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General discussion

Streaming Video playing sound but no video

Mar 19, 2005 8:49AM PST

When I try to play video from the internet, Windows Media Player (and other players) show no visuals, just a black screen. I here the sound and the player seem to work normally as far as interfacing and such. My Operationg System is Windows XP. I've tried re-installing WMP, Runnng Spy Sweeper and norton Virus scan to no effect. I you have any answers please help.

Discussion is locked

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Player and codecs...
Mar 19, 2005 11:00AM PST
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WMP ? in the "Browser" forum!
Mar 19, 2005 9:25PM PST

1. The WinXP Windows Media Player -- formerly known as Windows Media Player 8, (click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Entertainment, Windows Media Player) is a VCR, CD player, and radio combined into one device. Copies of CDs can be made as well as create your own and played, to include playing DVDs -- if you have DVD hardware), Internet radio stations can be listened to, clips played from a movie, or viewing a music video on a Web site.

a. To change how multimedia content is handled, open My Computer and under Devices with Removable Storage, right-click the device type such as a digital camera or CD-ROM drive and then click Properties.

b. On the "AutoPlay" tab (image), click the multimedia content type to change, and then under Actions, click the action which should be performed when it detects a certain media type.

c. Use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool (Dxdiag.exe) to test sound. In the Run dialog box, type dxdiag, and then press ENTER

d. Supplemental reading:

(1) "How to Determine the Version of Windows Media Player (Q190990)."

(2) "Windows Media Player Invalid File Format Error Message (Q234019)."

(3) "File Open" Error Message Using Windows Media Player (Q234292)."

(4) "Mute May Not Work Properly While You Are Playing MIDI Audio (Q287732)."

(5) "Some Controls May Not Function During DVD Playback (Q30669Cool."

(6) "Error Message "Unable to Find Playable File" in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (Q322642)" (after SP1 is installed, and applies to the Windows Services for UNIX 2.0).

(7) "Cannot Use DirectPlay Programs on the Internet After You Install Windows XP SP1 (Q327299)" (after SP1 is installed, and applies when using Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)).

2. Set the following options for WMP by clicking Tools, Options, and then on the Player tab:

a. Specify how often it checks for updates.

b. Automatically download updated codecs, [Q291818], and for supported codecs, [Q291948].

c. Establish Internet identity, license, and connection settings.

d. Change which feature display when opened.

e. Supplemental reading:

(1) "Err Msg: Could Not Connect to a Multicast Channel (Error=C00D07F2) (Q232987)."

(2) "Media Player Cannot Establish a Connection to the Server (Q235901)."

(3) "How to Change Connection Speed Information in Windows Media Player (Q259914)."

(4) "How to Configure Proxy Settings in Media Player (Q260023)."

(5) "Error Message: Windows Media Player Is Not Configured for the Internet (Q265494)."

(6) "Unable to Download Supported Codecs in Windows Media Player (Q297752)."

(7) "Dialing with a Modem May Interrupt the Audio Playback (Q298091)."

(Cool "How to Turn Off the Processing of HTML Scripts That Are Contained in Windows Media Files (Q320944)."

Note: Some programs use embedded script commands to deliver synchronized multimedia presentations, advertising, and DRM license acquisition which can be turned off and on. Secure Audio Path (SAP) is a feature of Windows Millennium Edition and Windows XP and is an improvement to the digital rights management (DRM) model. In the current digital rights management model (used by Microsoft and all other DRM systems on the market today), when packaged digital music is played, the encrypted content passes to the DRM client component. The DRM client component verifies that the player and the component developed with the Microsoft Windows Media Format Software Development Kit (SDK) are valid. If they are valid, the DRM client component decrypts the content and sends it to the player, which then sends it to the audio components. At this point, the decrypted music is available to applications and plug-ins that can intercept the music, leaving it susceptible to tampering. The content is then passed to other system components until it reaches the sound card and is played.

? In the Secure Audio Path model, the DRM client component passes encrypted content to the player and the content remains encrypted until it reaches a DRM component in the computer kernel. Before decrypting and passing the content on to any other components, the DRM kernel component verifies that all remaining components in the path to the sound card are valid and authenticated. When this verification is completed, the content is decrypted and the music is played.

? This [table] lists the error codes and messages that can be returned by the Windows Media Rights Manager SDK and by a player application based on the Windows Media Format SDK that works with packaged files. Understanding these errors can help you debug your Windows Media Rights Manager application.

? "Understanding How Windows Media Rights Manager Works."

(9) "MovieCodec.com Home."

3. WMP and the My Music folder work together to make storing, playing, and sharing music, a seamless experience. When used to copy music from a CD-ROM or download from the Internet, Windows stores it in the My Music folder by default.

Warning: WMP Does Not Support International Characters in URLs for Playlists ( see the MSKB article, Q309339 below). And, the My Documents folder contains the My Music and My Pictures folders by default, [Q294333].

a. Windows automatically creates an artist folder which contains every album or track by an artist. The purpose of this is that all music by one artist can be opened and listed to. However, album art may not be displayed in the Visualization pane until the next track is played, [Q306703].

b. When connected to the Internet, while copying music from a CD-ROM drive to your computer, the Media Player may automatically searches the Web for album information, including the album cover art, download it and then display the cover art on the album's folder icon which makes it easy to identify which album may be wanted within an artist folder.

c. CD information can be viewed in either the Now Playing or Copy from CD features. When WMP is playing it gathers as much information about it as is available from databases hosted by WindowsMedia.com, including the name of the artist, composer and track titles. Media Guide can be used to search the Internet for additional information about the artist and the CD playing, such as the artist?s biography and discography, reviews, and related artists.

d. When connected to the Internet and a CD is played for which there is information, a subset of the information is stored on the computer so that the information is available when playing the CD again without being connected to the Internet. If information about the CD is not available (you have a rare CD, for example) or your computer is not connected to the Internet, WPM displays the track number as the title.

e. If the correct artist or track titles do not appear in Now Playing or Copy from CD, connect to the Internet and use the Get Names button in the Copy from CD feature to update the information.The database information hosted by WindowsMedia.com can also be added or edited.

4. Use the Volume Control (click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Entertainment, and then click Volume Control) to adjust the volume, balance, bass, and treble settings for sounds played, or to adjust the level of system sounds, microphones, CD audio, line-in, synthesizer, and wave output.

a. To adjust the volume for multimedia playback devices (click Start, Control Panel, Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, click Sounds and Audio Devices and on the Audio tab under Sound playback), click Volume. In the Master Out dialog box, drag the Volume slider for the appropriate device up or down to increase or decrease the output volume.

Note: If the Place volume icon in the taskbar notification area check box is selected on the Volume tab and a sound card volume can be changed using software, a speaker icon appears in the notification area where the volume can be changed.

b. To adjust the volume for multimedia recording devices, (click Start, Control Panel, Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, Sounds and Audio Devices) on the Audio tab under Sound recording, click Volume, and then in the Recording Control dialog box, drag the Volume slider for the appropriate device up or down to increase or decrease the input volume.

c. To adjust speaker volume (click Start, Control Panel, Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, Sounds and Audio Devices) on the Volume tab under Speaker settings, click Speaker Volume.

Note: Move the slider controls to the right or left to increase or decrease the volume for each available speaker. To move each slider control at the same time while saving their relative positions, select the Move all slide indicators at the same time check box. The number of speakers adjusted will depend on the type of sound card and software used.

d. In Windows XP, the CD-ROM audio volume slider in the multimedia mixer volume controls does not control the volume for the CD-ROM audio. The volume is now controlled by means of the wave volume control. The audio data is transferred as digital data, goes through digital to analog conversion by means of the CPU, and then it is converted to wave data. To work around this behavior, enable Windows Media Player to send analog audio calls to the kernel (which still performs digital reads). This method can keep digital playback at the kernel level (in Windows Media Player only), and respond to the volume slider in the multimedia mixer volume controls for CD-ROM audio, [Q296615].

e. Supplemental reading:

(1) "Tracks Have Different Audio Levels When You Make a Compilation Audio CD-ROM with Windows Media Player (Q303225)."

(2) "Audio Quality Is Very Poor on High-Quality Video or DVD (Q306700)."

(3) "Video Acceleration in Windows Media Player Is Not Synchronized with the Display Properties Settings (Q306701)."

(4) "No Sound Playing an Audio CD in Analog Mode on USB Speakers (Q306706)."

(5) "Speaker Distortion and Noise with USB Speakers at a High Volume (Q81349Cool."

5. To change a sound scheme or to apply a sound to individual program events, click Start, Control Panel, Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, Sounds and Audio Devices, and then click the Sounds tab in the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties dialog box. Click Save As, type the scheme wanted in the dialog box, Click Save, and then click OK

6. My Playlist is a customized list of digital media files which can be watched or listened to. By using playlists, various digital media files can be grouped together by specifying the order wanted. For example, playlist can be created which includes several tracks from various CDs, a radio station link, and a video clip. Playlist can be added to an item in the Media Library provided that an item already exist. Click Media Library and then click New playlist. Type the name wanted in the Enter the new playlist name.

a. To create a playlist (click Media Library, New playlist), in the Enter the new playlist name box type the playlist name wanted.

b. To add items to a playlist, click Media Library, and then click the item to add to a playlist. Click Add to playlist, and then from the drop-down menu, do one of the following:

(1) Click the playlist to add to the items.

(2) Click Additional Playlists. Click the playlist to add items to, and then click OK.

(3) Repeat steps 1-2 to add as many items wanted.

c. To rearrange items in a playlist, click Media Library, and then expand My Playlists to display the created playlists. Click the playlist to modify. Click the item to move, and then click either the UP or DOWN arrow, or drag an item in the playlist to a higher or lower position.

d. Hardware Acceleration Settings for Digital Audio. In the Control Panel open Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices, and then open Sounds and Audio Devices. Click the Audio tab and under Sound Playback, click the Advanced button. In the Advanced Audio Properties dialog box, click the Performance tab. Under Audio Playback, move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the desired setting. The four levels of hardware acceleration is available to test or to improve the stability of the system as well as the sound.

? Emulation - Forces emulation mode so audio applications run as though no DirectSound Audio compatible driver is on the system and no hardware acceleration is provided. Use this setting only if other acceleration settings do not function properly.

? Basic - Disables hardware acceleration so applications run as though no hardware acceleration is present. This option is useful if you want to emulate a non-DirectSound-accelerated sound card for testing purposes.

? Standard - Enables hardware acceleration but disables any vendor-specific properties so only standard acceleration features are used. This is the default setting for WinPro.

? Full - Enables hardware acceleration and all vendor-specific properties so all acceleration features are available.

e. Both the RecentFileList and the RecentURLList can be found in the system registry address:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\

Note: To clear either list, simply delete one or the other, or both keys.

f. When trying to play audio files in the My Music folder by clicking the Play All option:

(1) When song files are stored deep within nested subfolders of the My Music folder and the Play All option is clicked to play the entire folder, the nested file may not play. This behavior can occur if files are stored in a subfolder that are 10 or more levels down. Move such files to a subfolder somewhere less than ten, [Q303558].

(2) The installation or removal routines that are included with some programs improperly remove the registry key that is used for playing some audio files. To resolve this issue, you must add a RG_SZ string for each music file type (extension) that is not working, [Q322642].

g. Supplemental reading:

(1) "How to Delete the Recent Play List from Windows Media Player (Q243621)."

(2) "How to Export a Playlist in Windows Media Player (Q268260)."

(3) "Windows Media Player Library Contains Invalid Entries (Q272116)."

(4) "Error Message When You Try to Play an .avi File with Windows Media Player (Q279242)."

(5) "Unspecified Error" Message When Playing an Indeo Video Format (IVF) File (Q281919)."

(6) "Unable to Locate Either CD Deluxe or CD Player Playlists in Windows Media Player (Q284971)."

(7) "How to Create Playlist of Personal Music in Windows XP (Q294333)."

(Cool "Metadata May Not Be Displayed Until You Play the File (Q297734)."

(9) "Cannot Import Windows Media Player 7 or 7.1 Playlists to Windows Media Player for Windows XP (Q309319)."

(10) "Windows Media Player Does Not Support International Characters in URLs for Playlists (Q309339)."

7. To change the types of files the Player plays by default (click Tools, Options, File Types tab and select the check box for each file type the Player should play). Clear the check box for each file type for which the Player should not play.

a. "File Formats Supported by Windows Media Player Versions 6.0 and Later (Q24560Cool" and hyperlinks contained within.

b. "DVD May Not Play When You Open .ifo Files (Q299459)."

c. "Windows Media Player Multimedia File Formats (Q316992)." Please note the extention .wms has been removed, [Q320926].

8. Use the Performance tab from Tools, Options to specify the network (or Internet) connection speed, the amount of time that streamed content is buffered, or to choose the video hardware acceleration.

a. All streaming media files Buffer before playing which is the process of sending a certain amount of information to the computer before the content actually plays. If network traffic interrupts a stream, the Player fills those gaps with information from the buffer. If network traffic is particularly heavy, interruptions may be noticed in the stream after the file begins to play because the buffer is empty and more information is needed. Streaming is a method of delivering audio and video files across a network or the Internet without downloading an entire file before it plays. When a file finishes playing, it is not stored on the system.

b. The number of seconds buffered before it is played can be changed in an attempt to correct problems, but in general it is recommended that the Player automatically adjust buffering. To change the buffering time (Tools, Options, Performance tab), click Buffer for "seconds" seconds, and then type a number between zero and 60.

c. To view statistics about playback, click View, Statistics.

d. There may be a delay in streaming media from the Internet or stream media does not work which can occurs when using the built-in Internet Firewall components or Internet Connection Sharing and attempting to stream media from a server that requires User Datagram Protocol (UDP) or when UDP has been specified in the player. On the Network tab, make sure that the appropriate check boxes are selected (Multicast, TCP, and HTTP), [Q303275].

e. Supplemental reading:

(1) "Err Msg: Unable to Download the Appropriate Decompressor (Q221831)."

(2) "Error Message: Unable to Download an Appropriate Decompressor (Q230687)."

(3) "Windows Media Player Cannot Play Back the Audio Stream (Q236396)."

(4) "Error Message "Unable to Download an Appropriate Decompressor. Cannot Find Vids:VCR2 Decompressor" Playing an .avi File (Q278947)."

(5) "Windows Media Player Files May Be Overwritten When Transferred to a Portable Device (Q297730)."

(6) "Error Message When You Attempt to Copy .wav Files to an Audio CD-ROM (Q297731)."

(7) "Only Audio Is Copied Although "Copy to Audio CD" Is Enabled for Video Media Files (Q297737)."

(Cool "Dialing with a Modem May Interrupt the Audio Playback (Q298091)."

(9) "Parental Control Settings for DVD Playback May Not Work (Q303274)."

(10) "Error Message: Window Media Player Cannot Play the DVD Because of Problems on Analog Copyright Protection (Q30327Cool."

(11) "Troubleshooting Playback in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (Q306317)."

(12) "Troubleshooting DVD Playback in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (Q30631Cool."

(13) "Track Time Is Displayed Incorrectly for .MP3 Files in Windows Media Player (Q306507)."

(14) "BUG: Windows XP Media Player Control Rebuffers When uiMode Is Changed (Q310352)."

9. The appearance of WPM can be changed by using skins which has a distinct appearance that usually incorporates basic Player functions such as play, previous, next, stop, and the ability to adjust the volume. Certain audio files can be played, view a visualization, or do a variety of other things depending on the skin applied. The Player includes several skins but skins can also be downloaded from the Internet. When a skin is applied, that skin displays whenever the Player is changed from full mode to skin mode.

a. To apply a skin, click Skin Chooser, and in the skins list, click the skin wanted (a preview of the skin appears). Click Apply Skin and the Player switches to skin mode.

b. To delete a skin, click Skin Chooser, and in the skins list, click the skin to delete. Press DEL.

c. To download skins from the Internet, click Skin Chooser, More Skins and open the WindowsMedia.com Web site to download additional skins. Click the link to the skin, follow the instructions on the Web page and the skin is downloads and added to the list of skins. When the download completes, click View Now to apply the skin to the Player. The Player is displayed in skin mode with the skin selected.

d. "Corporate Skin Does Not Work Properly After Upgrade (Q299460)."

e. "Screen Remains Black When You Attempt to Play a Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP Visualization (Q307672)."

10. The WMP default visualizations that are designed to work in Full Screen mode are the Plenoptic and Ambience visualizations. The Ambience visualization can be run in Full Screen mode with any color setting; however, the Plenoptic visualization should be in True Color (32 bit) mode. When activating Full Screen mode, either press ALT+ENTER, or, on the View menu, click Full Screen. The Particle, Spikes, Bars and Waves, and Musical Colors visualizations do not run in Full Screen and the command is unavailable (appears dimmed) on the View menu, [Q268352]. Visualizations do not work when MID or MID files are played. This problem occurs because the visualization architecture cannot function with MIDI audio because of the way MIDI is rendered, [Q297738]. If using Remote Desktop Connection or Terminal Services session, WMP cannot be displayed in full-screen visualizations, [Q306697].

11. Supplemental reading:

a. "Error C00D0029 Using Windows Media Player (Q234904)."

b. "Digital CD-ROM Playback Continues After Setting Windows Media Player 7 to Analog CD Playback (Q266035)."

c. "Description of Windows Media Player Play Commands (Q271803)."

d. "Inconsistent Digital Audio Setting Between Windows Media Player and Device Manager (Q283324)."

e. "How to Enable Parental Control in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (Q297733)."

f. "The Wmp.adm Administrative Template Is Not Included in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (Q297742)."

g. "How to Troubleshoot Audio CD Creation in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (Q306319)."

h. "Description of the MP3 Encoding Plug-In for Windows Media Player for Windows XP (Q306494)."

i. "Audio Becomes Distorted If You Repeat Playback and the Graphic Equalizer Is Enabled (Q306685)."

j. "How to move your digital music and video collection to Windows XP (Q30863Cool."

k. "How to Troubleshoot Issues with Reading CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD Discs (Q321641)."

l. "Windows Media Player Has Encountered a Problem and Needs to Close (Q330332}."

m. "Troubleshooting Windows Media Player 10 Error Messages."

n. "Using Windows Media Player 10."

12. "Compare Windows Media Overview."

13. Windows Media "Download Center."

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In Firefox?
May 28, 2005 3:35AM PDT

If this problem is in firefox, just move the scroll slider a little bit. Sometimes videos in firefox get grayed out for me until i move the window.