TechNote

Flash Player 9 installation fails on Macintosh

Issue

When you install Adobe Flash Player on Mac OS, the installation fails and you receive one of the following messages:

"It appears that a browser is still running on your system. Please close all browsers and click 'Continue'."
Access privileges error & "Error creating file: 1008:5, -5000 Access Denied Error"
MIME type errors

This TechNote contains a section for each of the above errors that discusses the reasons and solution(s) for the error. Click on the error message above to jump to that section.

Error 1: "A browser is still running"

Reason

Flash Player 9 may fail to install on Macintosh computers if one logged-in user leaves a web browser open, then another user logs into the same machine and attempts to install Flash Player 9. In such circumstances, the installer fails with the following error message:

"It appears that a browser is still running on your system. Please close all browsers and click 'Continue'."

This installation failure occurs if switching to an administrator account from a standard account (with a web browser left open).

Solutions

Do one of the following solutions:

Solution 1: Close browser windows before switching accounts

If you need to switch user accounts, then close all open browser windows first. This will avoid the installation error when you switch to another user account.

Solution 2: Log out before switching accounts

Log out of one user account before logging into another user account. To log out of a user account, click the Apple icon, and then choose Log Out.

Error 2: Access privileges error & "Error creating file: 1008:5, -5000 Access Denied Error"

Flash Player 9 may also fail to install on Macintosh computers if one logged-in user installs a particular browser, but another user attempts to install the Flash Player to that browser's plug-in folder. In this case, attempting to install Flash Player 9 (or earlier) will result in two errors:

"You do not have enough access privileges for this installation"
"Error creating file: 1008:5, -5000 Access Denied Error"

Both errors occur even though the current user is an Administrator.

Reason

If you receive the error message,"Error creating file: 1008:5, -5000 Access Denied Error", then the browser you're attempting to install to was originally installed by another registered user.

Flash Player installer attempts to place the flashplayer.xpt file inside the Firefox/Mozilla bundle folder. If another user installed Firefox/Mozilla, then that bundle folder will have incorrect permissions, denying the installation of flashplayer.xpt.

Flash Player also requires write permission on the following directories for each corresponding browser:

/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/components
/Applications/Mozilla.app/Contents/MacOS/components
/Applications/Netscape.app/Contents/MacOS/components

These permissions are required because the Flash Player installer modifies the HTTP Accept header inside the files of these directories (so that servers can properly detect the presence of the player without having to use client side detection). Adobe is working with Apple and the browser vendors to develop less intrusive solutions for the future.

Solutions

Do one of the following solutions:

Solution 1: Uninstall Flash Player, and run the Mac OS X Disk Utility to repair disk permissions.

Run the Mac OS X Flash Player Uninstaller. Refer to "How to uninstall the Adobe Flash Player plug-in and ActiveX control" (TechNote tn_14157) to obtain the uninstaller and instructions on how to use it.
Run the Mac OS X Disk Permission utility. For more information on permission repair, see the Apple Support document "Troubleshooting permissions issues in Mac OS X" on the Apple website at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106712.
Reinstall Flash Player. For instructions, visit the Flash Player Download Center on the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer.

Solution 2: Reinstall the browser

This issue can also be solved by removing and then reinstalling your non-Safari browser. Refer to Mac OS Help for instructions on how to remove an application, and then download and reinstall the browser.

Solution 3: Change the directory permissions using chmod 775

You can prevent the error by using the Terminal application and sudo command to run chmod 775 (Read/Write/Execute for Owner and Group, but not Other) on the specified browser directories before installing Flash Player. However, after the Flash Player installation is complete, you should reset permissions on these directories to avoid security issues.

Note: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your typing when using sudo. Type man sudo in the Terminal for more information. In addition, using the Terminal to change permissions, if done incorrectly, can damage your system. Before proceeding, read "Troubleshooting permissions issues in Mac OS X" (Apple Tech Doc 106712).

If you have Firefox installed, use the following instructions to temporarily change directory permissions:

Open the Terminal application (in the Applications > Utilities folder) and type the following text:
sudo chmod 775 /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/components
(Read/Write/Execute for Owner and Group, but read only for Other. Or -rw--rw--r)
Enter the password for the ROOT user.
Reinstall Flash Player 9.
Test Flash Player 9 in your browser.
Use the Terminal to reset permissions on those directories:
sudo chmod 755 /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/components

If you have Mozilla installed:

Open the Terminal application (in the Applications > Utilities folder) and type the following text:
sudo chmod 775 /Applications/Mozilla.app/Contents/MacOS/components
(Read/Write/Execute for Owner and Group, but read only for Other. Or -rw--rw--r)
Enter the password for the ROOT user.
Reinstall Flash Player 9.
Test Flash Player 9 in your browser.
Use the Terminal to reset permissions on those directories:
sudo chmod 755 /Applications/Mozilla.app/Contents/MacOS/components

If you have Netscape installed:

Open the Terminal application (in the Applications > Utilities folder) and type the following text:
sudo chmod 775 /Applications/Netscape.app/Contents/MacOS/components
(Read/Write/Execute for Owner and Group, but read only for Other. Or -rw--rw--r)
Enter the password for the ROOT user.
Reinstall Flash Player 9.
Test Flash Player 9 in your browser.
Use the Terminal to reset permissions on those directories:
sudo chmod 755 /Applications/Netscape.app/Contents/MacOS/components

Error 3: MIME type errors

When viewing Flash content, you see the following error message:

"The page "Macromedia - Flash Player" has content of MIME type "application/x-shockwave-flash", but you don't have a plug-in installed for this MIME type."

Solution: Uninstall Flash Player, and run the Mac OS X Disk Utility to repair disk permissions.

Run the Mac OS X Flash Player Uninstaller. Refer to "How to uninstall the Adobe Flash Player plug-in and ActiveX control" (TechNote tn_14157) to obtain the uninstaller and instructions on how to use it.
Run the Mac OS X Disk Permission repair application. For further information on permission repair, see the Apple Support document "Troubleshooting permissions issues in Mac OS X" on the Apple website at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106712.
Reinstall Flash Player. For instructions, visit the Flash Player Download Center on the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer.