These frequently asked questions cover RealPlayer & Windows Media Player.
RealPlayer
Answers to the questions people most commonly asked about RealPlayer.
This troubleshooting section only deals with problems occurring when using the platforms specified for this event:
- PC with Windows98, NT4 or Windows 2000
- Netscape version 4.0 or higher
- Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher
To set the preferences for RealPlayer, right click into the video window and choose Preferences. If RealPlayer is not currently running, then select RealPlayer from the Start menu first. For the change to take effect you must stop the video stream and start it again by pressing the stop and then the play button in RealPlayer.
Question:
I experience one of the following errors:
"Error 18: Invalid socket error"
"Error 22: Requested server is not valid"
"Error 108: Invalid Auto Transport Configuration Setup"
"Error 38: File compression not supported. Cannot locate the requested RealAudio decoder (on UNIX machines) when attempting to play content over the Internet"
Answer:
All the above errors indicate that you are behind a firewall, i e a "computer" that prevents illegal entries to your network.
View/Preferences; choose the tab "Transport".
Make sure that "Automatically select best transport" is chosen.
Click on the button "Auto Configure...".
Click OK.
If this does not solve the problem, you need to contact your system administrator who will help you get through the proxy (if you have any) or open up the firewall. For information on how to open the firewall for RealPlayer streams, please visit http://service.real.com/firewall/evidence.html.
Question:
What do I do if my player does not stop buffering?
Answer:
Go into View/Preferences; choose the tab "Connection". At buffered play, click "buffer at least" and write 10 in the box.
Question:
I experience network congestions all the time.
Answer:
Make sure that you have not configured your Real Player for a higher bandwidth than your MODEM/COMPUTER/DESKTOP can handle.
View/Preferences; choose the tab "Connection". Set Normal and Maximum bandwidth. For example, if you are sharing an ISDN line with others it is not appropriated to take up all the bandwidth.
Question:
I do not get the full bandwidth you are offering although I have the connection speed required.
Answer:
View/Preferences; choose the tab "Connection".
Set Normal and Maximum bandwidth.
For example, if you are sharing an ISDN line with others it is not appropriated to take up all the bandwidth.
Question:
I can see the video but I cannot hear the audio.
Answer:
Old soundcards cannot handle more than one source of audio simultaneously. Subsequently, make sure that no other application is using the soundcard whilst viewing the stream.
Windows Media Player
Answers to the questions people most commonly asked about Microsoft Windows Media Player.
This troubleshooting section only deals with problems occurring when using the platforms specified for this event:
- PC with Windows98, NT4 or Windows 2000
- Netscape version 4.0 or higher
- Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher
Question:
Content won't play.
Answer:
The server may be down, the content may have been moved, or the URL to the content is wrong. If you are using Netscape Navigator 6.0, you may be experiencing problems due to a redesign of the plug-in architecture in that browser, which has resulted in some loss of backwards compatibility. In these situations you can do nothing. If the content is embedded in the HTML page, try clicking on the player's video screen. In some cases, network congestion could cause the player to time out; keep trying, or try again later when the network is less congested.
Question:
I can play content from some sites but not others.
Answer:
Most likely you are behind a firewall that has not had the appropriate ports opened for use with Netshow Services. However, if a server has HTTP streaming enabled, the Windows Media Player can take advantage of its protocol rollover capabilities and receive the file via HTTP rather than the normal (and optimal) streaming protocols. This is why you can receive content from some sites but not others. For best quality and consistent results, encourage your administrator to open the appropriate ports on the firewall to allow streaming.
Question:
Audio will play but video won't, or video will play but audio won't.
Answer:
As a first step, make sure that your PC has a sound card to play the audio (see instructions). If you do have a sound card, the content being played probably uses a compression codec that isn't installed on your system. To ensure that you have all codecs currently supported, re-install Windows Media Player from here.
Question:
How do I uninstall Windows Media Player 7 on my Windows 2000 computer?
Answer:
To uninstall the Windows Media Player 7:
- Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
- Double-click Add/Remove Programs, click Windows Media Player 7, and then click Change/Remove.
- In the Windows Media Components Setup dialog box, make sure the Remove Windows Media Components option is selected, and then click Next.
- In the Windows Media Components Setup dialog box, scroll down the list, select the Windows Media Player check box, and then click Next.
If you do not have one of these applications installed on your computer, please choose from the links below to download the desired application.
Downloading and installing Realplayer and Windows Media Player
Windows-based system Requirements
- A Pentium-based PC or compatible computer
- At least 16MB of RAM
- Windows 95/98/ NT/2000 system software
- 16-bit sound card and speakers
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