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Enable MP4 (H.264 + AAC) HTML5 video in Firefox on Windows XP without Flash


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For whatever reason, I've had a few XP FF 52.x ESR installs that wouldnt download/install the Adobe Primetime Content Decryption Module unless/until I added:

media.gmp-eme-adobe.forceSupported = true

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On 3/21/2017 at 4:49 PM, XPPOS2009 said:

For whatever reason, I've had a few XP FF 52.x ESR installs that wouldnt download/install the Adobe Primetime Content Decryption Module unless/until I added:

media.gmp-eme-adobe.forceSupported = true

Hi,

Before I add "media.gmp-eme-adobe.forceSupported = true"
to download/install APCD, I'd like to avoid losing my specific version of Flash.  Is that a go?

My problem (I believe) is the basic same as everyone else's.  Twitter will not read MP4 (H.264 + AAC) HTML5 videos.  Works on Google Chrome, not Firefox.  In my case when I scroll past one, Firefox 52.0.1 ESR often freezes, which is most annoying. 

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5 hours ago, Andy Sethmaier said:

Before I add "media.gmp-eme-adobe.forceSupported = true"
to download/install APCD, I'd like to avoid losing my specific version of Flash.  Is that a go?

Welcome to the MSFN forums, Andy :)! You will not lose your Flash unless you explicitly disable or uninstall it. Installing Primetime doesn't do that, so you're OK.

media.*.forceSupported settings were added to GMP plugins to ease Mozilla's own testing on platforms not yet officially supported. media.gmp-eme-adobe.forceSupported has been required to enable Primetime on XP since Firefox 49.0 and has been listed in the opening post since then, it's not something new. If @XPPOS2009 meant that installing ESR 52 removed this pref and it had to be re-added, that would be a new thing, but either way it's a known required pref.

Edited by mixit
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On 3/21/2017 at 4:49 PM, XPPOS2009 said:

For whatever reason, I've had a few XP FF 52.x ESR installs that wouldnt download/install the Adobe Primetime Content Decryption Module unless/until I added:

media.gmp-eme-adobe.forceSupported = true

As requested, I placed the Adobe Primetime Content Decryption Module in my FTP on 2/1: http://sdfox7.com/xp/sp3/EOL/primetime_gmp_win_x86_gmc_40673.zip

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First of all, thank you very much, mixit, for your great guide.

I do find it interesting that retention of the original plugin file timestamps from server are preserved. Firefox no longer allows preservation of the file timestamps normally in the new Firefox download API (other download API was available for Firefox of version lesser than 26). To actually change the file timestamp for a user downloaded file using the former download API, an extension was necessary; particulary, the Preserve Download Modification Timestamp extension.  I guess things are different when the action is being performed on Mozilla's behalf.

Are the downloaded plugin files the same for All versions of Firefox on the different supported operating systems?  If not, how do the vary?

Can the files downloaded from 32-bit Firefox be used with 64-bit Firefox or vice-versa?

The default down URL for the files appear to be:

https://aus5.mozilla.org/update/3/GMP/%VERSION%/%BUILD_ID%/%BUILD_TARGET%/%LOCALE%/%CHANNEL%/%OS_VERSION%/%DISTRIBUTION%/%DISTRIBUTION_VERSION%/update.xml

Is there a way or a guide to determine what the various possible values for the variable in the URL are?  Those variables appear to be:

%VERSION%
%BUILD_ID%
%BUILD_TARGET%
%LOCALE%
%CHANNEL%
%OS_VERSION%
%DISTRIBUTION%
%DISTRIBUTION_VERSION%

It would be good to be able to download and preserve those combinations.

Edited by Ascii2
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7 hours ago, Ascii2 said:

Are the downloaded plugin files the same for All versions of Firefox on the different supported operating systems?  If not, how do the vary?

Can the files downloaded from 32-bit Firefox be used with 64-bit Firefox or vice-versa?

Is there a way or a guide to determine what the various possible values for the variable in the URL are?

It would be good to be able to download and preserve those combinations.

As I've been focused on regular 32-bit XP, I can't say I'm up to date on what the differences are between all the platforms. Most platforms only need these plugins for actual DRM content, not regular MP4 playback. Haven't done any research re: 64-bit XP either

FWIW, here's a bunch of download URLs for all the various platforms, generally you just have to change the FF version numbers to get the latest DL links. Based on this, I don't think it's necessary (or feasible) to try all possible combinations, but in any case this JS code shows where the values are taken from. You'd have to search through DXR for further details.

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On 3/24/2017 at 10:11 AM, mixit said:

Welcome to the MSFN forums, Andy :)! You will not lose your Flash unless you explicitly disable or uninstall it. Installing Primetime doesn't do that, so you're OK

So, here's where I'm at now:  Under Add-ons/plugins, PCDM was downloaded.  However, in yellow, it states that it "will be installed shortly".  Stuck at that point.  It also added the
"OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco Systems, Inc." which seems installed.

Edited by Andy Sethmaier
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@Andy Sethmaier Since you didn't have Primetime installed before, don't forget to edit media.gmp-manager.url and replace the %VERSION% part with 51.0. This was mentioned a couple of times earlier in the thread, but since I've been lazy, I hadn't yet added it to the opening post by the time you first read it.

Edited by mixit
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On Monday, November 28, 2016 at 0:18 PM, dencorso said:

Inside the gmp-gmpopenh264/1.6/ is Cisco's "OpenH264 Video Codec", while Adobe's "Primetime Content Decryption Module" goes inside gmp-eme-adobe/17/... the .dll in mine is v. 5.14.40673.0, digitally signed by Adobe on Feb 12, 2016. This plugin is the one that does the magic, AFAIK. Cisco's module is installed when FF is installed and is not enough by itself. Until one adds the correct directives to about:config and the Adobe plugin gets automagically installed, the videos that matter don't play at all. Afterwards, it just works!!!

The "OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco Systems, Inc." (pseudo) plugin is not what it purports to be or what Cisco or Mozilla have purported it to be.  I wonder what it actually does and whether or not it is a dependency for other Gecko Media Plugins (GMPs).

I intend to test whether the "Primetime Content Decryption Module provided by Adobe Systems, Incorporated" can work without "OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco Systems, Inc.".

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16 hours ago, mixit said:

FWIW, here's a bunch of download URLs for all the various platforms, generally you just have to change the FF version numbers to get the latest DL links. Based on this, I don't think it's necessary (or feasible) to try all possible combinations, but in any case this JS code shows where the values are taken from. You'd have to search through DXR for further details.

Thank you for the information and leads.  They have been quite useful.  The timestamp detail I found interesting before can now also be explained (the files timestamps are preserved from the ZIP archive decompressions rather than downloading the timestamp information).

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First, sincere thanks to everybody who has contributed to this thread. I've been a lurker until now, but really appreciated the information that's been shared. Hopefully I can contribute something, but I have to start with a question... :)

Is there any further progress or ideas on getting Widevine working in Firefox (51.0.1 or 52 esr) under XP 32 bit?

I ask because a service (TVNZ OnDemand) I use here in New Zealand has migrated from PrimeTime to Widevine-exclusive. As a result, the service no longer works in Firefox. It works fine in Chrome 49, but I prefer to use Firefox if possible.

Using the information on pages 4 and 5 of this thread I was able to get the Widevine plugin to install. However I suspect there's some code that's preventing it from being used on XP. It won't kick in even though I've created the requisite forseSupported settings. Perhaps this is the blockage?

https://github.com/mozilla/gecko-dev/blob/master/dom/media/eme/MediaKeySystemAccess.cpp#L315

If it is, is there anybody that could build a patch with that condition removed... or perhaps there's a workaround that I'm not aware of?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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On Friday, January 20, 2017 at 11:29 PM, sherianne said:

To continue to evaluate Firefox 45 ESR I really had to get rid of the plugin-container.exe crashes so this is great.

You can delete the "plugin-container.exe" file to prevent the plugin-container from being used. However, the code to otherwise allow the use of a plugin without the plugin-container has been removed in Firefox 43; if there is no plugin-container, the plugin will fail to be used.

The plugin-container troubles is a major problem, especially for those of us using Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003.  Its concept seemed decent, but its implementation never worked well.

I had previously submitted a Bugzilla bug report to Mozilla in hopes that the forced use of plugin-container may be reverted, but, so far, the idea was rejected.

I would recommend that support for the changes in the Bugzilla bug report be given. Perhaps a favorable change may result. The Bugzilla bug report is located: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1348630

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm on Win 7, is there I way I can switch to ESR?

Or regardless of that, is it possible for me to get APCDM running on a non-ESR install? (since that would be preferable)

Regarding switching to ESR, I found out how to do so here: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/02/03/firefox-52-how-to-keep-on-plugins/

I'm thinking I could maybe switch to Pale Moon browser, assuming that they haven't disabled/blocked this stuff too (I hear that it doesn't)

Edited by joesi
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8 hours ago, joesi said:

I'm thinking I could maybe switch to Pale Moon browser, assuming that they haven't disabled/blocked this stuff too (I hear that it doesn't)

I would recommend You switching to 32-bit Firefox 52.1.0ESR (current version) and then using instructions from beginning message of this topic. APCDM will work in this case. And  Palemoon can be considered as 'secondary' product towards 'primary' Firefox, therefore, using Firefox is preferable.

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