Can't hear mp3 files or audio in Firefox 26
My system automatically upgraded to the latest version of Firefox 26 on Windows 7 and since it upgraded, I cannot hear any audio files -- either mp3 or ogg. If I try to simply open an mp3 file in Firefox, I see a player and watch the progress of the playback, but I hear nothing.
I believe I've been through every article in Firefox support about playing audio and video and what to do if you don't hear an mp3 in Firefox. None of it has changed anything.
I found the Firefox options for MP3 that give me the choice of "Always Ask", "Use QuickTime Plugin 7.7.4' and "Use Windows Media Player (default)" and have tried both QuickTime Plugin choice and Windows Media Player choice and it has no affect. I SEE the playback, but don't hear it. I use the volume slider in the playback window, but it has no affect. I can hear these mp3 files when I play them in IE or Chrome, so what is the matter?
mp3 files used to play for me. But in the last few days I believe both Firefox and QuickTime versions have upgraded and now I can't get it to work.
Very frustrating.
Chosen solution
Current Firefox versions use the built-in HTML5 media player to play MP3 files and some video formats like H.264.
Did you also check the volume setting in the Windows Volume mixer while Firefox is playing a sound via the built-in media player?
Does it help to disable Windows Media Foundation in Firefox by setting the media.windows-media-foundation.enabled pref to false on the about:config page?
Read this answer in context 👍 8All Replies (4)
Chosen Solution
Current Firefox versions use the built-in HTML5 media player to play MP3 files and some video formats like H.264.
Did you also check the volume setting in the Windows Volume mixer while Firefox is playing a sound via the built-in media player?
Does it help to disable Windows Media Foundation in Firefox by setting the media.windows-media-foundation.enabled pref to false on the about:config page?
I changed the media.windows-media-foundation.enabled pref to false, opened a new Firefox and...... I CAN HEAR SOUNDS AGAIN
THANKS!!!!
Should I ask why the heck I needed to do that and how the heck I should have known to do that? Or should I just stop at 'Thank you' and move on with my life (leaning towards the latter).
You're welcome.
You may be missing proper Windows Media Foundation support or codecs needed to play these media files.
I'm not sure if the Browser Console or Web Console (Firefox/Tools > Web Developer) would dsaplay a specific error message in such a case.
Are there particular sites where you have this issue?
If you have any interest in exploring this further:
We had a different thread where the user wanted to add a volume control on MP3s played in Firefox's native MP3 player (this was removed because it was buggy and hasn't been added back yet). I created a script to add a volume control, which could be inserted into the page using a button on the bookmarks toolbar ("bookmarklet"). The volume control starts with the current volume level, which normally is 100%.
I mention this because... if you are having problems on a page where the MP3 player is visible, you could insert the button and see whether the player is starting from 0 instead of 100%. This could indicate a problem in how the site is setting up the audio, or in how Firefox is handling a site's script.
Bookmarklet info: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/980886#answer-513975