Confused about 64 bit Linux and Adobe Flash plug-in.

**The Coder** · 10-01-2008, 12:49 PM

I am confused about a few things and I wanted to get some clarification. As the title of the thread explains, I am confused about 64 bit Linux and the Adobe non-free flash plugin. So here goes...

1.) I am running Debian Sid 64 bit. I just installed Iceweasel using apt-get. Is this version of Iceweasel 64 bit or 32 bit?

2.) Installing the 32 bit flash plugin with 32 bit Linux is easy, but there are a few more steps in 64 bit Linux. Why is this the case? I mean 32 bit programs should be able to run in a 64 bit OS using emulation. So why are there problems? Is it because the browser is 64 bit and the plugin is 32bit? I just don't understand this...

Once I get answers to these questions then I will be able to ask more. Thanks.

**bs_texas** · 10-01-2008, 03:27 PM

I don't recall off the top of my head, but in one of my 64bit ubuntu machines I had to install ia32_libs with the Synaptic Package Manager in order to get something to work. I'm at work and not at home in front of the machines.

**trilarian** · 10-01-2008, 04:53 PM

It was as easy as "apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree" for me...

You may also want to grab the ia32-libs and ia32-libs-gtk packages.

EDIT => As I always do... if you feel like reading up on it, here is a good write up on running 32 bit applications on 64 bit Debian.

**JayMan8081** · 10-02-2008, 11:21 AM

Very informative link trilarian. I'm running a 64-bit system at work but a 32-bit install at home on a 64-bit processor. Some things are still hard to do on the 64-bit install - like a java plugin for Firefox. Might try the chroot install described in that article.

**trilarian** · 10-02-2008, 11:38 AM

Thanks... nothing like someone else benefiting from a response meant to help another. JL rocks like that sometimes.

**bwkaz** · 10-04-2008, 10:30 PM

Originally Posted by The Coder

1.) I am running Debian Sid 64 bit. I just installed Iceweasel using apt-get. Is this version of Iceweasel 64 bit or 32 bit?

I don't know, but you can find out. Run it, then find its process ID (ps -ef and look for "firefox-bin" or "iceweasel-bin" or something like that). Then run file -L /proc/<that PID number>/exe, and the file utility will tell you if it's 32-bit or 64-bit. (Look for "x86_64" in the output.)

I mean 32 bit programs should be able to run in a 64 bit OS using emulation.

Plugins are not programs.

So why are there problems? Is it because the browser is 64 bit and the plugin is 32bit? I just don't understand this...

It's because the browser and the plugin are both loaded into the same address space (same process). The bit-ness of a process is set when the main executable is loaded (that's why you can find out what bit-ness the program is by checking its /proc/<PID>/exe file; that's a symlink to the file that launched the process). All libraries loaded after the main executable is loaded (which is everything) must be the same bit-ness.

So a 64-bit kernel (on a 64-bit CPU) can run both 64-bit and 32-bit processes, but a 64-bit process can only load 64-bit libraries, and a 32-bit process can only load 32-bit libraries. And plugins are nothing more than libraries that follow a certain convention (the plugin interface).

(In the specific case of browser plugins, there's "nspluginwrapper". It's able to launch a separate 32-bit process to load the plugin, and then communicate back to the 64-bit browser from there. There's a bit of a performance hit, but not much of one.)

**trilarian** · 10-05-2008, 08:16 PM

The program you mention should be caught with apt-get. I did a test on a box that didn't have it installed and it did. So you can just use the command "apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree" to get going.

Code:

Debian-Server05:/# apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  ia32-libs ia32-libs-gtk lib32asound2 lib32ncurses5 lib32z1 lsb-release
  nspluginwrapper
Suggested packages:
  iceweasel konqueror-nsplugins x-ttcidfont-conf msttcorefonts
  ttf-xfree86-nonfree xfs libasound2-plugins lsb
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  flashplugin-nonfree ia32-libs ia32-libs-gtk lib32asound2 lib32ncurses5
  lib32z1 lsb-release nspluginwrapper
0 upgraded, 8 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 40.0MB of archives.
After this operation, 102MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?

**bwkaz** · 10-06-2008, 11:55 PM

Ah, I see; Debian hides (...well, sort of hides) the fact that it's already using nspluginwrapper to run the plugin in a different (32-bit) process. The info is there if you care to look for it, but they probably have you install the "flashplugin-nonfree" package even if your browser already is 32-bit (and there's no nspluginwrapper in that case -- or maybe there is, and they just use it to make it so crashes in the plugin, which I find are *very* frequent compared to anything else, don't take down the whole browser).

**trilarian** · 10-07-2008, 10:45 AM

Unfortunately, I believe Debian only makes use of nspluginwrapper to encase a 32-bit process to a parent 64-bit process. I assume if you were clever enough you could tinker with it and get nspluginwrapper to encase a 32-bit for a 32-bit, but it is not the default nature of the package in Debian.

Any PC I sit in front of for a lengthy amount of time is 64-bit now, so it is not that much of an issue, but yes I do remember plugins crashing the browser and how nice it is that the plugin is now a separate process that doesn't crash the browser. It almost makes me wish they do not write a 64-bit version of the plugin... or at least keep it running separately.

**lugoteehalt** · 10-07-2008, 01:06 PM

Probably not relevant but Adobe Acrobat reader will not work on a 64 bit operating system. This is a bit roundabout but the problem may be circumvented by installing VirtualBox from Sun, a software computure, putting Ubuntu 32 bit in that, and then enstalling Acrobat into Ubuntu. If you run Acrobat and take a 'snapshot' of the machine state the reader may be started with a couple of clicks.

**trilarian** · 10-07-2008, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by lugoteehalt

Probably not relevant but Adobe Acrobat reader will not work on a 64 bit operating system. This is a bit roundabout but the problem may be circumvented by installing VirtualBox from Sun, a software computure, putting Ubuntu 32 bit in that, and then enstalling Acrobat into Ubuntu. If you run Acrobat and take a 'snapshot' of the machine state the reader may be started with a couple of clicks.

This really is a bit excessive...

Adobe Acrobat reader is a 32-bit program, but will run on a 64-bit platform in emulation mode.

**bwkaz** · 10-08-2008, 12:13 AM

Or you can just use xpdf, kpdf, GNOME document viewer (whatever it's called), etc., etc., etc...

**je_fro** · 10-08-2008, 12:49 AM

acroread works fine with nspluginwrapper for me.

Code:

$ nspluginwrapper -l
/usr/lib/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-gmp.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-gmp.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-rm.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-rm.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-qt.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-qt.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-wmp.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-wmp.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-dvx.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-dvx.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.nppdf.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/nppdf.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.nphelix.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/nphelix.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.libflashplayer.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/libflashplayer.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-gmp.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-gmp.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-rm.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-rm.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-qt.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-qt.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-wmp.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-wmp.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-dvx.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-dvx.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.nppdf.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/nppdf.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.nphelix.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/nphelix.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/npwrapper.libflashplayer.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/libflashplayer.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.1.0
/home/jeff/.mozilla/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.0.0
/home/jeff/.mozilla/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-gmp.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-gmp.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.0.0
/home/jeff/.mozilla/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-rm.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-rm.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.0.0
/home/jeff/.mozilla/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-qt.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-qt.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.0.0
/home/jeff/.mozilla/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-wmp.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-wmp.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.0.0
/home/jeff/.mozilla/plugins/npwrapper.mplayerplug-in-dvx.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/mplayerplug-in-dvx.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.0.0
/home/jeff/.mozilla/plugins/npwrapper.nphelix.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/nphelix.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.0.0
/home/jeff/.mozilla/plugins/npwrapper.nppdf.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/nppdf.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.0.0
/home/jeff/.mozilla/plugins/npwrapper.libflashplayer.so
  Original plugin: /usr/lib32/nsbrowser/plugins/libflashplayer.so
  Wrapper version string: 1.0.0

**lugoteehalt** · 10-09-2008, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by trilarian

Adobe Acrobat reader is a 32-bit program, but will run on a 64-bit platform in emulation mode.

Forgive total eclipse of the brain, but what is emulation mode?

**trilarian** · 10-09-2008, 12:54 PM

Here is a very detailed description of emulation (not just acroread). However, the short version is to use nspluginwrapper to emulate the 32-bit binary in 64-bit workspace.

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