Just upgraded Debian, iceweasel no longer plays sound. Palemoon is still fine, and mplayer is fine, just iceweasel has gone silent. I've tried the usual fixes
The above says it all. " pulseaudio --start --exit-idle-time=-1 " ruins all sound on the machine and I have to reboot.
All Replies (14)
Hello rayandrews,
Would you please post your question on the Debian support forum :
(this problem with Iceweasel has been going on for years now ..... )
And would you please update Firefox to the latest version, which is 62.0 ?
(better safe than sorry .... )
Your system details show that you need to update Flash - you're running an old version, which can cause problems (might even be the cause of your current problem .... ).
Hi McCoy:
I'm updated to 60.2 in case that's what you meant to type. Nothing more modern at Debian. Too bad about the whole 'iceweasel' thing, one would think that Firefox could just be Firefox! Can I convert from iceweasel without disaster? I updated Flash as you say, now '31', but no change. I've posted the problem to Debian and expect the usual rude reply ;-)
BTW, how do you know anything about my system?
Modified
Please note that iceweasel and palemoon are not Mozilla products. They often have bugs and issues that are not in Firefox.
You can install regular Firefox 62, and we can provide support for it. We can't support iceweasel or palemoon
rayandrews said
I'm updated to 60.2 in case that's what you meant to type.
No, I must confess that I was thinking "Firefox", and totally forgot that you're on Debian - sorry ......
Tyler:
Yeah, I know you can't support the others oficially, I just mentioned it to show that there is no hardware issue. Thing is that if I launch iceweasel is calls itself firefox anyway, and if I launch firefox it comes up exactly the same as iceweasel, complete with my last open tabs so I'm not expecting any huge differences. Can I install the latest firefox not via Debian and not screw things up? Mostly I'm paranoid about loosing my settings and personal data and such.
rayandrews said
BTW, how do you know anything about my system?
To the right of your original post it says "System Details" .......
Firefox and iceweasel share the same profile, but iceweasel has it's own changes from it's maintainers so it may (and often does) have bugs that are not in Firefox. It's a different product from a different company, and it is treated as such.
I'd suggest uninstalling iceweasel, and using Firefox 62.
Debian reports that iceweasel is now exactly the same as firefox, only the old command (iceweasel) has been retained for convenience but it is exactly firefox, and that's just what it seems to be.
iceweasel is /usr/bin/iceweasel -> /usr/bin/../lib/firefox-esr/firefox-esr:
Modified
rayandrews said
iceweasel is /usr/bin/iceweasel -> /usr/bin/../lib/firefox-esr/firefox-esr:
Firefox ESR version is not the same as the "normal" Firefox (release version). You could use the ESR version if you absolutely need plugins (other than Flash, which is supported by the release version).
See : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switch-to-firefox-extended-support-release-esr
If you don't need to use plugins, you can download the release Firefox version in your preferred language from here :
McCoy said
Firefox ESR version is not the same as the "normal" Firefox (release version). You could use the ESR version if you absolutely need plugins (other than Flash, which is supported by the release version).
ahem >>> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/npapi-plugins
Firefox 60 ESR is basically no different from Firefox 60.0 Release but with security and allows stability fixes. So this means the only NPAPI Plugin that will run is Flash Player from Adobe.
Modified
rayandrews said
Debian reports that iceweasel is now exactly the same as firefox, only the old command (iceweasel) has been retained for convenience but it is exactly firefox, and that's just what it seems to be. iceweasel is /usr/bin/iceweasel -> /usr/bin/../lib/firefox-esr/firefox-esr:
Iceweasel is a third-party build based on the sources of the Firefox 60 ESR builds. It is named that way because third-party builds cannot be distributed with the Firefox name and icon. Only exception has been perhaps "portable Firefox" (for Windows).
As said these builds can potentially have additional issues that are not in the official Firefox builds from mozilla.org or www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ or www.mozilla.org/firefox/organizations/
I take it are aware of this article https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/no-sound-firefox-59-linux
PulseAudio has been used since Firefox 46.0 and later as 45.0 and earlier used ALSA.
Well, Debian assures me that iceweasel no longer exists except as a link to firefox-esr. My previous firefox was 58, which worked fine, so I guess I have pulse, then.
I uninstalled all ice* and all firefox* and reinstalled firefox, which is now 62.0 and free of 'esr', but still no sound.
I guess I'll have to revert to the older version unless someone has further ideas.