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Persistent YouTube Problems with Firefox 28 and Flash 13?

  • 2 replies
  • 61 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by scrschmidt

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I'm having a persistent problem loading YouTube videos on Firefox (ver. 28, x86--localized US, English) on Windows 7. When loaded, the page will render the HTML, Java, and all that good stuff, but the video itself will sputter, restart a few times within the first couple of seconds, and end up displaying the YouTube error message: "An error has occurred, please try again later. Learn more." The "learn more," is hyperlink referenced to a pretty useless site with some basic troubleshooting advice (all of which I've tried). The computer I'm using is clean of malware, rootkits, etc. (not only is it new, I've done a pretty intensive sweep--looked over the regedit logs--though nothing needed to be removed or changed--so on and so forth).

YouTube videos work perfectly in IE and Chrome. Firefox DOES play other Flash required content.

Steps I've already taken are:

1.) Reinstalling all Flash programs and plug-ins, updating, and so forth. 2.) Restarting Firefox in safemode without ANY add-ons. I also disabled and removed all add-ons in normal mode to no avail. 3.) Completely reinstalled Firefox from scratch. This means that I've removed Firefox completely (selecting to remove all personal information), and cleared all caches, history, cookies, and so on. 4.) Restored the hard-drive to factory default. Not kidding. Being a new PC, I've got a nothing on it, so I clean installed the OS from scratch just to see--cleanly installed Firefox 28, Flash, etc. Updated everything. So on and so forth. 5.) Checked all anti-virus and firewall programs for conflicting settings.

And nothing. The problem is still persisting. I'd go a little more in depth insofar as exploration (checking the Java pref logs, site debugger, about:config and such) but I don't feel like voiding any warranty before receiving a bit more insight on this.

Any idea how to get these videos to play properly, guys?

I'm having a persistent problem loading YouTube videos on Firefox (ver. 28, x86--localized US, English) on Windows 7. When loaded, the page will render the HTML, Java, and all that good stuff, but the video itself will sputter, restart a few times within the first couple of seconds, and end up displaying the YouTube error message: "An error has occurred, please try again later. Learn more." The "learn more," is hyperlink referenced to a pretty useless site with some basic troubleshooting advice (all of which I've tried). The computer I'm using is clean of malware, rootkits, etc. (not only is it new, I've done a pretty intensive sweep--looked over the regedit logs--though nothing needed to be removed or changed--so on and so forth). YouTube videos work perfectly in IE and Chrome. Firefox DOES play other Flash required content. Steps I've already taken are: 1.) Reinstalling all Flash programs and plug-ins, updating, and so forth. 2.) Restarting Firefox in safemode without ANY add-ons. I also disabled and removed all add-ons in normal mode to no avail. 3.) Completely reinstalled Firefox from scratch. This means that I've removed Firefox completely (selecting to remove all personal information), and cleared all caches, history, cookies, and so on. 4.) Restored the hard-drive to factory default. Not kidding. Being a new PC, I've got a nothing on it, so I clean installed the OS from scratch just to see--cleanly installed Firefox 28, Flash, etc. Updated everything. So on and so forth. 5.) Checked all anti-virus and firewall programs for conflicting settings. And nothing. The problem is still persisting. I'd go a little more in depth insofar as exploration (checking the Java pref logs, site debugger, about:config and such) but I don't feel like voiding any warranty before receiving a bit more insight on this. Any idea how to get these videos to play properly, guys?

Modified by scrschmidt

All Replies (2)

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Hey thank you very much for the steps of what you have tried. You are right, a brand new laptop and the performance is crucial. I found some of the release notes on the new flash plug in. Release notes for version 13

I also saw that you did not try to disable hardware acceleration in the flash player. To disable hardware acceleration in Flash Player:

  1. Go to this Adobe Flash Player Help page.
  2. Right-click on the Flash Player logo on that page.
  3. Click on Settings in the context menu. The Adobe Flash Player Settings screen will open.
  4. Click on the icon at the bottom-left of the Adobe Flash Player Settings window to open the Display panel.

    The image "fpSettings1.PNG" does not exist.
  5. Remove the check mark from Enable hardware acceleration.
  6. Click Close to close the Adobe Flash Player Settings Window.
  7. Restart Firefox.

This Flash Player Help - Display Settings page has more information on Flash Player hardware acceleration, if you're interested.

Does this solve the problem? Let us know.

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Hur dur. Can't believe I forgot a vital troubleshooting step. Gah.

Still, no luck. I disabled it and am stuck with the same issue. I did find out something odd that leads me to think it might be a hardware issue (?), though I've never encountered something like it.

The videos will play fine with a headphone or speaker plugged into the jack. For the time being, that's a cheap fix, but any ideas for something more permanent?