In what circumstances does Chrome use system flash vs pepperflash?

[Guest]

We are seeing some cases on Windows machines where users have an outdated version of system flash installed, and Chrome defaults to using that over Pepperflash. These are for new Windows profiles, and when you go to chrome://components its still 0.0.0.0 for Adobe Flash (Chrome version 57) and users have a banner saying 'Flash is outdated and blocked'.

I am not clear why Chrome would ever default to system flash, especially an older version? If users click on the component update button for flash, the correct Pepperflash version is installed and the problems go away.

[_maria_]

Hi Amal,

Beginning around Chrome 50, 51, 52 (I don't recall the exact version) Chrome defaults to using the system plugin if the system plugin version is >= to the embedded version.

users have a banner saying 'Flash is outdated and blocked'.

When is the banner displaying?  Please provide exact steps to reproduce.

Please launch Chrome and navigate to chrome://flash.  Post a screenshot of the following fields: Google Chrome, OS, and Flash plugin.

I'll request/have more information after receiving this information.

Thank you.

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Maria

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick response Maria!

We were are seeing contradicts this because the version of System Flash that is installed 25_0_0_127 and the latest version which Chrome installs is 25.0.0.171.

Screenshots are below, and please note that when we click on 'check for updates' the Pepperflash component version gets bumped from 0.0.0.0 to 25.0.0.171. But if a user does not manually trigger this update, then Chrome continues to use the outdated system flash version.

Windows 7/Chrome 58x

[_maria_]

Thank you for posting the screenshots.

Version 25.0.0.127 is not the most recent version.  The current version is 25.0.0.171.  Updating to the latest version should enable the content to display as epxected.  The Adobe - Flash Player  page is also always updated with the latest version.

If you're in an enterprise environment (which seems to be the case), this Google support document should be helpful in managing Flash on Chrome in your enterprise environment: Manage Flash in Chrome - Chrome for business and education Help. Should you elect option 2 (disable Chrome from updating Flash and deploy Flash yourself), a Flash Player distribution license (free for most use cases) is required.

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Maria

[Guest]

Thanks again for the quick response.

I'm aware 25.0.0.127 is not the latest version, and we had intentionally installed that to reproduce this issue.

The problem is: why is Chrome defaulting to using this outdated version, vs PepperFlash?

[_maria_]

Please do the following, on an impacted system:

• Launch Windows Explorer
• navigate to C:\Users\YourUserID\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\PepperFlash\
• Is there a subdirectory with a version number, e.g C:\Users\YourUserID\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\PepperFlash\25.0.0.171?

[Guest]

Here is a screenshot -- no subdirectory that I can see here

[_maria_]

Thank you.  Are you using roaming profiles?

[Guest]

No -- this is a VM network which uses test active directory profiles. They do not have an AppData directory when they login for the first time.

[Guest]

FYI @Maria, in our testing we discovered that the problem fixes itself after Chrome's 6 minute window. So, clearly this is a browser bug, and I'll file an issue on Chromium and link it back here. Any insight you can add would be great.. thanks so much!

[_maria_]

That's not a browser bug, it's by design.  This change was made in Chrome 54, when Google stopped including Flash Player in the Chrome installer.  See Manage Flash in Chrome - Chrome for business and education Help​ for more information.  When Chrome is installed, Flash will be either installed when a user views Flash content or 6 minutes later, whichever comes first.  The support doc refers to the first part of this (Chrome installer not including Flash Player) but doesn't mention the 6-minute delay.

I wasn't sure if you were encountering this 6-minute delay issue or a roaming profile issue.  I'm glad you were able to identify which one was causing the issue.  The Manage Flash in Chrome - Chrome for business and education Help  support doc also includes Flash deployment recommendations that may be of assistance to you.

[Guest]

Thanks Maria! So, I was previously aware of the 6 minute window, however this does feel like a bug because the JIT mechanism for PepperFlash should superceed running an outdated version for system which Chrome will block.

Is there is something I am missing here? Why are we blocking users from 0-6 minutes when it should use PepperFlash instead, especially when after 6 minutes it automatically switches to using PepperFlash.

Here is the bug I just filed on Chromium 730207 - Chrome's flash component loads user's out-dated version of system flash vs PepperFlash duri...

[_maria_]

You're welcome.

Is there is something I am missing here? Why are we blocking users from 0-6 minutes when it should use PepperFlash instead, especially when after 6 minutes it automatically switches to using PepperFlash.

This does seem to be odd behaviour.  I'll monitor the bug you filed for Google's reply.