There are some compatibility issues between the latest Flash player and some Firefox add-ons or settings. Could you see whether anything in this article helps: Flash 11.3 doesn't load video in Firefox.

good thought. but i did MORE than it suggested (disabled ALL Realplayer extensions), and........ nothing. =/

Have you considered disabling the new protected mode in Flash 11.3? See this support article from Adobe under the heading "Last Resort": Adobe Forums: How do I troubleshoot Flash Player's protected mode for Firefox?

well, i do what it says, but get a "access denied" when saving that file.....

That's a protected location. If you save to the desktop or another non-protected location, then you can drag and drop the file to that folder by approving a UAC security prompt.

got it.

success! thank you.

but why did i have to do that?

but why did i have to do that?

Why did you have to disable protected mode? It seems to interact poorly with certain add-ons. Lots of developers are working on sorting it out, but haven't been able to do it yet.