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I cannot get any videos, from any website or embedded, to play.

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 10 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

chelcat
chelcat
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Seemingly out of nowhere, I cannot get any videos to play. I noticed this first with youtube, but then noticed that they will not play from within articles, on social media sites like facebook, or other general video hosting websites. On youtube I get a black box and nothing loads, and on other websites I either get a black box, or just a blank space where they video would be. My browser version is current, all of my plugins (flash, shockwave, java, etc) are installed and current. My anti-virus software is current and not firewalling as far as I can tell, and all of my plug in settings are enabled to always activate. I've obviously restarted my browser, restarted my system, etc. Nothing is fixing this problem.

Seemingly out of nowhere, I cannot get any videos to play. I noticed this first with youtube, but then noticed that they will not play from within articles, on social media sites like facebook, or other general video hosting websites. On youtube I get a black box and nothing loads, and on other websites I either get a black box, or just a blank space where they video would be. My browser version is current, all of my plugins (flash, shockwave, java, etc) are installed and current. My anti-virus software is current and not firewalling as far as I can tell, and all of my plug in settings are enabled to always activate. I've obviously restarted my browser, restarted my system, etc. Nothing is fixing this problem.

All Replies (4)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Can you right-click the frame with the player and open the frame in a new tab?

Does YouTube use the HTML5 media player or the flash player?

If you use extensions (Firefox menu button/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) that can block content (e.g. Adblock Plus, NoScript, Flash Block, Ghostery) then make sure that such extensions aren't blocking content.

chelcat
chelcat Question owner
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I do not have the option from right click to open in a new tab. My options are:

A refresh button Star button (to bookmark) Save page as Select all View page source View page info Or inspect element

If you hit the refresh button about ten times on youtube, the video will finally play, but this only works on youtube. I am having this problem with every video option on all sites, and sometimes there is nothing for me to right click on, so still not a real solution.

user158825061702048981161559993040890724972
user158825061702048981161559993040890724972
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Hmm, you should try these steps. Sorry this post is long but give it a shot:

1. Usually it's either a add-on that is blocking the videos being played, or a malfunctioning plug-in extension. Disable all add-ons by clicking the Firefox Menu (the three lines symbol in the top right), Help Menu (question mark symbol), and click "Restart with Add-ons Disabled...". If videos start playing (hopefully!) then you know its one of your add-ons that is at fault. If videos do start playing, start Firefox normally and disable one add-on at a time until you find the add-on that is the problem. Maybe you should also change all your plug-ins to "ask to activate" instead of "always activate" to see if the "Activate Flash" appears over the video area. It's tedious, but it did for me.

side note: It could be Java or Adobe not working correctly on your computer. Update your Java and Adobe on your computer, not on Firefox. Then after you update those on your computer, restart computer. After computer boots up, update your plug-ins again and see if that works.

2. Have you tried to refresh Firefox? In other words, reinstall Firefox entirely? Something may not be right in Firefox so refreshing it might get rid of it. It would delete all your data though so be careful! Uninstall Firefox first, delete the "Mozilla Firefox" and "Mozilla Maintenance Service" folders in your Program files (x86) folder (its there by default). Then install Firefox again.

3. Have you checked for malware? Malware is different than viruses and it can infect anything secretly. Your virus protection might not pick up certain malware. If you don't have one installed, I would recommend Exterminate It! but it costs some money. Malware Bytes is another good one.

I would say an add-on or extension plug-in is the one to blame, as it can malfunction or block videos. Double-check these steps and hopefully that will solve your problem! Good luck!!

FredMcD
FredMcD
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If you have problems with current Shockwave Flash plugin versions then check this:

  • see if there are updates for your graphics drive drivers

https://support.mozilla.org/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration

  • disable protected mode in the Flash plugin (Flash 11.3+ on Windows Vista and later)

https://forums.adobe.com/message/4468493#TemporaryWorkaround

  • disable hardware acceleration in the Flash plugin

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/891337 See also:

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac Options) key, and then starting Firefox. Is the problem still there?