can't get NPR audio or NYTimes Video

[pstock]

this is serious.
I've just installed Ubuntu 9.04 on my laptop to replace WindowsXP.
all seems reasonably OK.
But I can't get NPR radio and NYTimes Video. these are two of the main uses of this laptop.

at NPR the NPR Player doesn't open when I click on a link

at NYTimes, the video preview page doesn't show. all it shows is a big Play arrow or just a blank screen. and nothing plays

can anyone suggest what I am missing?

I think I have downloaded and installed the necessary bits. I've put every Flash, RealPlayer, etc. bit on.
But the NPR audio doesn't launch like it used to under WXP.
advice?
thanks

Peter

[arochester]

I can get both. Have you installed: ubuntu-restricted-extras

[pstock]

thanks.
I downloaded the Extras and they seemed toinstall.
But the situation is the same.
The NPR MEdia player starts to open up in a separate window as if it were going to play. and then... Nothing. Just a blank page there.

the NYTIMES video. that preview screen just shows a big arrow head instead of the still image of the upcoming clip.

Peter

[MikeTbob]

Check your Firefox plugins, you could have one or more plugins that are interfering with each other.
Click on Tools>Addons>Plugins.

[reed9]

I think you just need flash for the NPR player, so as MikeTbob said, check if you have conflicting flash plugins. Use Adobe Flash or Gnash or swfdec, but not multiple. (Well, I've never had luck with gnash or swddec at all, so probably adobe flash is the way to go.)

I listen to NPR just via the mp3 stream. Point your media player, such as totem, to this address:

http://stream.npr.org:8000/

[pstock]

sorry to seem so hopelessly helpless.
here is a screen shot of the plugins I found. I have disabled a bunch of them. they were all previously enabled.
can anyone suggest which ones are required and which not?

I don't see anything called Adobe Flash.
and I don't see anything when I search that term under APplications > Add/Remove

do I have to download a "package" first? (I admit that I really don't yet get this packages and plugins and bits and bobs one seems to need to add in order to have a fully functioning system. isn't there an Idiots Package for people like me, which would include all the stuff needed to make a basic system work?)

[reed9]

Shockwave Flash 9.0 is the adobe flash plugin, version 9. The most current release is 10.1, and that may be the problem. NPR could require Flash player 10.

According to the Ubuntu package site, Flash Player 10 should be the default available version for Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty.

The basic method for installing most of the non-free software that people regularly use is to open a terminal and do

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Some other good basic info
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Sw...tu/FromWindows

[pstock]

OK,
so I clicked on an NPR HOurly News and it tells me I need Adobe FLashplayer 8.0 or greater. Click here to get it.
I do. I am offered 4 versions.
for the RPM version, the ARchive Manager says "this archive type is not supported"
ditto the YUM version. not suported.
the tar.gz version seems to download an ISO but then.... what? I click on it, I search for it... I have no clue what to do with this thing.
(why is this all so counter intuitive?)
please excuse my frustration. a little (very little) knowledge seems to be able to get one tied way up in knots

[pstock]

thanks

I get:
ubuntu-restricted-extras is already the newest version.

so....
do I have to reboot or something? (or is that on old windows habit.)

[reed9]

No, you should not have to reboot. You usually only have to reboot when the kernel is updated.

Go into Synaptic package manager (Under Administration->System I think) and search for gnash and swfdec. Remove those if they are marked as installed.

Are you able to view flash movies from other websites, like youtube?

You are using Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, right?