Opera comes with Flash pre-installed?

A Former User

"But the package adobe-flashplugin, contains pepper flash." --gustavwiz

I didn't know that. Also, in reference to your comment to adasiko, I only discovered this year that when you update your system, Flash doe NOT update with it. Yeah, that's unbelievable, isn't it? I used Linux for several years before learning this. Honestly, I was flabbergasted when I learned that.

Read what Scott(0) asks PCNetSpec in Peppermint forum, and look how many times this thread has been read --2700 times!

https://forum.peppermintos.com/index.php/topic,1029.msg8826.html#msg8826

Honestly, gustavwiz, I can't stand Flash, but it is still a necessary software platform many of us need at times. That is why I suggest using a Flash blocker too in order to keep Flash safely out of the way when we don't want it to become active. And this idea of using a Flash blocker is another trick I learned from the fellows in Peppermint forum.

perknh

A Former User

I first tried out with adobe-flashplugin with my Firefox, but it was no go. As stated in the Adobe Flash website, it didn't get any more up-to-date than the 11.2. version. The same seemed to be the case with my Chromium earlier, but now as adobe-flashplugin has been purged from my system and pepperflash (alone) installed, the problem seems to be fixed though.

@perknh: sorry, my mistake! I totally confused the self-ran .deb package with those other applications approved to the Ubuntu Software Center! Therefore, I'd like to take back my inconsiderate comment!

Hmm, would it be a big of an operation to do the same installation of pepperflash to my Opera browse? Oh boy, I also hope that in a few years the whole flash will be dead and buried, but at the moment it is necessary for some of the applications I am running online. I currently have my Opera with the FlashBlocker, I hope that helps a bit.

Ps. Is there still need for any further updates, autoremoves, or autocleans with respect to the previous procedures for Chromium?

Thanks and happy Friday!

A Former User

I finally found the Opera broweser I installed earlier from the Ubuntu Software Center (it could be found by clicking the little down-arrow at the right-side of the "Installed" icon).

I've now removed it, and next I will start following the instructions given by perknh (https://forums.opera.com/topic/8091/a-way-i-found-to-install-opera-stable-from-the-terminal/9).

An interesting observation though. At the installation window of the Ubuntu Software Center, Opera browser lists the "Pepper Flash Player - browser plugin (pepperflashplugin-nonfree)" as an Optional add-on. I had that ticked when I installed my Opera, but still it didn't appear in the Extensions-section. Just a curiosity...

A Former User

@gustavwizm and @perknh: I just (successfully?) installed Opera browser by following the instructions provided by perknh (https://forums.opera.com/topic/8091/a-way-i-found-to-install-opera-stable-from-the-terminal/9). The flash is now displayed at the "opera://plugins", but I am facing the same problem as gustavwizm reported in his earlier posts: the version indeed shows as 99.999.999.999:

Adobe Flash Player
Version: 99.999.999.999
Shockwave Flash 99.999 r999
Location: /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libpepflashplayer.so
Type: PPAPI (out-of-process)

Any ideas?

A Former User

Hi jayaguru-shishya,

Congratulations to you for installing Opera from the command line. That's great!

Once your Pepperflash plugin is installed, it is good for any Chromium-based browser --Opera included. There's no need to remove Pepperflash because you were already running the most up-to-date version of it. Are you sure, jayaguru-shishya, that Pepperflash is still installed? What does it say in Chromium when you run

chrome:plugins

?

This is what I get in Opera 37.0.2178.32 when I run: chrome:plugins

Adobe Flash Player
Version: 21.0.0.216
Shockwave Flash 21.0 r0

It also says "Opera is up to date"

Did you say "Yes" to letting Opera update along with your system, or Ubuntu? It helps if you do so.

Have you done a system update, upgrade, autoremove, autoclean, and a reboot?

Even though Flash does not update along with Ubuntu, it might not hurt to run those commands again. A lot have been changed here.

perknh

A Former User

@perknh: I am sorry to disappoint you, but as I removed the earlier Opera installation through the Ubuntu Software Center (the one that had the "Pepper Flash Player" as an Optional add-on), seemingly the Chromium has returned to the 11.2.999.999 version. I just rebooted my system to make it sure:

Adobe Flash Player - Version: 11.2.999.999
Shockwave Flash 11.2 r999
Name:	Shockwave Flash
Description:	Shockwave Flash 11.2 r999
Version:	11.2.999.999
Location:	/usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libpepflashplayer.so
Type:	PPAPI (out-of-process)

Honestly, this is a bit frustrating. Even more when I acknowledge that if I start running the different commands in amok through the terminal, I might end up having multiple flashes installed again - which I don't want of course.

Well, lesson learnt. I think the (crucial) mistake happened when I installed the Opera browser through a .deb -package that I ran it through the Ubuntu Software Center, and specifically when I removed the installation together with the "Pepper Flash Player" optional add-on that it listed. Oh boy, I am frustrated since I was removing only one installation of the Opera software, not any other plugins installed to my system (the pepperflash was installed long before Opera came in).

Anyway perknh, would you give it a one more go to help me? I know you can be disappointed and frustrated as well, but it would mean a great deal to me. Also, I am trying to follow all the instructions in a clear, consistent way, so it's not just that I'm being careless.

And to your question about the system update, upgrade, autoremove, autoclean, and reboot? With respect to the Opera installation instructions, I just followed every step that was told to execute through the terminal. I did boot the system, though. In regards to the earlier pepperflash installation on Chromium, I also just followed blindly the instructions, although asked a couple of times if any further autoremoves or autocleans would be needed.

I am frustrated, but I hope this helps! Not gonna give up!

A Former User

Hi ayaguru-shishya,

"And to your question about the system update, upgrade, autoremove, autoclean, and reboot? With respect to the Opera installation instructions, I just followed every step that was told to execute through the terminal. I did boot the system, though. In regards to the earlier pepperflash installation on Chromium, I also just followed blindly the instructions, although asked a couple of times if any further autoremoves or autocleans would be needed." --ayaguru-shishya

I know you've asked that question a couple of times over. We do update and upgrade and do housecleaning quite regularly in Linux. Not usually as often as we're doing now, but we have a few special circumstances here we don't usually encounter every day. And you do have to take a bit of a leap of faith in the beginning when you're working with somebody and you start entering commands in the terminal. You are entering them blindly in the beginning --it's true.

ayaguru-shishya, I'm 99.99% certain that the installations that you do have on your computer are just fine. Are you comfortable with running the command

sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree

again?

It might take a couple of minutes to install and update. Are you comfortable doing this? I felt the same way as you do now when I started with Peppermint a few years ago. I understand the feeling.

No matter what, you have accomplished a couple of big things here. You gotten rid of that Skunk Pepper-flash PPA, and you've successfully installed Opera from within the terminal. These are achievements --even if you stop here!

Remember many, many people do not like, or use, Flash any longer. It IS a potential security risk --and even a little more if it's not updated. But, we are running Linux. We're still a lot safer than those Windows folks. I still recommend installing Flash --because you want or because you need it-- and then installing NoFlash in Opera, and Flashcontrol in Chromium. Then Flash is blocked until you're at a site you trust and then you decide that you want to enable it --nobody else. In other words, you have it when you need it, but it's blocked when you don't.

Anyway if you want to keep going, let's install Pepperflash again and see how things go.

perknh

A Former User

Hi there, @perknh! Don't worry, I trust your willingness to help completely!

Okay, I ran the command line in the terminal and this is what I get:

xxxxxs:~$ sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree
[sudo] password for xxxxxs: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
pepperflashplugin-nonfree is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
xxxxxs:~$

Hmm, how very odd... Chrome still reports the version to be 11.2.999.999, and Opera respectively 99.999.999.999.

A Former User

Now, my friend, you've got me stumped --really stumped! Have you rebooted by chance, or logged out and then back in --just in case we need to jump start something?

jayaguru-shishya, if you haven't logged out and then back in, or if you haven't rebooted the computer, please do that and check your Flash numbers one more time in case the solution is as simple as that. You've really got me scratching my head here because, quite frankly, this isn't making any sense.

I've got a lot of support behind me in other forums, but I need to ask my friends if they will be kind enough to take a look at this problem with us. If I can't get your up-to-date Pepperflash plugin to work within your Ubuntu 14.04 installation, there are many people I know who can. With your permission of course, I will see if my friends will discuss this issue in another forum with us --where there are some real Linux gurus and not only Linux geeks to help--but first please reboot your computer, or log out and then back in, and please check those Flash numbers again. Something is very odd here --especially since I'm running the same programs as you, and I've installed the same Pepperflash plugin as you. Why is my pepperflash installation working perfectly fine for me, but not for you? I haven't had you do one thing that I haven't done on my computer --not one thing! Why are your Flash numbers wrong, while mine are perfectly correct?

I've been thinking about this for a couple of hours,jayaguru-shishya, and I can tell you that this is now becoming a puzzle. With a little luck though, if my friends will agree to look at this problem with us, you're going to get to see how the real pros handle this one. And, that experience itself, is worth its weight in gold.

But, please, reboot your computer, and then check those numbers again for both Chromium and Opera.

jayaguru-shishya, now we're on a mission!

perknh

A Former User

@perknh, if there is something positive, I can date back the exact moment after which the problem occurred. Please see below the timeline of the past happenings:

If you remember my comment from May 5 (https://forums.opera.com/post/98548), I reported you that the pepperplugin with my CHROMIUM browser was finally working just fine.
That was just Chromium, and we agreed to move to the Opera browser next. After that, you doubted that my Opera wasn't installed correctly (https://forums.opera.com/post/98549). Indeed, I had installed my Opera browser by downloading a .deb -file through Internet, and then running it through the Ubuntu Software Center (explained here: https://forums.opera.com/post/98551).

----IMPORTANT----
3. In May 6, I reported that I had removed my Opera installation (https://forums.opera.com/post/98613). I removed the installation through the Ubuntu Software Center, and before executing the removal, the "Pepper Flash Player - browser plugin (pepperflashplugin-nonfree)" box was ticked. I doubt that this mistake removed / made non-functional all the previous work with the pepperflash installation. In other words, I THINK THIS REMOVAL KILLED THE ALREADY FUNCTIONING PEPPERFLASH!
----IMPORTANT----

This is just my Linux newbie instinct, but I hope it helps to track down the line of event that has been going on! Cheers! Thanks for your help everyone, especially @perknh ! Sure you can spread the word to other forums, no problems. I hope you are not giving up on this though, since we almost made it! Cheers!

A Former User

Hi jayaguru-shishya,

I can't see that anyone has made any mistakes here. Now, I know you said that you uninstalled Opera from the Software Center. That is fine. Now, just for clarification, did you uninstall Opera, or Opera-stable, or both, from the Software center before reinstalling Opera-stable again? Honestly, I don't think this makes a bit of difference, but maybe this is when this problem began.

I take it the numbers are the same after rebooting?

Am I right that this problem began after installing Opera from Opera's download site, then uninstalling Opera or Opera-stable, and then reinstalling Opera-stable via the terminal? That's when we started to get these screwy numbers for Adobe Flash? Am I right about this?

perknh

A Former User

Yeppp, exactly @perknh !

It was Opera-stable that I installed AND uninstalled (I downloaded it from here http://deb.opera.com/opera/pool/non-free/o/opera-stable/). At my Ubuntu Software Center, there was no other listing of Opera. I.e. IT WAS THE ONLY ONE.
When I uninstalled my Opera browser through the Ubuntu Software Center, it had this "Pepper Flash Player - browser plugin (pepperflashplugin-nonfree)" crossed from the "Optional add-on" -list. Then I executed the uninstallation. After this, I think, the problem emerged.
Yes, the version numbers are same after rebooting. I have already rebooted more than twice now.
Yes, you are right that the problem began after installing Opera from Opera's download site; then uninstalling Opera-stable (the only one listed at the Ubuntu Software Center; could have been found by clicking the little down-arrow at the right-side of the "Installed" icon, but not by a normal search, neither through Dash); and then reinstalling Opera-stable via the terminal. After that, these screwy version numbers began to appear for Adobe Flash.
So in short, you got it right! Just wanted to answer in utmost detail to make it easier to follow Thanks!

A Former User

Hi jayaguru-shishya,

I bet you never thought you were going to have as much fun in Opera forum as you're having now! How could it get better than this?

jayaguru-shishya, what would you like to do now?

Since I started with Ubuntu too, I can tell you that the best move I ever made was to replace Ubuntu Unity 12.04 LTS with Peppermint Linux OS. I say this because, when I did so, I finally had a light, blistering fast, and very customizable distribution that was Ubuntu-based (a derivative of Ubuntu). But, even more importantly than that, I discovered that I had support from 6-12 experts in Linux within an incredible support forum. And that's when things began to click for me using Linux.

Me? I'd install 64-bit Peppermint 6 , and then, right off the bat, I'd have a distribution that has Chromium (not Firefox) as its default browser, and then I'd install, via the terminal, Opera-stable (allowing it to update itself with system updates. That, believe it or not, would probably take care of your Flash issue faster than removing this and that, and then checking this and that all over again.

BUT, it may be that if you just uninstalled Opera-stable, and then reinstalled, we might be able to sort this out relatively fast. It seems your problem with Flash began after installing Opera-stable.

Would you like to keep your Ubuntu 14.04 and remove Opera-stable completely before reinstalling it over again? If this works, this would be the quickest thing to do.

If this what you'd like to do first, run this command:

sudo apt-get remove --purge opera-stable

That command should remove and purge Opera-stable for you.

Would you like to start there, jayaguru-shishya?

And you certainly know how to install Opera now --two ways in fact! (By the way, I don't believe Opera would ever knowingly try to download any malware to your computer. I'm just more comfortable installing from the command line until Opera realizes that its users would prefer downloading from an encrypted and secure download site. But, that's me. If you feel more comfortable downloading from Opera's official site than using the terminal -- say using DuckDuckGo or Google to verify that you are at Opera's official site-- please, by all means, do so.)

perknh

A Former User

Hi @perknh! Well, it was worth a try. I removed Opera and then re-installed it, but as I suspected it didn't work. After all, my Chromium doesn't have the up-to-date pepperflash anymore either.

Although a newbie, my intuition would be that the removal of Opera through Ubuntu Software Center broke the pepperflash-plugin (since the optional add-on was crossed). How about removing the whole pepperflash and then reinstalling that from the scratch? How would that sound like to you? And moreover, would you be willing to help me with the procedure? I am quite confident that It'd help.

The pepperflash was working perfectly until I removed my first installation of Opera. It must have removed something important, since I accidentally chose to remove the optional add-on called "Pepper Flash Player - browser plugin (pepperflashplugin-nonfree)".

Thanks for the invitation to peppermint camp! I've been on Linux for two weeks now, and I think I'll give Ubuntu a chance still for a while!

So, what do you say?

A Former User

You're a quick study, jayaguru-shishya! I think that's an excellent idea of removing and purging Pepperflash and then installing it again. What harm can this do?

Wow! I did not realize that you've only been two weeks with Ubuntu. Of course, stay put for a while. The invitation to Peppermint stands.

I bet you know what to run now:

First:

sudo apt-get remove --purge pepperflashplugin-nonfree

I'd follow that by:

sudo apt-get autoremove

&

sudo apt-get auto clean

I'd probably then log out and then in, or reboot.

Then I'd run:

sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree

Hopefully, this will get you up and running again correctly.

I can't wait to hear how this goes for you, jayaguru-shishya, but I think you're onto something now.

Good luck!

perknh

A Former User

Okay @perknh, now it's complaining that there "is no public key available":

xxxxxs:~$ sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree
[sudo] password for xxxxxs: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Suggested packages: chromium ttf-mscorefonts-installer ttf-dejavu ttf-xfree86-nonfree hal
The following NEW packages will be installed: pepperflashplugin-nonfree
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 10,1 kB of archives.
After this operation, 66,6 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/multiverse pepperflashplugin-nonfree amd64 1.3ubuntu1 [10,1 kB]
Fetched 10,1 kB in 0s (20,3 kB/s)                     
Selecting previously unselected package pepperflashplugin-nonfree.
(Reading database ... 192403 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../pepperflashplugin-nonfree_1.3ubuntu1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking pepperflashplugin-nonfree (1.3ubuntu1) ...
Setting up pepperflashplugin-nonfree (1.3ubuntu1) ...
ERROR: failed to retrieve status information from google : W: There is no public key available for the following key IDs: 1397BC53640DB551
More information might be available at: http://wiki.debian.org/PepperFlashPlayer
xxxxxs:~$

What am I ought to do next?

A Former User

Hi jayaguru-shishya,

It's true, there is no public key available (This has been an issue all along for us here.), but we had a workaround that was working before! Now our workaround isn't even working!!

Grr! & Double Grr!!

We'll you can always uninstall Chromium, and then install Chrome. That should give you a Pepperflash plugin that is working. Honestly, jayaguru-shishya, I've only got about three more rabbits that I can pull out of my hat, and Google Chrome is one of them.

Uninstall Chromium, and then install Chrome from its secure and encrypted download page. That SHOULD get you an up-to-date version of Flash, because you have to agree to the installation which includes proprietary software which would include Adobe Flash, packaged through Pepperflash.

Here's a link with more information about this:

https://forum.peppermintos.com/index.php/topic,2882.msg28575.html#msg28575

First, I'd uninstall Pepperflash plugin, because we're now going to grab it from Chrome itself.

I'd do something like this:

sudo apt-get remove --purge pepperflashplugin-nonfree

sudo apt-get remove --purge chromium-browser

sudo apt-get autoremove

sudo apt-get autoclean

Now, go to a legitimate site to download Chrome. For me, I go here, and this is what I'd like Opera to have --a download site such as this!

https://www.google.com/chrome/

Download Google Chrome for Debian/Ubuntu for 64-bit computers. To install Chrome you're going to have to agree to Google's terms and conditions.

Now, along with Flash control, I'd add Privacy Badger extension to Chrome too. Both these extensions are found in Google's Store.

Reboot you computer.

Reality test whether or not Adobe Flash is correct in both Google Chrome and Opera.

Knock on wood, hold your breath, and then go for it!

Good luck, jayaguru-shishya. I promise I'm there with you in spirit!

perknh

A Former User

A small conclusion on what's going on and what has been done here at this point:

I removed the peppermint plug-in from my computer, so we could start from the scratch.
I reinstalled the plugin by running "sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree" in the terminal.
By rerunning "sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree", I could check whether the plug-in is the newest version or not. Mine is, saying that "pepperflashplugin-nonfree is already the newest version."

Okay. I made some investigations around the subject, and I found another thread - launched by you actually - at the Peppermint OS forum (https://forum.peppermintos.com/index.php?topic=3351.0). I ran "sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 1397BC53640DB551" in the console as suggested at the thread, and this is what I get:

xxxxxs:~$ sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 1397BC53640DB551
Executing: gpg --ignore-time-conflict --no-options --no-default-keyring --homedir /tmp/tmp.KSVOAYFryR --no-auto-check-trustdb --trust-model always --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --primary-keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/skunk-pepper-flash.gpg --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/system76-dev-stable.gpg --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 1397BC53640DB551
gpg: requesting key 640DB551 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: key D38B4796: public key "Google Inc. (Linux Packages Signing Authority) <linux-packages-keymaster@google.com>" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)

Following the instructions, however, typing "sudo update-pepperflashplugin-nonfree --install" in the terminal yields the following:

ERROR: failed to retrieve status information from google : W: There is no public key available for the following key IDs: 1397BC53640DB551
More information might be available at: http://wiki.debian.org/PepperFlashPlayer

So it didn't work either. Indeed, the public key is the problem. I wonder what we did right at the first time when we got it working ... momentarily?

Anyway, after that I decided to uninstall pepperflash one more time, and start from the scratch again. Here's a small summary of all the commands that have been ran in the terminal:

THE SET OF COMMANDS TO REMOVE PEPPERFLASH
1. sudo apt-get remove --purge pepperflashplugin-nonfree
2. sudo apt-get autoremove
3. sudo apt-getauto clean

A SUMMARY OF THE COMMANDS THAT HAVE BEEN RAN IN THE TERMINAL
1. sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree
2. sudo apt-get update
3. sudo apt-get upgrade
4. sudo apt-get autoremove
5. sudo apt-get autoclean
6. sudo apt-get install ppa-purge 
7. sudo ppa-purge ppa:skunk/pepper-flash/ppa
8. sudo ppa-purge ppa:skunk/ppa
9. sudo apt-get remove --purge adobe-flashplugin

Of course, since we had already removed the skunk earlier, those commands weren't anymore necessary. However, it was interesting to notice that the command number 9 removed adobe-flashplugin AGAIN. It must have come back as I reinstalled the Opera browser. Running command number 9 in the terminal gave the following:

xxxxxs:~$ sudo apt-get remove --purge adobe-flashplugin
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED: adobe-flash-properties-gtk* adobe-flashplugin*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 2 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 38,6 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
(Reading database ... 192410 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing adobe-flash-properties-gtk (1:20160407.1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1) ...
Removing adobe-flashplugin (1:20160407.1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1) ...
Purging configuration files for adobe-flashplugin (1:20160407.1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.10.1-0ubuntu2) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.22-1ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for bamfdaemon (0.5.1+14.04.20140409-0ubuntu1) ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf-2.index...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.54ubuntu1.1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.13-1) ...
xxxxxs:~$

Well, this was drawing a summary of some sort. I'll get back to your proposals @perknh in a minute after I have booted my laptop

A Former User

@perknh, HAH! Believe it or not, but pepperflash is back and working on my Chromium!

Remember when we suspected that my Opera browser must have been installed incorrectly since "opera://plugins" didn't display Flash of any kind? Well, here's my analysis of what happened:

When we reinstalled Opera via terminal, it brought back the adobe-flashplugin, and this prevented the pepperflash-plugin from working correctly. Sounds reasonable to you?

Well, now we are back where we were left: my Opera browser doesn't display any sort of flash Just "Chrome PDF Viewer (2 files)". Well, the good thing is that at least Chromium is back in order, but this is an Opera forum and I'd be very glad to move to Opera, so...

A Former User

Hello jayaguru-shishya,

It sounds as if you're really sorting this out piece by piece. This is great news.

Remember, though, we want to end up with Adobe Flash. Remember our friend, gustavwiz? He was always right when he said that we needed Adobe Flash. My small contribution to the discussion was simply to suggest a way for us to get it in our Chromium-based browsers. And to do that, we need pepperflashplugin-nonfree as a vehicle to get there. Google Chrome, by the way, gives us an automatically updated Adobe Flash by automatically updating our "pepperflashplugin-nonfree."

Remember, this is what I see in both Chromium and Opera after running the command:

chrome://plugins

I see:

Adobe Flash Player
Version: 21.0.0.216
Shockwave Flash 21.0 r0

And that's what I want you, gustavwiz, and me to see when we run that command.

It's crazy, I know, but this entire thread is nothing more than a quest to see that simple three line statement after we run the chrome://plugins command in the omnibox of our respective chromium-based browsers!

perknh