TalkingSoft.com Forums: Which codec/filter do I need to get MPC play a .RA file? - TalkingSoft.com Forums

Hi

I'm new to the world of codecs, so please bare with me

I've been using Media Player Classic for a while without problems.

I recently got a new PC at work & when playing a downloaded .RA file I get the following error message:

It plays other formats such as .mp3, .avi fine.

MPC could not render some of the pins in the gragh,
you may not have the needed codecs or filters installed on the system.

G:\6m_lamacq_wed.ra::Output 00 (audio/x-pn-multirate-realaudio logical stream)

Media Type 0:
--------------------------
Audio: RealAudio COOK 44100Hz stereo

AM_MEDIA_TYPE:
majortype: MEDIATYPE_Audio {73647561-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
subtype: Unknown GUID Name {4B4F4F43-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
formattype: FORMAT_WaveFormatEx {05589F81-C356-11CE-BF01-00AA0055595A}
bFixedSizeSamples: 1
bTemporalCompression: 1
lSampleSize: 11904
cbFormat: 104

WAVEFORMATEX:
wFormatTag: 0x2004
nChannels: 2
nSamplesPerSec: 44100
nAvgBytesPerSec: 0
nBlockAlign: 744
wBitsPerSample: 16
cbSize: 0 (extra bytes)

pbFormat:
0000: 04 20 02 00 44 ac 00 00 00 00 00 00 e8 02 10 00 . ..D¬......è...
0010: 00 00|2e 72 61 fd 00 05 00 00 2e 72 61 35 00 00 ...raý.....ra5..
0020: 00 10 00 05 00 00 00 46 00 0c 00 00 02 e8 05 75 .......F.....è.u
0030: 7f 60 00 07 55 6d 00 00 00 00 00 14 02 e8 00 ba `..Um.......è.º
0040: 00 00 00 00 ac 44 00 00 ac 44 00 00 00 10 00 02 ....¬D..¬D......
0050: 67 65 6e 72 63 6f 6f 6b 01 02 00 00 00 00 00 08 genrcook........
0060: 01 00 00 02 08 00 00 25 .......%


I've no idea what the above means. Hopefully someone will be able to help me out.

Is it WaveFormatEx that I need?

Any pointers would be gratefully received.

Cheers
Dave F.

Try installing Real Alternative which is real audio codec package.

Thanks for the reply.

This is one one the things I'm confused about.
I thought that Media Player Classic contained the Real Alternative package. Am I wrong?

Cheers
Dave F.

Unfortunately, a block has been put on loading Real Alternative onto the companies server.

So, i guess i need to find the name of the missing codec & installing it individually.
Is that possible? Can it be done by registering individual .dll files?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers
Dave F.

The cook codec is an old lossy audio compression codec developed by RealNetworks. Newer reverse-engineered versions are on the net... real alternative, real alternative lite which can be used along with MPC. Otherwise, use Real Player 10 or Real One for streaming or playing the file. Also, FFmpeg libavcodec contains a decoder capable of playing cook-encoded files.

Don't recommend registering dll files manually unless you know what you are doing. Could download Gabest's RealMedia Spitter and register the dll's. However, best to stick with Directshow filter or FFmpeg. Try VLC which uses FFmpeg, but keep in mind it won't play all derivatives of real audio.

If the company server/firewall doesn't allow streaming from external web source then I guess you are out of luck.