Adobe Flash Player 10.3 is the supported player for older Intel-based Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 systems. On some systems, users sometimes see a blank or black screen while attempting to play protected video content on services such as Amazon Instant Video. The Adobe Flash Player automatically downloads a specific module used for protected video content playback on first use.
An incorrect Adobe Flash Access DRM (Digital Rights Management) module deployed in early December 2011 caused this bad video playback behavior. The bad module has since been replaced.
Systems that downloaded the incorrect module cannot play protected video content until either 1) a Flash Player upgrade or 2) removal of the bad DRM module. This document describes how to remove the incorrect DRM module so the Adobe Flash Player can upgrade to the corrected DRM module.
Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 systems require the latest Adobe Flash Player version 10.3. Navigate to the Flash Player download site to verify install of the latest Adobe Flash Player version.
Adobe publishes all platform support for 32 bit and 64 bit in the system requirements section of the Flash Player site.
Note: Flash Player 11 is not supported on the older Mac OS X versions discussed in this article.
Ensuring installation of the correct Flash Player library and removal of the incorrect Flash Access DRM module restores video playback with protected content.
Ensure the Flash Player 10.3 plug-in is current (10.3.183.11 or newer) otherwise download the latest Flash Player from the
Flash Player download site
Using Finder, delete the entire contents of the Flash Player "/NativeCache" directory containing the older, incorrect DRM module.
~/Library/Caches/Adobe/Flash Player/NativeCache/
for example, /Users/John/Library/Caches/Adobe/Flash Player/NativeCache/
Warning: Be careful no other directories are selected while deleting /NativeCache. This action could corrupt your Mac OS X operating system installation!!
Try playing protected content. Some example content is located below: (all URLs are case-sensitive)
Launch the Adobe demo video player container: http://drmtest2.adobe.com:8080/SVP/SampleVideoPlayer_FP.html
The Adobe Flash Player version in the lower left of the demo video shell. Make su indicate 10.3.183.11 or later.
Play sample protected content to install the corrected Adobe Flash Access DRM module.
Enter the following URL in the field "Input the video URL:" (case-sensitive)
http://drmtest2.adobe.com:8080/Content/anonymous.f4v
Press the [Play] button at the bottom of the video container.
Now that the incorrect DRM module has been replaced, protected content should play. (This video is called the Getty "train" video.)
Inspect the /NativeCache directory again in Finder (see location above). The corrected Adobe Flash Access DRM module names are the same as before, but now protected content plays.
The Adobe Flash Access DRM module name is adobecp-200489-[V].plug-in where "[V]" is 0,1,2 or 3.
Adobe Flash Player 10.3, Flash Access (FAXS), Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5 platforms (32 bit).
Keywords:
video, playback, problems, Mac, Macintosh, OSX, protected, protect, content; cpsid_92950
