Web Video Errors (6.4 Player Shim)

[Dana Salsbury]

I like my web site with WMV embedded videos, but found out that some users are getting an error pop-up reading: This website wants to run the following add-on: 'Windows Media 6.4 Player Shim' from Microsoft Corporation'. If you trust the add-on and want to allow it to run, click here.

The add-on fixes the problem, but I don't want to put my visitors through that. It may be a tall order, but I'm looking for a solution that would detect a video failure and substitute a flash or Quicktime version without prompting the visitor to play I.T. tech once again. Brides don't have time for that.

It doesn't solve the problem to dump WMV for Quicktime, because Quicktime and Flash do the same thing for certain users. Does anyone know which one statistically needs the most babysitting or know how to code a site to deliver a video that the visitor can watch?

[Benjamin Hill]

Can't help with any coding but as I understand, Flash has the highest compatibility.

http://www.adobe.com/products/player...s/flashplayer/

At least according to Adobe :) But I've had the best results and least complaints with Flash, FWIW

A fairly obvious solution if you want all 3 is to have a link for each media type...

[Dana Salsbury]

Thank you Benjamin -- that's valuable data for us right now. Since I have Vegas I'll have to figure out a way to produce swf files or convert wmv files to swf.

[Ervin Farkas]

There are more problems with your website. I tested it on two different PCs, one running IE6 and Windows Media Player 9, the other one IE7 and the latest WM Player 11 - and on both, the video never starts automatically; if started manually by clicking on the play button, it seems to start, but then it stops within a second or so. Both computers are on a fairly fast corporate LAN. I never got the error message you mention. Both computers are running on WinXP and have Service Pack 2.

A quick Google search reveals that you are using a very old 6.4 ActiveX control - you need to upgrade to version 9. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891772.

What embedding script are you using on your website? Also, you have frames... kind of an old html technique with lots of limitations and undesired side effects.

I have embedded a WinMedia player into several websites, but never had a problem... Is this a bug on the user side or on the server side? Computer gurus, this is a question you have to answer!

[Dana Salsbury]

Thanks for the heads up Ervin. I'm actually using a Javascript for my embedding, so it doesn't specify an activeX version. I tried switching from my javascript code to the html recommendation (.<OBJECT ID="MP90"...), but got the same result.

I've started getting the same result; the video freezes on the first frame. The thing is, I haven't touched it since it was working previously. Other video on my site are coded the same way and still work, although one started playing choppy video with seemless audio. It's like they are deteriorating! Then just now I tried the same clip and it plays fine.

I threw in a new clip on the home page for now, but I can't wait to solve this.

[Bruce Ellingwood]

As Ervin said, you need to update the player call. I'm also with Ervin in that there are other issues to address with your site. If you would like some help shoot me an email using my Id.

The following is the section of the js file that calls the player version:

var mediaURL,rpt,height,width



CodeGen = '<object id=Player' + '\n' ;

CodeGen += 'codeBase=http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,0,02,902' + '\n' ;

CodeGen += 'type=application/x-oleobject height=' + height + ' width=' + width + '\n' ;

CodeGen += ' standby="Loading Microsoft® Windows® Media Player components..." ' + '\n' ;

CodeGen += 'classid="CLSID:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"> ' + '\n' ;

CodeGen += '<param NAME="Filename" VALUE="' + mediaURL + '">' + '\n' ;

if ((height == 24) && (width == 299))

CodeGen += '<param NAME="ShowStatusBar" VALUE= "true">';

if ((height >= 50) && (width >= 200))

CodeGen += '<param NAME="ShowStatusBar" VALUE= "true">';

if ((height <= 49) && (width != 299))

CodeGen += '<param NAME="ShowStatusBar" VALUE= "false"> ';



CodeGen += '<param NAME="autoStart" VALUE="true"><param NAME="Volume" VALUE="-1">' + '\n' ;

CodeGen += '<param NAME="playCount" VALUE=' + rpt + '></object>'



document.write(CodeGen)



}

[Ervin Farkas]

There a several scripts floating around on the internet... here's a simple one I have used in the past, and it works great:

<OBJECT ID="MediaPlayer" WIDTH="320" HEIGHT="240" CLASSID="CLSID:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"
STANDBY="Loading Windows Media Player components..." TYPE="application/x-oleobject">
<PARAM NAME="FileName" VALUE="videofilename.wmv">
<PARAM name="autostart" VALUE="false">
<PARAM name="ShowControls" VALUE="true">
<param name="ShowStatusBar" value="false">
<PARAM name="ShowDisplay" VALUE="false">
<EMBED TYPE="application/x-mplayer2" SRC="videofilename.wmv" NAME="MediaPlayer"
WIDTH="320" HEIGHT="240" ShowControls="1" ShowStatusBar="0" ShowDisplay="0" autostart="0"> </EMBED>
</OBJECT>

[Dana Salsbury]

Thanks Ervin,

Would you test it again? I think I've got the coding right. I eliminated the controls as well, which gives me more room on the page. Something more serious is wrong with my original intro, so I'ver replaced it.

[Ervin Farkas]

It is working now.

[Dana Salsbury]

Rock and Roll.