This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Why doesn't Mozilla Firefox admit Profile bug, regarding "unresponsive plugin" Shockwave problem?

  • 7 cavab
  • 136 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by AliceWyman

more options

I'm a longtime user, more than 10 years, of Firefox and of Netscape before that. This is the first time I've ever seen "unresponsive plugin," let alone for Shockwave. I followed _every_ solution suggested. Checked up-to-date of plugins and reinstalled several even though they were up to date. Even reinstalled Firefox. Ran a complete Norton scan on my system (totally clear). Finally. On the ADOBE help forum, not on Mozilla's (!!!), someone said that blowing away their Profile and starting anew fixed the problem. This is a drastic step, because it nukes every saved Firefox bookmark and setting. BUT IT WORKS. Dear Mozilla Progammers: You have a PROFILE bug. Please admit it and fix it.

I'm a longtime user, more than 10 years, of Firefox and of Netscape before that. This is the first time I've ever seen "unresponsive plugin," let alone for Shockwave. I followed _every_ solution suggested. Checked up-to-date of plugins and reinstalled several even though they were up to date. Even reinstalled Firefox. Ran a complete Norton scan on my system (totally clear). Finally. On the ADOBE help forum, not on Mozilla's (!!!), someone said that blowing away their Profile and starting anew fixed the problem. This is a drastic step, because it nukes every saved Firefox bookmark and setting. BUT IT WORKS. Dear Mozilla Progammers: You have a PROFILE bug. Please admit it and fix it.

Chosen solution

Sure, try the less disruptive mechanisms first. But if they don't work, as they DID NOT for me: 1) Rename/move your mangled profile (courtesy of unknown or ignored bad Firefox behavior) so that it is out of the way - in other words, effectively deleted. You can also simply delete the profile. 2) Then create a new profile 3) Optional: If you saved the bad profile, try to send it to Mozilla so they can find and fix their bug

To locate the bad profile file, follow directions in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=Profiles

Note from moderator: "Rename/move your Profile" is not the same as deleting it as you still have access to files in the Profile particularly things like the bookmarks. Also, if you wish to rename or move your profile and automatically create a new default profile, the folder to rename or move is the Firefox folder that contains the profiles.ini file. See the Profiles article for its location.

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (7)

more options

Hello cumulus, indeed a new profile helps sometimes and it is great to solve the problem with a new profile.

see (if you have not already) : Recovering important data from an old profile

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox


thank you

more options

Hi cumulus,
sorry you have had a problem.

It is good to know it is fixed. Had you posted here first you would almost certainly have fixed your issue without loosing bookmarks.

Everyone's profile is different it contains the individual users settings

Using a new profile may well be one fix for some such problems although it is the proverbial sledgehammer and nut approach. There is a long thread about this that I recently locked as it was getting totally unreadable.

  • Warning: Unresponsive Plugin; Shockwave flash may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. /questions/957423
    • The Firefox Reset one popular solutions removes most of the profile
    • A clean reinstall could optionally remove the Firefox Profile
    • Other solutions and topics are linked from that thread.
  • Creating a new profile and trying using that would have been a better suggestion
    Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles

This sort of problem can have more than one cause. If removing the profile solves the issue then a less drastic method that almost certainly would work is to create and use a new profile and use that without destroying the original profile. (Copy the original profile elsewhere)

It is highly likely that only part of the profile causes the problem.

As noted in the other thread this forum is not a place where you will get developer attention.

Do you have the Profile Bug ?

OR Unresponsive Plugin Problem, with FlashPlayer

If there is a profile bug then a bug report may be filed for developers attention, and the first stage of doing that is to be able to carefully document steps to reproduce the problem

  • . So anyone blowing away the profile should first of all back it up
    • Being able to reinstall the faulty profile should then reproduce the problem and so demonstrate clearly that the profile is the cause of the problem
      Or just use the profile manager to switch profiles it is simpler and quicker
    • Next even before considering filing a bug try reinstalling or activating different parts of the profile to narrow down the problem.

If anyone does run in to this bug and needs help

  1. Please start a new thread of your own.
  2. For this issue only use this special quick shortcut
    /questions/new/desktop/fix-problems/form?search=Unresponsive+flash+%28se...
    edit improved link https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/que.../form?search=Profile+bug%3F++%22unresponsive+plugin%22+Shockwave+%28%2Fquestions%2F970014%29&step=aaq-question
  3. Please follow the prompts to include full troubleshooting information
  4. By all means mention in this thread that you have posted a question, others will be able to follow your progress. But please do not just try to ask your own support question here.

Modified by John99

more options

For anyone seeing the dialog box, "Warning: Unresponsive plugin. Shockwave flash may be busy, or it may have stopped responding"

Before you create a new profile (or reset Firefox) and before you ask a new question, please read this article:

Warning Unresponsive plugin - What it means and how to fix it

more options

Seçilmiş Həll

Sure, try the less disruptive mechanisms first. But if they don't work, as they DID NOT for me: 1) Rename/move your mangled profile (courtesy of unknown or ignored bad Firefox behavior) so that it is out of the way - in other words, effectively deleted. You can also simply delete the profile. 2) Then create a new profile 3) Optional: If you saved the bad profile, try to send it to Mozilla so they can find and fix their bug

To locate the bad profile file, follow directions in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=Profiles

Note from moderator: "Rename/move your Profile" is not the same as deleting it as you still have access to files in the Profile particularly things like the bookmarks. Also, if you wish to rename or move your profile and automatically create a new default profile, the folder to rename or move is the Firefox folder that contains the profiles.ini file. See the Profiles article for its location.

Modified by AliceWyman

more options

cumulus, I'm marking your answer as the solution as far as this thread is concerned, since it worked for you.

more options

Rename/move your Profile is not the same as deleting it as you still have access to files in the Profile particularly things like the bookmarks.

more options

Thanks, James. I edited the "solution" with that information, plus details on how to automatically create a new default profile by moving or renaming the Firefox folder located in the profile path. Ref: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Creating_a_new_default_profile