Youtube video problems in Firefox. Freezes at 2 seconds

sims · 02-11-2008, 02:19 PM

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.

ivanolo · 02-11-2008, 04:09 PM

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 · 02-11-2008, 04:23 PM

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 · 02-11-2008, 05:13 PM

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 · 02-11-2008, 07:54 PM

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 · 02-11-2008, 08:32 PM

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 · 02-12-2008, 02:03 AM

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 · 02-12-2008, 10:07 PM

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 · 02-13-2008, 11:32 AM

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 · 02-13-2008, 09:34 PM

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 · 02-14-2008, 05:58 AM

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 · 02-14-2008, 06:44 PM

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 · 02-14-2008, 11:02 PM

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 · 02-15-2008, 07:18 PM

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 · 02-18-2008, 10:15 AM

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 · 02-18-2008, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

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

sims · 02-18-2008, 10:40 AM

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

unfalse · 02-18-2008, 01:15 PM

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 · 02-19-2008, 06:56 PM

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 · 02-20-2008, 02:42 AM

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.

Torx · 02-20-2008, 03:25 AM

this problem has always plagued me as well.. its random so i chalked it up to it being a youtube website problem.

some days i cant load and watch a youtube video at all, and some days its fine.

Goofus Maximus · 02-20-2008, 08:31 AM

Do any of you use NoScript? If you do, have you allowed ytimages? The only problems I had with youtube was prior to allowing ytimages domain, and I've not had any problems with flash in general with FF2.0... But then, I have an old single-core system, while everyone has newer dual-core systems, so they might be having some multi-thread problem that I don't have.

Home > Discussion > Tech Youtube video problems in Firefox. Freezes at 2 seconds
Join The Cult	Tweakers	Image Gallery	Donate	Search	Today's Posts	Mark Forums Read

02-11-2008, 02:19 PM	Youtube video problems in Firefox. Freezes at 2 seconds	permalink #1
sims Jolly Roger Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: Winnipeg Posts: 1,770 (#52) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x12	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.

Yesterday, 05:30 PM	#2
Sponsored Links
(hide)

02-11-2008, 04:09 PM	permalink #2
ivanolo Cheap Bastard Jan 2005 Location: Springfield, IL Posts: 2,890 (#28) Thanked 2x in 2 posts x0	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.
	:: ivanolo :: Live and let live

02-11-2008, 08:32 PM	permalink #6
Goofus Maximus Too old to be this dumb! Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: St. Louis area, but in Illinois Posts: 2,467 (#34) Thanked 3x in 3 posts x26	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?
	M7NCD Pro Barton 3000+ @426fsb/2.23ghz 1 Gig Kingston HyperX PC3200 dual mode@426mhz Samsung 40 Gig HD Samsung DVD+/-RW T.B. Santa Cruz EVGA 7600 GS AGP XP Home SP3

	User Name Password Save? Not Registered Yet? Go here.

	Home Forums Deals Articles Reviews About

02-11-2008, 04:23 PM	permalink #3
smirnoff Curmudgeon Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: Winnipeg, MB Posts: 2,830 (#30) Thanked 3x in 3 posts x65	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.

02-11-2008, 05:13 PM	permalink #4
MSP Globe Trekker Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Posts: 16,587 (#1) Thanked 7x in 7 posts x77	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!

02-11-2008, 07:54 PM	permalink #5
sims Jolly Roger Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: Winnipeg Posts: 1,770 (#52) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x12	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.

02-12-2008, 02:03 AM	permalink #7
j0k3r El Chupacabra Jan 2005 Last Seen: 07-10-2008 Location: Phoenix Posts: 2,013 (#45) Thanked 16x in 9 posts x50	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.

02-12-2008, 10:07 PM	permalink #8
sims Jolly Roger Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: Winnipeg Posts: 1,770 (#52) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x12	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 Last edited by sims; 02-12-2008 at 10:13 PM.

02-13-2008, 11:32 AM	permalink #9
tweakmonkey Tweak3D Webmaster Jan 2005 Last Seen: Today Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 4,040 (#14) Thanked 18x in 10 posts x280	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. ^
	webmaster Tweak3D.net "She could be the first VPILF" - ShabazKillaX

02-13-2008, 09:34 PM	permalink #10
sims Jolly Roger Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: Winnipeg Posts: 1,770 (#52) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x12	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.

02-14-2008, 05:58 AM	permalink #11
Goofus Maximus Too old to be this dumb! Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: St. Louis area, but in Illinois Posts: 2,467 (#34) Thanked 3x in 3 posts x26	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...

02-14-2008, 06:44 PM	Flash 9,0,115,0 freezes bug in Firefox	permalink #12
unfalse Junior Member Feb 2008 Last Seen: 02-18-2008 Posts: 4 (#438) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x0	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

02-14-2008, 11:02 PM	permalink #13
tweakmonkey Tweak3D Webmaster Jan 2005 Last Seen: Today Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 4,040 (#14) Thanked 18x in 10 posts x280	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.

02-15-2008, 07:18 PM	Firefox 3 beta	permalink #14
unfalse Junior Member Feb 2008 Last Seen: 02-18-2008 Posts: 4 (#438) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x0	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

02-18-2008, 10:15 AM	Firefox 3 still doesnt fix the bug.	permalink #15
unfalse Junior Member Feb 2008 Last Seen: 02-18-2008 Posts: 4 (#438) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x0	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

02-18-2008, 10:40 AM	permalink #17
sims Jolly Roger Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: Winnipeg Posts: 1,770 (#52) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x12	A reboot seems to work temporarily aswell, at least for me.

02-18-2008, 01:15 PM	permalink #18
unfalse Junior Member Feb 2008 Last Seen: 02-18-2008 Posts: 4 (#438) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x0	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

02-19-2008, 06:56 PM	permalink #19
sims Jolly Roger Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: Winnipeg Posts: 1,770 (#52) Thanked 0x in 0 posts x12	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.

02-20-2008, 02:42 AM	permalink #20
tweakmonkey Tweak3D Webmaster Jan 2005 Last Seen: Today Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 4,040 (#14) Thanked 18x in 10 posts x280	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.

02-20-2008, 03:25 AM	permalink #21
Torx Fecal Funsies! Jan 2005 Last Seen: Today Location: Memphis Posts: 7,531 (#3) Thanked 8x in 6 posts x13	this problem has always plagued me as well.. its random so i chalked it up to it being a youtube website problem. some days i cant load and watch a youtube video at all, and some days its fine.

02-20-2008, 08:31 AM	permalink #22
Goofus Maximus Too old to be this dumb! Jan 2005 Last Seen: Yesterday Location: St. Louis area, but in Illinois Posts: 2,467 (#34) Thanked 3x in 3 posts x26	Do any of you use NoScript? If you do, have you allowed ytimages? The only problems I had with youtube was prior to allowing ytimages domain, and I've not had any problems with flash in general with FF2.0... But then, I have an old single-core system, while everyone has newer dual-core systems, so they might be having some multi-thread problem that I don't have.

Welcome to Tweak3D