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Old 01-14-2020, 10:03 AM   #1
lighter973
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bbc iplayer stopped working - flash


Hello

The BBC iplayer has stopped working because of flash player

Is there anything I can try?

Last edited by lighter973; 01-14-2020 at 10:05 AM.
 
Old 01-14-2020, 11:03 AM   #2
business_kid
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BBC iplayer has a huge java function to detect your location. I'm in Ireland, and BBC has an old grudge because we pinched BBC tv signal only intended for the UK and North of Ireland. So they ban us from iplayer if you have an Irish IP. So do ITV, for the same reason. For many other countries it's the same.

Where are you based?
 
Old 01-14-2020, 01:57 PM   #3
beachboy2
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lighter973,

Which browser are you using?

Firefox and Google Chrome should work, except in NI.
 
Old 01-14-2020, 05:32 PM   #4
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The browser-based BBC iPlayer hasn't needed Flash for yonks - definitely over a year ago.

There did used to be a desktop iPlayer that ran on Adobe AIR but I thought that was dropped even longer ago.
 
Old 01-15-2020, 11:18 AM   #5
lighter973
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Sorry for the delay

Im in england, and run firefox 63.0.3, (cant get 72.0.1 to work) and palemoon 28.8.1
 
Old 01-15-2020, 11:27 AM   #6
boughtonp
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So you goto iPlayer, select a video, press play - what happens?

If you go to Tools>Addons>Plugins and make sure Flash (if it's present) is set to "Never Activate", restart the browser, then repeat the above - does anything change?

Last edited by boughtonp; 01-15-2020 at 11:42 AM. Reason: (added restart)
 
Old 01-15-2020, 11:39 AM   #7
petelq
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boughtonp View Post
If you go to Tools>Addons>Plugins and make sure Flash (if it's present) is set to "Never Activate" then repeat the above - does anything change?
That works but you need to refresh screen for iplayer or restart firefox.
 
Old 01-15-2020, 12:14 PM   #8
lighter973
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boughtonp View Post
So you goto iPlayer, select a video, press play - what happens?
I get an error message 'This content doesnt seem to be working'

Quote:
If you go to Tools>Addons>Plugins and make sure Flash (if it's present) is set to "Never Activate", restart the browser, then repeat the above - does anything change?
no
 
Old 01-15-2020, 02:15 PM   #9
beachboy2
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lighter973,

Have you tried using Google Chrome?
 
Old 01-15-2020, 02:37 PM   #10
boughtonp
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lighter973 View Post
I get an error message 'This content doesnt seem to be working'
That's almost certainly not the error message you get - the BBC will not omit the apostrophe in "doesn't" - always copy and paste exact messages when asking for help.
(Some might consider this pedantry. It's not. Different search results are given when the apostrophe is included.)

Anyway, that error can unfortunately mean a variety of things:
* The BBC thinks you're outside the UK. (It has three different errors which may be given in that situation.)
* The BBC thinks your IP address belongs to a VPN (which are blocked because they're used to bypass the above UK-only restriction).
* Perhaps there's been a code update and you need to manually clear your caches (and possibly cookies) to avoid conflicts between old/new code.
* You're using a browser extension which blocks third-party scripts (e.g. uMatrix/NoScript) - if so you'll need to whitelist certain domains for iPlayer to work.
* There may be an issue on some of the iPlayer servers (this would usually cause the error intermittently not every time).
* Something else.

Press F12 and check the browser console and network tools for error messages or failed resource loading.

If you've got other devices on the same network, try accessing iPlayer with them to see if they work, or if there's another network you can try - if the same device works elsewhere it could be an IP issue, etc.

Other than that, you could give iPlayer Live Chat a try. (I don't know if they're any good or not.)
 
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Old 01-15-2020, 03:01 PM   #11
boughtonp
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I've just seen youtube-dl mentioned on another thread.

Despite the name it's not Youtube-specific and handles hundreds of sites, including:
Code:
    bbc: BBC
    bbc.co.uk: BBC iPlayer
    bbc.co.uk:article: BBC articles
    bbc.co.uk:iplayer:playlist
    bbc.co.uk:playlist
So if the issue is browser/client specific, that might be a workaround worth considering.
 
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Old 01-16-2020, 04:38 AM   #12
business_kid
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Hmmm. The message I (in Ireland) get from iplayer is
Code:
BBC iPlayer only works in the UK. Sorry, it’s due to rights issues. In the UK? Here's some advice.
Occasionally in the bbc.com/news section, I can't see a video because 'This content is not available in your area.'

I hadn't tried youtube-dl. I will.

EDIT: youtube-dl returned the error
Code:
ERROR: bbc.co.uk returned error: geolocation
EDIT2:The error from This bbc.com/news video in Ireland is "This content doesn't seem to be working.

Try again later."

Last edited by business_kid; 01-16-2020 at 05:13 AM.
 
Old 01-16-2020, 09:49 AM   #13
Soadyheid
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In the UK, people pay a television licence fee which is used to fund the BBC (You pay even if you only watch DVDs or satellite content from somewhere else in the world other than the BBC.) Recently, to use the iPlayer you had to register using an Email address and password at no cost in the UK. I think this was so they can allow access from the rest of the world providing they subscribe. The issue being, it wouldn't be fair if the Brits have to pay a licence and the R.O.W. saw stuff for free, hence the:
Quote:
ERROR: bbc.co.uk returned error: geolocation
My

Play Bonny!


Last edited by Soadyheid; 01-16-2020 at 09:50 AM. Reason: spellnig!
 
Old 01-16-2020, 10:48 AM   #14
business_kid
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Fair enough. BBC is a good service. I never saw a reasonable way of getting some content from it or Channel 4. If they offered a Netflix-type paying service, I'd consider it.
 
Old 01-16-2020, 11:51 AM   #15
lighter973
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Tried Chromium (Version 24.0.1312.52 (175374), get an error

Quote:
This player no longer works properly on your device. You'll need to update your browser or device to continue
if it matters Im using flashplayer 32.0.0.303
 
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