Closed Bug 1114966 Opened 9 years ago Closed 9 years ago

Weather.com videos will not display in Firefox (adblock-plus related)

Categories

(Core Graveyard :: Plug-ins, defect)

x86_64
Windows 7
defect
Not set
normal

Tracking

(Not tracked)

RESOLVED INVALID

People

(Reporter: mendonsy, Unassigned)

References

Details

(Keywords: flashplayer)

Weather.com videos will not play in Firefox. They result in a black screen with no options. This bug seems to apply to older versions of Firefox also. The same videos will play properly in IE.
I thought perhaps this might have been caused by an update to Firefox or an update to my AV software (Kaspersky) but apparently that is not the problem. I dug out a notebook that I don't use very often which is still running older versions of both Firefox (33.0) and Kaspersky (2014). It also has the same problem. I also found that the Weather.com videos display normally in IE on all of these PCs.
Can you link to a (page with a) video that you're having trouble playing? And have you tried updating Adobe Flash player?
Flags: needinfo?(mendonsy)
Here is a link to one of the video pages. The problem is common to all of them.
<http://www.weather.com/storms/winter/video/holiday-travel-trouble>
I had started a thread on the Firefox support forum. Wesley Branton suggested I contact Bugzilla. He is also having the same problem.
Flags: needinfo?(mendonsy)
Also ... I have tried two versions of Firefox and two versions of Adobe Flash. The problem seems to be common to all versions and apparently it applies only to Weather.com. IE doesn't exhibit the problem.
The video loads for me, although it takes a little bit. What versions of Flash have you tried, and have you tried turning off kaspersky (*temporarily*) to see if that changes anything ?

Have you tried using Firefox's safe mode? ( https://support.mozilla.org/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode )

Can you link to the support thread? I don't want to suggest things you've already done. :-)
Flags: needinfo?(mendonsy)
Component: General → Plug-ins
Keywords: flashplayer
Product: Firefox → Core
Here is a link to the thread I started on the support forum.
<https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1037676?utm_campaign=questions-reply&utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification>

I just tried Firefox in safe mode. It does play the videos that way.

I had this problem before Kaspersky updated to the new version so I don't think that is the problem. I did try disabling Kaspersky but frankly I'm not sure that it works. The new 2015 version installs three plug-ins in Firefox that I don't want but cannot disable. When it set them to "never activate" they com back as "always activate" the next time I start Firefox.
Content Blocker KAV 4.5.3.8
Online Banking KAV 4.5.3.8
Virtual Keyboard KAV 4.5.3.8
When I set them as "never activate" they stay that way for the current session but I'm not sure they are really turned off.

The older notebook that I tried does not have the new version of Kaspersky installed yet. It has Firefox 33.0, Kaspersky 2014, and Shockwave Flash version 14. All of those are set for automatic update so the next time I start it they will probably all get updated.
Flags: needinfo?(mendonsy)
This looks like a Kaspersky issue to me, though, if it works in safe mode. Try following the instruction here:

http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=308166&view=findpost&p=2309519
and here:
http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=301934&st=0&p=2282289&#entry2282289

To disable the plugins permanently, and see if that lets you view the videos.
Flags: needinfo?(mendonsy)
You may very well be correct about that, but I tried the instructions in those links that you supplied and was not able to de-activate the Kaspersky plug-ins.

Wesley Branton on the support forum said that he was having the same issue but I don't think that he is using Kaspersky.
Flags: needinfo?(mendonsy)
I had to disable Adblock Plus but the videos work on my side.
(In reply to RICHARD OESTREICH from comment #7)
> You may very well be correct about that, but I tried the instructions in
> those links that you supplied and was not able to de-activate the Kaspersky
> plug-ins.
> 
> Wesley Branton on the support forum said that he was having the same issue
> but I don't think that he is using Kaspersky.

Wesley?

Note that if this works in safe mode, and isn't reproducible for the rest of us, it's already almost guaranteed to be related to those Kaspersky plugins. They insert extra JS in all pages loaded over http (and potentially https, I'm not sure) which the internet at large and the kaspersky forums in particular have numerous records of causing website breakage. :-(
Flags: needinfo?(computerwhiz.mozilla)
(In reply to Loic from comment #8)
> I had to disable Adblock Plus but the videos work on my side.

Yes, disabling Adblock Plus makes the videos play again. For some reason It is treating the Weather Channel videos as advertising and blocking them.

Now it is a question of which is the lesser of two evils. I either have to live with all the advertising or live without the Weather.com videos.
Wladimir, CC'ing you here - but marking as invalid, as this isn't a Firefox issue - perhaps ABP can be fixed so it only blocks the ads, not the legitimate video? :-)
Blocks: abp
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 9 years ago
Flags: needinfo?(computerwhiz.mozilla)
Resolution: --- → INVALID
Summary: Weather.com videos will not display in Firefox → Weather.com videos will not display in Firefox (adblock-plus related)
I think that I have figured out what is happening although I have no idea how to fix it.

Weather.com has decided to insert advertising in front of each one of their videos so Ad Block Plus is turning them off because it is advertising. If Ad Block Plus is disabled the video will play after the advertising.

The problem is that each video is a separate web page so you either have to turn Ad Block Plus off entirely (painful) or disable it for each individual page.

I guess I will have to learn to live without their videos or watch them with IE.
It's a common issue, ABP blocks ads and the video playback. Just open the list of elements filtered on the website and disable filter one by one to find the culprit. If it's an issue with EasyList, report the filter issue on http://forums.lanik.us/
Took me a while to take a look at this issue - by now it cannot be reproduced any more of course.

(In reply to :Gijs Kruitbosch from comment #11)
> perhaps ABP can be fixed so it only blocks the ads, not the
> legitimate video? :-)

Well, it was probably an EasyList issue and the EasyList guys resolved it.
Whatever was going on seems to have gone away after about two weeks. I originally had to disable ABP for the entire site to get the videos to work. After a while the site went back to working normally although it seems to be slower than before.
Product: Core → Core Graveyard
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