Hello

Previous versions of Flash Player worked fine on my Win98SE system until I
upgraded to versions 8 and 9, then it became impossible to use Flash Player
without a message popping up saying that there had been an illegal instruction
in module FLASH9B.OCX.

Occasionally I had to reboot my system which had become unstable (blue screen
- system busy).

I submitted the register dump from the FLASH9B.OCX crash to Adobe and they
provided me with an uninstall tool along with instructions on how to
(re)install the latest version.

Every re-installation of the latest version always ended with an eventual
crash of the FLASH9B.OCX module while visiting different websites,

Adobe advised me to stop using Flash Player on the grounds that there was, in
their estimation, something corrupt within my Win98SE operating system and/or
Internet Explorer version 6, all of which I have kept up to date with the
latest patches from MS.

I downloaded a fresh copy of Internet Explorer and I also ran the Win98 tool
that verifies the system files and I replaced the half dozen files that were
flagged as being suspect (checksum error, no doubt).

In spite of this, Internet Explorer still crashes when I visit a website which
has Flash media on it (static images).

If I clean my system of all traces of Flash Player modules and directories
using the Adobe uninstall tool and try to operate without ever accepting the
constant pop-ups asking me to download Flash Player, then some site, without
ever prompting me, will manage to sneak the module FLASH9B.OCX into
directories that have been newly created and then my Internet Explorer crashes
with the same illegal instruction.

Given that Adobe has no desire to analysis my crash dump, how can I keep the
FLASH9B.OCX module from sneaking onto my system?

My assumption is that if I can keep FLASH9B.OCX from getting onto my system,
then it will not be there to crash my Internet Explorer.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

I believe I have found the explanation which I hope may help others.

Flash Player 7 does not specify a minimum hardware requirement, but Flash 8
and newer call for Pentium II 450mhz.

It may not be the number of mhz. that is critical, rather the instruction set
which comes with a 450mhz Pentium II processor (MMX and/or SSE).

Like my computer , my wife's computer is also a Pentium II (300mhz). Her
computer supports Flash 8, but mine does not. The only difference between her
CPU and mine is her's supports MMX (but not SSE) and mine does not support MMX.

Therefore I conclude that MMX is the essential feature I am missing in order
to support Flash 8 and newer.

The one thing a lot of people running 'older' versions of Windows have to bear
in mind...Microsoft no longer supports anything before XP. Therefore as time
continues and updates come along, anyone running pre-XP systems will often be
unable to use the new features, and in some cases not be able to use the
application at all (Quick Time won't even download to anyone that doesn't have
at least XP for an example)!!! So, if you are having problems, you might
consider updating to at least XP (which for some people might even mean
purchasing a newer computer). Cheers...

I can't remember exactly when I upgraded to Flash Player 8, but by last July, I
started asking Adobe for help and after all Adobe's advice ended up being a
dead end, they wrote their final conclusion as:

"With regard to this problem, there could be a number of reasons that can
cause this; application conflicts, conflict with an operating system component
or even a problem with the browser. You may want to try first to reinstall or
update your Internet Explorer. This should help you determine which is the
cause of the problem. For further troubleshooting, please check the Microsoft
website for assistance."

Isn't it ironic that no one connected an illegal instruction in module
FLASH9B.OCX with a missing MMX hardware arithemetic unit in the CPU?

So for the last 7 months I was constantly looking for some corruption in my OS
and/or browser.

I even started suspecting my Nero authoring program, my AVG firewall.

Seven months of hell.

Hope Adobe adds checks for missing essential hardware to their future
installation kits.

I am also hoping they correct the check for MMX back into Flash player (and it
would really be nice if they have a non-MMX supported code path too). Perhaps I
should pull the ActiveX module up in a debugger and look for a non-MMX code
path and see if I can patch one to work.

I thought of "back-reving" to the latest Flash 7 player to see if the issue
goes away but I have yet to do that.

[q][i]Originally posted by: [b][b]Erik Engineer[/b][/b][/i]
I am also hoping they correct the check for MMX back into Flash player (and it
would really be nice if they have a non-MMX supported code path too). Perhaps I
should pull the ActiveX module up in a debugger and look for a non-MMX code
path and see if I can patch one to work.

I thought of "back-reving" to the latest Flash 7 player to see if the issue
goes away but I have yet to do that.[/q]

Good luck looking for a non-MMX code path hidden upstream of the offending MMX
instruction.

Going back to Flash 7 is relatively easy and you will suddenly be able to
visit places you haven't been in years, but there are still some sites that
will block you unless you have Flash player 8 or 9.

First use the Adobe uninstaller to clean up which is found at .

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_14157


Then find a copy of :

flashplayer7r61_winax.exe

and run it. That will give you the latest Flash 7.

I was having the same problems too. Internet Explorer and Firefox would
randomly rash on certain pages. I noticed it was the flash9b.ocx that was
causing it.

At first I blamed flash crashes on Windows 98, so I tried on Windows 2000. The
crash persisted.

I returned to flash7 and the problems went away.

but of late I have noticed more and more pages that require flash 8 or flash 9.

I then posted my error I was receiving in the MSFN forum and someone promptly
replied it was an MMX issue. So then I started hunting down pages of the net
and found this one.

My computer was a Pentium Pro 200Mhz. It does not have MMX support. Thankfully
I was able to obtain an Intel Overdrive chip for the PC. It upgraded my PC into
a Pentium II 333Mhx with MMX.

Guess what!

Flash 9 sites now display without errors.

So yes, Flash Player 8 and Flash player 9 DO require MMX.

I got mine from ebay.

To help web searchers find this topic.

I have had no troubles with Flash 9 since I upgraded my processor to one with
MMX.

So yes, Flash 9 does not work / crash / crashes without MMX

Flash 9 needs MMX

GALAHS,

I appreciate you posting your observation that the MMX hardware instruction
set is essential for the operation of FLASH9.

Without MMX, you need to use no Flash Player more recent than version 7.61.

I have two icons on my desktop. One to remove all remnants of the Flash
plugin, and the other to re-install FLASH 7.61.

Every so often I come upon a web site which will takes exception to my Flash
7.61 version and download some additional component which corrupts my version,
thus I have to rapidly reinstall Flash 7.61.

The other problem with version 7.61 is that some websites will bring up a
publicity animation graphic created for Flash 9, and it can take up to 2
minutes for the graphic to play out on my Flash 7.61 before allowing the rest
of the web page to follow.

Otherwise, I can survive nicely with Flash 7.61.

Too bad Adobe can't make a Flash Player which contains software to work with
older processor without MMX.