Adobe Flash, Shockwave, and Oracle Java on XP (Part 2)

[Tripredacus]

20 hours ago, RainyShadow said:

Are you sure about the version? All i could find is Drop Sum v1.3 and Drop Sum v2. Both seem to work in the standalone Flash player v12

By Leaderboard do you mean the high scores tab on the game page, or it should be something within the .SWF ?

 

This may be useful.

Yes it is v1.3. As far as Kongregate goes for me currently, in Chrome, Flash doesn't load, it just shows the Supernova thing. I haven't checked it since a few days ago so maybe it changed. When I tried to go to the game page in Pale Moon, the site doesn't load properly, even if I temp allow all scripts. Unfortunately, I am not going to be changing my security setup in order to play a game. I've had to make the decision to just not visit sites or play games that do not work with my security settings, so it is no big deal on that end. Times change and life goes on. And yes, the high scores table on the game page. Really it is the only reason to bother playing it.

I am fully aware of Projector, I've made apps using it in the past, including an actual software installer for a commercial product.

[RainyShadow]

@Tripredacus

They recently added a "more options" link in the lower-right corner of that Supernova thing. You click that and a link to launch the game in Flash player shows up. If you have Flash set as click-to-activate, the page will reload after activating Flash, then you have to repeat this before it actually launches.

Try it on the game Multitask 2, it worked yesterday.

Unfortunately, none of the browsers on my PC can even reach that Supernova thing, so i don't get a "more options" link to click... just a blank frame and a bunch of errors in the console.

I asked one of their devs to check with PM27 (and advertised MSFN a tiny bit ) so they can fix the launcher for us, no clue if they did anything though.

Edited January 19, 2021 by RainyShadow

[VistaLover]

Some more observations, as result from testing on my Vista SP2 32-bit laptop:

1. The mms.cfg method with LATEST Flash 32.0.0.465 (unmodified) will work ONLY when that file is located in its designated location (for me it's "C:\Windows\system32\macromed\Flash\") and it will ONLY be observed/honoured by the ActiveX and NPAPI varieties...

My file currently reads:

DisableAnalytics=1
SilentAutoUpdateEnable=0
AutoUpdateDisable=1
EOLUninstallDisable=1
EnableAllowList=1[ignored]
AllowListRootMovieOnly=1
AllowListUrlPattern=file:*
AllowListUrlPattern=https://wwwimages.adobe.com/
AllowListUrlPattern=https://helpx.adobe.com/
AllowListUrlPattern=*://chat.kongregate.com/
AllowListUrlPattern=*://www.screamingstatue.com/

with

SilentAutoUpdateEnable=0
AutoUpdateDisable=1

probably being redundant now...

The NPAPI dll will read mms.cfg whether it's properly installed (in "%windir%\system32\macromed\Flash\") or from another "portable" location; the PPAPI dll, however, will NOT read mms.cfg no matter if it's properly installed (for Chromium browsers that don't bundle Flash) or itself part of Google Chrome (inside the appdir or userdatadir). 

What was somewhat not expected by me is the fact a patched NPAPI dll (e.g. "NPSWF32_32_0_0_465.dll"), regardless of location, will STILL observe mms.cfg ; so, if you have patched the NPAPI dll to remove the killswitch/timebomb, for it to work on ALL sites you'll have to rename/remove/delete your customised mms.cfg file!

On 1/18/2021 at 12:10 AM, dencorso said:

but (even after replacing also %SystemDrive%\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\PepperFlash\32.0.0.465\pepflashplayer.dll) wasn't able to restore it to working state on Google Chrome 87.0.4280.141 (Official Build) (32-bit). 

["%SystemDrive%\Users\<username>\AppData\Local" = "%localappdata%" ]

Under Vista SP2 32-bit [No ExtKernel], the highest version of Google Chrome that can launch is the first build of the 51 branch, v51.0.2679.0 (a hard-to-find release, it was shared long time ago by a fellow MSFN member in the Vista subforums...); I have it set up as a portable installation in the PAF format, so the folder hierarchy is

G:\PortableApps\GoogleChromePortable\GoogleChromePortable.exe [=launcher]
G:\PortableApps\GoogleChromePortable\App\Chrome-bin\chrome.exe [=main .exe]
G:\PortableApps\GoogleChromePortable\App\Chrome-bin\51.0.2679.0\PepperFlash\pepflashplayer.dll [=originally bundled PPAPI Flash, v21.0.0.182]
G:\PortableApps\GoogleChromePortable\Data\profile\PepperFlash\32.0.0.465\pepflashplayer.dll [=manually updated PPAPI Flash, located inside User Data dir, aka "profile"]

With the last PPAPI v32.0.0.465 in place as detailed, Chrome 51 ignores the built-in old 21 version (which, obviously, does not contain a timebomb) and loads v32; but the DLL does not read mms.cfg file (if present), so I always get the following outcome:

For latest PPAPI Flash to work inside Google Chrome (tested versions 49/50/51), I have to use a patched DLL:

FTR:

[UCyborg]

Location of mms.cfg on Google Chrome:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\<Profile>\Pepper Data\Shockwave Flash\System\mms.cfg

[VistaLover]

12 hours ago, UCyborg said:

Location of mms.cfg on Google Chrome:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\<Profile>\Pepper Data\Shockwave Flash\System\mms.cfg

Once again, @UCyborg to the rescue!

Since I don't currently have a Google Chrome version "properly" installed, the path above is translated as below for my portable Chrome 51 installation:

"G:\PortableApps\GoogleChromePortable\Data\profile\Default\Pepper Data\Shockwave Flash\System\"

NB, the "System" folder was not there by default, I created it manually and placed inside it a copy of file mms.cfg (from its default location, "%windir%\system32\macromed\Flash\"); then tested with the original, unmodified, PPAPI DLL v32.0.0.465 (see my previous post) and verified that portable pepflashplayer.dll does read/observe the portable mms.cfg file! 

[PPeti66x]

If someone needs the direct links for the modded chinese flash 34.0 installer packages:

ActiveX/Win8+
https://www.flash.cn/flashplayer/340092/install_flash_player_ax_win8_cn.exe

ActiveX/WinXP:
https://www.flash.cn/flashplayer/340092/install_flash_player_ax_cn.exe

NPAPI/WinXP:
https://www.flash.cn/flashplayer/340092/install_flash_player_cn.exe

PPAPI:
https://www.flash.cn/flashplayer/340092/install_flash_player_ppapi_cn.exe

[UCyborg]

So what's the point of Chinese Flash? If authoring tools are no longer developed, it doesn't run any more content than international Flash. What else is there, security fixes? And what does Win8+ ActiveX version offer over the regular version?

[Dave-H]

The Windows 8/8.1 ActiveX Flash Player was always a separate download, but I've always assumed that it's functionally the same as the one for earlier systems.
It's probably because it has a different way of installing into the operating system than it has on earlier versions of Windows..

[VistaLover]

On 1/24/2021 at 6:59 PM, PPeti66x said:

If someone needs the direct links for the modded chinese flash 34.0 installer packages:

To dispel any eventual confusion, these are not MODDED packages at all , they are being hosted on the Official Chinese Flash distributor domain (flash.cn), they have their digital file signatures intact (both the setups as well as their contents), upon installation they would install the telemetry FlashHelperService , without which the standalone DLLs (e.g. NPSWF32_34_0_0_92.dll) are non-functional  ...

What they are, in fact, is official standalone (off-line) installers, as opposed to the stub (on-line) setups one is offered by default when downloading from the main page of the Chinese Flash site: 

https://www.flash.cn/

The standalone setups are (recently) being offered from 

https://www.flash.cn/compatibility

NB: The truely modded Chinese repacks I mentioned earlier in this thread do not install the telemetry FlashHelperService  and are free from geo-limitations   ; if you're still interested, they are labeled as "Special Edition (特别版)" and the filenames you should search for are: 

Adobe_Flash_Player_ActiveX_34.0.0.92_特别版(Win7).exe
Adobe Flash Player NPAPI 34.0.0.92 特别版.exe
Adobe Flash Player PPAPI 34.0.0.92 特别版.exe
 

Edited January 25, 2021 by VistaLover

[dencorso]

O1H, IIRR, the patched v. 32.0.0.465 is the last one to work on XP SP3, in all 3 versions, hence the ZHS v. 34.*.*.* is irrelevant for XP SP3 and older. OTOH, on 7SP1+, Google Chrome 88+ don't support any Flash Player at all, so what is the Adobe Flash Player PPAPI ZHS v. 34.0.0.92 useful for?

[bluebolt]

Just a quick test to see what would happen, using the modded Chinese repack 34.0.0.92, I pulled the pepperflash dll and replaced as usual in my Chrome Portable 49.0.2623.112, which yielded this result:

[Dave-H]

10 hours ago, dencorso said:

O1H, IIRR, the patched v. 32.0.0.465 is the last one to work on XP SP3, in all 3 versions, hence the ZHS v. 34.*.*.* is irrelevant for XP SP3 and older. OTOH, on 7SP1+, Google Chrome 88+ don't support any Flash Player at all, so what is the Adobe Flash Player PPAPI ZHS v. 34.0.0.92 useful for?

I guess if you were using an older version of Opera or another Chromium-based browser you might need it on a later operating system?
IIRC earlier versions of Google Chrome which did support Flash had it build in, and therefore didn't need the plugin, but I may be wrong there.

[VistaLover]

12 hours ago, bluebolt said:

Just a quick test to see what would happen, using the modded Chinese repack 34.0.0.92, I pulled the pepperflash dll and replaced as usual in my Chrome Portable 49.0.2623.112, which yielded this result:
(pic snipped for brevity)

I'm sorry, but you're not being meticulous enough... 

As most of you here already know, Google Chrome is/was the only flavour of Chromium-based browser that has/had (paid) rights to ship bundled with its own PPAPI version of Adobe Flash; Chrome v49 originally came with v21.0.0.213 (dual-signed DLL on 20160406); on the portable (PAF) edition, the path to that is/was: 

.\App\Chrome-bin\49.0.2623.112\PepperFlash\pepflashplayer.dll

For the duration v49 was still supported by its vendor (Google), a user could manually update the Flash version by loading
chrome://components
locating the enrty for "pepper_flash" and pushing the Check for updates button underneath it !
The updated PPAPI flash would then be installed in a user-specific location, inside the browser's profile directory:

.\Data\profile\PepperFlash\xx.x.x.xx\pepflashplayer.dll

Upon launch, Chrome 49 simply ignores the originally shipped version and loads the one in the browser profile!
So, to recap, unlike the popular practice, the proper way to manually update Chrome's Flash version is TO NOT EVER touch the Flash DLL inside the main program dir

.\Chrome-bin\<Chrome_dotted_version>\PepperFlash\

but instead perform a profile-based installation, by placing (renamed) DLL (and manifest.json) inside 

.\profile\PepperFlash\<Flash_dotted_version>\

Applying the above procedure on Chinese RePack (modded) v34.0.0.92 and on my portable Chrome 49 installation, Flash is loaded from:
 

and the Adobe test page reports success  :  

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by VistaLover

[Dave-H]

FWIW my installation of Google Chrome 49 is still happily using Flash 32.0.0.465, using the modified PPAPI plugin file, presumably over-riding its own internal version.
I haven't knowingly done anything to make that happen, now or in the past.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Dave-H
Typo

[VistaLover]

13 hours ago, dencorso said:

the patched v. 32.0.0.465 is the last one to work on XP SP3, in all 3 versions, hence the ZHS v. 34.*.*.* is irrelevant for XP SP3 and older.

The Chinese RePacked/modded version 34.0.0.92 has been tested to function under WinXP SP3 (not by me, as I don't have that OS currently at my disposal, but I've been informed about XP SP3 compatibility, via PM, by another reputed MSFN member here   ) ...

14 hours ago, dencorso said:

Google Chrome 88+ don't support any Flash Player at all, so what is the Adobe Flash Player PPAPI ZHS v. 34.0.0.92 useful for?

To add/expand a bit to what already posted by @Dave-H , everything Google related (including Chrome browser, Drive, gmail, etc.) is off-access in mainland China, so a plain Chinese user would not know/care less what Google's plans are about Adobe Flash  ... 
I haven't exhausted the whole Chinese Browser market, obviously, but most Chinese Chromium forks have ongoing Flash PPAPI(/NPAPI) support; even if future Chromium forks will have been rebased to Chromium >=88, it's not improbable to expect Flash support will have been kept/prolonged... 

I'm unsure as to whether other "western" Chromium forks like Opera (wait! it is Chinese-owned currently ), Vivaldi, etc. are accessible to Chinese users, but these lack an embedded Flash version, so a user has to install the PPAPI flavour system-wide (so, why not, PPAPI ZHS v34.0.0.92 ?)... 

Best regards!