mozilla-plugin-gnash is broken

I can confirm it, if you install the flashplugin-nonfree and remove it, and install the mozilla-plugin-gnash ... it doesn't work ...

Same on 32 and 64 bits version.

this should be investigated.

with a Gutsy (tribe4) fresh install :
- I open a web page needing flash plugin (I never installed any flash plugin since the installation)
- Firefox give me the choice between Adobe flash plugin (non free) and Gnash
- I tick Gnash and Apply

->Then Nothing happend ... Firefox search and search again (or seems to be working) but never ends ...

Note that the same strange thing happens choosing Adobe flash plugin oO ...

So I can't install any flash plugin from Firefox ...

I can confirm behaviour of the above post on my system.

I can confirm the previous post. My system is a Gutsy Tribe 5, a fresh installation and the bug happen if my choice is Gnash or if my choice is Flash. Firefox search and search but never ends...

Excuse my English

On Sun, Aug 26, 2007 at 12:41:26AM -0000, Cyrille Grosdemange wrote:
> with a Gutsy (tribe4) fresh install :
> - I open a web page needing flash plugin (I never installed any flash plugin since the installation)
> - Firefox give me the choice between Adobe flash plugin (non free) and Gnash
> - I tick Gnash and Apply
>
> ->Then Nothing happend ... Firefox search and search again (or seems to
> be working) but never ends ...

this is fixed in ubufox extension ... just update your system.

Sorry for the inconvenience,

 - Alexander

On Sun, Aug 26, 2007 at 10:12:58PM -0000, chemamartin wrote:
> I can confirm the previous post. My system is a Gutsy Tribe 5, a fresh
> installation and the bug happen if my choice is Gnash or if my choice is
> Flash. Firefox search and search but never ends...
>
> Excuse my English
>

Right ... update yur system and you will get cure :).

 - Alexander

why the postinst script don't run:

sudo update-alternatives --auto firefox-flashplugin

It can fix the problem (same for flashplugin-nonfree)

because for me I don't sow any other system to correct this bug (ubufox is not the solution because konqueror and opera use the flashplugin ...)

In the end the bug turned out to be a update-alternatives bug (well at least imo its a bug). If you run update-alternative --remove alternative-name for the last installed alternatives, the alternative doesn't get removed. Even worse, it is switched to manual mode, which causes the pain we see here.

flashplugin-nonfree already ships a fix for this: when last alternative is removed, it runs --remove-all as well, which removes the alternative completely.

Same will be in next gnash upload and should fix the isse for all except those that are already locked in this "no-alternative-selected-in-manual" situation :)... no idea for them atm.

gnash (0.8.1-0ubuntu1) gutsy; urgency=low

  * New upstream version 0.8.1 final - UVFe acked in LP: #144396

  [ Mario Danic ]
  * debian/mozilla-plugin-gnash.prerm: Fixed upgrade procedures
    for people with ubuntu3 and ubuntu4 packages

  [ Alexander Sack ]
  * debian/mozilla-plugin-gnash.prerm: run update-alternative --remove-all
    when no other alternative was installed. (LP: #133197)
  * debian/mozilla-plugin-gnash.postinst: install gnash flash alternative for
    midbrowser.
  * debian/mozilla-plugin-gnash.prerm: remove midbrowser alternative in prerm
    accordingly.
  * debian/mozilla-plugin-gnash.dirs: take care that midbrowser plugins dir
    exists during postinst
  * update patches in turn of changes to upstream code base:
    - drop use_pkglibdir_for_unversioned_libs patch - applied upstream
    - update disable-testsuite which didn't apply because of change code base
      in proximity
  * debian/gnash-common.install: install shared libs of final releases as well

 -- Alexander Sack <email address hidden> Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:10:38 +0200

I am experiencing what appears to be this bug on an updated Hardy.

I thought I'd give Gnash a shot, so I installed it. But Firefox (3) doesn't utilize it, it doesn't appear in the list of plugins, nor does it play content. I tried installing Gnash through Firefox's Ubuntu plugin, through Synaptic, and after removing the nonfree Flash plugin. No luck. Even after its installed I get asked to install plugins when I am on a page with Flash, as if Gnash isn't installed.

Looking at /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/, it seems I have

flashplugin-alternative.so -> /etc/alternatives/mozilla-flashplugin

the latter file which then links

/etc/alternatives/mozilla-flashplugin -> /usr/lib/gnash/libgnashplugin.so

and the last file here exists. Yet, the Gnash plugin does not work, as I said above, from Firefox's point of view it is not installed.

Here is a workaround for all you hardy / firefox-3.0b4 users. This will also work with other versions of firefox. Just change the destination directory.
The problem is that firefox is using "/usr/lib/firefox-3.0b4" while gnash is installing to "/usr/lib/firefox". I am sure once hardy is released firefox will again use "/usr/lib/firefox".

NOTE: Also remove any other files with "flash" in the name from the "/usr/lib/firefox-3.0b4/plugins" before running the command below to remove any previous installs of Adobe flash.

sudo cp /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so /usr/lib/firefox-3.0b4/plugins/

Good Luck and happy youtubing

This bug is still present on a dist-upgraded hardy beta. When has the fix been released, and when will it show up via updates?

Bug is still present in Hardy final release.

Sorry, never mind.

Similar bug present in Oneiric . Installed gnash from the repositories (when I already had the FF plugin ), because I tried to get shockwave (turns out not possible) . Then FF started displaying that I need the plugin , but in the same time when I tried installing it it said that the package was already there . There is a major problem in the system itself (that installs'removes the plugin) , since the problem doesn't go away upon preinstallation of the plugin .