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Netflix Issue

  • 54 replies
  • 11 have this problem
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  • Last reply by AliceWyman

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Hi, Since yesterday (August 19, 2016) Netflix stop working and I get a message at the top of the page saying "Firefox is installing components needed to play audio or video, please try again later". I just called Netflix support and they say that recently they stop using Silverlight and moved to HTML5, they advised me to update Firefox to the latest version, I was running on 47.0.1 but now after installing the update I'm running on 48.0.1 but still get the same error message. I can watch Netflix with Internet Explorer but not with Firefox anymore! For years was working fine I am wondering what's going on, can you help?

Hi, Since yesterday (August 19, 2016) Netflix stop working and I get a message at the top of the page saying "Firefox is installing components needed to play audio or video, please try again later". I just called Netflix support and they say that recently they stop using Silverlight and moved to HTML5, they advised me to update Firefox to the latest version, I was running on 47.0.1 but now after installing the update I'm running on 48.0.1 but still get the same error message. I can watch Netflix with Internet Explorer but not with Firefox anymore! For years was working fine I am wondering what's going on, can you help?

Chosen solution

To Adrianva:

If you already have Firefox set to update automatically, then the problem could be that your security software is intercepting the HTTPS request to download the needed components from Mozilla's servers, as reported in this bug report:

Bug 1300633 - Users report Netflix stopped working after Firefox 48 as CDM won't get installed See Bugzilla etiquette before commenting in bug reports.

What security software are you using? You can try to disable the interception of secure connections in your security software settings, as explained in the "Antivirus products" section this article: How to troubleshoot security error codes on secure websites

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All Replies (14)

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tessiss said

yes that paste is mine an i have used verto smart for few years now with no issue

Verto Analytics are doing something onorthodox and is definitely the cause of your specific problem. They are breaking the mechanism we use to verify the identity of the update server. I will explain in more detail.

The way Internet security deals with identity is through a list of companies who can say "this server belongs to X". These are called Root CAs. Firefox improves the security of accessing Mozilla servers using a mechanism called Certificate Pinning. In this instance the update server is pinned to a specific Root CA called Thawte. That means that Firefox doesn't believe any company other than Thawte to say "this server belongs to Mozilla".

Verto Analytics have installed themselves as a Root CA and is vouching for the identity of everything in place of the original Root CA. It gives them access to all the information you're sending and receiving across the Internet that would normally be private and secure.

The Certificate Pinning mechanism detects that the update information has been tampered with and therefore tries to keep you safe by not installing the required components.

You will need to disable/uninstall the Verto Analytics software to allow Widevine to install.

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Chosen Solution

To Adrianva:

If you already have Firefox set to update automatically, then the problem could be that your security software is intercepting the HTTPS request to download the needed components from Mozilla's servers, as reported in this bug report:

Bug 1300633 - Users report Netflix stopped working after Firefox 48 as CDM won't get installed See Bugzilla etiquette before commenting in bug reports.

What security software are you using? You can try to disable the interception of secure connections in your security software settings, as explained in the "Antivirus products" section this article: How to troubleshoot security error codes on secure websites

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https is already unchecked in avast

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that advice was targeted to Adrianva, the opener of the thread - in your case the log files clearly showed Verto Analytics as the cause of the issue...

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i will give it a shot but as i said i have used it for years with no issue but i will see if uninstalling makes a differece

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if this is the cause of the issue is it the cause for everyone having the problem since i am not the only one. i am sure everyone is not using that app

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We believe that there are multiple products that cause this issue. VertoSmart is just one of them.

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i see

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Not entirely sure if this should do the same but as a temporary workaround, does installing the plugin from here make Netflix work?

After installing, be sure to set Firefox’s internal plugin’s setting to Never activate and the one for the downloaded plugin to suit your needs.

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thank you for all the help i turned on the laptop this morning an all the plugins and addon have updated

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AliceWyman said

To Adrianva: If you already have Firefox set to update automatically, then the problem could be that your security software is intercepting the HTTPS request to download the needed components from Mozilla's servers, as reported in this bug report: Bug 1300633 - Users report Netflix stopped working after Firefox 48 as CDM won't get installed See Bugzilla etiquette before commenting in bug reports. What security software are you using? You can try to disable the interception of secure connections in your security software settings, as explained in the "Antivirus products" section this article: How to troubleshoot security error codes on secure websites

Hi Alice,

I unsubscribe from the support emails because nobody was helping me, but I just found your post, I did work! After turning off on Bitdefender the Scan SSL. I am wondering now if I should leave it off or should turn it back On?

Thanks again

Modified by Adrianva

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Adrianva, you're welcome. Thanks for posting back that turning off SSL scanning in BitDefender fixed the problem. I marked my previous reply as the solution.

I'm not the best person to ask about whether that BitDefender Scan SSL feature is needed. You can probably turn it back on, if it makes you feel safer, since the components needed for Netflix to work have apparently been downloaded and installed. If you experience other install or update issues with Firefox or with other software, you can always turn it off again.

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Great... Thank you Alice!

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You're welcome, Adrianva. I'll close this thread.

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