adobe flash player 2014 won't install on Mountain Lion

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Level 1

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adobe flash player 2014 won't install on Mountain Lion

Suddenly last week flash player stopped working on my MacBook Pro - Mountain Lion. I tried downloading the new version but it kept timing out and ending with an error message. Even when I unlocked my my security settings to allow downloads from anywhere. I was able to download some version of Adobe Flashplayer via an alternate site - softpedia, but only some videos will work with that and with others I continue to get the alert to upgrade. I tried calling Apple, but of course they wanted me to pay to have them help me solve what is essentially THEIR problem as I see it. Only as a last resort.

C.

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Jul 27, 2014 4:32 PM

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Answer 1

Paul_31

Level 6

14,172 points

Jul 28, 2014 1:26 AM in response to bwocs

bwocs wrote:

I was able to download some version of Adobe Flashplayer via an alternate site - softpedia, ...

That may have been a mistake. The ONLY place to safely download Flash from is Adobe, plus the fact that Softmedia have been known to bundle other stuff - adware, for example - in the software downloads. So far as I'm aware, macupdate.com are considered to be a much safer source when downloading software (Flash should still come directly from Adobe though).

Regarding your problem, have you tried completely uninstalling Flash using Adobe Flash Player Install Manager, which should be in your Utilities folder, and starting over with a direct download from Adobe? http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions/

If you continue to have problems you could consider downloading and running Google Chrome as a browser which has its own version of Flash built-in - at least until you get the current problem resolved.

If as a result of your download from Softpedia you start seeing odd behaviour in your browser you may find this link useful, courtesy of The Safe Mac, for removing any unwittingly installed adware: http://www.thesafemac.com/arg/

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Answer 2

Jul 28, 2014 11:52 AM in response to bwocs

bwocs, was it the download that failed or the update?

Adobe bundles the actual update with an Update Manager and this often stalls at 95%.

Your first step should be to follow these instruction from Adobe to completely uninstall and reinstall Flash: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1267823

Note, that this asks you to trash any pre-existing version of Flash Player Install Manager. This step is important.

If that still fails you, follow my detailed step-by step instructions in this thread:

Problems installing Adobe Flash Player 14.0.0.125.

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Answer 3

bwocs Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 29, 2014 5:51 PM in response to gaberdine mac

Hi gabardine. I clicked on that link and it told me HOW to uninstall flash player, but there was no way to actually get to the uninstaller. It kept going back to the same help page. I googled flash player uninstall and got sent sent to the same Adobe help page which does not give me a working link to an actual uninstaller.

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Answer 4

Jul 29, 2014 6:43 PM in response to bwocs

bwocs wrote:

"...it told me HOW to uninstall flash player, but there was no way to actually get to the uninstaller"

Yeah. There is. I just downloaded it.

If I have to spell it out:

Gaberdine wrote:

Your first step should be to follow these instruction from Adobe to completely uninstall and reinstall Flash: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1267823

...Where it says:

To start, Please follow the Uninstall instructions posted here: http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-mac-os.html

...And on that page it says:

Download the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller:
Mac OS X, version 10.6 and later: uninstall_flash_player_osx.dmg (236 KB)
Mac OS X, version 10.4 and 10.5: uninstall_flash_player_osx.dmg (437 KB)
The uninstaller is downloaded to the Downloads folder of your browser by default.

But don't take my word for it, follow the links and see for yourself.

There's a reason Apple charges for support when a) the problem is *not* of their making and b) the answer is right there in front of you.

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Answer 5

bwocs Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 29, 2014 8:12 PM in response to gaberdine mac

Sorry, I should have specified that I tried clicking those links and either nothing happened or it just reloaded the same page. And I tried it several times. Finally I searched my Mac for the uninstaller and found all the times I tried to install flash player and found an uninstaller. I clicked on the uninstaller which ran and then told me that I had uninstalled flash player. But all the old versions I had tried to install were still there. I put them all in the trash and then went to Adobe and tried downloading flash player again but ran into the same problem where it said "retrieving.." something and then timed out again. And thanks for being so condescending.

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Answer 6

Jul 29, 2014 8:53 PM in response to bwocs

You're welcome.

It sounds like you have a problem connecting to Adobe's download servers rather than a problem with Flash.

You might want to talk to your ISP for help with that.

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Answer 7

bwocs Author

Level 1

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Jul 30, 2014 4:03 AM in response to gaberdine mac

Alas, I already talked to them before I tried this forum. They are geared toward Mac and have helped me solve many problems without having to go to Apple. They suggested the Softpedia site which gave me a successful download, but not of the latest flash. So I was able to see some videos but not others.

I should also mention that when Mavericks came out I downloaded it and thus began months and months of disfunction. I have a 2012 Mac and it just couldn't handle it. Finally, and with great effort, I divorced Mavericks and went back to Mountain Lion. I suspect the problem lies within the divorce, butit's been more than 90 days so they want me to pay. I'm probably going to have to suck it up and pay them to fix this for me, but the whole culture of "We won't give you a manual and we'll make you pay to answer questions after 90 days makes me ill.

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Answer 8

Eric Root

Level 10

685,257 points

Jul 31, 2014 9:47 AM in response to bwocs

If you live near an Apple Store, make a Genius Bar appointment to have the computer tested. Supposedly there is no charge for testing. Use 2nd link if not near an Apple Store or aren’t in the US.

Genius Bar Reservation US

Authorized Service Provider

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Answer 9

bwocs Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 31, 2014 10:43 AM in response to Eric Root

I live in a very rural area. I went to a genius bar once about an hour and a half away in a major shopping center. The controlled chaos there was more than my country nerves could take, but they were VERY helpful and ended up giving me a free fix for something that would have cost me a lot of money.

I think I may have solved my problem with flash player by taking bits of advice from various people, uninstalling all previous flash players and getting a 2014 Adobe version through macdownloads. I've barely used it so far so I don't know if there are a some more sophisticated videos I still can't watch or not, but it's getting me through my daily needs just fine.

Thanks.

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Answer 10

Jul 31, 2014 10:49 AM in response to bwocs

I understand your frustration bwocs but at least you seem to get pretty good service from your ISP.

I presume you can connect to other sites without issue and download from places other that Adobe, since you mention a successful DL from Softpedia. This doesn't sound like it is an OS issue but a networking issue. Here are some things to consider:

Do you have a proxy set up?
Have you rebooted your modem/router/switch/Wifi...?
Are you blocking any ports or protocols on your MacBook or your router?
Have you tried setting up a new Network location from scratch to see if that helps?
Have you tried creating a brand new User account on your Mac and tried downloading to that?
Have you tried downloading Flash from Adobe when connected to the internet at a friend's house or internet cafe?
On a hunch, what make of modem/router do you use to connect to the internet? (Is it by any chance Linksys? If yes, I'll explain.)
Have you tried the Adobe links in as many browsers as you can lay your hands on? If you haven't tried Opera, use that and turn Turbo on.
Download and install Tor browser and see if that allows you to successfully download from Adobe.

There is good reasoning behind each of these. Please investigate them all and report back with your findings. If any of them work, check whether the fix is temporary or permanent (within the conditions of each step).

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Answer 11

bwocs Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 31, 2014 11:59 AM in response to gaberdine mac

Dear Gabardine. Thanks for that long list of helpful suggestions. I'm sure that took some time to compile and I appreciate your efforts. I will save this list for future reference. But oh my, oh my, I guess I'll have to make my final disclosure. I am 71 and pretty much a computer idiot. I'm sure my nephew would understand each one of them, but I was born into an analog world. A place where mail was what you got from the postman and computers hadn't been invented yet, let alone Al Gore and the information superhighway. A place where no one ever thought of calling a guitar anything but a guitar. We didn't know what "acoustic" meant.

So I'm going to take whatever flash player has downloaded on my computer and slink off into the sunset now. You kids have a good time.

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Answer 12

Jul 31, 2014 2:30 PM in response to bwocs

I take my hat off to you, bwocs. And thanks for making me smile.

Glad things are working for you so far with Flash even if it's not the latest version.

...But if I can make one more suggestion, it would be this: Get your nephew (or another friend) to pay you a visit and bring with them a copy of the latest Flash installer.

They can get it here (http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/current/support/install_flash_pla yer_osx.dm g) and put the file on a USB memory stick (or even post it to you - USB memory sticks are cheap as chips these days!)*. That way we don't need to worry about why you can't download the darned thing and just ensure that you can get it!

The great thing about that Flash installer is that it is a standalone file, not an update. It will run itself. You just need to plug the memory stick into your Macbook Pro, locate the installer file and open it in the normal way (by double-clicking). It should all go like clockwork after that.*

Good luck.

Gaberdine

I'm only a couple of decades behind you, bwocs... Whilst I'm not old enough to remember when electric guitars were a novelty, I am old enough to recall when 64KB of memory was quite something, a 10MB hard drive meant your laptop was top of the range and digital calculators were considered incredible technology. Now my unexceptional computer has 8GB memory (16,384 time as much!), a 1TB hard drive (100,000 times the capacity) and my iPhone (which looks a bit like my old Casio calculator but is incalculably more powerful) is considered to be out of date because it is nearly three years old! What a world... I'm gonna take your advice and go have some fun before it completely stops making sense...! :-)

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Answer 13

Sep 13, 2014 10:03 AM in response to gaberdine mac

Ha! Opera totally worked! Thank you SO much!

I Changed my ports on my AirPort Extreme to get less bandwidth interference, which may have been the problem. Regardless, Opera Turbo worked it out.

Thanks again!

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Answer 14

Oct 27, 2014 12:05 PM in response to bwocs

I've have this problem come and go, and come back again.

FIX: The best fix so far for me is to go back to Flash Version 13. The say Flash Player Version 13 is in "extended release". I am on Mac osx 10.7.5 the last version of mac operating system for my machine.

Find it here: for browsers, it may have the strange name "plug in content debugger", I think the word "plug in" matters for browsers. The other "projector" versions I don't know about. The "plug in debugger version 13" fixed my safari problems.

https://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/downloads.html

Fix 2: You must disregard the constant signaling to update to version 15 if you are getting it. The update to version 15 may load a broken version in the browser, then you have to uninstall it with their special utility and reinstall version 13. Get the uninstall download here (or search for adobe flash uninstall on the web):

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-mac-os.html#main_u ninstall

More Possible Explanation: Apparently the weird name "debugger" means they have debugged common problems with it. Essentially you are going back to the previous version since the new one has problems loading/working (keeps getting identified as out-of-date so it won't work) but they don't want to pull the new version off the market, can you imagine that mess. Thanks Adobe for the extended release we depend on it!

Here is adobe's comment on it:

EXTENDED SUPPORT RELEASE - FLASH PLAYER

What is the extended support release?

Adobe makes available a version of Flash Player called the "Extended Support Release" (ESR) to organizations that prefer Flash Player stability over new functionality. We have created a branch of the Flash Player code that we keep up to date with all of the latest security updates, but none of the new features or bug fixes available in our current release branch. This allows organizations to certify and stay secure on Flash Player with minimal effort.

10/14/2014 - Updated debugger and standalone versions of Flash Player. These players contain fixes for critical vulnerabilities identified in Security Bulletin APSB14-22. The latest version is 13.0.0.250 (Win and Mac). All users are encouraged to update to these latest versions.

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