Firefox 76.01 on Windows 7 broke audio completely
The 76.01 update of Firefox has completely broken the audio function in my browser. Youtube and Yahoo Finance specifically. I have not checked further. Yes I know Windows 7 is not supported by Microsoft, but Firefox has claimed that it would support Windows 7 indefinitely. Yesterday when I opened Firefox a message said that audio and video might not work if I did not have DRM enabled. I checked and saw that I had DRM enabled, but audio did not work. A button in the message said Enable DRM, I clicked the button anyway. No audio. I restarted Firefox, no audio. I restarted my computer, no audio. I opened Chrome and everything is working fine. I did not even okay this update. I have my preferences set to NOT automatically update. it seems like Firefox is ignoring my preferences. Firefox should provide an instant downgrade to the previous version that supported audio. In the past I have downgraded a few times until things were working smoothly, but it's a headache. Now I understand Firefox makes it even harder to do that. I may just switch to Chrome permanently.
All Replies (5)
Regarding the issue I posted above on May 23, it is 4 weeks later and I have tried all the suggestions and I still have the problem. No audio on video playback in Firefox only. I allowed the 77.01 update and that did not fix it.
I am not having the problem on my Windows 10 computers, only my older Windows 7 computer. I am having no problem with audio or video in Chrome on this computer, so I have started using it. Still I would like to be able to use Firefox.
Would appreciate any advice on fixing the audio problem or how to downgrade to 75. Thanks.
Hi brtew, I'm not sure what you've checked so far, so apologies for duplication.
Is this a more general problem that affects non-DRM audio sources, like most YouTube videos, or is it specific to sites that require DRM?
If it's general:
(1) Does Firefox show the audio playing icon on the tab when audio should be playing, or is that missing? If Firefox doesn't even think it's playing audio, that's strange. Hmm.
(2) If Firefox shows the icon, could you check the Windows Volume Mixer -- right-click the little speaker icon in the Windows 7 Notification Area/System Tray and open the Volume Mixer. Is there a slider bar for Firefox? If so, does it show any activity? (Make sure Firefox is not muted.)
(3) If Firefox is sending sound, and Windows shows it is receiving, but no output is heard, this could indicate Firefox is specifying a disconnected device for the output, whether USB, Bluetooth, or other. I can't remember now how to reset Firefox to only use the currently connected devices, but hopefully someone else remembers if this is the situation.
Yes, it affects all youtube videos. The audio playing icon is on the tab and the mixer shows green color moving for the Firefox mixer when a video is playing. I have a pair of Logitech speakers on my desk plugged into my computer. I hear sound fine through them using Chrome for videos and I hear the Windows startup sound.
I had previously unchecked Use hardware acceleration, but that did not help so a rechecked it.
Does the left part of the volume mixer show any other output devices besides those speakers that Firefox might be sending sound to?
Within Firefox, can you see whether it thinks a non-connected device is connected? Open the Troubleshooting Information page using either
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
- type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
You can use Ctrl+F to find Output Devices in the Media table. Mine has tons of odd stuff that must have been connected at some point, and two Enabled. Does your list seem sensible for your system?
jscher2000, thanks for your suggestions. Nothing has helped unfortunately. Since 5/23, coinciding with the 76.01 download, audio will not work in Firefox on my older Windows 7 computer. My Windows 10 laptops do not have the problem. However, Chrome has full audio functionality on this computer. My Media table shows my speakers are enabled, which of course they would be since I hear audio in Chrome. The subsequent 77.01 and 78.01 updates have not corrected the problem.
I'd like to go back to 75.01, but Firefox has made it more difficult to downgrade :(, and I've spent far too much time already trying to figure out the audio problem. It seems that some Windows 7 support is missing from Firefox. I have all the last updates that were available for Windows 7.