This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

video not working

  • 7 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 46 views
  • Last reply by Christie22

more options

The video content on one of my websites has stopped working. It's my usual news site "thewest.com.au". It was working normally until a few days ago. All other sites work as normal. It shows the image for the video but when I press play nothing happens. I've always used Firefox and carried out the usual tests. I started in safe mode with add ons disabled and everything worked again. Then went back to normal mode and disabled each add on manually but it didn't work. The only add ons/ extensions I use are ABP and McAfee WebAdvisor. The other add ons are what Firefox use. I have another computer basically set up the same and that plays videos as normal. So, opening Firefox in safe mode the video plays but when I disable the add ons in normal mode it doesn't play. I have no issues with any other site. What could the problem be?

The video content on one of my websites has stopped working. It's my usual news site "thewest.com.au". It was working normally until a few days ago. All other sites work as normal. It shows the image for the video but when I press play nothing happens. I've always used Firefox and carried out the usual tests. I started in safe mode with add ons disabled and everything worked again. Then went back to normal mode and disabled each add on manually but it didn't work. The only add ons/ extensions I use are ABP and McAfee WebAdvisor. The other add ons are what Firefox use. I have another computer basically set up the same and that plays videos as normal. So, opening Firefox in safe mode the video plays but when I disable the add ons in normal mode it doesn't play. I have no issues with any other site. What could the problem be?

All Replies (7)

more options

I checked the link using Firefox and Win IE. How the page was displayed was different for each browser.

Can you provide links to the players that are not working?

more options

I'm not sure about the links. When you click on a story and it has a video, it usually plays but not anymore. I think it's "Brightcove" related. As mentioned, it works in safe mode.

more options

Contact Brightcove support. Please keep us posted.

more options

I thought Brightcove was what wesites used. It's not a standalone program which I downloaded. Everything works fine with add-ons disabled in safe mode but it doesn't work with add-ons disabled in normal mode. Surely, this must have something to do with Firefox and the add-ons or extensions. Why does it work in safe mode with add-ons disabled but not when I disable the add-ons manually? None of my other computers have this problem - with all running the same OS and latest Firefox and the same add-ons. It's only happening on "thewest" website and only on this computer. Did something not download correctly over the past couple of days? I know I haven't downloaded anything other than Windows updates like the other computers. Firefox was updated a while ago and everything was working fine. My Malwarebytes and Windows Defender scans shows everything as OK. If it works in safe mode, then it must be one of the add-ons which doesn't disable for some reason. Maybe I should just wait for the next Firefox update? It doesn't make sense to me.

more options

I haven't found any solutions to my problem. However, I've tried changing various settings to see if there's any difference. The website thewest.com.au and other associated news sites use the same video service when a video is available for any news story. These are all Brightcove videos. It shows an error as 'unknown' on all these news sites. I have always used private browsing in Firefox and all the settings and add ons are the same I've had for several years. I only update Firefox as normal and I update Windows as normal - like everyone else. I don't know what has changed or causing this interruption when trying to see a video. I don't use flash or anything else so it must have something to do with Firefox. As mentioned before, when Firefox in started in safe mode, the video plays automatically after clicking on a relevant story (i.e. I don't have to press play on the video). When starting Firefox in normal mode, it doesn't play at all - even if I click play button on the video image. I always clicked play before and unlike in safe mode, it never played automatically. I have started Firefox in normal mode and disabled the add ons individually but that doesn't work either. I have since discovered by unchecking private browsing in settings the video will play as before by pressing the play arrow on the story image.I do not wish to disable private browsing and just want everything to work as before. It can't be Brightvove as the video works but only in safe mode or by disabling private browsing and it's only happening on one of my computers. Something just hasn't downloaded correctly or I picked up a bug from somewhere but my security programs haven't found anything. There must be a solution.

more options

HI, your Mcafee if in Safe Mode and it works. You are testing in regular mode ? You can create a new Profile as a test and leave Mcafee out of the profile and see if it works. Profile : Make a new one and test ...:

If is your Profile :

  • https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile
  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
  • cookies.sqlite for the Cookies
  • formhistory.sqlite for saved autocomplete Form Data
  • logins.json (passwords) and key4.db (58+) or key3.db (57 and older) (decryption key) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
  • if you only have key3.db then make sure to remove an existing key4.db
  • cert9.db (58+) or cert8.db (57 and older) for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
  • if you only have cert8.db then make sure to remove an existing cert9.db
  • persdict.dat for words you added to the spelling checker dictionary
  • permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other website specific data (Site Preferences)
  • sessionstore.jsonlz4 for open tabs and pinned tabs (see also the sessionstore-backups folder)

I tried your site, but am not unblocking it from ad blockers, You sure know how to hit people hard. In regular mode : Ghostery blocked 10, uBlock Origin blocked 16, and Malwarebytes Extension blocked 12 third party cookies.

in Private Mode respectively : 11, 24, 22

You could go here and give it more permissions and see : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-page-info-window

So with all those cookies being blocked by ad blockers and malwarebytes I do not know what Private Browsing is blocking as per above blockers. Just way to many, ridiculous amount.

more options

Thanks Pkshadow for your response. I have considered all the responses but I couldn't understand how this problem started without me making any changes. Due to work, I couldn't devote much time in trying to work this out. I have found the problem during my day off. It has something to do with tracking protection. Without realising or ever having changed the BLOCK LIST in settings for tracking protection, the recommended setting of BASIC PROTECTION was unchecked and instead STRICT PROTECTION was checked. As I don't recall ever changing this setting, I assume the last Firefox update might have changed this setting automatically. Other than that, I've always had it set to STRICT PROTECTION and the sites I visit have changed their viewing policies. I do not know but it's now back to the recommended settings and I won't have to change any of my security add ons etc. Thanks to all for your input. Firefox keeps adding more and more settings and like it or not, we have to keep checking them. Everything (for now) is working normally.