Quicktime/firefox issue - "stuck" browser window-flashing question mark - no playback

[Blast9]

Win XP SP1 (haven't upgraded in case of PTLE buggy performance)

Hi folks - I have this weird prob when clicking on a link to stream an mp3.

The new tab opens with the Quicktime logo and a flashing question mark, and the audio simply doesn't stream... So my only opton is to download. which is kind of a PITA.

I have seen support solutions for conflict between flash content and quicktime streaming, but these solutions don't work i.e.

CONTROL PANEL >>> double-click Quicktime logo >>> Browser >>> MIME settings >>> miscellaneous.

what else should I try?

Any ideas?

ta

[7thangelz]

it might be the dlls that are in the firefox folder. back when it was 2, there was a suggestion to delete a few specific qt dlls in the folder because they weren't necessary and causing conflicts (it worked for me). but i would check again. another is to make sure that a) every plugin is updated (qt 7.5 plugin, shockwave and flash to nme a few) and b) it's compatible with sp1. also, the possibility of another add on/plugin/theme causing problems. check the forums and such

note: i haven't heard of any bugginess in sp 2 or sp 3 but not everyones experience will be the same.

[theblue1]

Geez... I just wish I could get QT out of my browser... and my life.

[Actually, to be fair, I seem to have made peace to some extent with that software, which I have to have for its codec for my video editor for those occasions when I need to use an Apple format, though -- to my amazement -- I've found that WMV's actually look and sound better in smaller sizes than Mp4 vids. That shocked the heck out of me.]

[Blast9]

thanks guys - I may try SP2... Deep breath... GO

theblue1 - any other apps you're using for browser playback other than windows media player?

[Blast9]

thanks guys - I may try SP2... Deep breath... GO

theblue1 - any other apps you're using for MP3 browser playback other than windows media player?

[theblue1]

My disdain for QT is, in many ways, matched by my deep and long antipathy to WMP.

On the positive side of WMP, at least it's not always trying to stick itself in my boot profile like QT's 'quickloader' applet (a behavior which cannot be turned off and so must be monitored after QT use). On the negative, I don't like WMP's interface; it's a big pig; and, last time I checked, it had a bass bump built in.


I use WinAmp lite/classic/whatever the stripped down one is called, the open-source, multi-platform VLC, Media Player Classic, and, once in a while, Foobar. WinAmp and VLC are the default players for audio and vid in my setup.

And, since I am a Rhapsody subscriber (I love Rhapsody -- which amazes the holy heck out of me, since I've long been extremely antipathetic to the parent comapny, RealNetworks -- but they really did right with Rhapsody, which does not, by default, use RealAudio [thank you, thank you thank you!]), I use the entirely decent Rhapsody player, which loads and unloads clean (unlike my other previous subscription service players from MusicMatch and Yahoo Music).

The [free] Rhap player, unlike those previous scrip players, actually has a very decent shuffle mode ('smart shuffle,' if you will -- it's not one of those 'tuly random' algorithms that drive you crazy by occasionally playing the same song twice in a row or jumping a few songs at a time through the playlist (not a bad behavior, necessarily, when you want it -- but usually not what I want).

In fact, probably 80-90% of the time I'm posting here I'm listening to something on my Rhapsody subscription. The selection is really good -- by far the best of the three services I've tried. (In fairness, the others, which are out of biz, were cheaper... but when Yahoo Music handed off their subscribers to Rhapsody, Rhapsody was kind enough to grandfather us in at our old subscription rate.

The current 'full' rates for Rhapsody are $13/mo for streaming only and $15/mo for "portable" downloads that you can use in a "PlaysForSure" player (most of the contemporary non-iPod players; they also have their own grandfathered RealAudio DLs for their short-lived experiment with licensed hardware players). Big fan of Rhapsody. Best music deal ever. (Well, MusicMatch was really cheap if you paid a year in advance. But the selection was somewhat more limited. Rhap has almost everybody. (Major hold-outs are Beatles, Zep, Eagles. Most other big artists past and present seem to have most of their stuff up. Every now and then you find someone who's trying to hold back some biggest hit... but the funny thing is, oft-times if you just look around you find the track on some greatest hits or compilation. )

BTW, there's a free Rhapsody account that lets you stream 25 songs free a month. Which ain't a lot, of course, but it's certainly enough to check things out, see how the quality is (mostly quite high, my guess is 192kbps or so WMA) and how well the artist/song/album search is (pretty good, could use a couple of small refinements -- but it usaully finds content they have, unlike MM and YM, which often just missed content they actually had under the very title/name you had just searched on).

AND... they scrip service has an online, browser-contained player interface you can use from any machine with broadband, so if you go to a pal's house or a party and you want to play some of your faves, all you have to do is log in via a browser and start streaming (make sure you wipe your pw out before you leave -- their system checks to make sure there's only one user per account at any time).

[FULL DISCLOSURE: if it sounds like I'm hyping Rhapsody, for sure, I am. Why? I want it to stay in biz, that's why. Because I love subscription streaming -- it's revolutionized my music listening habits, giving me an extraordinary range of music for less than the price of a single CD a month. BUT... the first service I subscribed to was bought by the second, the somewhat clueless Yahoo, which proceeded to putter around for a year or two and then fold. Happily, as noted, they automatically transitioned me to Rhapsody and I'm as happy as a clam. And I don't want to have to move again. Not to mention that there's only one other major service left, IIRC.]