629852 - Check to ensure WMP versions and installation are compat with firefox 4.

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Web Compatibility :: Site Reports, defect)

Description

[chris hofmann]

this may get moved to another product/component but we need to investigate an uptick in reports about users being unable to install some/all versions of WMP and have it run successful with firefox 4.

there is an uptick of reports like this in beta 10 to maybe 15-20 reports a day or so, and its also turning up in other forums. See:

http://input.mozilla.com/en-US/beta/search?product=firefox?q=windows+media+player 

http://input.mozilla.com/en-US/beta/search?product=firefox&q=wmp

crash stats says we are still getting a few crashes on wmp.dll so at 
least a few people are getting it to run, or have it run from previous installation.  

Its a bit early to tell of 
volume of crashes is lower than b9, so we need to get people moved up 
to b10 to make an apples to apples comparision there.

The first two reports show version 9 and version 11 were running at  time of crash, and other reports need check out.

> 4.0b10 @0x0 | wmp.dll@0x1a804 http://www.rapidlibrary.com/ \N
> http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/9e33a089-f280-4917-af47-60a182110127 
>
>
> 4.0b10 hang | RtlpWaitOnCriticalSection | RtlpAllocateAffinityIndex | 
> wmp.dll@0x7266 \N \
> N 
> http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/396145ad-c92b-4c0f-8e45-38e5c2110127
>
> 4.0b10 wmp.dll@0x228c2b \N \N
> http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/6e8e643e-17f2-4cb6-8da8-0a6cb2110126 
>
>
> 4.0b10 wmp.dll@0x229406 \N \N
> http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/766210c9-c4da-40bc-858d-53a1b2110127 
>
>
> 4.0b10 wmp.dll@0x229406 http://www.google.com.tr/ \N
> http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/142980fa-65f1-4fe2-9d13-a6b672110127 
>
>
> 4.0b10 wmp.dll@0x90e22 \N \N
> http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/f9c5e323-1ccb-49a8-b18d-be8382110126 
>
>
> 4.0b10 wmp.dll@0xffccc \N \N
> http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/31084a34-e47b-4be7-bf89-6b2d12110127 
>
>
> 4.0b10pre wmp.dll@0x229406 \N \N
> http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/469bd846-4a5e-49cc-9bc2-4f6862110126 
>
>
> 4.0b10pre wmp.dll@0x229406 \N \N
> http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/9b7356e6-0882-494b-9840-16e972110126 
>
>

we also need to check current sources of WPM downloads and figure out if there is a single source serving up something that old/incompat.

looks like we might also need to dig deeper into version and the source 
of the download for wpm that people are using.

there are 32 bit and 64 bit versions offered by microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=1d224714-e238-4e45-8668-5166114010ca  
6/22/2010
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c6a4cecb-9cb2-42f7-8814-7cb5067ee958

pfs isn't offering the 64 bit version  
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:7

and pfs is redirecting to 
http://port25.technet.com/pages/windows-media-player-firefox-plugin-download.aspx 
which offers something that might have not be updated since 4/13/2007 
under the version 11 link.

wonder if this also has something do to with trying to run the 64 bit 
version on a 32 bit system, or maybe its just the 64 bit version not 
working.

this comment might be helpful in getting to the right test config

   Unable to view MMS as Firefox requires me to install a plugin called 
Windows Media Player 11. This is not available for my PC (Win7 x64)

and here is another comment from a 32bit user.

   Firefox offers the Windows Media Player 11, which is not compatible 
with the PC. HP/Vista/32 bit

Comment 1

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

(This is a hardblocker until we've confirmed that it works)

Comment 2

[Chris B.]

There is no official WMP plug-in from Microsoft for Firefox with the current versions of WMP (12.0 on Windows 7).

I have been using a third-party WMP plug-in from:

http://port25.technet.com/pages/windows-media-player-firefox-plugin-download.aspx

which uses WMP 11.0 code and hasn't been updated in FOUR years, but still works like a charm in the current Firefox 4 Nightly.

Comment 3

[James May [:fowl2]]

Technet is a Microsoft website. ie. That *is* the official plugin.

Comment 4

[Chris B.]

(In reply to comment #3)
> Technet is a Microsoft website. ie. That *is* the official plugin.

Oh, my bad.....

A WMP plug-in is not automatically installed by Windows Media Player during first run and I don't know of any version 12.0 plugin for Firefox.

Even though I have the plugin mentioned above in comment 2 installed, nothing is listed for Windows Media Player under about:plugins and I am not entirely sure what files play inside the browser and which don't.  Also, if I download an WMV file Firefox knows to open it in Windows Media Player on the computer, because it is probably checking the Windows File Association list.



Even though I have the Port 25 official plugin installed, WMV files do NOT play inside the browser, such as the following page:
http://ctarabians.com/testwmv.html

Is that the reason for this bug report?

If I click the LEGO block that says "Click here to download plugin" on the above site, Minefield Plugin Finder Service says "The following plugins are available: Windows Media Player 11".  However, if you click "Next" it then says "No plugins were installed" and has a Manual Install button.  Clicking the Manual Install button takes you to the Port 25 page above.....it's an endless loop!!!

Comment 5

[Chris B.]

(In reply to comment #4)
> (In reply to comment #3)
> > Technet is a Microsoft website. ie. That *is* the official plugin.
> 
> Oh, my bad.....
> 
> A WMP plug-in is not automatically installed by Windows Media Player during
> first run and I don't know of any version 12.0 plugin for Firefox.
> 
> Even though I have the plugin mentioned above in comment 2 installed, nothing
> is listed for Windows Media Player under about:plugins and I am not entirely
> sure what files play inside the browser and which don't.  Also, if I download
> an WMV file Firefox knows to open it in Windows Media Player on the computer,
> because it is probably checking the Windows File Association list.
> 
> 
> 
> Even though I have the Port 25 official plugin installed, WMV files do NOT play
> inside the browser, such as the following page:
> http://ctarabians.com/testwmv.html
> 
> Is that the reason for this bug report?
> 
> If I click the LEGO block that says "Click here to download plugin" on the
> above site, Minefield Plugin Finder Service says "The following plugins are
> available: Windows Media Player 11".  However, if you click "Next" it then says
> "No plugins were installed" and has a Manual Install button.  Clicking the
> Manual Install button takes you to the Port 25 page above.....it's an endless
> loop!!!


*** NOTE ***
Windows Media Player 12 is Windows 7 ONLY (which is the OS I use), so the sentence where I say "A WMP plug-in is not automatically....." I am referring to version 12 in Windows 7 for the entire sentence.

Comment 6

[George Carstoiu]

Confirming issue. Installing missing plugin redirects the user to the following two websites, depending on the operating system:

Windows 7
http://port25.technet.com/pages/windows-media-player-firefox-plugin-download.aspx

Mac OS X 10.6
http://www.telestream.net/flip4mac-wmv/overview.htm

In both cases installing the plugin does not solve the problem, test pages still don't render the video:
http://ctarabians.com/testwmv.html
http://www.bowendirectory.com/?p=7&ID=261&d=1

Observations:
1.The issue cannot be reproduced on WinXP or Linux.
2.The issue is also reproducible on Firefox 3.6.13 on Win7 and MacOS X

Comment 7

[Benjamin Smedberg]

This is not a regression. The WMP plugins haven't worked correctly in Firefox for a long time because they are using a very fragile installation technique of poking around in the registry for certain keys, and then putting the plugin DLL inside the Firefox installation, instead of doing the normal/good thing and registering the plugin via the Windows registry.

Kev, could you make contact with Microsoft to see if they care about the WMP plugin at all, and whether they are willing to fix it? If not, we should probably pull it from PFS entirely.

Comment 8

[Kev Needham [:kev]]

(In reply to comment #7) 
> Kev, could you make contact with Microsoft to see if they care about the WMP
> plugin at all, and whether they are willing to fix it? If not, we should
> probably pull it from PFS entirely.

Will do. Don't think I have a contact on the WMP team, but will work through some others to get one.

Comment 9

[orangezilla]

Bug 637209 probably needs to be marked as a duplicate. Don't think MS will ever get round to updating the FF WMP plugin as they are likely wanting to kill off streaming WMV in favor of Silverlight.

Comment 11

[Andreas Eibach]

Nah, the Port 25 "installation" never works.
People have always tried to follow the "installation procedure", hope for the best --- nothing happens.

** the next section is especially for Windows 7 / Vista users **
What you have to do to get it to work is either unpack the np-mswmp.dll (or find yourself a standalone copy somewhere in the net) and jam it into %USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Plugins.

AFAICS, there is never a plugins directory in the basic installation, but you have to create one first.
(Wow, welcome to the 21st century! LOL!)

put np-mswmp.dll in there and everything will work...

... hang on, 100% confirmed for all nightlies up to latest 6.0b.

No longer works for me in 7.0b, I'm currently investigating further why.

Comment 12

[RGD]

Still a problem with Nightly 9.0a1 64 bit for WMV.  I have gotten this version to work with Flash and Siverlight 64 without problems, so WMP would be nice.

Comment 13

[Andreas Eibach]

RGD, in another bug another culprit was found: whenever WMP plugin and VLC plugin are installed simultaneously AND both of them are in "Enabled" state, recent Nightlies will no longer work with WMP plugin. Get rid of VLC plugin, or just 'Disable' it in the settings, and the problems (i. e. problems with black video screen) disappear.

Comment 14

[Andreas Eibach]

Generally speaking, do check amount and type of all of your third-party plugins!

Comment 15

[RGD]

@Adreas.  Thank you, but I do not have the VLC plugin installed.  The plugins below are installed:

Shockwave Flash

    File: NPSWF64_11_0_1.dll
    Version: 11.0.1.129
    Shockwave Flash 11.0 r1


Java Deployment Toolkit 7.0.0.147

    File: npdeployJava1.dll
    Version: 10.0.0.147
    NPRuntime Script Plug-in Library for Java(TM) Deploy

		
Java(TM) Platform SE 7

    File: npjp2.dll
    Version: 10.0.0.147
    Next Generation Java Plug-in 10.0.0 for Mozilla browsers

 		
Silverlight Plug-In

    File: npctrl.dll
    Version: 5.0.60818.0
    5.0.60818.0

Microsoft Office 2010

    File: NPAUTHZ.DLL
    Version: 14.0.4730.1010
    Office Authorization plug-in for NPAPI browsers

WIN 7 64bit

Comment 16

[Karl Dubost💡 :karlcow]

This bug is probably invalid by now. 
If an issue still exists in Firefox and not in other browsers. Please do open a new bug. 
Thanks.