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Firefox has stoped playing the video content on BBC news

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I am using Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and until yesterday all was fine. However today when I accessed BBC news the website displays okay until I click on any of the video news clips. Then I keep getting a message the video content is not available. My wife opened BBC news on her computer running Ubuntu 18.04LTS and BBC video content works fine in Fire fox. I cannot work out what is blocking the video content.

I am using Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and until yesterday all was fine. However today when I accessed BBC news the website displays okay until I click on any of the video news clips. Then I keep getting a message the video content is not available. My wife opened BBC news on her computer running Ubuntu 18.04LTS and BBC video content works fine in Fire fox. I cannot work out what is blocking the video content.

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Make sure you have the latest FFmpeg and libavcodec packages installed.

You can check the Web Console for media related messages.


You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the Cache and remove the Cookies for websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Options/Preferences).

"Remove the Cookies" for websites that cause problems:

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data: "Manage Data"

"Clear the Cache":

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data -> Clear Data -> Cached Web Content: Clear

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or userChrome.css is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window
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On support advice above went to developer options in main menu. Confusing error messages displayed. Some say security is causing blocks, some say codecs missing. How do I load the missing codecs. Which security settings need altering? Content Security Policy: Ignoring “https://www.instagram.com” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified Content Security Policy: Ignoring “https://www.ons.gov.uk” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified Content Security Policy: Ignoring “https://gn-web-assets.api.bbc.com” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified Content Security Policy: Ignoring “https://www.google-analytics.com” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified Content Security Policy: Ignoring “https://static.files.bbci.co.uk” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified HTTP "Content-Type" of "video/mp4" is not supported. Load of media resource https://emp.bbci.co.uk/emp/media/blankv2.mp4 failed. iframe.html XML Parsing Error: syntax error Location: https://emp.bbc.co.uk/emp/SMPj/2.36.2/iframe.html Line Number 1, Column 1: iframe.html:1:1 The video on this page can't be played. Your system may not have the required video codecs for: video/mp4;codecs="avc3.4D4015";width="512";height="288", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.4D401F";width="704";height="396", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.64001F";width="960";height="540", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.64001F";width="960";height="540", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.640020";width="1280";height="720", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.42C015", audio/mp4;codecs="mp4a.40.5" iframe.html HTTP "Content-Type" of "application/vnd.apple.mpegurl" is not supported. Load of media resource https://mm.bidi.bbc.co.uk/vod-hls-uk/usp/auth/vod/piff_abr_full_hd/84cd5c-p08d5ql6/vf_p08d5ql6_165faf91-d8a6-4295-8304-11e79b539756.ism/pc_hd_abr_v2_hls_master.m3u8?at=kjK3BLDEddd8c1869e70b1f42cdae8faf574bc57602159fd5b30b1aab4f40 failed. iframe.html The video on this page can't be played. Your system may not have the required video codecs for: video/mp4;codecs="avc3.4D4015";width="512";height="288", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.4D401F";width="704";height="396", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.64001F";width="960";height="540", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.64001F";width="960";height="540", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.640020";width="1280";height="720", video/mp4;codecs="avc3.42C015", audio/mp4;codecs="mp4a.40.5" iframe.html