Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with RealPlayer

.ivr without Realplayer?

juv3nal — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:57:27 -0800

Is there anything free besides Realplayer that will play (or convert to some other format) Realplayer's .ivr files?

Can Vista be configured so that playback of all common media types Just Works?

hAndrew — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:59:20 -0800

In Windows Vista, is there a combination of software and settings that will let my Dad play all the media files he wants without further difficulty? I want to set up my Dad's new computer, which runs Vista Home Premium, so that it runs media embedded in web pages, runs standalone files too, and doesn't break Vista's Aero interface. He's not a computer expert, so I want media of all common types to Just Work^TM. These seem to be my criteria:

1a. When there is media embedded in a web page, such as here, it works.

1b. The embedded media players make it possible to go full-screen, or at least to easily open separate media players that can.

2a. Standalone media files play when they are double-clicked.

2b. Clicking links like this one (in, say, Firefox) opens the relevant media player with as few clicks as possible, preferably zero.

3. None of the above break Vista's Aero interface, even when going full-screen.

Here's what I've found:

* A combination of RealPlayer and Quicktime solves 1a., except that embedded RealPlayer has poor performance and they both fail 3.

* Alternatively, a combination of Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative with Media Player Classic solves 1a., except Media Player Classic fails 3. when going full-screen.

* VLC solves 2a.

* In Firefox, when clicking on the link in 2b., the "Do this automatically for files like this ..." checkbox is greyed out.

* Nothing I've tried except (built-in) Windows Media Player and VLC satisfies 3. in full-screen mode.

More info

I'm particularly interested to hear from anyone who has a Vista/Firefox configuration in which all these media tasks Just Work.

While trying to set this up for my Dad, I realised that I too had this problem (albeit to a lesser extent) in the XP/Firefox setup on my computer. I now realise I subconsciously open media that isn't Just Working in other media players or I view source -> dig for direct links, etc.

BBC World Service in stereo?

Brocktoon — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:12:00 -0800

Why won't Realplayer 11 play back the BBC World Service stream in stereo? I recently upgraded my Realplayer client to version 11, running on an iBook G4 with Tiger 10.4.11, and am now only getting the BBC World Service out of one speaker. Has anyone else had this problem?

OSX RealPlayer sends audio to internal speaker

Wolfdog — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:22:57 -0800

Mac Pro, OS X 10.4.10: Why in the hopscotching christ is Real Player (10.1.0) sending audio to the internal speaker? Output is directed to go to the line out in System Preferences, and no other media players or noisemakers fail to do the right thing. This didn't happen in the past, but I can't pin down when the problem crept up. I deleted the Real-related plists in my Library and let it reconfigure itself, to no effect.

Saving streaming video on a Mac

Dasein — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 09:08:22 -0800

How can I record video streams from RealPlayer and Quicktime on a Mac? I am on a MacBook Pro. I would like to record some video streams that are running in RealPlayer and Quicktime. The ultimate aim is to post these videos on youtube. I have no idea how to do this, but would like to be able to do it without spending money (for instance, buying Quicktime Pro). I'm particularly keen on recording the Real video streams, in case there is a solution that would apply there but not in Quicktime.

Is this possible? Help is greatly appreciated.

Default Player for Firefox

jamie939 — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 07:16:20 -0800

I just updated Firefox for Mac OSX. Now my default player is now quicktime. Even when I launch a RealPlayer movie it opens QuickTime and plays nothing. I want it to be RealPlayer. Any suggestions?

Web interface to audio streams on Linux

I EAT TAPAS — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 14:03:47 -0800

Is there an easy-to-use web interface for listening to various streaming radio stations via a web interface on a Linux server? I'm familiar with broadcasting *from* a Linux server using Shoutcast, or with applications which provide a web interface into an MP3 library -- that's not what I'm looking for. I can listen to streaming radio on my linux server by sshing in and running mplayer from the CLI, but what I can't find is an application (preferably PERL/PHP-based) that provides a web interface to store links to and then listen to various streaming radio stations on my server without sshing in or using X. Is there such a beast already out there?

real-to-mp3 conversion

RavinDave — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 21:47:08 -0800

Um ... Real ==> mp3 file conversion? Any simple way? I have a stack of old radio shows in .ra format. Many fans use a program called OTTER to catalogue their OTR collection — but Otter only recognizes mp3 files.

Avoiding Real/wma

The Michael The — Fri, 06 May 2005 13:15:36 -0800

I want to listen to NPR (esp. All Things Considered) on my OS10.3 Mac, but the only options they give are Real and Windows Media. I don't want to install any bloated spyware (read: RealPlayer or Windows Media Player) on my sweet sweet aluminum baby, so what kind of good, lightweight, and free player can I find that will let me play one or the other of those formats?

RealPlayer Alternatives

unreason — Fri, 03 Dec 2004 06:40:29 -0800

My mother wants to use realplayer to listen to streaming audio from her browser. After looking at the latest version of realplayer, what with the ads and spyware, I suspect that it would be best if she were to use something else that can read real files. I need something that's integrated into the browser. She's fairly intimidated by computers, so ease of use is essential. What would be the best player/codec/whatever for her?

Recording RealPlayer Streams

beniamino — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 20:59:42 -0800

How can I reliably record RealPlayer streams for later listening, on Mac OS X or Linux? [MI] HiDownload does the job pretty well on Windows. It downloads different bits of the stream in parallel, (apparently) at whatever speed the connection can handle. So a slow connection doesn't produce a glitchy download. But I don't have a Windows machine!

IRecordMusic is the nearest I've found on the Mac, but it records in real time so my flaky wireless connection results in annoying drop-outs. How can I get perfect downloads?

How to Create Playlist for Large Number of RealAudio Tracks?

ruwan — Mon, 11 Oct 2004 23:13:28 -0800

How can I download/listen to a large number of streaming music tracks (ram format) without having to click each link individually and wait for each song? [mi] I am taking a class, which has a long list of songs we are supposed to listen to every week. The instructor has posted these songs online, available in streaming *.ram format. I am currently using Media Player Classic (unicode build) to listen to each song individually. I am unable to set up the individual stream files back-to-back in WMP classic, nor am I able to download all the songs, so I can listen to them without having to click every three minutes.

Any suggestions for programs/techniques which will let me download/listen to the whole week's worth of songs consecutively without having to click each file individually?

RealOne Player Defaults

feelinglistless — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 08:23:17 -0800

Other than uninstalling, is there any way to stop the RealOne player starting every time I put a cd in my drive even though I've unticked all the boxes and asked it not to.

How to get RealPlayer to work on Mac Classic 9.2?

ParisParamus — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 16:07:00 -0800

RealPlayer for Mac Classic (9.2.), Can't get it to work: it never works for video, and not often, if ever for audio. I've fully deleted it from my hard drive and reinstalled it, but always get the error window: "Requested File Not Found. The link you requested may be outdated or inaccurate"

Not that I crave RealPlayer, but there's a good deal of stuff not available in Quicktime. Ideas?

How can I rip a RealPlayer streaming video?

inksyndicate — Mon, 28 Jun 2004 15:00:11 -0800

What are some ways to turn a RealPlayer streaming video file into a ripped, usable file on your hard drive? I've seen stuff for the audio part, but not so much video.

Soundblaster not working under Windows XP?

milkman — Thu, 03 Jun 2004 19:55:57 -0800

I just installed a SoundBlaster external soundcard on my Dell laptop. everything seems to be working great, including my midi applications. but when i try to play media through realplayer, i don't get any sound. i'm running XP.

anyone know what's up?

What was the link that indicated how to start up a RealPlayer file at a specific time within the file?

ajpresto — Thu, 27 May 2004 08:10:50 -0800

I once saw a link that indicated how to start up a RealPlayer file at a specific time within the file. (ie. You click a link and it starts the file at 30:01 instead of at 0:00).

Any ideas where I saw it? I want to use it but I don't remember where I saw it. Maybe boingboing?

Problems Uninstalling RealOne on OS X (So I Can Reinstall)

Gnatcho — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 20:49:49 -0800

I've been having trouble with RealOne on OS X [MI] ...and would like to fully reinstall/fix it. Every time I open it, it closes immediately. I think this may have something to do with a canceled premium subscription, but anyway, I deleted the passwords from the key-chain, deleted all files I could find related to RealOne with real in their names, and the prefs, but it still didn't work. I also attempted to run the program from a different user account and it didn't work. I'm suspecting a corrupted file at the moment, so how do I completely scrub RealOne from my hard drive? Also, if it is my other suspicion of an application conflict, how would I find that out. RealOne seems to display nothing in the console upon closing, and does not bring up a menu about it crashing, so I assume it's quitting for some reason. This problem has been annoying me for months. Also, if anyone knows of alternatives that can play almost any Real files in a streaming fashion (mplayer can do a few video files, usually without sound, but can play RealAudio at times, but VLC does nothing) like that Helix project I've heard about, but for Mac, I'd be interested. Basically, any solutions anyone can think of.

CSPAN, Firefox .8 error

AstroGuy — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 07:16:58 -0800

Trying to watch video on cspan.org with Mozilla Firefox 0.8. Get the error message "rtsp is not a registered protocol." How do I fix this? Running Win2K. Just downloaded Real 10 and it works for everything else.