Firefox No Audio On YouTube Since Update
Since I updated Firefox this week I now have no audio on YouTube. Videos on CNBC work fine. Any suggestions? Thanx
Forum Discussion
Mystery of YouTube videos "volume mute" solved?
I decided to take a closer look and apparently discovered the cause, but still an issue with YouTube that needs to be corrected on their end. The real question is why?
The volume mute issue appears to be related to Flash Cookies or Local Shared Objects(LSO). Apparently, when YouTube loads a video, it initially places a Flash Cookie(LSO) folder, but with no data. Once a user adjusts a YouTube video's volume level from mute, then future YouTube videos will maintain their audio setting. Even if you clear regular cookies/cache, but as long as you keep Flash Cookies.
Some common apps and browser extensions that remove Flash Cookies:
Using any of the above methods to remove existing Flash Cookies will cause the volume mute issue to appear in YouTube videos, when the browser is restarted or refreshed.
Apparently, the only workaround at this point is to keep Flash Cookies active, but creates another potential privacy and data security issue. Flash Cookies are also known as super cookies, in that they are not removed by most browsers except by Google's own Chrome browser, when using "Privacy>Clear browser settings.." to clear cookies/cache. You either have to manually remove them, or resort to a third party app or browser extension.
Some concerns involving Flash cookies can be found in this article Internet tracking via ‘zombie cookies’ may present a real danger.
I decided to take a closer look and apparently discovered the cause, but still an issue with YouTube that needs to be corrected on their end. The real question is why?
The volume mute issue appears to be related to Flash Cookies or Local Shared Objects(LSO). Apparently, when YouTube loads a video, it initially places a Flash Cookie(LSO) folder, but with no data. Once a user adjusts a YouTube video's volume level from mute, then future YouTube videos will maintain their audio setting. Even if you clear regular cookies/cache, but as long as you keep Flash Cookies.
Some common apps and browser extensions that remove Flash Cookies:
- Firefox Better Privacy extension removes Flash Cookies by default when closing the browser.
- Free CCleaner checkmarks Flash Cookies for removal by default.
- Chrome browser removes Flash Cookies along with regular cookies when cleared through settings.
Using any of the above methods to remove existing Flash Cookies will cause the volume mute issue to appear in YouTube videos, when the browser is restarted or refreshed.
Apparently, the only workaround at this point is to keep Flash Cookies active, but creates another potential privacy and data security issue. Flash Cookies are also known as super cookies, in that they are not removed by most browsers except by Google's own Chrome browser, when using "Privacy>Clear browser settings.." to clear cookies/cache. You either have to manually remove them, or resort to a third party app or browser extension.
Some concerns involving Flash cookies can be found in this article Internet tracking via ‘zombie cookies’ may present a real danger.
