Widevine DRM module won't install/update

mossman

After updating Vivaldi to the current stable on this Win11 PC I have discovered a couple of UK TV sites no longer allow me to stream their shows.

After checking a number of threads on here I tried the recommended action to click update on the Widevine entry in vivaldi://components but this just gives me an error (version number is shown as 0.0.0.0

I could use these sites for the past year on previous verions of Vivaldi on this laptop. (Haven't tried on other machines yet.)

Any other suggestions, otherwise I will file a bug.

mib2berlin

@mossman
Hi, this is shown in a clean and my used profile on Windows 11:

I don't have an idea why this not work for you, except the usual suspects.

EDIT: Is only the Widevine module not loading or other modules also?

DoctorG

I tested my Stable (Standalone); deleted the P:\Vivaldi Stable\User Data\WidevineCdm folder in browser profile, opened vivaldi://components and could update the version 0.0.0 (=no Widevine installed) to current Widevine Content Decryption Module - Version: 4.10.2710.0

mossman

Are any of you using multiple Windows user profiles?

I can confirm that this occurred when I updated Vivaldi on my wife's account then try to use streaming services on my own account. I see Widevine installed on her profile but not on mine!

As for "the usual suspects" - this is a young laptop using only stable, updated when required and using only one extension. I know how to keep things properly maintained...

I checked a Win10 PC where Widevine is shown in both profiiles. Could this be a Windows 11 file permission problem...?

mossman

Fixed it myself - and it was indeed a permissions problem on the plugin files.

located the folder in my user profile data: C:\Users\ [my name] \AppData\Local\Vivaldi\User Data\WidevineCdm
moved the folder to a different location
restarted Vivaldi
updated Widevine on vivaldi://components

Comparing the recreated WidevineCdm folder to the original one, I find that the original subfolder 4.10.2710.0 is marked for elevated admin permissions (have to keep clicking to allow viewing/moving etc.). Strange...

Pathduck

@mossman said in Widevine DRM module won't install/update:

Comparing the recreated WidevineCdm folder to the original one, I find that the original subfolder 4.10.2710.0 is marked for elevated admin permissions (have to keep clicking to allow viewing/moving etc.). Strange...

Not really that weird, if for instance you installed with elevated privileges in AppData (which is not needed) or you ran it also with elevation. Then when the browser downloads the component, it will be with admin permissions.

So, don't run the installer with admin privilege, unless you install for All Users (Program Files) and don't run the browser as Admin either.

mossman

@Pathduck and as I said before, I'm obviously not doing anything weird like that! I just clicked the installer from the system tray in my wife's profile (version before that probably from my own profile). I'm not a noob.

Pathduck

@mossman Well, that's the only way I can think of it would happen. The owner of the folder will be Administrators, and a regular user will not be able to move it or write to it (unless they are a member of Administrators)

Then again, I'm no expert on Windows permissions

mossman

@Pathduck actually, my wife and I are both "administrators" on all our Windows machines, but this has never happened before.

The files in this case required additional confirmation at every step and kept losing that "ok" as soon as I'd given it. And it was only for the Widevine files - none of the other plugins mentioned in "components" were affected.

My best guess is it was being locked by Windows or the virus-scanner during the update and that lock got left on the files afterwards. Anyway, doesn't matter - I worked out what it was and how to fix it, and this thread is here for anyone with a similar problem in future...

sirjeff

@DoctorG Huzzah!! That worked for me!
deleting vivaldi\User Data\WidevineCdm , restarting the browser then updating Widevine via [vivaldi://components](link url)

weeeeee exciting , it's been a year of head scratching

erdihaensel

Just came across this post and tried to update Widevine via vivaldi://components but it did not work. I tried to delete the folder Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\Vivaldi\User Data\WidevineCdm and this also did not work.

It seemed to be a rights issue though. What finaly made it work was starting vivaldi with administrator rights. With this I was able to update on Widevine via vivaldi://components

Maybe this helps! Cheers!

Pathduck

@erdihaensel Then you have installed it wrong in the first place. You should never run the installer or the browser itself as Admin, this will mess up the permissions of the folder it needs to write the components to.

By standard components are stored in %userprofile%\AppData\Vivaldi\User Data
Users have write permissions to their own AppData folder.

Unless you installed Vivaldi as a Standalone, in that case it's your responsibility to pick a folder you actually have write permissions to. If you run the Standalone install as Admin, you will not necessarily have write permissions after it's installed.

erdihaensel

@Pathduck This could be the case. I just setup this pc a few weeks ago. I used the "Ultimate Windows Utility Tool" by chris titus to setup this machine and I was pleasently surprised that it came with the capability to install a few of my favourite applications e.g. vivaldi. As I ran the tool with adminitrator rights this must have caused problems with the installations, unbeknown to me. But thanks for pointing this out. I wasn't aware. Might need to redo a few installations.