[Hardy] update-alternatives fails to switch Firefox Flash plug-ins

[TJ]

Binary package hint: flashplugin-nonfree

For Firefox 3.0b4 the Flash plug-in in the Firefox directory isn't used by Firefox:

ls -l /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 37 2008-03-27 14:33 flashplugin-alternative.so -> /etc/alternatives/firefox-flashplugin

Instead, Firefox 3.0b4 uses:

ls -l /usr/lib/xulrunner-addons/plugins/
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 46 2008-03-27 14:33 flashplugin-alternative.so -> /etc/alternatives/xulrunner-addons-flashplugin

I found the problem with Hardy beta amd64, Firefox 3.0b4, and gnash/mozilla-plugin-gnash and nspluginwrapper+flashplugin-nonfree.

First I installed gnash and mozilla-plugin-gnash but gnash isn't good enough so I installed nspluginwrapper with flashplugin-nonfree.

After restarting Firefox "about:plugins" still reported "gnash" as the Shockwave Flash plug-in.

I then ran "sudo update-alternatives --config firefox-flashplugin" to choose the nonfree plug-in but after a Firefox restart that still didn't solve the issue.

I then examined the plug-in files:

ls -l /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 37 2008-03-27 14:33 flashplugin-alternative.so -> /etc/alternatives/firefox-flashplugin
ls -l /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 37 2008-03-27 14:33 flashplugin-alternative.so -> /etc/alternatives/mozilla-flashplugin

ls -l /etc/alternatives/ | grep flash
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 56 2008-03-27 14:42 firefox-flashplugin -> /var/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/npwrapper.libflashplayer.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 2008-03-27 14:36 iceape-flashplugin -> /usr/lib/gnash/libgnashplugin.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 2008-03-27 14:36 iceweasel-flashplugin -> /usr/lib/gnash/libgnashplugin.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 56 2008-03-27 14:49 midbrowser-flashplugin -> /usr/lib/gnash/libgnashplugin.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 56 2008-03-27 14:48 mozilla-flashplugin -> /var/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/npwrapper.libflashplayer.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 56 2008-03-27 14:55 xulrunner-addons-flashplugin -> /usr/lib/gnash/libgnashplugin.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 56 2008-03-27 14:50 xulrunner-flashplugin -> /usr/lib/gnash/libgnashplugin.so

I tried "sudo update-alternatives --config mozilla-flashplugin" but that didn't work.

Finally found that "sudo update-alternatives --config xulrunner-addons-flashplugin" is the correct invocation.

This is very obscure and could lead to a lot of confusion if this isn't programmed around or prominently documented. My suggestion would be to sym-link /etc/alternatives/firefox-flashplugin to /etc/alternatives/xulrunner-addons-flashplugin.

[Robert (robrwo)]

I have a similar issue.

I have both Firefox 3 and Firefox 2 installed (since some websites I use don't work on FF 3). Flash plugin is installed for Firefox 2, but not for 3.

[^rooker (rooker)]

Sorry, but bug #200235 does *not* mention problems with "update-alternatives".

I can confirm that:
"update-alternatives --config xulrunner-addons-flashplugin" is the right command to switch between firefox 3's flash plugin alternatives.

It *is* very confusing that "update-alternatives --config firefox-flashplugin" has no effect on FF3 (I have no FF2 installed).

Recent replies (Oct 08) on someone's blog confirms the confusion:
http://hightechsorcery.com/2008/04/using-update-alternatives-switch-between-gnash-and-swfdec-ubuntu-804

[Alexander Sack (asac)]

update-alternatives is old anyway. use ubufox and then the plugin alternative selector.