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WidevineCdm plugin has crashed

  • 3 replies
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  • Last reply by jonzn4SUSE

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Whenever I attempt to access DRM content such as netflix or spotify I am notified that the WidevineCdm plugin has crashed. I'm running firefox version 101.0.1 on Kubuntu 22.04, I am running the debian package release, but I had this issue with the snap version too. I've submitted crash reports, but they're all "EMPTY: no crashing thread" (https://crash-stats.mozilla.org/report/index/20af09a5-6bc4-4719-9242-38f5c0220614 here's one).

Whenever I attempt to access DRM content such as netflix or spotify I am notified that the WidevineCdm plugin has crashed. I'm running firefox version 101.0.1 on Kubuntu 22.04, I am running the debian package release, but I had this issue with the snap version too. I've submitted crash reports, but they're all "EMPTY: no crashing thread" (https://crash-stats.mozilla.org/report/index/20af09a5-6bc4-4719-9242-38f5c0220614 here's one).

Chosen solution

The issue was resolved when I uninstalled the debian version, and then reinstalled the snap version. The snap version of firefox I had installed was the default when I installed Kubuntu. The steps I followed to install the debian version were:

  1. Removed the snap version using snap disable and snap purge (snap disable firefox; snap remove --purge firefox)
  2. added apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa
  3. Edited /etc/apt/preferences.d/99mozillateamppa to disable the snap package and make the apt ppa package have priority
  4. ran (apt install -t 'o=LP-PPA-mozillateam' firefox)

/etc/apt/preferences.d/99mozillateamppa at this point contained Package: firefox* Pin: release o=LP-PPA-mozillateam Pin-Priority: 501 Package: firefox* Pin: release o=Ubuntu Pin-Priority: -1

These steps resulted in the issue as described above. I took a few more troubleshooting steps of deleting browser history and cookies, clearing startup cache, and uninstalling/reinstalling the debian installation of firefox while deleting my profile directory in-between installations. All of these steps still resulted in the same issue. The steps I followed to reinstall the snap version were:

  1. apt remove firefox and autoremove (apt remove firefox; apt autoremove)
  2. Edited /etc/apt/preferences.d/99mozillateamppa to remove the apt ppa package and instead make the snap package have priority
  3. Installed firefox using snap install (snap install firefox)

/etc/apt/preferences.d/99mozillateamppa now contains Package: firefox* Pin: release o=Ubuntu Pin-Priority: 501

I had resolved the issue prior to receiving the notification for this reply, so I apologize for not marking it as resolved and posting this earlier. I'm not sure what circumstances resulted in this snap installation being successful, I'm sorry I can't provide more useful information

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Can we get the exact steps to replicate the issue? Try downloading Firefox from Mozilla, run it from the folder and see if you have the same issue. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release

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Chosen Solution

The issue was resolved when I uninstalled the debian version, and then reinstalled the snap version. The snap version of firefox I had installed was the default when I installed Kubuntu. The steps I followed to install the debian version were:

  1. Removed the snap version using snap disable and snap purge (snap disable firefox; snap remove --purge firefox)
  2. added apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa
  3. Edited /etc/apt/preferences.d/99mozillateamppa to disable the snap package and make the apt ppa package have priority
  4. ran (apt install -t 'o=LP-PPA-mozillateam' firefox)

/etc/apt/preferences.d/99mozillateamppa at this point contained Package: firefox* Pin: release o=LP-PPA-mozillateam Pin-Priority: 501 Package: firefox* Pin: release o=Ubuntu Pin-Priority: -1

These steps resulted in the issue as described above. I took a few more troubleshooting steps of deleting browser history and cookies, clearing startup cache, and uninstalling/reinstalling the debian installation of firefox while deleting my profile directory in-between installations. All of these steps still resulted in the same issue. The steps I followed to reinstall the snap version were:

  1. apt remove firefox and autoremove (apt remove firefox; apt autoremove)
  2. Edited /etc/apt/preferences.d/99mozillateamppa to remove the apt ppa package and instead make the snap package have priority
  3. Installed firefox using snap install (snap install firefox)

/etc/apt/preferences.d/99mozillateamppa now contains Package: firefox* Pin: release o=Ubuntu Pin-Priority: 501

I had resolved the issue prior to receiving the notification for this reply, so I apologize for not marking it as resolved and posting this earlier. I'm not sure what circumstances resulted in this snap installation being successful, I'm sorry I can't provide more useful information

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Cool. Just mark it as resolved, but I would keep a copy from Mozilla to compare for future issues.  ;-)