How do I get audio playback working in Firefox?

November 23, 2007 3:27 AM

I recently recovered the Windows XP (Home) SP2 installation on my VAIO VGN FS415E now I no longer have sound when I play video through my Firefox (or IE for that matter) browser. My system is fully patched with the latest versions of all software. I also have the Windows Media Player plugin for firefox installed. The video itself plays fine (in both FF and IE), but no sound. Can you help?
posted by Blacksun to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Try having a look in your Device Manager to check the sound card is working alright. You can get to this through Settings > Control Panel > Hardware > Device Manager.

If there's a red cross next to it, right-click it and select 'Uninstall', then go to Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Devices and your computer should detect and reinstall the card. This used to fix most audio issues on my old Dell laptop.
posted by Happy Dave at 4:12 AM on November 23, 2007

Thanks, but I've already been down the device manager route (sorry, probably should have said that originally) and all was fine.

Oddly, I have sound through iTunes and playing flash through FF or IE. It only seems to be a problem if I start a WMP window via my browser for things like news reports. Not a problem if I play anything directly through WMP. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing WMP and the FF plugin but to no avail. I am thoroughly stumped!
posted by Blacksun at 4:31 AM on November 23, 2007

When you say "start a WMP window via my browser" do you mean actually launching WMP fully or is the video embedded on a webpage? (or playing in a new tab)
posted by demagnetized at 5:39 AM on November 23, 2007

@Demagnitized: When the video is embedded in a web browser window, that's when there is no audio playback.

When WMP is playing as an App in it's own right, there is no problem. Leading me to think something is wrong with the plugin setup perhaps?
posted by Blacksun at 6:05 AM on November 23, 2007

I had a problem with XP where Flash videos (e.g. Youtube) which people had embedded in their web pages wouldn't have sound when they played. Oddly enough, if I opened those same videos on the Youtube page, they'd play fine.

Unfortunately, I never figured out the reason why.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:09 AM on November 23, 2007

Have you ever installed a codec pack at any stage?
posted by demagnetized at 8:56 AM on November 23, 2007

Also, what happens with wma files?
(test page)
posted by demagnetized at 9:03 AM on November 23, 2007

I've installed codecs from AVI Codec and XP Codec but I had these installed before performing the recovery (in fact they are the same installation files from the documents partition on my hard drive) and I didn't have a problem.

WMA files don't seem to launch in a browser window, but start the full WMP app separately and they play fine. I remain thoroughly stumped!
posted by Blacksun at 10:06 AM on November 23, 2007