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My library online content uses the Widevine addon, which is not supported by Firefox. Is this in the works?

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  • Last reply by wdepp

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The Widevine site has 3 different downloads for its addon: IE, Chrome and Firefox. When I click on the the Firefox link, Firefox initially blocks the download. When I override the block, I get a message that the addon cannot be installed as the file may be corrupt. I've experimented wit the other two links on the Widevine site, and everything works fine. I ask around an the folks tell me to come to you guys to see what is the matter.

The Widevine site has 3 different downloads for its addon: IE, Chrome and Firefox. When I click on the the Firefox link, Firefox initially blocks the download. When I override the block, I get a message that the addon cannot be installed as the file may be corrupt. I've experimented wit the other two links on the Widevine site, and everything works fine. I ask around an the folks tell me to come to you guys to see what is the matter.

Chosen solution

The Widevine extension does not have a valid digital signature by the Mozilla Add-ons team. Usually, when Firefox encounters such an extension, it tells you that it is unverified. However, for some reason, the signature check is returning a different message in this case; maybe it has a bad signature?

But either way, Widevine needs to get its extension signed in order to pass the new security checks in Firefox 43. This article has more information: Add-on signing in Firefox.

If you follow the steps in that article to disable the signature check, then you can install the extension. Please see the attached screen shot.

Those steps are:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste xpin and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the xpinstall.signatures.required preference to switch it from true to false -- note that this is for Firefox 43 only

Unfortunately, this is a global setting; there's currently no way to make an exception only for this extension.

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Chosen Solution

The Widevine extension does not have a valid digital signature by the Mozilla Add-ons team. Usually, when Firefox encounters such an extension, it tells you that it is unverified. However, for some reason, the signature check is returning a different message in this case; maybe it has a bad signature?

But either way, Widevine needs to get its extension signed in order to pass the new security checks in Firefox 43. This article has more information: Add-on signing in Firefox.

If you follow the steps in that article to disable the signature check, then you can install the extension. Please see the attached screen shot.

Those steps are:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste xpin and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the xpinstall.signatures.required preference to switch it from true to false -- note that this is for Firefox 43 only

Unfortunately, this is a global setting; there's currently no way to make an exception only for this extension.

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If I disable the signatures requirement, will Firefox still notify me if someone is trying to install an addon and give me the option of refusing to install it?

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wdepp said

If I disable the signatures requirement, will Firefox still notify me if someone is trying to install an addon and give me the option of refusing to install it?

Yes, you will still get the "Allow" button as the first thing you see whether a site that hasn't already been approved wants to install an extension.

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Thank you for your help and the quick response. Hope you have a good New Year.