Southend Linux Wiki Site

Introduction.

Adobe® Flash Player does not support 64 bit Linux, so getting it to work, is a bit of a nightmare. But thanks to the folks at dipconsultants, it is now possible. Essentially, what those folks have done, is write a wrapper that allows the ordinary Linux version (32 bit), to work in a 64 bit environment.

Sadly, for those of you now used to working in a GUI in Linux, it is not possible to carry out this procedure that way. This time, the command line rules; OK! But don't panic, it's not half as hard as you would suspect and I'll give you a tip or two along the way in order to lighten the burden.

Tip 1. It is possible to copy and paste all the commands direct from this wiki page. You simply highlight the command on the page, go to Edit --> Copy in your browser and then transfer the command to the Terminal by using (Shift) ⬆ + Insert

Tip 2. Please note, in the command boxes on this page, the #> or $>represents your prompt, and should not be copied as part of the command.

The Procedure.

First, you need to open the Root Terminal. It's not strictly necessary, as you could always su to root from a user terminal, but I'm trying to make it as straight forward as possible. This is what you will see, having typed in your root password. Notice the # at the prompt (rather than a $) indicating you are the root user.

 

Tip 3. Remember, as root you can do a lot of damage to the system, so follow this carefully.

Having got to a root prompt, type (or copy) this command:

#> echo "deb http://www.dipconsultants.com/debian etch main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list

and hit the Enter button on your keyboard.

Tip 4. No command will be initiated until you hit Enter.

The above command adds the repository hosted by dipconsultants to your sources.list. It is from this repository, the necessary files will be downloaded.

Tip 5. After activating each command, make sure there are no error messages, which would indicate the command had not progessed as it should.

The next command is:

#> apt-get update

and hit Enter.

This command updates the index of files that relate to all your sources. By doing so, it will add into the index, those files on offer from dipconsultants.

Next, carry out this command:

#> apt-get install markybob-keyring

and, Yes, you've guessed it, hit Enter.

This command installs the keyring, a sort of security token that allows access to their server.

Now we need to update again:

#> apt-get update

and dare I say it, Enter.

You've now updated with the token and shouldn't get any more security warnings.

Finally, we come to getting what this is all about: the wrapper:

#> apt-get install ia32-libs-gtk nspluginwrapper

This command downloads and installs all the required files and the wrapper for you.

Now, to remind you, this page is all about installing into a 64 bit environment. It is essential you now close the Root Terminal by typing:

#> exit

You may have to do that twice.

Using the same methodology (from the same drop down menu) as at the beginning of this page, now open a Terminal. An ordinary user one; not root. If you've got this right, you will now have a $ prompt, like this:

The next command you need, is this:

$> wget http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player_9_linux.tar.gz

This command will download Flash Player for you in a compressed form. This is why it's appended tar.gz

Now we need to decompress it:

$> tar -zxf install_flash_player_9_linux.tar.gz

Warning. The next part is where I hit some trouble.

Debian, as it's a "pure" Linux distro, holds great belief in only providing true open source applications. As I understand it, that is the reason Mozilla Firefox is no longer offered and Iceweasel is in it's place. However, the next installation command requires, moving the files into ~/.mozilla/plugins/ and it is possible, those files don't exist. By all means try the next command, because particularly if you have Firefox installed, it could be it will work first time. But do check after this part for any error messages. I'll explain how to get over the problem directly after this next command.

$> mv install_flash_player_9_linux/flashplayer-installer/libflashplayer.so ~/.mozilla/plugins/

If you got a message at this point, something along the lines of "no such files," you will need to create them. Only carry out the following command if you had an error message, similar to the one given.

$> mkdir ~/.mozilla/plugins/

This will create the required directory. You can check if it's there by typing this at the command:

$> cd ~/.mozilla/plugins/

If your prompt changes to:

$> ~/.mozilla/plugins/

all is now well and you can type this, to return you to your home prompt:

$> cd ~

That's cd a space and then ~

Now you're back at your own prompt, repeat this command and all should be well:

$> mv install_flash_player_9_linux/flashplayer-installer/libflashplayer.so ~/.mozilla/plugins/

Finally, we're going to run the wrapper script from the kind folk at dipconsultants, by typing this at the prompt:

$> nspluginwrapper -i ~/.mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so

At this point, you should be able to restart Iceweasel and enjoy Flash Player, but I personally had one final hiccup. For some reason, it would work on some sites and not on others; specifically You Tube. I did wonder whether having the browser open during the procedure, caused a problem, but using this command, sorted the problem out. I closed the browser and ran this command which updates nspluginwrapper:

$> nspluginwrapper -v -a -u

All is now well, as can be seen from a screenshot of You Tube, which shows a touch screen Linux system, complete with compiz-fusion; how cool's that?