General Installation Error - Flash Player 12 on Mac.

[igorlen]

Getting this message on iMac 27" with 10.8.5 during the installation. Al previous version were updated on time and worked perfectly. I followed the steps suggesting to delete files in Library, restart and re-install. No success. Everything ends up with the same message.

The update file had a bit different graphic on install with the General Error Message at the end.

The full install just says "Installation Failed."

Frankly, ran out of ideas what to do...

Anybody can help? Will really appreciate it!

Igor

[C_F_McBlob]

You came to the right place....

Your troubles aren't coming from Flash Player.

You're missing a file that was made visible by the 10.8.5 update (mach_kernel). Hundreds of thousands of Mac users all over the world deleted it, not knowing what it was. It causes this when it's missing.

Download this file: "Secrets" pereference pane

It'll allow you to see "hidden files" on your Mac.

And this one: mach_kernel.zip

It's the one that was deleted.

Install Secrets, and open your System Preferences.

Open the Secrets Preference Pane, and check "Show hidden files"

You'll need to press the "Quit this" button,

and restart Finder, by right clicking the Dock icon.

Then, place the mach_kernel.zip file in the Mac HD directory,

and unzip it. You should see a "faded" mach_kernel file appear.

Trash the zip file.

Reopen your System Preferences and uncheck "Show Hidden files".

Instead of quitting Finder and relaunching it, reboot your Mac.

Your Flash Player installer won't quit anymore.

[igorlen]

Mike, You Rock!

It worked!

Do not remember deleting it, next time I have to be more careful I guess 🙂

Thanks again, you saved me a trip to Apple Store and lot of time!

All the best!

[C_F_McBlob]

Ah, yes.

Another satisfied customer.

[billywfl]

Thank you Mike M. This worked for me as well.

[DPeters]

Mike,

I've been around the forums and seen you helping with this problem in multiple threads.  I have been experiencing the same general download error on my new Mac mini, OS X 10.9.2.  I'm certain I never deleted this file as I've only been on it for a couple of days.  I don't think the missing file can be attributed to users deleting it. 

However the file is there now, thanks for your fix, and all is installed and working correctly.

Thanks!

[C_F_McBlob]

If you're on 10.9.2, it should be intact as the Mavericks upgrade from Mt. Lion installs a new copy of it.

If you bought the Mac with 10.9, then it was there from the OEM install of Mavericks.

However, most ALL cases of it missing with 10.8.5 have been attributed to an inadvertent trashing of it because people simply didn't know what it was and it suddenly appeared in the Mac HD directory.

Not saying it was wrong to do that, but it happened. It was Apple's fault for "unhiding it".

Long ago, in a galaxy, far, far away, when I learned OS X, I was taught that the mach_kernel is like "kernel32.dll" in Windows. Another file people used to delete without knowing what it was. When I saw it, the first thing I did was open my UNIX reference and copy the hide file command to "put it back".

1. Login as an Admin user.
2. Open Terminal (located in /Applications/Utilities).
3. Enter the following command, then press the return key:
   sudo chflags hidden /mach_kernel
4. Enter an Admin password at the "Password:" prompt.
5. Quit Terminal.

Then I started seeing a flood of posts in the Apple forums about it. Shortly after that, they started here. That's when I installed a VM of 10.8.5 and made the files I use in the above post. It seemed the best and most immediate response to it.

Adobe and Apple have fixes for it now. http://forums.adobe.com/message/6115370#6115370

But this worked until they new FAQ went up.

[CarlosGomezM]

Hi Mike

I have the same issue with Yosemite 10.10.2 and trying to install the latest Flash player.

I tried to follow this solution you provided, but I do not see or get the files from the links, if you can help on providing the ones corresponding to OS X 10.10.2 I will really appreciate. I will give it a try to fix that issue.

Thanks in Advance

Carlos

[jeromiec83223024]

Please use the offline installer:

http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/latest/help/install_flash_player_osx.dmg