Can't Use Windows Media Player

[Mikea136]

I'm trying to use windows media player to listen to Live Atc and it wont let me.  When I click on the Windows Media Player logo on the feeds page, it opens windows media and says "Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not suport the codec that was used to compress the file."  Please help!

[dave]

Just make sure your copy of WMP can play MP3 streams.  It should just work out of the box.  Make sure you have a recent copy of WMP.

Dave

[jsapyta]

Hey Dave,

I have the same problem, when I click the WMP links the feeds it won't but if the click the winamp links, it'll open in WMP 10. So I'm not sure, if its my end or not.

[KSYR-pjr]

Dave, in reading this thread I attempted a few random WMP-specific feed links (KACK and KHPN being two notables) and those I tried resulted in the following error from WMP 11:



Normally I use the default WinAmp link myself.  FWIW...

To the others in this thread, what specific feeds are you attempting? 

[dave]

I'll do some WMP 11 testing when I can.  Is it so hard for folks to use Winamp?  It handles streaming MP3 perfectly and is a breeze to install.  I guess I just don't see the obsession with making WMP work.  The purveyors of that product have not gone out of their way to make it "just work" with Icecast/Shoutcast MP3 streams.  Not sure why we should have to work around that.

Dave

[KSYR-pjr]

Is it so hard for folks to use Winamp?  It handles streaming MP3 perfectly and is a breeze to install. 

In my rather humble opinion LiveATC is encouraging WMP's use by providing a special, separate link for it.  If it really is that terrible a streamer (again, I am not a WMP user) then the link should be removed. 

[dave]

The link and capability (which was tested) was provided to try and squelch the endless emails we get each week.  I think you're right - remove the links - and just respond to each email the way we used to:

www.winamp.com

[KSYR-pjr]

The link and capability (which was tested) was provided to try and squelch the endless emails we get each week. 

LOL - fair enough.  Goes to show you that this outsider only sees a small part of the complete picture.

[Jacko]

I find WMP can be a little intermittent. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt, but usually something like a command such as File -> Open URL then use http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:xxxx works quite well.

[dave]

I find WMP can be a little intermittent. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt, but usually something like a command such as File -> Open URL then use http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:xxxx works quite well.

That sounds user-friendly. 

Exactly why we suggest Winamp or iTunes.  Or anything else that Just Works [tm].

[Squawk 7700]

Windows Media Player and Vista was a useless combination for me, so I switched over to Winamp and have been happy ever since the change. 

[phil-s]

Guys, i know you meant well but.....I too have endless problems trying to use wmp with the atc feeds. So I took your advice and installed winamp. The net result was that the atc feeds still tried to run with wmp but all my mp3 files insisted on opening in winamp. Winamp turnes out to be useless to me for mp3 files as I'm a musician and one of the main tools I use is the ability to play the files at half speed so I can learn the melodies. Winamp doesn't allow that, as best I can tell.  So I tried to delete winamp but i can't get rid of it all. I deleted everything that winamp installed in the winamp folder but still my mp3 files try to open in winamp. 

Help? How do you kill the thing?

And while you're at it, what would have been the trick for getting the atc feeds to use winamp, if I had decided to keep it?

Thanks.

Phil

[phil-s]

False alarm -- I figured out how to kill the thing. I reinstalled it, this time associating it with NO file types whatsoever. Then uninstalled it. That worked. 

Now that i have a life back, is there a way I could use winamp for liveatc but not have it be the default for any other applications, including music and video files?  I sure agree that wmp does not play nicely with this site, and I really like the site, and I really am not a Msoft fan so using some other ap does appeal to me, especially if it gets me past this wmp/liveatc problem.

Any suggestions welcome and appreciated,

Phil

[dave]

Simple...install Winamp but only associate it with the .m3u file type.  That may screw up some of your other stuff since that extension is the MP3 playlist extension, but also the extension used for these streams.

Best of luck...managing many extensions, MIME types and helper applications is a major PITA.

dave

[jsapyta]

Hey Dave and all.

I was playing around with some of the feeds and WMP 10, and when I clicked on WMP link on a feed some times it'll come up, but other times it won't, but what I have found is when the feed don't work right away, close WMP then try the link feed again, then it should work that time.

Just an idea.

[Kalpazan]

I use XMPlay (http://support.xmplay.com/). Very stable and efficient free player that works with LiveATC. What I like most, you can build yourself list of feeds and quickly select which one to use. It also features transparent proxy integration and so on. Give it a try. 

[KSYR-pjr]

Best of luck...managing many extensions, MIME types and helper applications is a major PITA.

Media players in general are notoriously slimy when it comes to stealing each others' associations (register with Windows so that when you open a file the correct program runs).  WMP, iTunes, WinAmp, and that really stinky Apple QuickTime all fight for MP3, M3U, MP4, AVI and other media extensions.

WinAmp is one of the better ones in that at least you are presented with a dialog box at install time asking you what extensions you want it to have. 

Anytime you install a new media player or even upgrade one be aware that the app to will probably try reclaim all media extensions so just don't go flying through the various install dialog boxes without reading them - one of them will most likely be the app looking to reclaim all media extensions, which may break your day-to-day media experience.

[bogman]

I downloaded winamp last night and I have to say i was very impressed.The link opened straight away for me compared to when I had WMP 11,which was really slow,sometimes it would not open at all.

Thanks for all the info Dave and Peter.

[Jacko]

I live in the best of both worlds myself, I use winamp to play all my chip tune stuff and also stream stuff, its simply much better. If you get caught in a file association war, don't panic. Head to control panel then open up folder options, click on the file types tab. In this box find the file extension you want to change and let it open up with the media player of your choice.

Theres another tip

[Biff]

When I installed the XP SP3 patch yesterday it stole all my file associations from Winamp and gave them to WMP.   I hate that.

Phil,  I would be shocked if there weren't a half-dozen plugins for winamp that let you control playback speed.  Here's one here.  Winamp is simply the best audio player out there IMHO.