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Is THIS the "fix" for being UNABLE to open new windows in Firefox Quantum 66.0.2 (64-bit) since the update?

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 12 views
  • Last reply by James

AlwaysLearningFirefox2
AlwaysLearningFirefox2
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Firefox has been my browser of choice for years, but like THIS user (thread below), I was just about to hang it up and go with Chrome when I read that plugins might be causing the problem. I never imagined that those plugins would ALSO include the ones that are installed by DEFAULT.

I opened the "manage plugins" screen and clicked "never activate" the following two plugins that are installed by DEFAULT in Firefox:

OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco and Wildvine Content Decryption Module provided by Google.

That fixed the problem. (Does anybody think this is a "nefarious plot" by the big G?  :) )

For other plugins/solutions, see this thread https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1217498

Hope this helps someone avoid "crazy-making town."  :) I lived there for weeks.

Firefox has been my browser of choice for years, but like THIS user (thread below), I was just about to hang it up and go with Chrome when I read that plugins might be causing the problem. I never imagined that those plugins would ALSO include the ones that are installed by DEFAULT. I opened the "manage plugins" screen and clicked "never activate" the following two plugins that are installed by DEFAULT in Firefox: OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco and Wildvine Content Decryption Module provided by Google. That fixed the problem. (Does anybody think this is a "nefarious plot" by the big G? :) ) For other plugins/solutions, see this thread https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1217498 Hope this helps someone avoid "crazy-making town." :) I lived there for weeks.

All Replies (3)

Wesley Branton
Wesley Branton
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The solution in the thread that you provided says nothing about the plugins that you have listed. Their issue was resolved simply by reinstalling Firefox, likely because one of the files in their installation of Firefox was corrupted or damaged.

The plugins that you have listed are far from a "nefarious plot".

The Wildvine Content Decryption Module provided by Google is a plugin that allows you to access videos that are DRM-protected (Digital Rights Management Protected). This is used on certain services, like Netflix. It's included in Firefox because it's the industry standard.

As for the OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco plugin, this is simply for decoding video content. Quite simply, it's the software that is used to play H.264 videos in Firefox. H.264 is the most commonly used video format on the internet.

To solve the issue that you are having, I'd first recommend reinstalling Firefox like the user in the thread that you have linked. It's likely the solution to the problem.

AlwaysLearningFirefox2
AlwaysLearningFirefox2 Question owner
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Hi Wesley! You're correct in that the original poster didn't mention any problem with those two plugins but I apparently DID have a problem. Perhaps it's that my computer is older or something. Don't know.

All I know for sure is that I had uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox several times prior to this and nothing worked.

But the problem vanished after I just disabled those two plugins.

Thanks for offering a different perspective on this!

)
James
James
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Wesley Branton said

As for the OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco plugin, this is simply for decoding video content. Quite simply, it's the software that is used to play H.264 videos in Firefox. H.264 is the most commonly used video format on the internet.

Not quite as this Plugin is for to enable video calls with devices that require the H.264 codec. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/open-h264-plugin-firefox

The support for H264 in HTML5 players on Windows you use the codecs from the media feature pack. On Linux it is provided by the FFmpeg.

Modified by James