Youtube video problems in Firefox. Freezes at 2 seconds

[sims]

Hay Guys!

Having problems with Firefox and watching any youtube video's, or any embedded video's for that matter. this happens weither I try and watch the embedded video or go directly to the site.

They work fine well using IE, this is only firefox that is effected. I’ve only had my computer for a couple weeks, I first noticed the issue after installing the combined community codex pack with Media player classic, but even after uninstalling all of it the problem persists.

What happens is that they will play for 2 seconds then freeze. They do load and I can skip to any part I want, but I get no sound from them and they freeze in exactly 2 seconds every time. The weirdest part is that when I first boot up my computer its fine, but with maybe 30 mins of use this problem comes up, if I reboot I’m fine but it will shortly come back.

If I uninstall Firefox and reinstall I am good for aprox 30 mins and then this happens again. Some sites will allow you to download the video’s you’re trying to watch in the browser, if I download them and watch with a media player there is no problem.

Its driving me crazy, any advice? Running Windows XP SP2 if that helps.

Added by Dan:
Try using this tool to uninstall Flash 9. Then install the latest Flash 10 Beta to fix the problem. More info here.

Another quick fix is documented here.

Or try this one...

[ivanolo]

I only have one piece of advice: don't use CODEC packs! I know, I know. That was useless in helping you solve your problem, but that's all I got.

[smirnoff]

Very odd. I wonder if it's something like when when your cache reaches it's preset max of hdd space usage it can cause problems. I know in this case cache isn't involved but something to that effect maybe?

I assume all your drivers are up to date. Even the ones that seem irrelevant. No heat issues? Maybe even double check the ram and video card are seating as they should be, and everything is plugged in?

I know I know, I'm stretching.

[MSP]

I had a weird problem with video recently where it was always REALLY washed out. I removed my video driver, rebooted, and reinstalled it. You might try that. But the 30 minute thing is pretty freaky.

I 2nd the codec pack thing too. I download and install DivX and Xvid, and install a DVD package. Done!

[sims]

Its not exactly 30 mins, I sorta gave that as an estimation. I haven't time it, all I know is on a re-boot i;m good, at some point (aprox 30 mins) I start to have problems.

Its certainly not hardware, it has to be a firefox issue because I can do anything else on my computer including watch movies in a media player, or play games even after the issues come up. I can also fire up IE and watch the same video no problem which is why I don't think the codex is a problem. Plus I uninstalled them and rebooted and the same issue came up.

[Goofus Maximus]

I just use CLSID's ffdshow builds (currently version 1850) for most all my codec needs. No need for any codec packs for me.

When you install Firefox, how do you install the flash player?

[j0k3r]

Hmmmm, mine is doing this too and I have never installed any codec packs.

On EDIT: I deleted all the macromedia shared objects from my AppData profile directory, restarted Firefox and this seems to have fixed it for now. I will let you know if it comes back.

Edit 2: I have confirmed the problem is with the latest version of the Flash player. 9.0.115.0
Downgrading to a previous version did not exhibit this behavior even after watching many videos. However, there are many security issues in previous versions. The only work-around I have found in the current version is to do the following:

1. Browse to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects\GVP00001
2. Delete all the files and folders in this folder
3. Browse to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\macromedia.com\support\flashplayer\sys
4. Delete all the files and folders in the directory
5. Restart Firefox, you should not need to restart your PC

I don't know if Adobe has acknowledged the problem yet, so who knows if a fix is on the way.

[sims]

hmmm, I uninstalled firefox yesterday, updated flash and reinstalled and it seemed fine, but tonights its back to its old tricks :@

I'll give what you said a try and keep updating this thread, thanks for the advice.

1 min edit - So far so good. Hopefully it stays that way, Thanks Joker

[tweakmonkey]

Edit: I was having this exact same problem. It appears to have started for me today or yesterday.

It was fixed after installing the Firefox 3 Beta 3 and rebooting. I have Flash 9.0 r115.

It appeared one day when I had a bunch of videos open in tabs but went away on its own. ^

[sims]

Didn't work for me :/ it works temporarily, like uninstalling and reinstalling fire fox does, but it the problem returns.

I did it this morning before work, and it worked when I got home without any use on my computer, but within an hour or so of use i went to watch something and the same thing happens.

[Goofus Maximus]

and I've never had a problem yet, watching Youtube videos with the latest version of Flash on Firefox 2.0.0.12, and, anime buff that I am, I watch a LOT of them... I wonder if it has to do with hardware/drivers as well as flash?

Everyone with problem, post system specs, and everyone without, ditto...

[unfalse]

I've been having this PROBLEM / BUG in Firefox for some time.

I think even before Flash Player 9,0,115,0.
The fact that Adobe has not posted a bug fix at this point sux.
So how can I downgrade my flash player to 9.0.0 ?

I spent an entire day/week trying to track down why my videos weren't playing properly in Firefox, and now it all makes sense. BUG in the flash player.

Works fine in IE 6.x+
Sometimes my sound stops playing or my video just completely stops.

my specs are as follows:

Windows XP PRO
Dual Xeon 3.0 Ghz 4GB RAM
NVIDIA QUADRO FX 1500
6GB left on my HDD

[tweakmonkey]

I realized the latest beta (3) version of Firefox 3 actually fixed this problem for me, or at least the problem ceased to exist around that time.

[unfalse]

Yes I upgraded to Firefox 3 beta, and it looks to work better now. I haven't seen any flash problems yet. THANKS!

cheers
--
m

[unfalse]

So I've been running FF Beta 3 for some time now. Finally youtube videos froze in flash as well as other tube sites.

any other ideas? am I in the wrong forum? I searched google, and cant seem to find anything about this issue...

--
m

[j0k3r]

So I've been running FF Beta 3 for some time now. Finally youtube videos froze in flash as well as other tube sites.

any other ideas? am I in the wrong forum? I searched google, and cant seem to find anything about this issue...

--
m

Follow my instructions above. It's not a permanent fix, but it will keep you going for a while.

[sims]

A reboot seems to work temporarily aswell, at least for me.

[unfalse]

I followed ure instructions exactly, and it did not work. It would play video for a good 10 seconds then freeze.

i resolved this issue by downgrading... stuff works now in all my browsers.

Archived Flash Players available for testing purposes

I downgraded my flash player to 9,0,45,0, and video works again.

--
m

[sims]

How do you downgrade? I uninstalled my current flash player, but when I tried to uninstall the older versions I get a warning saying their is a newer version and cancels the install.

[tweakmonkey]

This problem has returned for me. *sob* When it happens to me, there's no sound at all as well.

Here's how I fixed it this time without a reboot.

Ctrl-alt-Delete
Find Firefox in the list under Processes tab.
Right click, choose "End Process Tree".
Reload Firefox.