Troubleshooting Video Playback Issues

What's Covered

  • Common Playback Issues
  • Finding Helpful Information

Common Playback Issues

You may experience one of the following issues while trying to watch videos on Grokker:
  • A black or white box replaces the video
  • Video does not play at all
  • The video stops playing, takes too long to buffer, is slow or choppy

Contact Us

If self help doesn't solve your problems we are here to help!

Please find helpful information below and Contact Us.

I. A black or white box replaces the video

If a black or white box replaces the video please try to refresh the page, if that does not solve the problem please check to see that you don't have any flash or ad blocking plug-ins installed on your browser such as Adblock Plus, Webmail Ad Blocker, Ad-blocker for Gmail, Facebook AdBlock, Adguard AdBlocker, Pandora Audio Ad Remover, Adblock for Youtube, etc. These programs are very common and are great for blocking ads but they may also cause video playback issues. To disable or uninstall plug-ins:


Chrome

  1. To view the plug-ins installed in Chrome, type chrome://extensions into Chrome’s address bar and press Enter.
  2. This page shows all the installed browser extensions enabled in Google Chrome. To disable an extension, uncheck the 'Enabled' box.
CHROME EXTENSIONS

Internet Explorer

  1. Internet Explorer lists its browser extensions along with other browser add-ons you have installed. To view them, click the gear menu at the top-right corner of the Internet Explorer window and select Manage add-ons.
  2. Browser extensions are displayed under the Toolbars and Extensions category, along with any browser toolbars and other type of ActiveX add-ons you have installed. Note that many are hidden by default – click the Show box at the bottom-left corner of the screen and select All add-ons to view them all.
  3. You can disable add-ons by selecting them in the list and using the Disable button at the bottom-right corner of your screen.
INTERNET EXPLORER EXTENSIONS

Firefox

  1. To view your list of installed extensions, open the Firefox menu, click Add-ons, and select Extensions.
  2. Select the extension you wish to disable, and click "Disable".
FIREFOX PLUGINS 2

Safari

  1. To view your installed plug-ins in Safari, click the File menu and select Preferences.
  2. Click the Extensions tab.
  3. Uncheck the "Enable" box next to the extension you'd like to disable.
SAFARI EXTENSIONS

In addition to the above steps, you may also try disabling "hardware acceleration" in Flash. To do this, right-click on the video player and select Settings. Click the leftmost tab on the panel that appears (which is labeled as "Display") and uncheck the box next to Enable Hardware Acceleration. When you're through, close the panel and restart your browser.

Clear your Flash cache by visiting here and clicking Delete All Sites in the Website Storage Settings panel. Keep in mind that this step may require you to log back into Flash based applications and websites.

ADOBE FLASH PLAYER SETTINGS MANAGER

Make sure your video card drivers are up to date. You can find more information on how to do this on your computer by visiting your video card manufacturer's website.

You can find additional information and make sure your computer is set up properly for Flash by checking out Adobe's Advanced Troubleshooter.

II. Video does not play at all

We've seen other members have issues related to popup or ad blocking software. While this software is great at keeping your browser ad-free, it also tends to interfere with video playback.

Solution: Try to temporarily disable popup blocking software installed on your computer.

Often times, clearing the browser cache on your computer can help resolve many issues across the Grokker.com website.

As you visit a web page, most browsers save a copy of it on your computer in a temporary location called the cache, which helps your computer load that page more quickly on subsequent visits. While this is a great time-saving feature in most cases, it can occasionally cause conflicts on some pages if the cached copy is out of date.

Solution: Try clearing your browser cache

Outlined below are the steps necessary to clear the cache for several popular browsers:


Chrome

Mac & Windows
  1. Click Chrome Menu button on the browser toolbar.
  2. Select Tools.
  3. Select Clear browsing data.
  4. In the dialog that appears, check off the box for Empty the cache, (it's ok to leave everything else unchecked)
  5. Use the menu at the top to select the amount of data that you want to delete. Select beginning of time to delete everything.
  6. Click Clear browsing data.

Firefox 3.5 - 3.6

Mac
  1. Click Tools in the menu bar
  2. Select Clear Recent History...
  3. In the drop down for "Time range to clear:" select Everything
  4. Check off the box for Cache, (it's ok to leave everything else unchecked)
  5. Click Clear Now to confirm
Windows
  1. Click the Tools menu
  2. Select Clear Recent History...
  3. In the drop down for "Time range to clear:" select Everything
  4. Check off the box for Cache, (it's ok to leave everything else unchecked)
  5. Click Clear Now to confirm

Firefox 4 - 29

Mac
  1. Click the History menu at the top of the screen
  2. Select Clear Recent History...
  3. In the drop down for "Time range to clear:" select Everything
  4. Check off the box for Cache, (it's ok to leave everything else unchecked)
  5. Click Clear Now to confirm
  6. Restart or refresh Firefox
Windows
  1. Click the Firefox menu (found in the top left corner)
  2. Hover the over the History menu
  3. Select Clear Recent History...
  4. In the drop down for "Time range to clear:" select Everything
  5. Check off the box for Cache, (it's ok to leave everything else unchecked)
  6. Click Clear Now to confirm
  7. Restart or refresh Firefox

Internet Explorer 10

Windows
  1. Click the Gear Icon in the upper right corner
  2. Select Internet Options
  3. In the Browsing History section of the General tab, click the Delete button
  4. Check off the box for Temporary Internet Files, (it's ok to leave everything else unchecked)
  5. Click Delete to confirm

Internet Explorer 11

Windows
  1. Click the Gear Icon or Tools Icon in the upper right corner
  2. Select Safety
  3. Select Delete browsing history
  4. Check off the box for Temporary Internet Files and Website Files, (it's ok to leave everything else unchecked)
  5. Click Delete to confirm

Safari 3.0 - 5.1

Mac
  1. Click Safari in the menu bar
  2. Select Empty Cache
  3. Click Empty to confirm
Windows
  1. Click the Edit menu*
  2. Select Empty Cache
  3. Click Empty to confirm
*Note: If you can't see the Edit menu in step 1, you may need to click the Settings Gear and select Show Menu Bar

Safari 6.0

Mac
  1. Click Safari in the menu bar
  2. Select Preferences
  3. Select the Privacy tab
  4. Choose the Remove All Website Data option
  5. Click Remove Now to confirm

Safari 7.0

Mac
  1. Click Safari in the menu bar
  2. Select Reset Safari
  3. Make sure to select the Remove All Website Data option
  4. Click Reset
Note: In some cases where clearing the cache doesn't work, we've seen that unplugging/restarting your router and modem can help too.

III. The video stops playing, takes too long to buffer, is slow or choppy

  • Pause the video and allow the buffer to reach "full." Once it's full, try playing your video again. If the video is still stuttering, you may be experiencing issues with your CPU performance. Try turning off any CPU-intensive programs you're running, or rebooting your computer.
  • Try lowering the video quality setting. Lowering the quality will reduce the processing demand on your computer. You can do this by mousing over the little gear icon in the bottom right-hand corner of our video player.
  • Some video cards may lack the proper decoding technology for Flash based media. Try disabling "hardware acceleration" in Flash -- Right-click on our video player and select Settings. Click the leftmost tab on the panel that appears (which is labeled as "Display") and uncheck the box next to Enable Hardware Acceleration. When you're through, close the panel and restart your browser.





  • If video is stalling or slowing only during full-screen mode, try lowering your desktop resolution.
  • Check to see if you encounter the same playback issues in another browser. Here is a list of recommended and supported web browsers.

Upgrade browser to latest version

If you have tried to disable your ad and popup blocking software, and have cleared your cache, but are still unable to play videos please try the following.

Report an Issue: Finding Helpful Information

If you have tried to solve your issue and are still unable to watch Grokker videos we are here to help. Please find system information specific to your operating system

Windows

  1. Go to the Start menu and type "dxdiag" in the search box. Or select Run and type "dxdiag" in the text entry box that appears.


  2. When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool has launched, click Save All Information to save the diagnostic report to a file named "DxDiag.txt". Save this file to your Desktop so that it is easy to locate. (Optional: If you would like to quickly view your video card name, manufacturer, and driver version, you can select the Display tab.)


  3. Attach the DxDiag.txt file to your bug report, as described below.


  4. Email your problem report to support@grokker.com

Mac

  1. Select the Apple icon to expand the menu and select About this Mac.



  2. Click More Info.



  3. Choose File > Save to save the system information to a file. If you would like to view your driver version number, select Graphics and Displays.



  4. Email your problem report to support@grokker.com
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