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

Can't play vines.

  • 15 replies
  • 5 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Joseei

Searching Google led me to go to about:config and look for media.windows-media-foundation.enabled and switch it to true. However, this option doesn't even show up in the list. Please advise.

Searching Google led me to go to about:config and look for media.windows-media-foundation.enabled and switch it to true. However, this option doesn't even show up in the list. Please advise.

Chosen solution

I assume you get the overlay. What error do you see, or is it blank?

If you follow the View on Vine link, same error there: https://vine.co/v/iwImIZXL3It

I notice it uses a mediasource: link when I try to view it:

<video poster="..." src="mediasource:https://vine.co/63db4d9f-62dc-4cd2-a165-07acef41cd6e" preload="auto" height="540" width="540">

But if I disable that (set media.mediasource.mp4.enabled=false) then it serves me this and still plays:

<video poster="..." src="blob:https://vine.co/d7622a28-413f-486b-8dc5-b83006980026" preload="auto" height="540" width="540">

So... I am not able to guess what's going on without some more information. You also might check the web console:

  • Open the console in the lower part of the tab using either
    • Ctrl+Shift+k
    • menu > Developer > Web Console
  • Then reload the page in the top part of the tab and watch for error messages related to the video
Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (15)

hello, could you go to the firefox menu ≡ > help ? > troubleshooting information, copy the contents of that page and paste them here into a reply on the forum? this might give us a clue what is going on...

Application Basics


Name: Firefox Version: 44.0 Build ID: 20160123151951 Update Channel: release User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:44.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/44.0 Multiprocess Windows: 0/1 (default: false) Safe Mode: false

Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days


All Crash Reports

Extensions


Name: Adblock Plus Version: 2.7.2 Enabled: true ID: {d10d0bf8-f5b5-c8b4-a8b2-2b9879e08c5d}

Name: Dictionary Extension Version: 3.0.12.1.1-signed Enabled: true ID: jid0-raWjElI57dRa4jx9CCiYm5qZUQU@jetpack

Name: Forecastfox (fix version) Version: 2.4.1 Enabled: true ID: forecastfox@s3_fix_version

Name: Gmail™ Notifier Plus Version: 0.2.2 Enabled: true ID: jid1-sqmEAwSoa3FZPc@jetpack

Name: No Flash Version: 0.5.1 Enabled: true ID: jid1-cplLTTY501TB2Q@jetpack

Name: Reddit Enhancement Suite Version: 4.6.0 Enabled: true ID: jid1-xUfzOsOFlzSOXg@jetpack

Name: Ace Stream Web Extension Version: 1.0.1 Enabled: false ID: acewebextension@acestream.org

Graphics


Adapter Description: AMD Radeon (TM) R9 390 Series Adapter Drivers: aticfx64 aticfx64 aticfx64 aticfx32 aticfx32 aticfx32 atiumd64 atidxx64 atidxx64 atiumdag atidxx32 atidxx32 atiumdva atiumd6a atitmm64 Adapter RAM: 4095 Asynchronous Pan/Zoom: none ClearType Parameters: Gamma: 2200 Pixel Structure: R ClearType Level: 100 Enhanced Contrast: 300 Device ID: 0x67b1 Direct2D Enabled: true DirectWrite Enabled: true (6.2.9200.17568) Driver Date: 11-17-2015 Driver Version: 15.300.1025.0 GPU #2 Active: false GPU Accelerated Windows: 1/1 Direct3D 11 (OMTC) Subsys ID: 00000000 Supports Hardware H264 Decoding: Yes Vendor ID: 0x1002 WebGL Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (AMD Radeon (TM) R9 390 Series Direct3D11 vs_5_0 ps_5_0) windowLayerManagerRemote: true AzureCanvasBackend: direct2d 1.1 AzureContentBackend: direct2d 1.1 AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

Important Modified Preferences


accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0 browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.cache.frecency_experiment: 3 browser.download.importedFromSqlite: true browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 7 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20160123151951 browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20160123151951 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 44.0 browser.tabs.warnOnClose: false browser.urlbar.userMadeSearchSuggestionsChoice: true dom.apps.reset-permissions: true dom.mozApps.used: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 44.0 general.useragent.extra.btrs: BTRS87733 gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.appVersion: 44.0 gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.deviceID: 0x67b1 gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.driverVersion: 15.300.1025.0 gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.feature-d2d: true gfx.crash-guard.d3d11layers.feature-d3d11: true gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.direct3d11-angle: true gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle: true gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-d3d11: false gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-warp: false gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-try-d3d11: true gfx.crash-guard.status.d3d11layers: 2 gfx.crash-guard.status.d3d9video: 2 gfx.crash-guard.status.glcontext: 2 gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx: 0 media.gmp-eme-adobe.abi: x86_64-msvc-x64 media.gmp-eme-adobe.lastUpdate: 1453960207 media.gmp-eme-adobe.version: 16 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.abi: x86_64-msvc-x64 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.lastUpdate: 1453960208 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.version: 1.5.3 media.gmp-manager.buildID: 20160123151951 media.gmp-manager.lastCheck: 1458176477 media.hardware-video-decoding.failed: false media.mediasource.webm.enabled: true media.youtube-ua.override: false network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true network.predictor.cleaned-up: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1457748272 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf plugin.importedState: true plugin.state.np32dsw: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_bgcolor: false print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_bgimages: false print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_duplex: -437918235 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_edge_bottom: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_edge_left: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_edge_right: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_edge_top: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_evenpages: true print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_footercenter: print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_footerleft: &PT print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_footerright: &D print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_headercenter: print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_headerleft: &T print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_headerright: &U print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_in_color: true print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_margin_bottom: 0.5 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_margin_left: 0.5 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_margin_right: 0.5 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_margin_top: 0.5 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_oddpages: true print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_orientation: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_page_delay: 50 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_paper_data: 1 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_paper_height: 11.00 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_paper_name: print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_paper_size_type: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_paper_size_unit: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_paper_width: 8.50 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_resolution: -437918235 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_reversed: false print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_scaling: 1.00 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_shrink_to_fit: true print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_to_file: false print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_unwriteable_margin_left: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_unwriteable_margin_right: 0 print.printer_Microsoft_XPS_Document_Writer.print_unwriteable_margin_top: 0 privacy.donottrackheader.enabled: true privacy.sanitize.migrateClearSavedPwdsOnExit: true privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true storage.vacuum.last.index: 1 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1457748272

Important Locked Preferences


JavaScript


Incremental GC: true

Accessibility


Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions


NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.11 Version in use: 4.11

NSS Expected minimum version: 3.21 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.21 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.21 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.21 Basic ECC

NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.21 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.21 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.21 Version in use: 3.21

Experimental Features


thanks, no apparent issues there... would you happen to know if you are running a windows n version? in this case Fix video and audio problems on Firefox for Windows N editions should help.

I downloaded that update but it said that it wasn't applicable to my computer. So I guess I'm not running an n version? *sigh*

Tyranitator said

Searching Google led me to go to about:config and look for media.windows-media-foundation.enabled and switch it to true. However, this option doesn't even show up in the list.

By the way, this preference is now called media.wmf.enabled and it is set to true by default. But you still might want to double-check it, especially if you have the same problem playing the MP4 video on the following test page (scroll down to the first player):

http://www.quirksmode.org/html5/tests/video.html

media.wmf.enabled is set to True. I was able to play every video on the page that you linked. Vines are the only type of videos that I have never been able to play on Firefox.

Modified by Tyranitator

Could you link to a vine that doesn't play (to save me from having to search around!)? Thanks.

Chosen Solution

I assume you get the overlay. What error do you see, or is it blank?

If you follow the View on Vine link, same error there: https://vine.co/v/iwImIZXL3It

I notice it uses a mediasource: link when I try to view it:

<video poster="..." src="mediasource:https://vine.co/63db4d9f-62dc-4cd2-a165-07acef41cd6e" preload="auto" height="540" width="540">

But if I disable that (set media.mediasource.mp4.enabled=false) then it serves me this and still plays:

<video poster="..." src="blob:https://vine.co/d7622a28-413f-486b-8dc5-b83006980026" preload="auto" height="540" width="540">

So... I am not able to guess what's going on without some more information. You also might check the web console:

  • Open the console in the lower part of the tab using either
    • Ctrl+Shift+k
    • menu > Developer > Web Console
  • Then reload the page in the top part of the tab and watch for error messages related to the video

WOAH! Setting set media.mediasource.mp4.enabled=false made it play! Thank you! I hope this applies to all vines I encounter.

Hmm, maybe something is broken with mediasource on your Firefox. I haven't heard of that before. What does (did?) the YouTube test page show for "Media Source Extensions" and "MSE" (second row):

https://www.youtube.com/html5

If you reload, the page should redetect, so you could test with that preference flipped true and false to see which boxes go red.

Only 'MSE & H.264' shows an error if I set the mediasource setting to false. But this lets Vines play.

If I set the setting to true, the YouTube page shows no errors, but I can't play Vines.

Maybe it's a bug in the 64-bit build of Firefox. Did you have this problem before you started using the 64-bit build?

I was primarily using Chrome for a couple years until I went back to Firefox a few months ago. I'm not sure about if there was an issue beforehand.

jscher2000 said

Maybe it's a bug in the 64-bit build of Firefox. Did you have this problem before you started using the 64-bit build?

I'm having the EXACT same issue like user "Tyranitator". So exact even his fix of media.mediasource.mp4.enabled=false worked for me too. I also got the same results as him where https://www.youtube.com/html5 - everything was golden before, yet vines wouldn't play. Then once setting that option to false, vines started working but it said "H.264 and MSE & H.264" wouldn't work under the YouTube HTML5 page. So I think the core issue has to do with the 64-bit version of Firefox somehow. I'm using 64-bit version 45.0.1 Firefox and his problem and fix is the exact same results for me.

Before finding this post right here, this is what I tried myself to fix it:

I try to watch a Vine, doesnt work. I start Firefox in Safe Mode, the Vine works. I then think "Oh it must be my exentions and plugins/hardware acceleration", so I start regular Firefox with everything disabled, Vine still doesn't work. I even "Refreshed Firefox" and nothing changed and my graphic drivers are all up to date already.