The video play controls have vanished.

[Cameronian]

Do please be kind to me because I'm probably too old to be trying this!
I had an expert sitting in on my computer to resolve problems with the internet provider. From that time, about two months ago, the video controls have been actually missing from each and every picture frame so that I cannot achieve playback of a video on, purely as an example, the BBC news pages on my normal User Account.
If I fire up Pale Moon on my Admin Account, everything is present and correct and I can play the video clips normally. I suspect that my expert has unwittingly changed something but I can't get hold of him during the holidays which are just beginning.
A word or two of advice will be most welcome and appreciated.

[therube]

Example URLs where you don't have video controls?
(Even some outside of BBC as BBC may not be available to all.)

[Cameronian]

Thank you for replying so soon.

Here is just one page but the same occurs on absolutely all pages - if I'm viewing them on my standard "User's Account".

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk

If I open up my "Admin Account" in the same copy of Pale Moon on the same computer then there is absolutely no problem ever, with any link. Something has been changed but I just don't have a clue what it might be. The man who was helping with the computer left another more trivial error but I found that one!

If you look at those links on your computer you will see the starting arrow, sound controls and the link to go to "full frame" but I don't have any of them on any of the similar links on my standard "User's Account" while everything is exactly as before and works perfectly on Pale Moon loaded to my "Admin Account". You Tube links work fine but they open up in a radically different way.

Thank you for your help.

[vannilla]

Indeed I can play a video just fine and the controls are there.
Since you say you had a guy helping you out, try following these steps:
On top of the browser you should see a bar containing text like "File", "Edit", etc. Select "Help" and then "Troubleshooting information".
A new page should be opened, showing some tables with a bunch of infos in them.
On the right side, there is a button labeled "Restart in safe mode".
Press that button and the browser will shut itself down. A window will appear, but just press on "Continue in safe mode".
The browser will appear again, navigate to the BBC (or where you want to), and see if the video controls are there.
Then, come back here and tell us if things were fixed or not.
"Safe mode" isn't supposed to be used normally, only to find problems, so it's important that you tell us the result, so that we can tell you how to fix the problem properly.

[Cameronian]

Hi!

A big step forward but a bit more to go...

I did what you said and it asked me to install Flash Player - which is, of course already there but perhaps this is a consequence of using Safe Mode. I went to Adobe and re-installed Flash Player and, albeit briefly, things looked better because the still starting image popped up but then the process stopped because it demanded Flash Player yet again.

I'm very appreciative of your help because I'm beginning to feel that I am pushing at a weakened door!

John.

[Cameronian]

Apologies. I forgot that even though the controls didn't appear this time, it was quite clear that something was happening because the normal "intro" graphic ran briefly which hadn't happened before the intervention. But then it froze and popped up the same message demanding Flash Player.

[Cameronian]

Having seen what might be a sign of progress I thought I'd see what happened when I started Pale Moon normally, as before. What happened was, of course, as before! There were no messages calling for Flash Player, just a dead and still image.
I'll keep an eye out for your posts, thank you.
John.

[JoeyG]

1. When you mention "User Account" and "Admin Account" I assume you're talking about the accounts in whatever version of Windows you happen to be using, right?

The point is, if using one or the other account in your operating system is what makes the difference, why are you looking for a solution in Pale Moon?

Or have I misunderstood something?

2. I'm assuming the two OS (operating system) accounts have separate (and in this case different) versions of your Pale Moon profile in the respective "Roaming" folders.

You might try copying the one from your Admin account (which is apparently OK) somewhere else on your computer or on an external drive. Then, when you're back in your user account, use the profile you've copied to replace the PM profile that's there and see if it works.

3. On that BBC site to which you sent the link, the control bars are only visible when I slide my mouse over the video window.

4. Are you using NoScript or another advert or script blocker? If so, try uninstalling it - not only disabling it as "Safe Mode" does.

And by the way, I'm 72 years old.

[vannilla]

I don't have Flash player installed, and I could see a video about Theresa May (I picked it randomly) just fine, with controls.
It might or might not be related.
It's understandable if you don't want to uninstall Flash, but it's something worth considering.

[Cameronian]

Hi Joey G.

Thank you for your help with this. Yes, the two accounts to which I have referred are the only two which I have operating within Pale Moon - User A/c and Admin A/c. Until the chap came to try to solve the issue we had with the provider (Jazztel), both accounts worked perfectly and identically. The Admin A/c had no day-to-day material and so was seldom opened. Normal operations were conducted on the User A/c. Since the visit of my Bulgarian friend, the User account has "stuck" in the way that I have described while the Admin account continues to function perfectly as before.

The BBC account is one which I use for a lot of time each day to keep me up to date with reliable information about the World News and particularly British News. I have been doing the same for over 20 years. Nobody beats them. The upshot is that I've got a pretty good idea of how it works and what to expect from it.

I have been using NoScript and lots of other behavioural security stuff since the last millenium and have changed absolutely nothing in that respect for five or ten years. It all operates on the Admin A/c as well, where I have had no problems since the visit of my tech. friend (because he didn't touch it. I really get no operational problems from decade to decade - and no adverts or pop-ups etc. either!

Congratulations on your 72 years - there's hope for me yet!

Dear Vannilla,

Thank you for your reply.

It's getting too close to close of business for me to do any checking of Flash Player right now but I'll try to dig into it more over the weekend or at the start of next week.

Thank you and Joey G for your help. I really appreciate it.

John.

[JoeyG]

Thank you for your help with this.

Hi John,

My pleasure.

Yes, the two accounts to which I have referred are the only two which I have operating within Pale Moon - User A/c and Admin A/c.

Sorry John, but you've lost me. How can an account operate "within Pale Moon"? As I wrote in my original original post, I'm only aware of Admin and User accounts in the context of the operating system (in my case Windows 7). Pale Moon is "an internet browser" or, more generally speaking "a program" or, if you will, "an application".

And then later you mentioned "The BBC account". I'm afraid we can't move along until you explain what you mean. What, pray tell, is a "BBC account"?

I have been using NoScript and lots of other behavioural security stuff since the last millenium ...

Maybe, but other factors have changed. For example - and this is too long a story for me to go into here - the "official" Pale Moon people won't provide support for anyone using NoScript.

I continue to use it, too, but I'm constantly fiddling with it. The internet is anything but static. Web developers are constantly changing website scripts, and you might need to change your NoScript settings accordingly. However, until I understand your "accounts" concept, I really can't say anything else, constructive or otherwise.

Congratulations on your 72 years - there's hope for me yet!

There's always hope. Unfortunately, it isn't linked to guarantees.

Thank you and Joey G for your help. I really appreciate it.

You're welcome, but we ain't goin' nowhere till I understand what you're talking about.

[Cameronian]

Dear JoeyG,

I beg forgiveness for my confusion and errors. I can only claim that I have been distracted and that my posts over the past two or three days have been crammed into a life which has suddenly been dealt a bad card due to the unexpected health issues of my mother-in-law and the sudden disppearance of my wife back to England.

You are most obviously totally right. What I meant to say (and, indeed, think) was that my problem lies in the Pale Moon copy in my user account in Windows 7 while the Pale Moon copy held in my Windows 7 Admin Account seems to show none of the misbehaviour which is causing me grief right now.

The BBC account should, but for my current and hopefully temporary distractions, be called the BBC web site. These distractions are what have kept me away from this for the past few days. Now that my mother-in-law's scare seems to be under better control in hospital and my better half is due to return to Mallorca this evening, I hope that my attention will be better....

The problem is (appears to be) only with the Pale Moon accessed via my User account. The bare bones Pale Moon on my Windows Admin account seems to be entirely unaffected. This stands to reason because the chap whom I called in only had access to my Windows User Account.

Nothing has been touched with any of the little security tricks, like NoScript, and they are applied to both accounts equally. This seems to make the behaviour of the Pale Moon in the User account more likely to be as a result of finger trouble from my friend as opposed to something like NoScript and co. which would have affected both Windows accounts equally. He wouldn't touch NoScript or other such things without asking first in any event.

I hope that this has helped and I thank you for bringing me back to earth!

John

[JoeyG]

Hello again John,

Sorry to hear about your family health problem.

Given what you've said, I think my suggestion "2." above should do the trick - though no guarantees.

2. I'm assuming the two OS (operating system) accounts have separate (and in this case different) versions of your Pale Moon profile in the respective "Roaming" folders.

You might try copying the one from your Admin account (which is apparently OK) somewhere else on your computer or on an external drive. Then, when you're back in your user account, use the profile you've copied to replace the PM profile that's there and see if it works.

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, please send me a private message via the board here, and we'll try to work on it via another medium.

[vannilla]

There is also a third way, which is a bit more drastic, but hopefully should help.
The thing is, you are using NoScript, and that means that even if you didn't touch anything and use the same settings, the two versions of the browsers can still behave differently. In fact, the Pale Moon developers don't give support to users running NoScript because of those kind of possibilities. Those users can get help only from the community.

That said, try doing this:
Create a new Windows account. You have an admin account and a user account, make a third one.
Log in that account and start Pale Moon.
Don't install any extension and don't change any configuration. Use the browser as is without changing anything.
Navigate to the BBC website and watch a video, then tell us the results.

[JoeyG]

Hi again John,

I hope your wife made it back safe and sound and that her mom's doing better.

The problem is (appears to be) only with the Pale Moon accessed via my User account. The bare bones Pale Moon on my Windows Admin account seems to be entirely unaffected.

I just looked at these two sentences again and was struck by your phrase "The bare bones Pale Moon on my Windows Admin account".

If I'm reading you correctly, you seem to be indicating here (for the first time, I think) that, in fact, there's a difference between the Pale Moon setups in the Admin and User accounts. Is this the case?

If so, could you tell us, please, what the difference is or differences are? To get to the point, is NoScript installed in both? Are there any extensions installed in one that are not installed in the other?

Oh, and welcome back to Earth.

[Cameronian]

Hi once more,

Thank you all for your persistence. I've been absent-ish for a few days because of a typical winter bug. It's not gone yet but cannot, surely, last much longer.

I called my Admin A/c copy of Pale Moon "bare bones" simply because I keep a copy of all of my daily use stuff in Admin for security reasons - to cover for things like what has just happened (and worse). It's best to keep them "bare bones" and to avoid using them at all in the hope that they might one day be able to help with an issue such as I have now. That such an issue has not turned up before must be becoming increasingly obvious! I use them for nothing at all on a day-to-day basis. NoScript applies to both and has done so for many years with not the slightest problem so far.

I shall show your very kind advice to my wife (an ex-programmer of KDF9s and PDP11s in the Greater Glasgow Health Board, inter al., for the seventies...) later this morning when she comes back from teaching bridge to friends locally. She will tell me what to say next!

Thank you, Vannila and JoeyG. I hope to rejoin the human race very shortly!

John.

[JoeyG]

Hi again John,

Then please try my suggestion about copying the profile.

I have to admit, though, that as I think of it, it may not work if your computer fixer made some changes to the Windows Firewall settings in your User account.

I went back to your original posting and re-read that the problem with Pale Moon was subsequent to problems you had had with your ISP. Do you have any idea what your friend actually changed to get it working? Furthermore, do you know whether the connection problems had also affected your Admin account, or were they somehow restricted to the User account?

I hope you feel better soon.

[Goodydino]

I do not see all the controls for that video. I have play/pause, volume, full screen, but not resolution or cinema mode.