BSPlayer as a replacement

[bluemoon]

I have 2 problems.

My original intent a couple days ago was to get liteweight, unbloated, reliable surrogate for Real, Quicktime & WMP9.

BSPlayer is ideal, & I suspect I will still use it even if I ca't solve this dilemma.

I didn't initially realize that BSPlayer could also play Quicktime, so I installed BSPlayer with the k-lite mega pack 1.32 in custom mode, but I excluded the Real & Quicktime Alternatives. since later versions of each are now available, which I subseuqently installed.

I figured out how to basically get it to perform the way I wanted.

I was pleasantly surprised to now be able to stream video with BSPlayer on sites that required WMP9, because several other solutions for this I previously tried, before discovering BSPlayer, that were supposed to work, did not.

Then I remembered I still had WMP 7.1, so I uninstalled it.

Problem #1

Now, even though .wmv is definitely associated with BSPlayer, when I try to open a .wmv, I get a "Can't Open File" error.

The only way I can get it to work is to reinstall WMP 7.1.

My first uneducated guess was that the uninstall of WMP 7.1 removed necessary codecs, but BSPlayer is supposed to play .wmv on it's own, right?

Futhermore, I could never stream on sites that required WMP9 with only 7.1, but combined with BSPlayer, now I could. So wpoulldn'y that negate the codec issue?

I uninstalled all the k-lite stuff including BSPlayer & the reinstalled, hoping hoping to replace anything vital that might have been left incomplete by the WMP 7.1 unstall, but no help.

I had a similar problem trying to make Media Player Classic a suitable replacement for WMP, using the k-lite stuff.

When that didn't work, I also tried installing the Codec Installation Package for Windows Media Player 6.4, but again I couldn't get it to work without WMP 7.1 installed, but I still was not able to stream video on sites that required WMP9.

Problem #2

Thinking I no longer needed Quicktime Alternative, I uninstalled it.

First, bsplayer played my test .mov with no audio.

Then after a few tries, although clicking on my .mov test file opened BSPlayer, I got the same "Can't Open File" error, just as with the .wmv file.

I reinstalled Quicktime Alternative, & bsplayer again works for .mov.

Sometimes I when try to open a .mov, I still get the file error, but if I drag the file to the BSPlayer GUI, it plays as it should.

There also seems to be a bug with "Autoplay". Sometimes it works & sometimes it doesn't.

I don't know if it has any relevance whatsoever, but my main Firefox folder is on my H:\ partition.

thx

blue

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Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.7.8, Gecko/20050515 Firefox/1.0.4 (stipe s8v3)

[Tizio]

Originally Posted by bluemoon

...but BSPlayer is supposed to play .wmv on it's own, right?

As far as I know the answer is NO, it's not right.
BSplayer can play almost all the media files you have on your pc, but only if you have installed the proper codecs!
Have a look at the adicoto's list of codecs to know what you need for which media type.
See this post for WMV files.

If you search the forum you'll find a lot of messages saying "DON'T USE CODEC PACKS"...

For .mov files is the same as for .wmv, you need the proper codec, so you have to install QuickTime or QuickTimeAlternative.

For RealPlayer movies, BSplayer "was" able to reproduce them with RealAlternative installed on your pc, but with later RealAlternative versions there are problems... (search the forum for more info)

Originally Posted by bluemoon

Sometimes I when try to open a .mov, I still get the file error, but if I drag the file to the BSPlayer GUI, it plays as it should.

It's a strange behaviour... Have you registered that filetype to BSplayer?

I hope this can solve some of your problems... :)
If you need more help we are here

P.S. Have you read BSPeter message "READ THIS FIRST BEFORE POSTING"?

[bluemoon]

Originally Posted by Tizio

As far as I know the answer is NO, it's not right.
BSplayer can play almost all the media files you have on your pc, but only if you have installed the proper codecs!
Have a look at the adicoto's list of codecs to know what you need for which media type.
See this post for WMV files.

If you search the forum you'll find a lot of messages saying "DON'T USE CODEC PACKS"...

For .mov files is the same as for .wmv, you need the proper codec, so you have to install QuickTime or QuickTimeAlternative.

For RealPlayer movies, BSplayer "was" able to reproduce them with RealAlternative installed on your pc, but with later RealAlternative versions there are problems... (search the forum for more info)

It's a strange behaviour... Have you registered that filetype to BSplayer?

I hope this can solve some of your problems... :)
If you need more help we are here

P.S. Have you read BSPeter message "READ THIS FIRST BEFORE POSTING"?

Hi Tizio, thanks for the answer.

I'm continuing to have all sorts of wierd problem.

I thinks it may be due to a fundamental misunderstanding of what I should have done from the beginning.

I did read the faqs, but for one thing I had k-lite installed before I came here.

To test things, I googled sites for wmp video clips, & came up with odd results.

Like I said before, with wmp 7.1 installed, bsplayer seemed to work very well in conjunction with Media Player classic at playing .wmv both local & embedded.

I can still play locally, but now when I went to a place like yahoo movies, first I could only get audio, & when I went back to try again, It was told to upgrade from wmp 7.1 to wmp9.

Fact is, it got even worse elsewhere. From no video to that "Can't Open File" error, to both bsplayer & Firefox crashing, to freezing my system altogether.

I downloaded the wmp6 & WM9 codecs, but since I'm due for an OS reinstall anyway, I'm gonna reformat, start from scratch & stay away from k-lite or any other installation packages, which I wouldn't be surprised is at the root of the problem.

I'll get back & let you know what success I achieved &/or if I need further assistance.

Thanks

~blue

[Tizio]

I'm sorry you have to reformat your pc, but somethimes it's the better choice..

Originally Posted by bluemoon

I'm gonna reformat, start from scratch & stay away from k-lite or any other installation packages

:D

Unfortunally I had never viewed a stream video directly from Firefox/IE so I can't help you in that field :(

I hope that your new configuration will be less buggy than the current one :D

Bye, and if you need more help here we are :)

[bluemoon]

I'm baaaaaack.

O.K., let's try this again.

Since the OS reinstall, the only thing installed is the default Windows Media Player 6.4.

So if I install BSPlayer (from the k-lite package), Real Alternative, Quicktime Alternative, & the proper Codec Installation Package for Windows Media Player from Microsoft, should that theoretically take care of playing locally or streaming Real, Quicktime, & the latest WMP files?

Note from Microsoft: If you do not have Windows Media Player 9 Series or later installed and cannot play content by using the Windows Media Video 9 or Windows Media Audio 9 Voice codecs from a Player embedded in a Web page, consider downloading the codec installation package for Windows Media Player 6.4 as well.

Which is the appropriate codec package: wmp6cdcs.exe, WM9Codecs9x.exe, wmv9VCMsetup.exe, or a combination of them?

Will they automatically be placed in the proper directory when installed?

Would that be "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM"?

Will I be given an option to handpick the codecs?

If so should I just install the complete package?

Should I use ffdsow to cover the codecs for other types of files? If not, which from the list from adicoto would you recommend?

Didn't I hear that there were some problems associated with ffdsow?

Phhew, lot of questions, eh? I know, but I just wanna get it right. No more pain in the a** OS reinstalls planned in the near future...lol :roll:
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Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.7.8, Gecko/20050616 Firefox/1.0.4

[bluemoon]

If I may explain a bit further why I asked all the questions, after reading the "adicoto's list of codecs" thread, I'm still a little confused.

For instance, the comparison between filter & codecs:

"BSPlayer, like other DirectShow players, does not use codecs to decode audio and video streams. DirectShow players use DirectShow filters, and codecs are used only if there is no required DirectShow filter installed (in this case, codecs are used through VfW wrapper)."

Also, according to K-lite:

"FFdshow (cvs build 2005-05-27)
This is a collection for decoding various audio & video formats. It has lots od (postprocessing) options.

ffdshow is a work in progress. It may contain several bugs. Don't install this unless you know what you are doing."

Is ffdshow a codec package, & weren't we warned not to use such packages?

The ffdshow link listed by adicoto is for ffdshow-20040718.exe. Does the K-lite disclaimer apply to this version also.

It was also suggested that ffdshow was a recommended for slow machines. I guess my PIII 650 would apply?

So, should I just download & install all the "Common used codecs" recommended by adicoto, or just ffdshow, or just install what is necessary when I run upon a file I can't play?

[adicoto]

1. FFDshow is not a codec, is a filter that can decode allmost any MPEG1, 2 and 4 stream. I don't use it, but I've tested it on slower machines and seems it's a little bit faster than DivX. But the quality is poorer. For those I recommend XviD 1-1.02

2. As I've said, either you use codecs (a codec contains filters), or ffdshow, not both of them.

3. For WMP files such as WMV and ASF use asftools, WMPcodec8 and 9, WMFdist, wmv9VCMsetup and WMtools. That should do. But WMP8 coedc can be installed only if you have WMP7 installed, IIRC.

PS slow machines like 333 MHz :)

[bluemoon]

Originally Posted by adicoto

For those I recommend XviD 1-1.02

Are you referring to the XviD 1.1.0-beta2 release offered at http://www.xvid.org/downloads.html

The link to the Koepi home page is not working, but I found them here
http://www.koepi.org/xvid.shtml

According to them, the latest stable binary is XviD-1.0.3-20122004.exe (621kb), & XviD 1.1.0-beta2 is the latest unstable binary.

Please confirm the best XviD version to use so I can follow up on all your advice.

I know we are supposed to stay aways from codecs packages, but does that simply mean not to arbitrarily install everything in the package?

For example, is there any reason I could not safely install such items as BSPLayer & XviD-1.0.3-20122004 from the K-lite package, as long as I do not include all the other parts of the package?

Originally Posted by adicoto

For WMP files such as WMV and ASF use asftools, WMPcodec8 and 9, WMFdist, wmv9VCMsetup and WMtools. That should do. But WMP8 coedc can be installed only if you have WMP7 installed, IIRC.

All I'm mainly interessted in is playing local video files & streaming video, hopefully using BSPlayer for essentially all possible formats it is suited for. Nothing fancy.

Certainly I want any sound issues dealt with, but at the moment music is not my focus.

I checked out asftools, WMFdist & WMtools. Is it possible I could simplify the process a litle without scarificing any of the functionality I'm looking for. Do I really need these to accomplish my goal? Can you tell me what the value would be for each of them?

They sound like items to be better utilized by an advanced user.

I found a version of WMtools at
http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files011.shtml

According to them,

This software is no longer supported by Microsoft. The reason I have posted this software here is because the newer version of Windows Media Tools disables the playback and encoding of mpeg4v3 avi files, and with all the mpeg4 avi files floating around the net, we need something to view them. If you would like to download the newer version of Windows Media Tools, visit the Windows Media Homepage.

What would you advise?

Hoping I could avoid WMP7.1 install, but as long as BSPlayer or MPC can handle all the playback & streaming formats then it's not that big a deal to let it sit & collect dust....lol

Thanks

~blue

[adicoto]

No, i ment builds from 1 to 1.02 (1 -> 1.0.2) :(

As for the codec packs. I've installed codec packs. Worked OK for 2 months, DivX or XviD came up with a new build and all the newest files I get didn't worked any more. OK, no problem, one may say. Uninstall codec pack, and reinstall newer version. YEs, I've uninstalled the pack and, surprise, NOTHING worked any more. FIxed with a Windows reinstall. WHen installing and uninstalling, the codec deployment package install also some other files and make some associations for the filters to be used. And that's probably the part where the codecpack's problems arouse.

[bluemoon]

I've installed

BSPlayer 1.22.817 from K-Lite package
XviD-1.0.3-20122004.exe
quicktimealt_148.exe
realalt141.exe
wmp6cdcs.exe
wmv9VCMsetup.exe
GSpot.exe
One site still required that I download a mpg4 codec, so I did.
WMtools from http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files011.shtml
wmfdist.exe
asftools310.zip

Though I'm still not exactly sure what to do with the last three items.

I can now do mostly what I want, except for a few things.

Up until today, places like Yahoo movies notified me I couldn't stream their .wmv without WMP9 installed.
http://movies.yahoo.com/trailers/

Now, all of a sudden, I can stream there. No alert to download WMP9. Cannot explain it. Haven't changed anything I know of since the last time I tried there. Very strange.

But I still have a problem to a varying degree with streaming .wmv at many places. Some places are much worse than others, due to the start & stop buffering & reloading, which makes them virtually unwatchable (10 minutes or longer to watch a one minute video clip).

I know this is a common issue, so I'm wondering if there is anything I can do about it or do I just have to live with it.

Elsewhere with streaming .wmv I get sound but no picture (just the WMP animated logo)

I know this may be OT for this venue, but if you can't help me perhaps someone could direct me elsewhere for some advice
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