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Google has updated its Chrome browser to version 35. This new version uses Aura in place of GTK2 and no longer supports NPAPI plugins like Java (both OpenJDK and Oracle). PPAPI plugins like PepperFlash still work.

My school uses Google Chrome and Google apps every day and this looks like a potentially big problem for some of the educational websites we use. Has anyone run into a solution or workaround to get Java working?

This WEB UPD8 article confirms that Java does not work.

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    Java will NOT work on Chrome, like any other NPAPI plugin, unless it will be moved to the PPAPI architecture. References: here and here
    – dadexix86
    May 22, 2014 at 12:08
  • If available, you could download the jar file and run it on your desktop instead of inside Chrome. May 22, 2014 at 12:31
  • Java has not been supported on Chrome for ages on OS X so anyone could see it coming on Linux...
    – Gabor
    May 28, 2014 at 12:25
  • I have Chromium version 34 in synaptic for ubuntu12.4LTS, seems to work fine, java too. So that is my solution for now. Jes
    – user293174
    Jun 13, 2014 at 9:48

2 Answers 2

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You cannot get Java to work on Chrome 35. Its because of the removal of the older plugin NPAPI. I have raised a bug report. Awaiting a proper response from the devs. The bug report is here: https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=375909. You can try and follow the thread for this discussion here: https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!topic/chromium-dev/xEbgvWE7wMk

UPDATE Looks like we are going to be stuck here for quite a while. My bug report was merged into the parent bug and it's been set as won't fix. Here it is : https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=363053

UPDATE2 A relevant question was posted to Oracle. Not much traction. You guys can start a discussion on that thread. Go here: https://community.oracle.com/thread/3511913

To all of you: To keep Chrome functioning, please downgrade your GOogle Chrome to 34. You can download the deb here: http://mirror.pcbeta.com/google/chrome/deb/pool/main/g/google-chrome-stable/. Then use synaptic package manager or use the commandline to lock upgrades for google-chrome-stable package. Chrome 34 doesn't have any glaring bugs, so you can use it safely for the next 3 months. I am hoping by that time some patch will be added.

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    If you have already launched Chrome 35, then your user profile directory will be incompatible with Chrome 34. If you want to downgrade without losing functionality or data, see superuser.com/questions/757941/….
    – Rob W
    May 28, 2014 at 13:18
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    Unless you don't use Google Sync ;)
    – Rob W
    May 29, 2014 at 16:06
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    Interesting is that Chrome for Windows still supports NPAPI plugins. Jun 26, 2014 at 13:48
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    Looks like Oracle took down the link... I guess that answers if they are making one or not ;)
    – Mateo
    Jul 2, 2014 at 20:57
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    Downgrade isn't an option. When NPAPI is needed I use firefox. Aug 5, 2014 at 15:49
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You CAN get Java to work on Chrome, or at least enable the NPAPI plug-in for it... temporarily. The option is being removed altogether in Chrome 45. (Currently we are at 43, estimate is September 2015.)

Note that enabling NPAPI doesn't necessarily mean the Java Applet will work... I tried it with one and it didn't. This likely is due to having the latest Java installed, which pretty much locks down any web access anyways. Which is a shame, since so many nifty Java-enhanced web services had been created (such as http://www.freerouting.net/ .)

In any case, the option to enable NPAPI is located by browsing to:

chrome://flags/#enable-npapi

Again, your mileage may vary (YMMV.)

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    Using Chrome Version 43.0.2357.125 (64-bit), there is not #enable-npapi option for flags. After much digging, it seems that you just cannot use Java in Google Chrome anymore ...and that is pretty sh*tty of the Google Chrome team. My daughter needs it for school. Aug 19, 2015 at 14:18

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