Flash videos not playing until fully loaded
I've been having this issue for a long time. YouTube videos play just fine, but when I try to play different videos, they do not play at all until fully loaded. I have manually removed some plug-ins and add-ons, my flash player and browser are up-to-date and safe mode doesn't help.
The strange thing is I am able to play those same videos on Opera, which leads me to believe the problem is Firefox itself.
Months ago, I remember following a how-to about solving issues related to flash streaming. Back then, it did fix my problem for a while until this problem arose. I don't remember very well what I've done, but I remember setting some values True or False and/or setting some numbers (maybe in seconds?) on a FF window.
I love Firefox and I've been using it for years, but this is unbearable. Thoughts?
Ti ṣàtúnṣe nípa hedonist
All Replies (7)
I can't think of any Firefox setting for that.
You can try right-clicking some Flash media and check the "Settings" and "Global Settings" items on the menu.
You also might find a control panel for Flash in the Windows Vista Control Panel that has those settings.
If you think it could be a Firefox setting, try:
Create a new Firefox profile
A new profile will have your system-installed plugins (e.g., Flash) and extensions (e.g., security suite toolbars), but no themes, other extensions, or other customizations. It also should have completely fresh settings databases and a fresh cache folder.
Exit Firefox and start up in the Profile Manager using Start > search box (or Run):
firefox.exe -P
Any time you want to switch profiles, exit Firefox and return to this dialog.
Click the Create Profile button, choose a useful name (like May2014), and skip the option to use a non-default folder location. Then start Firefox in the new profile you created.
Does Flash work any differently in the new profile?
When returning to the Profile Manager, you might be tempted to use the Delete Profile button. But... it's a bit too easy to accidentally delete your "real" profile, so I recommend resisting the temptation. If you do want to clean up later, I suggest making a backup of all your profiles first in case something were to go wrong.
Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, flash videos play the same - they won't play before completely loaded...
Are you sure they are Flash videos and not QuickTime? I find it easiest to judge by right-click menu that comes up when you click on the player.
Yes, I'm sure it is flash.
Hey hedonist,
I'm not sure if you're still having this problem since it's two months later, but I also had this exact problem today and I found the solution.
I searched through the firefox configuration to see if there could be something internally affecting the video other than the profile and addon/extensions and there was.
Go to your configuration settings by typing in about:config in the search bar.
Once there, search for browser.newtab.preload
If it is set to the default "true", then that is the reason why it won't play until fully preloaded. Switch it to "false" and your video should play even if not fully buffered.
Hope that helps!
Hi jnguyen19, browser.newtab.preload shouldn't affect normal web pages, only Firefox's built-in new tab page. Or maybe it affects other pages that you assign as your "new tab" page in the about:config preference browser.newtab.url. Is that the page giving you a problem?