Annoying Firefox issue

[Tretarn]

Hi guys,

So I finally made the jump to using PCLOS as my main OS and am loving it I could write about all the benefits I have found with the system over windows et al but we would be here all day

I have found one issue though and I don't know if it is a Firefox issue or something to do with Firefox running in a Linux OS and was wondering if anybody could shed some light on the issue.

The issue is that when I am streaming an internet video on youtube or something, when I go to full screen mode the video will play for a few seconds and then freeze. The sound will still play but the video will just sit frozen. When I go back to normal screen mode it works just fine.

I have tried disabling my add ons (no script, adblock plus and WOT) and oddly it makes the videos stream for a couple of minutes at full screen but it still freezes after a while.

Firefox says my plugins are all up to date (baring quick time) and I have tried the right click un tick hardware acceleration box but alas to no avail.

If anybody could shed some light on the issue it would be much appreciated. I am a Linux newbie but not afraid of poking around the system.

[ternor]

No problems here.  You could try altering the settings in the Applications tab in Edit > Preferences (and see 'about:plugins').  I used to have an extension called MediaPlayerConnectivity.  If you have that you could try disabling it.

[menotu]

Are you fully updated?

What graphic card drivers are you using?

Does it happen on all videos on all sites or only certain videos on certain sites?

I have tried disabling my add ons (no script, adblock plus and WOT) and oddly it makes the videos stream for a couple of minutes at full screen but it still freezes after a while.

Is that all your add-ons? If not, have you tried starting Firefox with all of them disabled?

Could try running Bleachbit (with Firefox closed) and clean out any old gumph (be careful with the Bleachbit > Firefox options that you may not want removed/touched etc)

Could also try creating a new user account and login to that and see if the video problem still occurs.

[Tretarn]

So I logged into root and tried to watch a video full screen, it worked perfectly. I then went about adding in all the add ons that I had on the other user account one by one and none of them stopped the video from playing full screen 

Is there any reason why I shouldn't use root as the default account that I log into?

Otherwise I am happy to just delete the other user account and just use the root account to do what I need.

I will have a go with Bleachbit anyway just to see if that resolves the issue

[melodie]

Is there any reason why I shouldn't use root as the default account that I log into?

Yes, sir, a major reason : we have a set of protections in Unix like systems, allowing us to live a quiet computing life avoiding major hassles, viruses, malware of all sorts, and several sets of right and permissions, as well as people who have invented policykit and polkit to allow us to refine even more these permissions.

If you login to X as the root user, you will have to use only the 2 or 3 tools that are meant to be used as root and nothing more. Even better if you never login as root into the graphical session (X session also named).

Each time you do so, you put your system at stake. Each time you will launch as root an application which has not been build for this purpose you will add to the danger for the system with possible default security (leaks, holes, many types of possible weaknesses). When such a program is started by the normal user in a normal user account there is no problem, because the permissions in that environment are limited. If you open such a program in an administrator environment, an attack can succeed, and a person or a bot attacking your system can gain root priviledges on your machine and do what they want with it.

Being user is the way to do : for root priviledges, you have the PCLinuxOS Control Center, the Synaptic Package Manager, for any item you don't find there ask the way to do this and that on the present forum, and follow the advice given by the people with experience.

GNU/Linux is a safe OS, under the condition the users respect just a few simple rules.

Regards,
Mélodie

[Tretarn]

Point taken.

I decided to wipe and reinstall the system again and the issue has resolved itself. I must have enabled/disabled something whilst clicking around trying to learn my way around the system.

Thanks for the help.

[melodie]

Hi,

About the videos, they need flash-player-plugin which is not only not free so we can't know what is in the code, but there are two places in the home of the user where you can do some cleaning once a while, it is /home/you/.adobe and /home/you/.macromedia. Under Linux, there are hidden directories and files in your home, where the configuration for your account and the applications you use are stored. You can hide and display them from within your file manager (in the menu > display section)

Also there is Bleachbit, a program which is good for cleaning the system. I don't know which flavor you are using, and if Bleachbit has a default configuration provided for your system. If you have the package sqlite-tools installed, then Bleachbit can automatically clean the databases of Firefox, which will keep it running fast as when launched the first time.

Have joy and fun with your new distro !

[YouCanToo]

Point taken.

I decided to wipe and reinstall the system again and the issue has resolved itself. I must have enabled/disabled something whilst clicking around trying to learn my way around the system.

Thanks for the help.

Pretty drastic measure. Why not just remove the .mozilla folder and let firefox recreate it. It would of than been as if you would of done a fresh install of it.   Remember this is NOT Winhose and does NOT require such drastic actions like you took.