TalkingSoft.com Forums: MPC as WindowsMediaPlayer Substitute - TalkingSoft.com Forums

As explained in my message #7 in the "Codecs for Dummies" thread,
http://www.click-now.net/forums/index.php?...&#entry9902
I am running Media Player Classic 6.4.9.0 rev 611 plus QuickTime Alternative and Real Alternative, as part of the K-Lite MegaCodecs package.

I have set Media Player Classic's formats include the formats usually played by Windows Media Player 6.4 (although I have upgraded its Codecs to 9.x) --- Windows Media File, Windows Media Audio File, and Windows Media Audio/Visual file --- should MPC be able to play those files?

Actually, I have set MPC's Formats to include ALL available.

I ask because a United Kingdom test site,
http://www.thegrid.org.uk/about/plugins/test.shtml

for Windows Media Player lists the VE Day Celebrations, at
http://www.livinglibrary.co.uk/multimedia/...ow/19450508.ASX

as a test. But with MPC as my default player (because all of its formats are selected), MPC does not play anything from this site but instead reports that it "Cannot render the file."

If anyone knows the cause of this message, and/or a fix for this problem, please let me know.

The site itself is not broken, because if I open Windows Media Player 6.4 itself, and select all of its available formats, it does play this VE day file.

Thanks for any help.

Roger Folsom

That stream plays in Media Player Classic for me.

Try installing Windows Media Lite:
http://www.codecguide.com/download_other.htm

That the stream plays in MPC surprises me. But I'm not sure that installing Windows Media Lite would be appropriate, because I have not done anything to uninstall Windows Media Player (6.4, with codecs upgraded to Microsoft codecs 9.x), and in fact WMP itself can play that stream with no problem.

At the link you provided (thank you), Windows Media Lite's description says:
"Some tools (like nLite and XPlite) allow you to remove Windows Media Player from your system or even prevent it from ever being installed. The downside to this is that vital components for Windows Media playback are also removed. . . . A solution for this problem is Windows Media Lite, which restores those vital components."

But since I haven't removed anything (and WMP working fine is further evidence of that), I don't want to install something that might cause problems, due to its being inappropriate.

In my case, rather than some WMP component having been removed, I think it's more likely that when I installed the K-Life MegaCodecs 1.55, I failed to select something that Media Player Classic needs to play (some) streamed material.

Since I have no idea what that "something" could be, I'll simply keep WMP around, set up to play the first three groups of files:
Windows Media
Windows Media Audio
Windows Media Audio/Video.

But I've saved your link, so if I change my mind I can find Windows Media Lite easily.

Thanks.

Roger Folsom

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P.S. In Windows Media Player 6.4 (with 9x codecs), the following formats lead the format list:
Windows Media File: asf, asx, wm, wmx
Windows Media audio file: wma, wmx
Windows Media audio/video file: wmv, wxx

In Media Player Classic's format list, almost all of those formats are listed in either
Playlist: asx, wax, wmx,
Windows Media Audio: wma
Windows Media: wmv, wm, asf, and also wmp which I don't find in Windows Media Player (although I could have simply overlooked it).

Of the Windows Media Player file extensions, the only one I don't find in Media Player Classic is wxx. Assuming that the final "x" indicates that wxx is a Playlist file type, my guess is that one possible reason I can't play the Windows Media file located at
http://www.thegrid.org.uk/about/plugins/test.shtml
which uses a file located at
http://www.livinglibrary.co.uk/multimedia/...ow/19450508.ASX

might be that Media Player Classic doesn't have a needed playlist extension, wxx. The file itself is listed (in Mozilla-SeaMonkey's history) as "video/x-ms-asf object," and asf files are listed in Windows Media Player and also in Media Player Classic.

There are three types of Windows Media Codecs: DirectShow, DMO and VCM. You can use the Windows Media Lite package to install them. Even if you haven't removed WMP. Then Media Player Classic can play wmv files and asx streams.

The K-Lite Mega Codec Pack does not contain anything that is related to streaming Windows Media.

Now that I think more about this thread's topic, I am wondering: Since I already have Windows Media Player 6.4 (with its codecs upgraded to Microsoft's enterprise 9x codecs) installed, what advantage is there in setting up Media Player Classic to play something that Windows Media Player can play?

I am very frustrated by my ignorance: When I see something listed anywhere (e.g. in the MPC K-Lite Installation Instructions, or in the actual selection choice list, or in a message forum), I have no way to tell if it deals with only local files, only streaming media, or possibly local files and also streaming media (if anything does that).

DirectShow: The MegaCodec Installation instructions say specifically not to install DirectShow if ffdshow is installed (which in my case it is, except for ffdshow VFW interface because the instructions say that is used for encoding --- which I think means it is not used for playing).

DMO is not listed in the MegaCodec instructions, and I don't find it listed in Windows Media Player 6.4 file types, so I apparently I would have to use Windows Media Lite to install that. But I don't know what it does.

VCM is listed as a possible install in the MegaCodec instructions.

asx is not listed in the MegaCodec instructions, but in Windows Media Player it is one of the Windows Media File extensions. So with Windows Media Player as well as Media Player Classic installed, I think I can play asx files. And in the Media Player Classic formats list, the PlayList section lets asx be associated with MPC.

Roger Folsom

You can just use WMP 6.4 is you want.

Ignore the mega codec pack. As I said before that has NOTHING to do with streaming Windows Media. It also doesn't contain any Windows Media codecs (except for the VCM one, but please ignore that).

Blame Microsoft if things are complicated.

If you want Windows Media to play/stream properly in WMP/MPC/ZoomPlayer/BSplayer/Whatever, then you need a lot of different things. These are usually installed by WMP (v9/10/11). If not you may need several codecs packs from the Microsoft site to make things work.

Since you only have WMP 6.4 I assume you are using Windows 98 or 2000?

I really advice you to try Windows Media Lite. It will also allow you to play Windows Media files embedded in webpages. Some of them will not work if you just have WMP6.4 installed because it has a too old browser plugin.

Understood.

When I installed the MegaCodecs pack, I did so to get MPC 6.4.9.0 rev611, QuickTime Alternative, and especially Real Alternative, together with whatever codecs they need.
Any effect on Windows Media Player 6.4 was a minor consideration, because I had already upgraded WMP 6.4 to 9x codecs from Microsoft's "Codec Installation Packages for IT Professionals" page, at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsme...ecdownload.aspx

In the MegaCodecs pack, I did not install the Windows Media VCM because I thought I might already have it, and feared conflicts. What's your reason for ignoring it? The MegaCodec installation instructions said it was for decoding as well as encoding.

In my SeaMonkey (Mozilla) browser, the WMP npdsplay.dll plugin modification date is 29 November 2005 (and I understand that with MS, those mod dates may be unreliable), and it is version 3.0.2.629, 364,544 bytes.

Do you know of a good test site at which I could check whether my current upgraded WMP 6.4 plays streaming media properly?

If convenient, I would very much appreciate knowing what MS site you have in mind, because I am trying to keep my system simple (and without DRM, because the sites I visit are business sites and I've yet to run into one that used DRM) and so I would need an MS download site that provided codecs, rather than insisting that I load WMP 9.x.

You are correct that I am running Win2k: Sp4, Rollup1.

Does Media Player Lite include the codecs that would come from the MS download site you referred to?

I'm hesitant to install Windows Media Lite primarily because I'm worried about conflicts between its codecs and the WMP 6.4 (original and upgraded) codecs that I have already installed. (They don't appear to be listed in Add/Remove Programs, so I have no way to uninstall them. I don't even know where they are on the computer, and I can't search for them because I don't have even part of their filenames.)

I've read a lot of warnings about uninstalling previously codecs before installing new ones that might conflict with the ones already installed.

Thanks again for all this help.

Roger Folsom

I said to ignore it because you keep focussing on the mega pack.

Yes. If you want to download them manually, you'll have to search the MS site.

It makes backups of everything that it replaces. So if you uninstall it everything will get restored the way it was before.

That warning applies to installing multiple codec packs.

I focused on the MegaCodec pack because it was the only way I could find to install MPC, QuickTime Alternative, and Real Alternative, letting me select the MPC installation location, and (more important) allowing everything to communicate with each other.

But Ant invited my attention to an "official" K-Lite forum thread, in which the Administrator, CLSID, explained how to install MPC, QTA, RA, and a smaller-than-Mega codec pack:
http://www.codecs.ipbfree.com/index.php?showtopic=1431
The end of the thread notes that not only the Full but also the Standard Codec pack would work.

So since I need to clean up some other stuff anyway, I'll revert to a previous image of my C: partition (that has nothing from K-Lite on it), and then use that procedure to end up with MPC, QTA, RA, and the Standard Codec pack. Whether I'll end up with a total installation smaller than my current MegaPack 82mb installation (which omitted eveything the installation instructions suggested omitting, plus omitting all items listed as only for encoding), I know not.

Alternatively, I could try your suggestion of "Install the K-Lite Mega Codec pack using the 'Expert playback' profile. That basically is KLCP Standard plus QTA and RA," in Post #8 at
http://www.click-now.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3111
But apparently the final result would be close if not identically the same result as CLSID's procedure.

Re Windows Media Player: Since I don't know a Windows Media Player test site where I can check if the MS Codec upgrades for WMP 6.4 that I installed are adequate, I'll stick with my upgraded WMP 6.4 as it is now. If it turns out that the MS Codec upgrades are not adequate, I'll install Windows Media Lite. Thanks for explaining that it can work, even if one has not previously uninstalled Windows Media Player, and the good news that Windows Media Lite makes backups.

Thanks also for clarifying the Multiple Codec [packs] warning.

Roger Folsom