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I installed Firefox from ppa:mozillateam/ppa but Netflix is not working and gives the error: "The WidevineCdm plugin has crashed".

I tried to use another user (a new user), I tried to disable and enable again drm, I tried it with no extensions, I tried to reinstall Firefox and install libavcodec-extra as suggested in other threads but nothing, always the same error.

I'm using Ubuntu 22.04 and Firefox version is 102.0.1 (64-bit).

Using the Snap version is not an option for me, I would rather change OS than using Firefox as a Snap, so I'm looking for a way to have a working Firefox installed with a .deb.

Edit:

Apparently the problem is related only to this version of Firefox. Firefox-ESR version 91.11.0 installed from the same ppa works perfectly, I think I will use this until the other is fixed.

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  • I got the same error on PlutoTV but it didn't stop me from watching. However, it did make it impossible to use my Crave.ca subscription on Firefox. (KDE Neon here, on an Ubuntu 22.04 base and a Neon-packaged version of Firefox.)
    – SylvainC
    Commented Aug 7, 2023 at 3:08

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
20

I am not really fond of snap version of Firefox, so I am also using ppa:mozillateam/ppa on Ubuntu 22.10 and the problem really is related to AppArmor's Firefox config file.

I also edited /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.firefox but the recommended line by @skoruppa didn´t do the trick. Use this instead:

  1. bellow the line: # per-user firefox configuration

  2. write: owner @{HOME}/.{firefox,mozilla}/**/gmp-widevinecdm/**/libwidevinecdm.so m,

  3. After that, you can reboot your computer (or reload AppArmor's rules with apparmor_parser --replace /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.firefox).

3
  • This does not depend of snap nor ppa. The problem is the AppArmor config.
    – HiTechHiTouch
    Commented Feb 11 at 3:20
  • The linux version per se does not matter as the bum config file gets picked up by several levels and flavors. Don't know if the FIreFox people contributed to the AppArmor file being propagated through the universe or if the FF people review install FF materials given out to the world, but would opening a problem with Mozilla help? Or AppArmor?
    – HiTechHiTouch
    Commented Feb 11 at 3:28
  • You saved my life. I was gonna end it all, I tried everything, went to my psychic (I have a special one for Linux-problems), nothing helped. But then I found this thread, the clouds parted, and there was your apparmor thing, I typed two lines into some obscure file, with at-signs and paranthesis (the really weird stuff) and BAAAAAM. It worked. I would not be surprised if stockholm was calling you anytime soon. Thanks man.
    – jjstcool
    Commented May 16 at 21:59
14

Just occurred the same problem on Ubuntu 22.04 with Firefox from the official PPA. After googling for a bit I found out that the issue is caused by AppArmor which does not let to run Widevin plugin from your home directory - this was already reported 4 years ago (!) here - https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/1777070

To fix the issue you need to edit the /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.firefox file and add

owner @{HOME}/.{firefox,mozilla}/**/gmp-widevinecdm/*/lib*so m,

to the # per-user firefox configuration section.

After that, you can reboot your computer (or reload AppArmor's rules with apparmor_parser --replace /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.firefox) and everything will be working just fine :)

I hope this will helpful to someone else

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  • 2
    The command below worked for me, based on Skoruppa's link. owner @{HOME}/.{firefox,mozilla}/**/gmp-widevinecdm/*/lib*so m,
    – Daniel Gariani Rafael
    Commented Aug 24, 2022 at 20:50
  • Works like a charm on Firefox 112.0.1. Thanks for this!
    – Matthias Lenmher
    Commented Apr 28, 2023 at 17:19
  • Thanks for identifying this as an AppArmor issue. It wasn't obvious, to say the least. I've got to learn to debug AppArmor issues, which I've put off way too long.
    – SylvainC
    Commented Aug 7, 2023 at 3:06
  • Worked like a charm on KDE Plasma (22.04)
    – Rodrigo Soares
    Commented Jul 18 at 21:12
2

Download it from the official site here and after that extract the tar and to run go into the Firefox directory and run the Firefox executable to make sure to works

  • then move the Firefox folder to ~/.local/lib (note if it does not exist, make it)
  • make a symlink with this mkdir -p ~/.local/bin/ ; ln -s ~/.local/lib/firefox/firefox ~/.local/bin/firefox
  • after that run this sudo sed -i 's/Exec=firefox/Exec=~\/.local\/bin\/firefox/g' /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop
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    It works, confirming there is something wrong with mozillateam repository. It's a shame that I have to update it manually with this setup. Do you know if there is a way to get it from another repository?
    – Tommimon
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 17:26
  • 1
    no firefox has a auto updater in it like windows
    – lnee
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 19:19

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