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WidevineCDM plugin keeps crashing

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Hi everyone,

it's been 2 days now since every time I open Netflix and Amazon Prime videos won't play. A yellow bar saying: "The WidevineCdm plugin has crashed" keeps coming up!

I'm using Firefox and I'm on a MacbookPro.

I've tried everything: restarting/shutting down device; reinstalling Firefox; deleting widevine folder and activate it from the adds on page; tried on other browsers (works on safari but not on chrome); contacted Apple / Netflix / Amazon / Google nobody was able to help; I also ran these websites with my Mac in safe mode...nothing was able to resolve it.

What can I do to fix it please?

This started to happen out of the blue...I haven't installed anything! It was working fine until the day before...

Hi everyone, it's been 2 days now since every time I open Netflix and Amazon Prime videos won't play. A yellow bar saying: "The WidevineCdm plugin has crashed" keeps coming up! I'm using Firefox and I'm on a MacbookPro. I've tried everything: restarting/shutting down device; reinstalling Firefox; deleting widevine folder and activate it from the adds on page; tried on other browsers (works on safari but not on chrome); contacted Apple / Netflix / Amazon / Google nobody was able to help; I also ran these websites with my Mac in safe mode...nothing was able to resolve it. What can I do to fix it please? This started to happen out of the blue...I haven't installed anything! It was working fine until the day before...
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All Replies (20)

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hello aless,

i dont use a mc.

but are you able to go to this url

about:config

if can you reconcile your FF settings to whats in the pic from my FF

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Hello dbben,

thanks for this!

I've just tried and looks like Firefox is re-installing the plugin (it's taking forever!)

Should I allow automatic updates while is installing?

I did restarted Firefox by the way.

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hello aless, Thanks for the additional info. As i am not familiar with the mac and its FF version, its hard for me to say what should be done.

But "thinking outside of the box", i dont think that there should be any delay with download/installing anything regarding FF and its components.

If you are noticing some kind of delay, then it could be (could be) a compatibility issue with that file for the mac or something on your system that is hindering that file. But if the file exists for the other browsers, then i dont think anything should on your system should prevent the file from installing and working.

Since FF is not exactly functional for you, I am wondering if you can do a search for that file on your disk. I am attaching a pic that i did on my system for that/those missing files. See if you can again reconcile my findings with your findings, keeping in mind that I am using Win10 while youre on a mac

·´¯`·...¸>-)))º> ~dbben modificouno o

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btw aless: could you provide me a screenshot from your system that is similar to the one i provided to you from the about:config section for that file? it may help me to better understand what people see on thier macs.

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This is what I see on my Mac..I tried changing it to match yours but it just changed itself right back to these (although maybe I was changing them incorrectly?)

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Thanks for the additional info Jennifer.

I am thinking that my logic may be flawed because while I use FF on a Win10, i honetly have no idea if I would experience the same issues with this pluggin because I dont have a NetFlix account to test this. I did a search and found "free netflix movies". But when I went to find a free netflix movie to test this issue, i was required to sign up / register and pay.

In any case I have updated a thread on Mozilla Bugzilla regarding this file issue. There are several threads about this pluggin already. So i simply updated one of them and inserted the link to this thread we are chatting on now.

btw: Have you experienced this issue with prior FF's ?

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Hi Ben,

thanks for these. I see the exact same things Jennifer posted. I did changed it to yours but then it changed back again to this (see screenshot)

First time happening, it all started on Apr 21st, never had any problem with amazon prime/netflix/spotify and Firefox.

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btw I don't have all the files located like you have, I only have a couple of folders with ID and other files

see screenshot

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thanks for the additional info Aless.

Perhaps, the best solution is to revert back to the previous version of FF. Afterwards turn off its updating feature ( for the next 12 months ! ).

So how you feel about this idea. Install the previous version of FF. But use the "custom" option and install it into its own folder.

Currently, your FF (v88) installed to a standard folder and overwrote the older files in it. So in this case, install the older version to a folder that is called something like FireFoxV65. You will then have 2 versions intalled.

https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/10700/firefox/old-versions

Just some fyi, I do havew 4 versions of FF installed on this machine. So they FF can work side by side. The only thing is keeping the profiles apart. But if the previous version has you back up and running "and happy", i say delete v88 to save disk space and software conflicts.

Keep us aprised !

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Hi Ben,

thanks for this!

You said to turn off its updating feature ( for the next 12 months ! ) and to use the "custom" option and install it into its own folder. How do I do these 2 things? Sorry! Never done it before :D

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What Widevine version are you using?

Version 4.10.1582.2 or 4.10.2209.1?

If you already updated to the latter then that might be the cause of this problem.


  • 1705138 - Firefox 88 with Widevine CDM 4.10.2209.1 fails to playback encrypted content when license enforcing HDCPv1

(please do not comment in bug reports https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html)

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Hi cor-el,

unfortunately it's the 4.10.2209.1

it updated automatically and I can't seem to get an older version back

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alessandro.ciminata said

Hi Ben, thanks for this! You said to turn off its updating feature ( for the next 12 months ! ) and to use the "custom" option and install it into its own folder. How do I do these 2 things? Sorry! Never done it before :D

I am not familiiary with the mac. Hoewver, i will explain what occurs for us on windows, as there may be some similarities on your end.

Essentially, after you download the file and its saved to the disk, you will initialize the installation. Subsequently, there should be a screen asking you if you want to proceed with a "standard" installation or a "custom" one.

If you pick custom, you should then see a new screen that cites the name of the folder that the installation will use. The name is usually something like Mozilla/FireFox/

So with this special installation, i would rename the folder to something like Mozilla/FireFoxV65

Then proceed to complete the installation and hopefully you will be set.

btw, Based on the webpage for Mac FireFox's, I believe V65 was the FF you had prior to this new one

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Hi Ben,

thanks! unfortunately I didn't get any screen at all :( It just installed!

Once I opened the browser though, widevine took a long time to install and the error that appeared was different, it said: browser not supported

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Out of curiosity, i am currently downloading Mac Catalina o.s. I will then virutalize it and try to understand the limitations of the mac o.s..

I think that perhaps the FF version i had cited to you is too old; hence is why you got that message. But thanks for trying it and letting me know. There is likely a version 87 or 86 for the mac. But i was not able to find them - yet.

My recommendation at this time, is for you to just hold off on repairing your FF system, and let me do a little catch up. The last time i used a mac was with that funny little box back from the 80's. But i didnt like it.

For now, i believe the ideal solution is to roll back to the functional version of FF. But unfortunately, i dont know how this can be done on the mac - yet.  :-)

btw: Today, i did provide feedback for the Mozillians to create a "roll back" feature for when a new installation of FF proves to be dysfunctional. This should be very easy for the young brainiacs of the Mozilla Matrix. So we must all keep in mind that FireFox is a work in progress and to exercise some patience.  :-)

I will keep you apprised of my findings. incidentally, i could be wrong but i thought i read somewhere that FF was no longer going to be supported for the macs?

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Firefox 79 and newer releases require Mac OS X 10.12 or newer. Users on Mac OS X 10.9 and 10.10 and 10.11 have been moved to the Firefox 78.x ESR version.

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Hi cor-el,

thanks.

Basically I can't get widevine back on Firefox until I update to Mac OS X 10.12?

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Hi Ben,

thank you so much for looking into these! Let me know what you discover! :)

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hello aless,

Looks like rolling back to a previous version of FF worked for another mac user. Here are the details:

pauls.filter said

Never mind, found it. Thank you. Rolled back to 78.9.0esr and this solved the problem. Downloaded here: http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/78.9.0esr/mac/ This also requires turning off auto updates on Firefox via Preferences, and of course it's not a long-term solution. Hope it's noted as a bug... ref: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1333747

The above webpage has many varieties of FF. So look for the US Eng version

Let us know how it goes for you .

·´¯`·...¸>-)))º> ~dbben modificouno o

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