Update on/about 21 April 2021 broke WidevineCDM for many users, breaking Netflix/Spotify/etc. (thread of threads)
Each of the threads below is someone reporting the same problem (which I also have), with the same timing. Suddenly on 21 April 2021 all (?) major streaming sites started to give "The WidevineCDM plugin has crashed" message and ceased to work .
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1333289 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1333332 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1333503 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1333613 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1333506 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1333571
No suggested fix works. Reinstalling does not help, toggling DRM application does not help. It was obviously the update (at least for users on 78.10.0esr with OS X 10.9.5) that did it. Is there some way to get this registered as a bug?
All Replies (20)
I reported the issue directly on the widevine website but so far no replies.
we are also discussing this issue at / on this thread
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)
I'm using Version 4.10.2209.1 of Widevine. I checked last night and it was still down. I didn't check this morning, figuring it was still down.
hello waold,
after careful review, the best course of action is to roll back to the functional version of FF. Depending on what mac version you have, will determine which FF version to re-install. Afterwards, turning off the updating feature of FF will ensure issues with upgrades are avoided.
at this time, i am exploring the mac o.s; as my lack of familiarity with it is not very helpful for assisting people.
in the meantime, please keep us apprised of your findings and or results towards resolving this issue.
Thanks. Any tips on *how* to roll back as you say?
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...
Modified by pauls.filter
Thanks for the additional info paul. I will share this with others in the same boat !
- -)
·´¯`·...¸>-)))º> ~dbben said
hello waold, after careful review, the best course of action is to roll back to the functional version of FF. Depending on what mac version you have, will determine which FF version to re-install. Afterwards, turning off the updating feature of FF will ensure issues with upgrades are avoided. at this time, i am exploring the mac o.s; as my lack of familiarity with it is not very helpful for assisting people. in the meantime, please keep us apprised of your findings and or results towards resolving this issue.
My version of FF is 78 with a mac OS 10.9.5.
I do not have an issue with crashing but with the most recent update of FF 88 and recent version of widevine I could no longer play Amazon prime videos in HD. Only SD. I made a post about that and how I got it to work again. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1334222
Hopefully this is fixed soon as Chrome uses the same widevine version with no issues.
Has any ine found a solution? I also have a Mac OS 10.9.5. Any way yo get around widevine to watch videos on Netflix, Amazon prime, or Vudu using Firefox?
hello angela,
The following post pertains to your o.s. version. Take a look. Let us know if it worked out too
pauls.filter Question owner 4/24/21, 7:09 AM
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...'
I am having the same issue. As of yet, no solution. Can anyone please help? I wish I could un-install the update. I tried installing older firefox versions, but they ended up being more trouble than worth, and I still couldn't watch netflix or prime.
The Widevine people seem to be aware of the bug.
Netflix support told me they don't know what widevine is.
Help?
WideVine is a plug-in that provides FF the functionality of playing movies.
If you open/review your add-in/extensions section of FF, you will find it listed there.
At this time, this plug-in is problematic and the FF programmers are working on a fix.
There is also rumors if the people that made the plug-in is simply going out of business.
At this time the only solution is to use the previous verions of WideVine, which is only compatiable with the older version of FF.
In the meantime, we all simply have to wait for an update of FF to occur with an updated WideVine or some other plug-in that shows movies.
·´¯`·...¸>-)))º> ~dbben said
At this time the only solution is to use the previous verions of WideVine, which is only compatiable with the older version of FF. In the meantime, we all simply have to wait for an update of FF to occur with an updated WideVine or some other plug-in that shows movies.
Thank you so much. Two follow-up questions:
How long do you think it will take for FF to fix this? I assume many people are struggling with the same issue.
And, is there a way to simply undo the last update?
Thank you again.
If you stroll the bottom of this page to the "unresolved" section, you will know what we know - which aint much ! :-)
But as previously mentioned, installing that FF version 78 seems to have done the trick for mac users.
However, i do not know if that version is compatable for your operating system. In my opinion, i dont see why not.
But here is a webpage with information for mac users
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/55764
If you are finally able to view Netflix, please let us know by which method so we can pass on the word to others.
Ok so here is the thing. I went here: http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/78.9.0esr/mac/ and downloaded that version several times, and had the same experience: The first time, it worked beautifully on both Netflix and Prime. Problem solved, I thought. But then, when I closed and opened it up again, every time I got the security warning and had no choice to "accept risk and proceed." So it only works one time. WTF honestly. This is so frustrating.
maybe its about the cookies, as these tiny files store info in them.
lets see what happens when the cookies are deleted.
what would occur is for new cookies to be installed as though it was the first time.
so go into the firefox security section and find manage cookies.
Go to this url:
about:preferences#privacy
then delete all of them that site netflix.
nextly, scroll up the privacy section where there may be a level for setting enhanced protections. simply choose customer, then unselect everything.
afterwards, close then reopen and retry a netflix movie
Widevine 4.10.2209.1 no long supports Mac OS X 10.9 (minimum is 10.11).
- /questions/1334046 wide vine plug in crashed
- /questions/1333906 widevinecdm error on mozilla firefox
Hi. Thank you. You are very sweet for walking me through this. I tried, but it ultimately didn't work. At first I thought it did, but I tried it several times and the result is the same. :(