Closed Bug 1490097 Opened 7 years ago Closed 7 years ago

Plugin block request: Soft-block all Flash versions <= 30.0.0.113 (including 29.* and earlier)

Categories

(Toolkit :: Blocklist Policy Requests, enhancement)

Product:
Toolkit
Component:
Blocklist Policy Requests
Type:
enhancement
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED FIXED

People

(Reporter: cpeterson, Unassigned)

References

Details

Attachments

(1 file)

HTML5 issues that also Grey the Sidebar and won't load comments?
94.21 KB, image/gif
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The latest Flash version is 30.0.0.134. We should soft-block (forcing "Ask to Activate") for all Flash versions <= 29. The latest Flash 29 version is 29.0.0.171, but we should proactively block all 29.*.*.* versions if possible, in case there are Flash 29 dot releases in the future. (Released 07/10/2018) Flash Player 30.0.0.134 (Released 06/07/2018) Flash Player 30.0.0.113 (Released 05/08/2018) Flash Player 29.0.0.171
Correction: dveditz says we should also block all Flash versions <= 30.0.0.113.
The blocks have been updated and staged. Stuart, please review and approve (they'll be in the plugins bucket).
Flags: needinfo?(scolville)
(In reply to Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] from comment #3) > The blocks have been updated and staged. Stuart, please review and approve > (they'll be in the plugins bucket). I don't appear to have access to plugins to be able to review this.
Flags: needinfo?(scolville) → needinfo?(jorge)
Flags: needinfo?(jorge) → needinfo?(autrilla)
Thanks :autrilla, I have access now. Block has been approved.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 7 years ago
Flags: needinfo?(autrilla)
Resolution: --- → FIXED
Why not let the user decide this rather than blocking a necessary plug in globally?
(In reply to mustsubmit from comment #6) > Why not let the user decide this rather than blocking a necessary plug in > globally? Firefox does not prevent users from running Flash. This "soft block" just means that the user first has to click a "Run Adobe Flash" button to activate the Flash content. This soft block only applies to Flash versions with known security vulnerabilities. If your Flash has auto-updated to latest version (currently Flash version 31.0.0.108), then this soft block does not apply.
Thanks for your response. Yes, the offer to enable flash does come up on many websites but it is NOT coming up on Youtube.com so, I am unable to watch videos now and had to install and use Google Chrome to watch videos on Youtube ever since this "soft block" in September 2018.
(In reply to mustsubmit from comment #8) > Thanks for your response. Yes, the offer to enable flash does come up on > many websites but it is NOT coming up on Youtube.com so, I am unable to > watch videos now and had to install and use Google Chrome to watch videos on > Youtube ever since this "soft block" in September 2018. Are you using an add-on to force YouTube to use Flash? YouTube uses HTML5 video by default, so it shouldn't be using Flash. Which Firefox and Flash versions do you have? If you disable Flash ("Never Activate" in about:addons), does YouTube then play HTML5 video successfully? What does YouTube's https://www.youtube.com/html5 page say your Firefox supports?
Yes, I have an addon that goes back and forth (from flash to HTML5) but, the video still won't play on YT when I select HTML5. Not quite sure how to determine which playback it supports at https://www.youtube.com/html5 reports. There is a check mark next to HTMLVideoElement, Media Source Extensions, WebM VP8, MSE & WebM VP9 and exclamation marks next to H.264 and MSE & H.264. Then is says: The HTML5 player is currently used when possible. I just updated Firefox to 52.9. I didn't know I could do that since, I have XP SP3 and thought I had the last supported version of Firefox installed. But, after the update, I went to YT and still can't watch html5 videos. I am updating the flash to the version you recommended but, haven't installed it yet since I wanted to reply to your message first. I ALSO thought I had the last supported version (version 30)so that's why I didn't update it before. I'll try to install this version and report back to see if it installs on my system. Fingers crossed :)
Ok, I'm updated to Firefox ESR 52.9 so that's good. Also, the Adobe Flash 31.0.0.108 installed also (I can see the new version number in Add ons. And, "Always Activate" has returned to the drop down so, that's nice. But, still can't watch videos on YT. I selected "Never Activate" and no. Video still won't play.
I should be more specific...some videos won't play, not all. But, the ones that won't are referenced as HTML5
(In reply to mustsubmit from comment #10) > I just updated Firefox to 52.9. I didn't know I could do that since, I have > XP SP3 and thought I had the last supported version of Firefox installed. I think the issue is that H.264 is not enabled by default in Firefox on Windows XP. These days YT converts all uploaded videos to both H.264 and WebM/VP9, but some very old videos might not have been converted to WebM/VP9 and newly uploaded videos might not get converted for a day or so. Can you share a link to YT video that doesn't play in Firefox? You might try manually enabling H.264 (MP4) in your Firefox by setting these about:config prefs to true (and restarting Firefox): media.mediasource.mp4.enabled = true media.mp4.enabled = true
Thank you so much Chris for taking all this time with me. Unfortunately, both those entries in about:config ARE set to "true". sigh. Thought we had it there. OK so, here's a link to one of the videos that won't play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGuaoiI1bSc What's weird is that, it's MY video uploaded to one of my YT channels. It always played fine for me until September. Also, the thumbnails show up??? I don't know if that means anything but, anyhow...
P.S. Did some more googling and someone said to remove Youtube addon that switches from flash to html5 and I did but, no dice. Anyhow...
Also, after reading another article about this problem, I restarted Firefox in safe mode (to temporarily disable addons) but, the video still won't play. And, the entire page is greyed. (no sign in icons, no videos showing up in the sidebar. Can't scroll down. Very strange. I reinstalled Youtube Flash Video Player 64 to toggle between flash and html5 and, when I do, It seems to "shake up the page" and the side bar videos are then visable as also is a still shot on the video but, when I click "play" and I get the html5 message about the browser not recognizing any video formats available.
That Frank Sinatra video was uploaded back in 2009, before YouTube started converting videos to VP9. If you right click on the video and select the "Stats for nerds" menu item, a YouTube pop up will show technical information about the video. Indeed, the video's "Stats for nerds" says "Codecs: avc1..." (avc1 means H.264) whereas recently uploaded videos on the YouTube home page say "Codecs: vp09..." (WebM VP9). Unfortunately, Firefox on XP is never going to be able to play H.264 video because XP doesn't include a H.264 decoder. Flash and Chrome can because they include their own H.264 decoders. Microsoft also offers downloadable H.264 decoders for Windows Vista and later, but not for XP. For more info, see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-video-audio-problems-firefox-windows. If you can't upgrade to a newer version of Windows, then Chrome on XP might be the easiest way to play these YouTube videos. :( I see some old websites that recommend setting about:config prefs to activate the Adobe Primetime CDM or Cisco OpenH264. Unfortunately, those instructions are outdated. Even if they did work, those Adobe and Cisco decoders only decode the H.264 video. There will be no audio. You might try setting the about:config pref "media.mediasource.webm.enabled" = true. That pref won't help with this particular Frank Sinatra video, but it might help with some other YouTube videos.
I changed media.mediasource.webm.enabled to "true". Thanks for the tip and for all the time you spent with a total stranger to try to help them. Blessings on you, my friend!
P.S. I guess it should be mentioned that, I USED to be able to view this video on YT, no problem. It was my upload to one of my YT channels and I'd go there from time to time to respond to people's comments so, the video was viewable to me up until very recently.
(In reply to mustsubmit from comment #18) > I changed media.mediasource.webm.enabled to "true". Thanks for the tip and > for all the time you spent with a total stranger to try to help them. > Blessings on you, my friend! Thanks! You're welcome. :)
Blocks: 1519516

Hi,
It's me again. I'm wondering if someone can help me. As is visible from the .gif, I am unable to view a YT video (my own upload actually) because of browser issues which I believe stem from OS issues. I am still running Windows XP SP Pro. OK, that I get. But why is the side bar greyed? And also, comments will not load either so, since this is my upload and people comment, I can not respond to their comments (even though unable to view the video because of html5 issues) because it will not load comments. I have to "cheat on" Firefox:) in order to view the comment section by using Chrome.:( Does this HTML5 issue also affect the entire loading of the page?

Unfortunately, Firefox can't play H.264 video on Windows XP. Your only options are VP9 or Flash video. YouTube offers most videos in both H.264 and VP9 formats, but I recall that your uploaded video was not available in VP9. YouTube converts recent uploads to both H.264 and VP9, but not older videos. If YouTube no longer supports Flash and your video is not available in VP9, then Chrome is probably your only option for playing those videos.

You can check which video formats your Firefox is able to play here:

https://www.youtube.com/html5

The grey side bar means that YouTube's web page couldn't finish loading. You might try disabling any ad blockers and/or installing this "YouTube Classic" add-on that restores YouTube's older lightweight design:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-classic/

Yeah, I'm still trying to hack this situation. heh. I spent a good couple of hours tonight reading about ways to view html5 with my OS and found out about Adobe Primetime. So I got a copy of it and put it's files in the app data folder gmp-eme-adobe/17 and added a few entries in about.config as per instructions but, no dice.

BUT, you sure helped me with the YouTube Classic addon. It was just what I needed since now, the other parts of the YT page load so I am able to respond to comments.
Much Appreciated Chris!
All the best,
Annette

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