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

swf file playback problems but not in IE, Chrome or Opera

  • 18 balasan
  • 69 ada masalah ini
  • 1 paparan
  • Balasan terakhir oleh cor-el

more options

Anybody have any ideas on FF not playing the swf file uploaded when it works fine in the other browsers? It sits spinning as if uploading forever. This was the case with version 3.6 then I upgraded to 4.0 and the same. I have updated the flash player to the latest also and still the same.

Anybody have any ideas on FF not playing the swf file uploaded when it works fine in the other browsers? It sits spinning as if uploading forever. This was the case with version 3.6 then I upgraded to 4.0 and the same. I have updated the flash player to the latest also and still the same.

All Replies (18)

more options

I've just spent the last hour trying to get your video to play on my system (Win XP SP3) with Firefox 4, but to no avail.

I'm sure one of the mods will read this post shortly since they seem to follow me around all the time, so for the benefit of them as well, I've already reset the plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types as per instructions @ http://kb.mozillazine.org/File_types_and_download_actions#Resetting_download_actions without fixing the problem.

On my system, the other setting namely browser.download.pluginOverrideTypes wasn't present. Similarly, renaming the file called mimeTypes.rdf didn't make any difference either.

You could try doing this yourself just in case you get a different result.

I've tried running FF4 in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to eliminate an add-on as the culprit, but it didn't make any difference.

I can however play the file @ http://megaswf.com/serve/1053359/ in IE8.

In your particular case, you don't appear to have Shockwave For Director installed which is normally required to play enhanced SWF files, but I do and I still cannot play that file.

You can install it yourself from http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/

You should also update Flash to the latest version from http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ because of a vulnerability in the version you have at the moment which you can read about here: http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa11-02.html

However, the player version doesn't appear to be the problem here.

Hopefully, somebody else will be able to resolve this issue for you shortly.

more options

I can't get it to play either. It looks to me that the Flash player or the actionscript that loads the movie is crashing or hangs otherwise because the loading message disappears. It is possible that it is a problem with the Flash plugin used in Firefox. If Google Chrome works then that may be because it has its own implementation of Flash. Epiphany that uses WebKit (like Chrome), but does use the same plugin as Firefox also shows this problem.

more options

I love it when somebody gets right down to it and even more so when they communicate so clearly. Thank you Xircal!

I was not able to find these (I believe because they were not present although always prepared to be wrong) browser.download.pluginOverrideTypes plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types

Neither could I find the mimeTypes.rdf which concerned me because I get the impression that must be there (perhaps you could confirm that for me?)

As per your advice I did install Shockwave For Director and updated Adobe Flash yet again. As you suspected no improvement. If somebody does look at this I can confirm that I had no difficulty viewing in Chrome or Opera.

more options

You should be able to find the mimeTypes.rdf by going to Help | Troubleshooting Information which will open another page, and then click the "Open Containing Folder" button. Firefox automatically recreates it if you delete or rename it.

You might not find it with a search if you have Windows configured not to show file extensions. You can change that setting via Folder Options | View although M$ has no doubt called the location something else in Win 7. I've included a screenshot to show you where you should be looking anyway.

Also rather odd is that an extension I have installed called Flash Video Downloader ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/flash-video-downloader-youtube/ ) seems to think that there isn't a file there that can be downloaded i.e. the icon remains greyed out.

I tried it again this morning because Firefox has been updated to 4.0.1 (go to Help | About Firefox | Check For Updates to get it), but it hasn't made any difference.

I don't see any problems in the HTTP viewer @ http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html either, so I just don't know at the moment I'm afraid.

more options

I filed a bug report and will update this thread when I have some news.

more options

Do not confuse Shockwave for Director with Shockwave Flash.
That site uses the Flash plugin and not the Shockwave for Director plugin.

This is not a Firefox bug as I see the same in Epiphany that uses WebKit for rendering. It is possible that the NPAPI version of the Flash plugin can't handle this particular file.

I can download and save the video http://megaswf.com/file/1053359.swf (georgetownmalaysia.swf; 4.3 MB) and play it with the Flash player.

more options

Many thanks for your continuing helpful advice. I located the mimeTypes.rdf file in the following location: AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\6shryrn3.default Deleted and restarted Firefox but no improvement on being able to see the swf file first pointed to. Perhaps the maestros have the answer. Thanks again.

more options

Bug 653685 – The video hangs in Firefox 4, but can be played in other browsers such as IE8

more options

I was asked to do the following by the bug handler which was to update the graphics drivers and create a new Profile. I did both, but it didn't make any difference. I've reported that fact in the link co-rel posted, but could you do the same please just in case you get a different result.

I have an NVIDIA 880 GTX and the latest driver is v270.61 released 18-04-2011, download from http://www.nvidia.com Uninstall the existing drivers via Add/Remove Programs first and then reboot.

To create a new Profile, follow instructions in this article: Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles

more options

Here is a bookmarklet that allows to save that Flash movie via a download link at the bottom of the page that you can use for testing (right click: Save Link As).


javascript:(function(){var D=document,B=D.body,N,E=D.createElement('DIV'),U='http://megaswf.com/file/1053359.swf',i;E.setAttribute('style','text-align:left;color:#000000;background-color:#f8f8f8;counter-reset:links');A=E.appendChild(D.createElement('A'));A.setAttribute('href',U);A.style.color='#000';A.innerHTML=U.replace(/&/g,'%26amp;');B.appendChild(D.createElement('HR'));B.appendChild(E);})();

Diubah oleh cor-el

more options

I have a ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics card (on a 64-bit notebook) and updated the graphics when I first began to experience this swf file hanging problem. I have now created a new Firefox user with the problem continuing.

So the only thing I haven’t done is uninstall the graphics drivers and re-install which I am a little nervous about doing as it appears to me to be so fundamental. In addition to which the only program alluding to ATI graphics under “uninstall a program” is termed “ATI Catalyst Install Manager” and this leaves me also in doubt as to whether this is it and if it would be wise to uninstall. If you think it is safe to do so let me know and I have the (catalyst_mobility_64-bit_util) driver file downloaded from the AMD Catalyst site which I then presume would be the correct reinstall file Details for this are: Catalyst Software Suite1.1 MB11.4 4/27/2011

more options

Further to the above post I was soon prompted to uninstall the graphics drivers and reinstall due to a conflict I found on another program indicating that there was something up with my graphics drivers. It was of course straightforward (it didn’t completely remove all graphic capability as I naively thought and you are very welcome to laugh at that!) and my program is thankfully back working properly but the megaswf file still does not play in Firefox. The only other check I have on it is I put one of my two megaswf files up as a test at http://enlightenment.zxq.net/georgetown-malaysia-photos.html and that embedded file has no difficulty playing on Firefox or any of my browsers, although one friend out of several indicated he had a problem viewing it. So good people the untangling would seem to be necessary somewhere between Firefox and megaswf.com

more options

There's a video on the ATI/AMD site on how to uninstall old drivers in case you get stuck: http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx

more options

Thank you. It was actually that very site which inspired me to do the uninstall. Concise and, in my case, empowering videos explaining that it is in fact a no-nonsense procedure. Good for AMD.

more options

I have tested that Flash movie (georgetownmalaysia.swf) a bit further and noticed that the file has been completely downloaded when the loading text stops at 80%. I can open that cached file in an external flash player or rename the file and open in Firefox and it work perfectly and the loading counts to 100%.
In Google Chrome the loading message also stops at 80% and the file in the cache seems complete. It still takes a while before the movie starts, but it works there (Google Chrome has its own flash plugin).

more options

Well, the bug handler has all the necessary info and I would imagine that we'll get another Firefox update sometime in the not too distant future to resolve the issue.

more options

I just installed Firefox 4. for the first time and opened our corporate website; dpsbackup.com. The opening SWF file does not run as well. I am wondering if anyone else shows a flash showing or not?

more options

On dpsbackup.com there is a problem with the scr URL in the EMBED for Firefox.

IE gets /images/home_portal.swf and Firefox gets home_portal.swf, so that need to be fixed to make it work in Firefox.


<OBJECT CLASSID="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
<PARAM NAME="MOVIE" VALUE="/images/home_portal.swf">

<EMBED SRC="home_portal.swf" >


<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="/images/home_portal.swf">

There are also errors in the CSS code showing in the Tools > Error Console like this typo (; instead o :): background-color;inherit;

Diubah oleh cor-el