Videos from FireFox

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I just updated Shockwave and QuickTime plugins for Firefox (47.0.1), but now most videos won’t play. I looked at my add-ons tab, plug-ins. Shockwave is there, it’s set to always active, and is not in protected mode. Quicktime is now gone. One flash in particular that won’t play is from my local paper:

Mod edit: removed file URL.

Sometime YouTube videos will play but other times I just get sound and no video. If I click again, sometimes I get error message that says: “An Error occurred, Please try again later. (playback ID: zxyL_BnXn-idF9wt.)”

What’s the issue here?

Thanks.

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Try disabling the two add-ons. If that doesn’t fix it, then check to see if you have Flash Block installed (another add-on). If you do, then disable it.

If this doesn’t fix things, then note the current version numbers and dates for Shockwave and QuickTime, and see if you can find the previous version of each. If you can, then uninstall the current version of each, and then install the previous version of each.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 8.1 running in a VM

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oldversion.com and oldapps.com may be good places to find the earlier versions.

"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin, revisted

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I just updated Shockwave and QuickTime plugins for Firefox (47.0.1), but now most videos won’t play. What’s the issue here?

Have you tried updating Firefox? Current version is 49.0.2.

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Chances are high that you don’t need Shockwave, just Flash.

Always use the latest supported Flash version, either from the https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ page (stub installer, watch out for the ‘extras’, uncheck the boxes) or via somewhere like Corrine’s SecurityGarden blog (these a re linked full version files, straight from Adobe – no extras, ideal for download once, install on many) as I do and where there’s also a link for the Flash uninstaller, which I’d also advise you to use before rebooting to install the latest Flash version.

If Flash isn’t working on a specific site, there are some fixes around that don’t require you to drop back to an old, vulnerable version – but, as it’s updated so frequently (rushed), it can be buggy.

Flash is the major conduit for exploit attacks on Windows via the graphical interface, fonts, etc. I don’t remember a time over the last 3-4 years when the new version didn’t contain some ‘fix’ for a currently active exploit.

Those Flash exploits are often found as ‘adverts’ on ‘ordinary’ sites, just like your local site, the links should always be to the page where the content is, not to the file. I’m removing the link, just in case.

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I have the latest version of Flash and I still get messages (from Comcast, e.g.) that I’m using an antiquated version of flash. (Older than 15.x) I don’t see Flash anywhere in my Add-on’s list in F/F, even though I can bring up the Adobe Flash control panel and see that I’m current. What’s going on here? (I’ve tried it with Shockwave activated and deactivated. No difference.)

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Use the SecurityGarden blog linked earlier, download the Flash uninstaller and the latest version of Flash for the browser you need to use) then run the Flash uninstaller, reboot. Install the latest Flash. Start browser, test.

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45970-Extentions

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I got the video version error to go away and now the Comcast web page and YouTube seem to play. But, I still can’t get the videos on my local newspaper’s web site to play. Why would that be?

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Maybe an adblocker or similar installed in your browser is blocking them or preventing the necessary scripts from running, list your Add-ons > Extensions for us, please.

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It’s easy in FF to check if an addon is causing the problem; Menu, Help, Restart with Addons Disabled. If the problem goes away, re-enable them one-by-one till it comes back.

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The addon “Disconnect” seemed to be in the way!

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Good work – is there a way to modify the trigger/action of Disconnect per site?

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There doesn’t seem to be a way to modify. I run FF in Sandboxie and I’m getting a different result in the box from when it’s run outside of the sandbox…. Flash is not working the same way in the box…

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Ah, by default, Flash has it’s own sandbox, iirc. Running a sandboxed app inside another sandbox is very likely to cause complications.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/adobe-flash-protected-mode-firefox

Try Sandboxie’s support forum for related topics, like this one: http://forums.sandboxie.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=23314

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Satrow: Will do, but I notice that the problem is known and has an August date on it with no resolution, and here it is November. Flash is pretty common, so I’m surprised this issue hasn’t gotten higher priority.

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Flash has been a, recently the, major malware target for years – a rolling, moving target.

3 years ago MS took over Flash for W8/10 because of the constant effort required, Google have their own version built into Chrome, changes/fixes/patches are made for all versions and issued and installed every month. Since Adobe stopped making an ESR version of Flash a few weeks ago, all Flash users are now Beta testers, directly or indirectly.

So, no, it’s not just been an issue since August.

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Understood. But what runs in FF should run in a Sanboxed FF….. Right?

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You would suspect that to be the case providing that it’s been designed and tested to run that way. Given the frequency of updates (Windows/Firefox/Flash) and instances of Flash issues in general in FF, Sandboxie or not, I’d suggest that crashes and bugs are just par for the course.

If you don’t know how to follow up on and perhaps get to the root of a FF crash, read this: http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/06/how-to-research-firefox-crashes/

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Thanks for the ghacks page, satrow.

Mark

Win 10 home - 22H2
Attitude is a choice...Choose wisely

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Thanks for the ghacks page, satrow.

No worries, Mark. I was pleased to find it, too – it’s one of those things that I do on auto-pilot, the thinking begins in crash-stats, so when someone asks me how to do it, or I need to explain it, I really struggle trying to remember what the steps are 😀

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I have the same problem in newest FF 50. An interesting thing that Linux FF gives a popup message about obsolete “libavcodec” (despite the newest codec installed), and the Windows version of Firefox have no messages or questions; it just does not play videos!

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I have the same problem in newest FF 50. An interesting thing that Linux FF gives a popup message about obsolete “libavcodec” (despite the newest codec installed), and the Windows version of Firefox have no messages or questions; it just does not play videos!

In Linux if you get those sorts of messages, it means that either your Firefox or your Linux itself, needs to get updated. The missing file is called a Dependency. Without it in a current version, Flash Plugin will not play videos. Also remember that in Linux, Flash Player for Firefox (NPAPI Plugin) is never up to date, unless you go to extraordinary lengths to install the Flash Player Beta for Firefox manually. (Trust me, this is a royal pain.)

Your best bet in Windows is to update Firefox, then update the Flash Player Plugin through the Add-ons Tab.

In Ubuntu Linux, run the Updater. If that doesn’t solve the problem, use the Command Line and run sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade. You will need to use your Root Password (user login password) to accomplish these things. Check or enter Y or Yes to any prompts in the Command Line sequence.

Remember also that under Linux, unless you go to extraordinary lengths to manually install the Beta of Flash Player (NPAPI), you are stuck with a terribly outdated version 11.2 (from 2012). There are sites which will not allow this old version to play videos. Either learn how to get the Beta, or use Chromium or Chrome as your browser for affected sites.

In Windows, if a site won’t play with Firefox’s Flash Player plugin, try IE, Edge and Chrome at the same site. Usually one or another of these, in absence of any active ad blockers or script blockers or Flash blockers, will be able to play the content.

Update re. Linux Firefox Flash Player NPAPI Plugin: As of late-2016, Firefox for Linux finally got the go-ahead from Adobe to resume using a current Flash Player plugin version. It now updates regularly the same way Chromium or Chrome for Linux does. This means that the sort of video playback issue addressed in this thread should be a lot less common under Linux now.

-- rc primak

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I find occasional videos don’t run, often because they’re hosted on a third-party provider that my security plugins are blocking. Although occasionally a site will use an obscure codec or require a special player. While I can disable the plugins per page, I find it easier to launch Chrome and paste the URL in. While I have a few plugins there, its a simpler setup than FF, so easier to get results rather than fiddling around.

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