Firefopx not asking before playing MP3 files

I've noticed today that Firefox is not asking what to do when I click on an MP3 file on my web site, it plays it in the page with a mini-media player. Not sure if this is an HTML5 feature

I don't want this, I want it to ask whether to save or open, and to open using Windows Media Player. Until today (or perhaps the last day or two) it always did as I wanted but, I think since it updated to V28 it no longer does what I want.

I can't find a way of getting it to suit what I want, not what the Firefox developers tell me I should have.

I found a reference to the media.windows-media-foundation.enabled parameter in about:config and have set it to False. But to no avail.

Any idea of how to get Firefox to behave as I wish.

Software writers these days seem to increasingly forget that the P in PC stands for Personal, not for the software writer to do what they want to do. The increasing arrogance shown by some these days really does get me annoyed.

You may find this helpful.

Yep, I'd read that lot. It seems to tell me tough.

Seeing as my web pages haven't changed, and as far as I'm aware I'm not consciously writing HTML5 then why does it behave like that.

I've uploaded an MP3 file to the website and want to be able to click and play it in WMP, without actually having to download and save it first. Last week I could, this week I can't.

Frankly for Firefox developers to say

In reference to support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/set-how-firefox-handles-different-file...:

Note: Some file formats, such as MP3, are handled by the browser and the download action cannot be changed.

is thoughtless arrogance.

Edit: I've just downgraded to 27.0.1 and it works as I require. Clearly they've changed something at V28 which, to me, is undesirable and unwanted.

Edited by cheshire_man (Sun 30-Mar-14 23:22:09)

In the application tab under options mine says next to MP3. always ask, and gives the option to set save as default or use windows media player. I have just googled an mp3 and it works as v27 in your post. Using V28.

I checked on V27.0.1 and for MP3 it is set to Always Ask with options Always Ask, Save File, Use Windows Media Player, Use Quicktime Plugin

So I re-upgraded to V28. Those options are still there exactly as before but when I click on an MP3 file on my web site it goes straight to playing the file in the browser giving me no options at all.

Not very friendly.

Just checked this on my FF 24. Always Ask didn't! It used Quicktime instead. However Use Windows Media Player did do as it was told.

Then updated to FF 28. Now both Always Ask & Use Windows Media Player use QT instead. So what worked partially before now doesn't work at all .

Thanks, I'm glad it's not just me

In about:config I've just changed media.directshow.enabled from True to False and that seems to have fixed it.

Good find!

it is I believe html5 related, I think you can probably still right click the file and choose save as.

Sadly firefox is in the process of been dumbed down, in fact I would even go further into state every change to firefox brings it closer to chrome (I guess google want something back for their investment).

you can use firefox ESR v24 version which will give you security updates but features frozen at v24, however this will only last for another 7 months or so, then another ESR will come out with feature bumps.

Lots of browsers are going downhill rapidly.

Latest maxthon eg., is no longer multi row capable on tabs, and about 80% of its options dissapeared in the latest version to make it more freindly to noobs and mobile devices.

Opera also has been massively dumbed down with very vague reasoning given by its devs (probably to copy chrome),