MacBook: How do I listen to the old ballgame now?

May 16, 2006 7:43 PM

Got a sparkly new MacBook today, and I want to listen to my Gameday Audio subscription on mlb.com. but Windows Media is blocking my way.

They use Windows Media to deliver the audio through the browser, but the only plugin for WM for Mac (Flip4Macs) is not a Universal binary. Any advice gratefully accepted.

posted by DandyRandy to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Unfortunately, you're either going to have to use Parallels/Boot Camp or wait for the Universal Binary of Flip4Mac. VLC sometimes works for Windows stuff, but usually not streaming, and its Universal Binary build is available in beta; Popwire WMV Components for Quicktime don't do streaming at all. So basically, if you can't get it working with VLC, then either install Parallels/Boot Camp or wait for Flip4Mac's Universal Binary. I'm in the same boat as you.
posted by evariste at 7:51 PM on May 16, 2006

Yup. Windows DRM prevents Mac Users from viewing anything. I have a Powerbook and used Virtual PC to circumvent this, but since it was so slow, the media was useless. Hopefully with BootCamp you'll have a much better experience.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 8:14 PM on May 16, 2006

Interestingly, it looks like there might be a (slightly complicated) way to get F4M installed and working on intel Macs. I just found this myself and will be trying it now.
posted by evariste at 8:25 PM on May 16, 2006

I have an iBook g4. I also have mlb game day audio. I listen with windows media player just fine, did last season also.

Sorry, no advice, but just letting you know I have no problem with it, and I've never downloaded flip4mac.

Windows DRM prevents Mac Users from viewing anything.

No viewing involved in game day audio.
posted by justgary at 10:06 PM on May 16, 2006

The thread above should do it. Once you tell the Installer (/Applications/Utilities/Installer.app) to run in Rosetta, it can install the Flip4Mac plug-ins. However, they'll only load in emulated applications. When you want to listen to Windows Audio for now, you'll have to "Get Info" on Safari (or whatever Universal browser you use) and tell it to run in Rosetta. It will then load all PowerPC plug-ins, although it will browse more slowly because it's, well, emulated.

Don't forget to turn the Installer back to running natively (and not in Rosetta) after your installation is done.
posted by mdeatherage at 10:11 PM on May 16, 2006

You probably won't have great luck with Flip4Mac, but you'll likely have no trouble listening to your stream using Windows Media Player for Macintosh. As far as I know, it runs on x86 Macs.
posted by majick at 8:25 AM on May 17, 2006

Response by poster: Here's the scoop to make it work:

1. Click once on Safari in the Applications folder.
2. Press Command (the Apple button) + "I".
3. In the Info win do that appears select "Run using Rosetta" and then close the window.
4. Now when you double click Safari it will run as a Rosetta program.
5. To return Safari to running as a Universal binary follow the process again and de-select "Run using Rosetta".

This is buried in the discussion linked to by evariste above, and I'm listening to it as I speak. Since I rarely use Safari, I can just leave it to run using Rosetta and dedicate it to listening to the old-ball-game!

Many thanks to all.
posted by DandyRandy at 11:12 AM on May 17, 2006