Flash issues on Linux based operating systems is nothing new. Ubuntu in particular has been prone to Flash related problems. The reason for this perhaps the every changing Ubuntu Kernel and random updates of system components. Furthermore, it can be tricky for common users to identify and install the right Flash version for their Ubuntu or Linux distribution version.
Flash Doctor is a script which attempts to fix these problems automatically. It allows installing flash safely on your Linux operating system, provides fixes for sound and video playback issues and also delivers an Advanced Flash Control Panel to find and resolve the most precise Flash related issues.
You can install Flash Doctor in Ubuntu Linux from the below PPA. Just open a Terminal window and enter the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lkjoel/flash-doctor sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install flash-doctor zenity wget
Once Flash Doctor is installed, launch the GUI (Graphical user Interface) by entering the following command in the Terminal:
bash /usr/bin/flash-doctor
In the first step select a flash issue to resolve i.e. Fix Sound, Fix video, Install Flash fully and Safely or Run the Advanced Flash Control Panel.
If you choose the fix for sound or video, a wizard will walk you through the steps to fix the issue.
All you have to do is to click next to complete the process.
Once the problem is fixed, you will be asked to restart your browser for the changes to take effect. Similarly, you can select the installation option to install Flash safely and completely on your system.
The Advanced Flash Control Panel provides you with a list of useful features. the overview of each feature is as follows:
- Reset settings: Resets the flash settings.
- Av hardware disable: If set to true, it will disable any interaction with Audio/Video hardware components.
- Auto update disable: If set to true, it will disable auto updates for flash.
- Auto update interval: If auto update disable is set to false, this setting will set how often flash updates will be checked (e.g. after every 2 days).
- Full screen Disable: Disables full screen in flash applications (e.g. YouTube)
- Third-party Storage:: Applications will be able to store some information on your computer.
- Local storage limit: If third-party storage is set to true, this setting will decide how much space flash applications are allowed to use.
- Asset cache size: If local storage limit is set to option 6 (user), this option will determine how much space flash applications are allowed to store.
- Local File Read disable: If this option is set to true (highly recommended), it will stop flash applications from being able to read any file on your HD
- Disable sockets: If set to true, it will disable flash from grabbing any sockets from your computer
- Override GPU validation: If set to true (dangerous), it will pass any GPU validation checks, which may give an increase in speed, and fix a few problems, but it may damage your graphics card permanently.
You can find out more about Flash Doctor from the developers website (link given below).
Flash Doctor
