[Fix] Firefox is Installing Components Needed to Play the Audio or Video on This Page. Please Try Again Later

Recently an AskVG reader contacted me regarding this issue in Mozilla Firefox web browser. He was getting following error message while trying to play a YouTube movie in Firefox:

Here is the exact comment from the reader:

This error message can appear while trying to play videos downloaded or directly from OTT (Over-The-Top) web players such as YouTube, Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Disney+Hotstar, MX Player, etc.

The yellow notification bar never closes and keeps showing the error message. Even if you reload the webpage or restart Firefox, the error message in yellow bar keeps appearing. Firefox can’t finish the required component installation.

If you are also facing this problem in Firefox browser, following solutions will help you in fixing it:

SOLUTION 1: Toggle Digital Rights Management (DRM) Content Playback Option

This is the first thing which you should try to fix this annoying issue.

1. Open Firefox and click on the Hamburger menu (main menu) present at the top-right corner of Firefox window. Now click on Options menu to open Firefox settings page.

Alternatively, you can direct option this page using about:preferences command in address bar.

2. Now under “General” tab, scroll down and look for “Digital Rights Management (DRM) Content” section.

Make sure the checkbox “Play DRM-controlled content” is enabled i.e. checked.

If not enabled, enable the option. If the option is already enabled, first deselect it and then select it again.

Restart Firefox and now try to play the video. This time the video should play fine without any error message.

SOLUTION 2: Restart Firefox with Add-ons Disabled

Sometimes a 3rd party extension/add-on can cause such kind of issues. You can start Firefox without loading extensions to confirm whether any add-on is causing this problem.

1. Open Firefox and click on the Hamburger menu (main menu) present at the top-right corner of Firefox window. Now click on Help -> Restart with Add-ons disabled option.

Firefox will ask for confirmation, click on Restart button.

2. After restart, Firefox will show a dialog box mentioning Safe Mode. Click on “Start in Safe Mode” button.

Related: [Tip] How to Launch Your Web Browser with All Extensions Disabled

3. Now try to play the video and if it plays without error message, then definitely an add-on is causing the issue. Open Add-ons Manager in Firefox and remove or disable unnecessary add-ons.

SOLUTION 3: Disable or Pause Antivirus Protection

Sometimes your antivirus program can prevent or block Firefox from installing required components to play the video on websites. That’s why Firefox shows the error message.

You can try to temporarily disable or turn off your antivirus protection. All antivirus software provide option to temporary disable or pause their protection. Right-click on antivirus icon in Taskbar notification area (system tray) and you should get an option to turn off protection.

Now restart Firefox and try to play the video. This time it should successfully install the required components and play the video without any error message.

SOLUTION 4: Create New Firefox Profile

Create a new profile account in Firefox and then try to play the videos in new profile.

1. Close Firefox if running. Now press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type firefox -p and press Enter. It’ll open Firefox Profile Manager window.

2. Click on “Create Profile” button and follow the instructions. It’ll create a new user profile in Firefox browser.

If you want to select which profile Firefox should use while starting, uncheck “Use the selected profile without asking at startup” option.

Now start Firefox using new profile, open video website and it should play the video without any problem.

PS: You can delete unwanted user profile using same firefox -p command in RUN dialog box. You can also use about:profiles command in Firefox address bar to modify profiles.

SOLUTION 5: Refresh Firefox to Reset to Default Settings

If all fails, you can try the ultimate solution i.e. refresh Firefox which will reset it to default factory settings. It’ll restore Firefox to fresh state just like you clean installed it. It’ll remove all installed add-ons, your customized settings, cache, cookies, history, etc.

To learn how to reset Firefox to factory settings, check out following tutorial:

[Tip] How to Reset / Restore Your Web Browser Settings to Default Factory State

After resetting, open video website in Firefox and the video will play without any issue.

SOLUTION 6: Check GMP Preferences in Firefox

1. Open Firefox and type about:config in the addressbar and press Enter. It’ll show you a warning message, click on “Accept the Risk and Continue” button. It’ll open Firefox’s hidden secret advanced configuration page i.e. about:config page.

2. Now type widevinecdm in Search filter box and look for following preferences in the window:

Make sure both preferences/flags are set to true.

3. If one or both preferences are set to false, double-click on the preference and set it to true. Alternatively, you can click on the Toggle icon given next to the preference name.

Now try to play the video again.

SOLUTION 7: Reset Hosts File to Defaults

Sometimes if you modify Hosts file in Windows to add IP addresses or a malware modified the file, it might also cause such kind of problems.

You can reset Hosts file to default using following tutorials:

How to Reset Hosts File to Default in Windows?

Host Mechanic: Freeware to Edit, Delete or Restore Hosts File in Windows

After restoring Hosts file to default, restart your computer and then try to play the video in Firefox and it should work now.

Also Check:

[Tip] Having Problems with Your Web Browser? Disable Hardware Acceleration Feature