Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos Topic is solved

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BeefJerky

Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by BeefJerky » 2017-08-22, 05:22

Long story short, I had a weird Windows issue, and to fix it I reinstalled Windows over itself. Everything seems fine, except for playing MP4/H.264 videos in Pale Moon (they work fine in IE and Edge).

I am running the current 64-bit version of Pale Moon on Windows 10 64-bit with the newest Creators Update. Everything worked fine up until the Windows reinstall.

Now, no MP4/H.264 videos will play (i.e. Twitter, Instagram) in PM. Youtube does play, but only at 360p, not HD.

On the page https://www.youtube.com/html5
H.264 is shown as red

On the page http://www.quirksmode.org/html5/tests/video.html
The WebM and OGG/Theora videos play fine, but the H.264/MP4 says "No video with supported format and MIME type found."

I confirmed that the following prefs are enabled:
media.windows-media-foundation.enabled
media.directshow.enabled

I've tried re-installing Pale Moon, new user profile and running safe mode. No luck. Please help.

Thanks!

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Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by Moonchild » 2017-08-22, 06:08

Unfortunately this is a problem with your operating system, not the browser. I'm afraid there's only very limited support we can provide for that (unless someone else happened to run into the same issue and managed to solve it).
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Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by billmcct » 2017-08-22, 10:51

You don't indicate which version of windows your using. XP and Vista are missing codecs for H.264 video. Try installing a codec pack.
https://www.techspot.com/search/?cx=par ... codec+pack
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Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by Moonchild » 2017-08-22, 11:00

billmcct wrote:You don't indicate which version of windows your using. XP and Vista are missing codecs for H.264 video.
Please read carefully:
I am running the current 64-bit version of Pale Moon on Windows 10 64-bit with the newest Creators Update.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

Fedor2

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by Fedor2 » 2017-08-22, 13:38

For H264 on windows Palemoon rely on
mfplat.dll
mfreadwrite.dll
propsys.dll
mf.dll
dxva2.dll

Check, they may be cut out from your windows, there where occurrences.
newest Creators Update
Could broke something, or change something to make Palemoon unable to play H264.
Never hurry to install newest update, consider uninstall it.

BeefJerky

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by BeefJerky » 2017-08-22, 14:42

Fedor2 wrote:For H264 on windows Palemoon rely on
mfplat.dll
mfreadwrite.dll
propsys.dll
mf.dll
dxva2.dll

Check, they may be cut out from your windows, there where occurrences.
newest Creators Update
Could broke something, or change something to make Palemoon unable to play H264.
Never hurry to install newest update, consider uninstall it.
I can confirm that all those files are there in the Windows directory (specifically C:\Windows\SysWOW64). I also installed Firefox and it is able to handle H.264/MP4, though I'm not sure if that is relevant.

I'm not keen on those big updates either, but this one was already deferred by 4 months based on my Windows Update settings. It's no longer possible for me uninstall it due to the Windows reinstall, but as I said, Pale Moon worked fine before the reinstall, even with the Creators Update.

Fedor2

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by Fedor2 » 2017-08-22, 15:21

SysWOW64 used for 32bit apps, and you using 64bit Pale moon.
These files also to be in Windows\system32 for 64bit.
Did you try 64bit Firefox too?

You may try 32bit Pale moon.

BeefJerky

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by BeefJerky » 2017-08-22, 15:25

Fedor2 wrote:SysWOW64 used for 32bit apps, and you using 64bit Pale moon.
These files also to be in Windows\system32 for 64bit.
Did you try 64bit Firefox too?

You may try 32bit Pale moon.
All those files are also in Windows\System32.

Yes, I did try Firefox 64-bit, and it works fine as well.

Thanks!

BeefJerky

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by BeefJerky » 2017-08-22, 17:50

Okay, so I tried a few other things, and I think I've at least narrowed down the issue

1) Tried the 32-bit version of Pale Moon, no change
2) Tried again with a totally clean install of Pale Moon, with a fresh new user, no change
3) Tried creating a new user in Windows, and logging in with that. It did work here.

So, it seems the core OS is fine, but something is weird about my user profile, and likely with Pale Moon detecting the WMF. It does seem weird that Firefox is able to detect and use the WMF though. Any idea how we might figure out what the issue is and hopefully fix it? I've got a lot of customizations and data in this Windows user profile, and changing to a new one would be a ginormous hassle.

Thanks for any help!

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Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by paulri » 2017-08-22, 18:04

I agree that the core OS should be fine. I am running 64 bit PM, on Win10 (creators update), and the H.264/MP4 played just fine for me. In the youtube page, the two video choices marked "H.264" are both blue.
Paul

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Fedor2

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by Fedor2 » 2017-08-22, 18:06

Backup your profile (copy to another place)
I use method of deleting in series for this type errors

There are folders inside your profile and registry section HKEY_CURRENT_USER (only that section).
Begin delete data, check and restore from copy, you contain affecting settings then.

BeefJerky

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by BeefJerky » 2017-09-14, 14:37

So, I'd like to make an update on this situation.

I bought a new laptop, setup the user, then it prompted me to do the creators update. I did it, and the same thing occurred. It seems that the creators update does something funky with existing user profiles, and I suspect that others may experience this issue once that update gets installed more.

Once again, a new user profile worked fine, as did other browsers in the existing profile. In this case, though, I just did a reset of Windows since I was still in the early stages of setting up the system. So, I now have the creators update and Pale Moon working with my user profile.

There is no doubt that this is an issue on Microsoft's end, but I would like to suggest that Pale Moon try to detect MSE in another way. Since Firefox is still able to detect and use MSE, even on the borked user profile, I think there must be another way for Pale Moon to this.

Also, this new laptop is running Windows 10 Home 64-bit, while the other was running Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. So, it's definitely not dependent on which edition it's running.

BeefJerky

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by BeefJerky » 2017-09-15, 04:21

Well, here's another update. After a little while with it working, it's back to the same old thing. I exited then reopened it, and well suddenly it stopped working.

I'm not going to keep playing with my user profile, as it's obviously something conflicting between the creators update and Pale Moon. I'm also not going to roll back from the creators update since it works fine with everything else. For now, I'm simply going to switch to Firefox; at least it works.

I will keep checking back and seeing if this problem is fixed, whether by MS or on Pale Moon's end. I will most definitely return if it can be solved...

BeefJerky

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by BeefJerky » 2017-09-15, 15:09

Okay, I'm sorry for posting so much, but I finally found out where the conflict lies, and I hope this may help anyone else who runs into this issue.

I have an HDHomeRun tuner, and when you first launch the software, it prompts you to install the MPEG2 Video Extension from the Microsoft Store. I always have, as they claim it will offer the best video quality (though it works fine without it). For some reason, there seems to be a conflict between that extension, the Creators Update and MSE. I started thinking through what changes I made in the short time between when Pale Moon worked properly and then stopped working on this new laptop. Installing the HDHomeRun software was one of those changes, and then I remembered that extension that it prompts me to install. So once I uninstalled that extension, Pale Moon's MSE/H.264 worked fine.

So, if you experience issues with Pale Moon not playing certain videos, and are on the Creators Update, try uninstalling the MPEG2 Video Extension.

BeefJerky

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by BeefJerky » 2017-10-19, 08:18

Unfortunately, I have to bring this back to the top. With the most recent Fall Creators Update, it installs by default a new HEVC codec. And, unfortunately, this codec causes the same problem the Microsoft MPEG2 codec causes. Once uninstalled, Pale Moon once again works properly with all web videos as expected. I cannot find this new HEVC codec in the Microsoft Store, so I am unable to link to it, and also may not even be able to reinstall it should the root issue end up fixed.

Since this codec is installed by default with the Fall Creator's Update, I'd highly recommend looking into the root cause. I realize this may not necessarily be Pale Moon's fault, but Microsoft sure isn't going to fix the issue, and more people will run into it as the update is rolled out to more computers.

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Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by asimperson » 2017-10-19, 08:42

I had this exact same issue after updating Windows and fixed it the exact same way

If anyone else sees this, the workaround is to go to the Apps & features settings panel, type "HEVC" in the search box, and then uninstall Microsoft-owned HEVC extensions.

tiktak

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by tiktak » 2017-10-20, 00:09

BeefJerky wrote:Unfortunately, I have to bring this back to the top. With the most recent Fall Creators Update, it installs by default a new HEVC codec. And, unfortunately, this codec causes the same problem the Microsoft MPEG2 codec causes. Once uninstalled, Pale Moon once again works properly with all web videos as expected. I cannot find this new HEVC codec in the Microsoft Store, so I am unable to link to it, and also may not even be able to reinstall it should the root issue end up fixed.

Since this codec is installed by default with the Fall Creator's Update, I'd highly recommend looking into the root cause. I realize this may not necessarily be Pale Moon's fault, but Microsoft sure isn't going to fix the issue, and more people will run into it as the update is rolled out to more computers.
I register here only to say thank you! Remove mpg2 and hevc from ms worked as charm.

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Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by Gordon Dry » 2017-10-26, 21:39

Thank you, just 5 minutes after stumbling upon symptoms I found these newest posts and managed it to solve the issue.

Venom88

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by Venom88 » 2017-11-17, 15:28

asimperson wrote:I had this exact same issue after updating Windows and fixed it the exact same way

If anyone else sees this, the workaround is to go to the Apps & features settings panel, type "HEVC" in the search box, and then uninstall Microsoft-owned HEVC extensions.
I have uninstalled HEVCVideoExtension from Windows 10 and now I can see HD videos on Youtube again.
Thank you :thumbup:

tenseys

Re: Problem playing MP4/H.264 videos

Unread post by tenseys » 2017-11-20, 20:52

Thanks beefjerky and asimperson.

I've had a couple threads about this here and here. Uninstalling HEVCVideoExtension fixed it.

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