keeping up to date, and (code base) safe, going forward beyond that date.

[kevin987]

it's really time to consider what the future looks like in two months though... When LM17 support ends update manager won't be very much help in keeping up to date, and (code base) safe, going forward beyond that date.

I have 3 additional partitions on my hard drive to test newer distros. I really like Mint 17.3 and have been using 17.x since August 2015, but the writing is on the wall.

Mint 19 looks pretty good so far. When the time comes I'll replace 17.3 with the 19 of my choice. I'll also continue to test on other partitions.

Hopefully everyone else is planning ahead when it comes to 17's EOL.

You'd be surprised though how many people don't even keep their kernels up to date

[kevin987]

idk, but if Midori is an outdated browser (in the repos? it appears very active dev on their homepage) to run barely safe flash (which is in it's death year throes) on an OS that obsoletes in April 2019 all sounds like a recipe for disaster. Midori is webkit engine, meaning apple safari and to lesser extent google chrome and opera. Not sure what Midori uses to render flash, but google uses their own dev, pepperflash, which is separate from adobe flash used by most other engines.

just things to consider, also trust, which you asked if midori could be- that is something only you can decide. If you find them worthy then do consider getting latest version for your flash needs, especially if repos offer outdated version (I haven't checked, but it sounded like that in thread above). They are some distro main browser now, so I imagine they will be staying active and maintaining it going forward.

Midori's new version 7 is considered a preview. It's only available through snap, unless you want to build from source.

The one I have is 0.5.11 dated 2015, but it's good to know a more modern stable release may be coming sometime soon.

[redlined]

You'd be surprised though how many people don't even keep their kernels up to date

very little surprises me any longer, certainly nothing regarding keeping computer OS and installed softwares up-to-date

sounds like you have a solid plan though and plenty of good time left to focus how to migrate some/all that work put into setting up and configuring an OS, apps and packages now nearly 4 years old for you. Aptik is a real good piece of code to help, although a bit tricky on LM17, as I recall (newer GUI version not available and restore would have to be done with old version used to create the backup.. but it will grab everything from home that timeshift doesn't touch. a simple --backup-all command will grab everything and selective restores, or --restore-all, can be done from there.

edit to add:

Midori's new version 7 is considered a preview. It's only available through snap, unless you want to build from source.
The one I have is 0.5.11 dated 2015, but it's good to know a more modern stable release may be coming sometime soon.

yah, I'd be compiling/building from source or seeking out .deb from them for something much newer, no way I'd trust a 4yo browser version...

[kevin987]

Mint 17 doesn't have Timeshift

I believe it wasn't introduced until 18.3

I have plenty of other web browser options with 17.3 (Opera, Vivaldi, Firefox w/o Flash) so spending time compiling from source a release candidate from Midori doesn't seem worth it.

I don't have much to transfer over to a new distro. This isn't a work computer, just my home machine. I have some mp3 files, some videos and some other user files that I've already saved on my flash drive. Less than 60 GB.

I'm just going to do a fresh clean install of 19.1 and do point upgrades when they show up. I'm sure there's a number of files and software that are outdated that I wouldn't want to transfer. Probably better just to start anew. It shouldn't take much time to install the software I want.

[redlined]

yah, not sure when Timeshift got added to repos, nor if it is compatible with LM17x. It did become LM19 primary system backup solution though.

Anyway, the same dev, TonyGeorge, is the fella that also created the excellent Aptik - although this option is PPA (or .deb install) from his teejee2008 PPA, read about it here:
https://github.com/teejee2008/aptik/blo ... /MANUAL.md

and to add ppa, readme:
https://github.com/teejee2008/aptik#aptik

his aptik-gtk app isn't available for LM17x, this I know, but is a simple cmdline tool as it is. Even considering you have little backup concerns it may be worth the effort to give it a run anyway and stored off-disk when you do your fresh install. Minimize the ahhhchit!'s from happening. I did a fresh reinstall a couple weeks back, tried all kinds of options and tested backup restoring options I had setup. Aptik did not let me down, even selectively restoring specific things I finally decided to keep (and not relearn from scratch;)

[cmdrmic]

Umm, so if I understand the gist of this thread... the sitch is probably not going to get fixed by Linux Mint, or Firefox. Unless I am comfy using Midori or Vivaldi for my Flash needs, I should probably upgrade to 18? And then, re-upgrade to 19??? Or just back up my data, bomb out my system, and install 19.1. Then spend 3 days installing all the apps and customizations I got running on this bloody thing. LOL. Ugh. I have to admit 17.3 has been a champ for me. I have 18.whatever on a few other systems and on the whole, it seems to crawl in comparison. Maybe I'll give Xubuntu another go... Really sad to see support for 17.3 ending. Wish it was 5 year LTS. Any suggestions?

[kevin987]

You can try upgrading to 18, then upgrade to 19. You would want to back up all your user data just in case. Support ends for 17 at the end of April 2019 (this year!)

From my testing, 19 is faster than 18. Just as fast as 17 I think.

17 started end of May 2014, so it's almost 5 years LTS.

Upgrade your RAM if you don't have at least 4 GB.

[redlined]

Umm, so if I understand the gist of this thread... the sitch is probably not going to get fixed by Linux Mint, or Firefox. Unless I am comfy using Midori or Vivaldi for my Flash needs, I should probably upgrade to 18? And then, re-upgrade to 19??? Or just back up my data, bomb out my system, and install 19.1. Then spend 3 days installing all the apps and customizations I got running on this bloody thing. LOL. Ugh. I have to admit 17.3 has been a champ for me. I have 18.whatever on a few other systems and on the whole, it seems to crawl in comparison. Maybe I'll give Xubuntu another go... Really sad to see support for 17.3 ending. Wish it was 5 year LTS. Any suggestions?

yah, I don't see any huge rush to get adobe flash working on Firefox for LM17x in the final month of that OS lifespan. If you want to attempt to prod them to get the bug report info together and report directly to dev site is best bet.
edit to add: this link will help sort that route out for you- https://linuxmint-troubleshooting-guide ... en/latest/

If you want to go the upgrade route, another less than best option, then prepare for a full day of installing LM. To get from LM17.3 you need to go to LM18, then to 18.3, then to 19, then to 19.1 (or .2 or .3, whichever is out when you do this). In other words you have to go to base of new release version then to final release in that version, before bump upgrade to next level. Official upgrade path announce is here: viewtopic.php?f=143&t=235992

Likely you will hear many saying the same- and I'm one of them, who will strongly recommend you simply do the backups, bite the bullet and do a fresh install. I am very appreciative of hours of work put into setting up and configuring everything from OS to each and every app I use. All of that can be salvaged by you, as well your personal files (docs, music, movies, downloads, etc) using Aptik. It works for LM17.3, but not the aptik-gtk (GUI version), although you can install and use the GUI once you get to LM18/19+

Best bet is to burn a couple install USBs with LM18.3 and LM19.1 and whatever DE tickles yer fancy (Cinnamon, Mate, XFCE) and give it a test run, see how you like or not. Once you have sorted the desktop envirnment to hop to go on and install. If you change distro, like to xubuntu then likely you start from scratch on settings and such (but of course your personal files backups are safe and ready for you to put them back in place)

For more on Aptik, see my response just prior to this one. Note, you will not be able to use aptik to backup from one distro and restore on another (eg. Ubuntu to Redhat) but LM17.3 to LM19.1 should be fine. Just read up on them github links in other post about it. It is a PPA, but one I trust implicitly, TonyGeorge is the same dev that made and maintains Timeshift (which is LM19+ official system backup package now:)

[kevin987]

Umm, so if I understand the gist of this thread... the sitch is probably not going to get fixed by Linux Mint, or Firefox. Unless I am comfy using Midori or Vivaldi for my Flash needs, I should probably upgrade to 18? And then, re-upgrade to 19??? Or just back up my data, bomb out my system, and install 19.1. Then spend 3 days installing all the apps and customizations I got running on this bloody thing. LOL. Ugh. I have to admit 17.3 has been a champ for me. I have 18.whatever on a few other systems and on the whole, it seems to crawl in comparison. Maybe I'll give Xubuntu another go... Really sad to see support for 17.3 ending. Wish it was 5 year LTS. Any suggestions?

Here's a YouTube video on how to upgrade from Mint 17.3 to 19.1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpHJc-c4SJU

[kevin987]

Adobe Flash works with Firefox 60.5 ESR on Mint 17.3

Debian and Linux Mint Debian 3 are using this extended support release version of Firefox.

You'll have to download a tar.bz2 file and it won't be updated through the repositories.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/

Edit: The browser says it's on the esr update channel according to Help--> About Firefox, so it may suggest updates when they come.