Troubleshoot a plugin crash in Waterfox

A plugin crash means that a media component, such as OpenH264 or Widevine, stopped unexpectedly. Reloading the page restarts the component and may allow the content to play again.

Waterfox builds compile crash reporting out. No crash report is submitted from the plugin crash notification.

What is a plugin?

A plugin is a software component used to display content that the browser cannot handle by itself. Waterfox still supports the Widevine Content Decryption Module for protected media and OpenH264 for compatible video calls and streams.

Older NPAPI plugins, including Adobe Flash and Silverlight, are not supported. Mozilla’s upstream NPAPI announcement provides background on that removal.

What is a plugin crash?

A crash occurs when a software component stops working unexpectedly. Media playback may stop, or the page may show a plugin crash notification. Because supported media components run separately from the main browser process, Waterfox can often remain open after the component crashes.

Recover from a plugin crash

Reload the page.
If the content still does not work, restart Waterfox.
Check Waterfox update settings and install an available update.
Open the Add-ons Manager and check the Plugins panel. Confirm that the required media component is enabled.
Test the page in Troubleshoot Mode by opening the Waterfox menu, selecting Help, then selecting Troubleshoot Mode.
If the problem continues on one website, contact the website and include the name of the media component shown in the notification.

Adapted and modified from Mozilla’s original Firefox article, Send plugin crash reports to help improve Firefox, by Mozilla Contributors. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 3.0.