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Topic: Missing plug-in? |
Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 5:15 am |
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| I seem to be unable to access the sound files in Tore Blestrud's "A/B Test" post under Pedal Steel. When I hit the link it takes me to a "4Share" page which contains the message "Loading file info. Please wait..." I wait for many minutes and nothing happens. Next to that message is a link that says "Don't like waiting?" When I click on that nothing happens either. I have scripts enabled when I make these attempts. I posted about this in the thread, but no one apparently shares my problem. How can I go about finding out why it doesn't work for me? |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 8:10 am
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Please post a link to the page with those links and I will try to access them with Firefox 2.0.0.3, IE7 and Opera 9.20. I'll let you know how I make out with these browsers. What browser and version are you using? Do you have the usual plug-ins installed?
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 8:46 am
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Here's the link:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=108067
I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.3. As for plug-ins, I have QuickTime Alternative 1.78, Real Alternative 1.51, a batch of DivX programs (Codec, Content Uploader, Converter, Player, Web Player), and Adobe Flash Player 9 ActiveX.
Is Java a plug-in? I have J2SE Runtime Environment Update 11 ( and several earlier updates), Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.2_03, and Java (TM) Runtime Environment 6 Update 1.
I just tried it in IE and it worked. The entire box containing the file info and the "Download" link doesn't even appear on my screen in Firefox. Again, though I have the NoScript add-on, I allow the site scripts when I try it. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 9:25 am
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I just opened the target URL in three browsers and it played back the mp3 in Windows Media Player, in all three. Firefox and IE7 used WMP 11 as the plug-in, while Opera used WMP 6.4.09.1130. In Firefox the media player plug-in was compact, with only the controls and progress-bar, while IE and Opera displayed a mini-media player with a monitor section over the controls.
Either your Firefox installation is corrupted, or the Mime-types are setup wrong. Have a look at them by opening your Options and clicking on the Content tab > File-Types > "Manage" button. Look for MP3 Format Sound and see if it is associated with Windows Media Player, or something else. I chose WMP for my mp3 plug-in because it displays on the same page, as a widget.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 10:14 am
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I went through those steps, and found that MP3 Format Sound was listed twice, and it and a bunch of other types were assigned to Quick Time 7.1.5, a program I don't have--it's not on my "All Programs" list or the list in "Add Or Remove Programs".
I changed the association of both its listings to Windows Media Player, then went back to the link and still got the same--the box not on the page and no response. So I went back into the Download Actions list, to see if the change to WMP "stuck", and now MP3 Format Sound is gone from the list!
What next?
Edit: I do have Windows Media Player 11, which you said Firefox used for you. (I didn't think WMP was a plug-in.)
Edit 2: I did a "Search" and I have 135 files with "Quick Time" in their file name! Most shown as being in "Quick Time Alternative" folder(s?), but not all. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 4:52 pm
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Any time you make configuration changes to your browser you must close all open instances of it, then reopen it for the changes to take effect.
To re-associate MP3 Format files with FF, close FF, then open Windows Media Player, click on Tools > Options > File Types. If the checkbox for MP3 Audio is checked, uncheck it, click Apply, then check it and click Apply. If it wasn't checked, check it and click Apply. Open FF and go to Tools > Options > Content > Manage and see if MP3 Format Sound is now properly associated with WMP. If it is listed, but associated with another application, edit the association to open in WMP, click Apply, OK, the close and re-open FF and try opening an mp3 file link with it.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 7:11 pm
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| Gosh, Wiz, I set out to follow your directions, but I only got as far as opening Windows Media Player! Which I did by going to All Programs, right-clicking Windows Media Player, and clicking Open. The screen I get doesn't have "Tools" anywhere on it. It's the screen that displays videos, and has Now Playing, Library, Rip, Burn, Sync, URGE, and Sign In across the top. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2007 5:11 am
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Well, pressing Control + M didn't do anything! But I found a bar at the top that includes "Tools" by clicking on a "Layout" icon and selecting "Show Classic Menus". That added the bar at the top. I clicked on Tools, then Options, but there was no File Types among the tabs on the resulting page.
I'm still wondering why, after I changed the association of the two identical MP3 Format entries in the Firefox file management list to Windows Media Player from Quick Time 7.1.5, the MP3 entries vanished from the list.
And what about those 135 files with Quick Time in their file names, maybe 40% of which don't say "Alternative", yet Quick Time 7.1.5 (or any Quick Time), doesn't show up on either my All Programs list or my "Add or Remove Programs" list?
As a historical note, I've gotten tangled up with these media players before, at one point in my ignorance trying to uninstall Windows Media Player. This was the thread where you tried to help me:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=104810&highlight=
Until now, I've been having no problems since then playing video or audio. |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 27 Apr 2007 10:34 am
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Here are my latest thrashings.
I uninstalled QuickTime Alternative, Real Alternative. When I did Search from the Start Menu right-click, there were now only 26 files with Quick Time in their file name. I sent as many of them as I could to the Recycle Bin, but some (with filename endind .mpp) nothing happened when clicked on, and some said "Unable to delete. Cannot read from source file or disk".
I uninstalled Firefox, went into IE, and ran Installation of WMP 11, even though it was already on my list of programs. It put me through the whole installation process, and I checked all the file types for WMP to be default player, which included MP3.
I Googled Firefox to make sure of downloading the most recent version, and downloaded it.
Now (and before all this) the list of file types when I go to Tools>Options>Content>File Types is very short and does not include MP3, and I can't find any way to add file types to the list.
The website I posted about above still doesn't work in Firefox.
*I meant to add that I rebooted after every action taken.
*I also forgot to mention that I installed K-Lite Codec Pack somewhere in there, after uninstalling QTA and RA. There seems to be overlap in all three installations (K-L, QTA, RA), with the language and appearance of the download page(s) being the same, and QTA and RA being included in K-L CP--or are they? |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 27 Apr 2007 11:33 am
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I uninstalled the codec pack and only use the Real and Quicktime alternative players. Something in the codec pack was conflicting with the stand-alone players. I now have Windows Media Player 11, Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative, and nothing else. In WMP I have associated it with mp3 files. I did not associate mp3 with the other two. You can open the configuration options for the alternative players and make sure they only cover the default file types required for Real or Quicktime files, playlists and streams.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 27 Apr 2007 12:44 pm
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Okay, I dumped the Codec Pack (I've had that in and out of there several times now), and re-installed QT Alternative and Real Alternative. And now, for whatever reason, the sound clip in the website is working. In Firefox. MP3 is still not on the list in Firefox's File Management list, but I don't know what, if anything, that means. The website "button" for the sound clip says "MPEG Audio". Don't know what that means either.
EDIT: Uh oh, I spoke too soon--it worked once, but now it doesn't work again. Could the problem be with the site all along??!!
EDIT 2: It appears to be a human error (mine) involving the NoScript add-on. I think I may have been thinking I was allowing script when I was forbidding it, and vice versa!  Either that or the clip will only play when script is forbidden  ?
At one point an icon relating to cross-scripting appeared too. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 27 Apr 2007 2:28 pm
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Uninstall NoScript and try visiting websites with audio files. Also, visit YouTube and try to view movies. Let us know if that script was causing your problems.
I never trust extensions, or applications that try to do my thinking for me. I also run as a Power User (XP Pro), which greatly reduces my risk to latent Internet threats. If I used XP Home I would run as a Limited User for total protection against viruses and spyware.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 28 Apr 2007 12:08 am
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Wiz, I wouldn't say NoScript "does my thinking for me". It provides an icon in the status bar that indicates whether a website has potential script issues. But the user clicks on the icon to select whether to enable scripts globally, for the website(s) in question, or temporarily (meaning only for the current visit) for the site(s) in question, or not at all.
I say site(s) because there are often two or more presented--generally at least "acme.com" (to coin a website name) and "google-analytics.com", in my case, anyway. When you click on the status bar icon it breaks them out so you can make individual decisions about each.
Where I got tripped up is: When you have a mix of allowed and unallowed, the status bar icon shows an "S" with one of those universal "no" signs--the red circle with a diagonal--partially blocking it. When you click on it and see the breakout list, some have a fully-blocked S, some an unblocked S. The thing is, their recent update changed how they present this to the opposite of what it was before. Used to be, the icon showed the current condition: for example, you'd see:
(Blocked S)Allow acme.com
and that meant acme was currently blocked.
Click on Allow and the S would be unblocked.
Now you see:
(Unblocked S) Allow acme.com
And that means acme is currently blocked!!!
Click on Allow and the whole selection box closes.
In other words, instead of the icon showing the condition before proposed action (old), it now shows what the condition will be after the proposed action!
I was so used to just working off a quick glance at the icons that I failed to notice the switch. And that's how I was blocking script when I thought I was allowing it.
After reading this you'll probably think "Who needs the hassle?" and you may well be right, but it's really not much hassle if they wouldn't CHANGE THE RULES ARBITRARILY!  |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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