Ready to throw my MBP out the window!!!!

I know it isn't really the Mac's fault but my own for still, after close to a year, not really understanding this OS. But I am still unable to view different media. I have flip for mac and still, I cannot view video on my college's website. I anyone can point me in the right direction. I would be greatful. I am so ready to go back to Windows because of this.

 

Switch to firefox, install flash, flv for mac(is its exists), install vlc and all quick time drivers..im not sure it will work but at least that's an idea. you could try it and see if it works.

 

VLC & mpegstreamclip are must haves !

 

If you are really throwing it out of your window, please tell me where you live.
Thank you.

 

install perian

 

link to your college's website?

 

Simple solution - install XP or Vista through BootCamp and just stay in Windows on your MBP, if OS X is that infuriating. I personally just prefer the way Windows file system works, and I don't really find anything wrong with Windows, so I ended up running XP Pro on my iMac for the most part.

 

Yea a link to the website, and the video filetype would help us help you.

 

As another person mentioned - install Perian.

 

+ 1 for Perian, I had a few issues with video compatibility as well and Perian fixed it.

 

thanks for all the suggestions. installed perian but still unable to views this:

http://www.uwfox.uwc.edu/admreg/biologymajorsadvising.html

 

Even with using the advised plugins on FireFox, I was still not able to view this. I think I'll try and manually look for the appropriate plugin.

EDIT: This is my 1000th Post!

 

It seems like you need ActiveX (which is Microsoft). I don't think Microsoft has made ActiveX available for the Mac platform.

 

Your school wants to run a Windows Media file using an activeX control. Seems if you go to the Perian site they've got a page with links to other plugins and utilities -- one for Windows Media, too. Not sure if it'll work, but it's probably worth a shot, eh? It'd be a whole lot cheaper than throwing the computer out of the window.

 

haha i love it when computer illiterate people switch to macs thinking their problems will be solved.

 

Lol?

Quite cynical

 

mostly,it really does solve their problems.and this is not a problem...

 

Hello,
I'm using Windows tending to change to the Mac OS by buying the MBP 15"
I usually install the K-lite Codec Pack and I can play almost every media files in my laptop? Why don't you try it ?

 

why cant she view the video if it isnt a problem?

 

Yes, their is a problem in that I want to view a video but apparently I need windows to do so.


and, some people are so rude

Oh, and for the record I didn't switch due to problems, I switched because I needed a laptop and WANTED an Apple.

 

if you have a car w/o ABS or GPS,you say that your car has a problem?

 

I threw it out the window

seriously, does anyone wanna trade me a windows latop for this pos?!

 

what about installing windows on it?

 

You are straying from the point here!

Cannot see the Video is an issue as stated. It is not the same as not having the tool to view it.

To your statement: a car without GPS can always get it installed, just like a comp having an extra app installed. But the fact that signal cannot be received due to some constraints of the provider (in this case, the school) stating that you should have this or that model/environment ... is an issue by itself.

cheers ...

 

I recommend that you submit a request to the school/university and explain the issue. It could be an oversight (forgetting Mac ) on the part of the university.

cheers ...

 

sadly,you comparisons is not correct.in this case,uni uses a codec that mac doesn't support,so in worse cays this can be named "lack of feature",not a problem!

 

There are many "lacks of features" on any OSs. And it is an issue if the school omits the support of the main OSs that run out there.

Your statement of "using a codec that mac doesn't support" is limited to a comparison of "this road does not support 4-wheelers"

Last but not least, MAC does support ActiveX until recently, when Microsoft revamped the whole structure. But it will be just (short) time, before the libraries will be made available on OS-X platform again.

cheers ...

 

MS doesn't make activeX for anything but IE... That is not Apples fault.

Also ActiveX sucks and is a major security threat that no one should ever use. The school is really stupid for using an ActiveX control for a video... if they did it right and didn't use ActiveX that same exact video would be viewable fine. Its not a codec problem, its a problem with an idiot webmaster that doesn't know how to make a webpage.

 

For the record, the video plays fine on my end, on my Mac Pro.

I'm using Firefox as my browser, and it suggests that it's missing a plugin (site has some issues), but the video does play.

I do have a ton of codecs installed though, and multiple video player apps. Try installing this though; http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/mac/mp9/default.aspx

But it's not a mac problem, it's a problem with the site not properly telling the browser what file type is trying to be viewed.

If you really want to trade your MacBook Pro though, I'll swap you for one of my Toughbooks. You can throw them out the window, and it won't break.

Edit; Max Pl, please shut up. You offer no help, and are trying to be a troll. What are you doing in this section anyways?

 

I just tried to play this video on three machines running XP Pro using both IE and Firefox 3.0.6 with no luck. Under Firefox it comes up with the message "Additional plugins are required to display all the media on this page" and when I click on "Install Missing Plugins" I get the message (after a brief search) "No suitable plugins were found".

On IE, it doesn't play at all but we have Active X restrictions on all our corporate machines.

This is definitely not a mac or codec problem.

 

I'd go with Perian.

VLC plays alot of media but I hate it. Its So Not OSX. + it crashes alot

 

I tried this out but no luck on either Firefox 3 or Safari 4 using my macbook. Tried disabling flip4mac, and letting mediaplayer have a crack at it but no luck there either.
The only success I had was using IE via my XP/VMware install.

Thus it must be something else that you (modly) installed along the way.. would be interesting to know what it might be.
In the mean time I think the easiest work around would be to try and instal windows either by bootcamp or a virtual machine.
a

 

I might have found the solution, after ripping apart the code on their site.

Download Mplayer, and see if that fixes it. (It says it's for Tiger only, but it works on leopard.)

 

downloaded, actually I downloaded all the stuff you all have told me to, yet when I go to click on those videos, they don't work. Now my question is, once I download an application, like this mplayer for instance, doo I need to do anything further? Usually I just click on the links once they are downloaded and if it says install I click to install. Is there anything else I need to do to get the application to work because honestly, I am on my last leg here guys, and the problem isn't just with my college site. There are many many many sites I visit and am unable to play the media. I really hate Mac I think and am sorry I ever made the switch. I though Mac was for dummies?? LMAO, what a joke! I was always able to figure things out with my pc. I think I am going to sell this pos on the Bay and get me a new windows laptop.

 

It's all ads man. Don't fall for the hype. You either like it or you don't. There is no absolute superior system out there.

But I rather you sell the laptop than throw it out the window. I hate to see technological things go to waste.

 

What other sites are you talking about? I've run into only a few problems in the past, and every one has problems with Firefox, regardless of the OS. The problem isn't so much the OS, it's that people still "design" sites based around internet explorer specs.

In all honesty, I have no idea if just the application itself will fix the problem, but it was a start. I found that it was using mplayer to run the video, but I have installed so many codecs that I have no clue myself which portion is fixing it.

If that doesn't operate, I did find a better version of mplayer (there are 3 people that have developed a version, and I was not aware of the last version myself until I started researching for this thread... You can download that one here.)

Other than having troubles playing videos, is everything else ok with it, or are you annoyed with other things on the Mac?

Either way, feel free to PM me, and I'll try to give you a hand.

Deathwinger; It's not necessarily ads that grab people over. Some people are just tired of windows so much, that they want to try something else. Most people don't regret the switch.

 

Good for you. Most people I know do. They switch under false pretense of what is promised to them. Then when they can't do simple things like open up a word document that their friend's sent them to proof read a group essay or see the spinning wheel of death when burning a cd (this happened in Tiger, I believe its improved in Leopard) they immediately try to sell/return the Mac and then go for a windows based laptop.

Nowadays most people ask me how the Mac is in a business meeting as a deal mostly with post production. My only advice to them is: try it before you buy it, it may sound and look nice whilst wearing the turtleneck sweater and the square glasses, but it may be a different experience for you without them.

 

Hey now, hey now. I'm wearing a torn up GG Allin shirt... far from a turtleneck (I don't wear glasses).

I highly suggest that everybody try out a Mac before they buy one, but I would still say that more people switch and like the Mac, rather than the opposite reaction, and switching back to windows. The Apple marketshare keeps increasing every year.

 

I am just saying, from my own experience and my own opinion that for all the hype that Apple has less problems than a Pc I beg to differ as I have experienced about the same if not more in the short time I have had this MacBook Pro. Oh and I get the spinning blue death wheel frequently now and have no idea why since the most I have used this for has been typing school reports, email and web browsing.

Look, I realize this is the Apple forum and that it will be biased here, I am just royally PO'd at myself for buying the MBP without really knowing what I was getting into.

 

This is peculiar actually. (I refer to it as a rainbow wheel or the beach ball).

I most often get that while trying to close out a few certain apps that have a ton of file saving to do on exit (often is the wrong word, I get them about once every 2-3 weeks), but not while using basic apps that create text documents.

If you feel like there is no other option but to switch back, then don't let me stop you, but I personally wouldn't let the video thing alone make me switch to Windows. Again, I'll help you personally figure it out, since I do have a Mac, and I do have the video playing just dandy... (even though I'm not sure what video component I'm using to make it happen).

 

Hi Modly, thank you for your reply and I will accept your help. Also I feel better after you mentioning about the beach ball. Why do some call it wheel of death? Thanks for your help. I am willing to bet that the problems are mostly me not knowing how to use this OS.

 

It takes some time to get used to OSx, its a very different OS to windows and it can be annoying at the start... There were a few things that I did that really got me going in the first weeks.
What might really help is getting XP (or vista) installed via bootcamp or virtal machine. This really helped me transition over. Now I'm down to only one or two programs that I haven't found OSx version of... but thankfully I rarely use those so it maybe once a month I fire up XP.
Your school should have a decent price on windows and it may cost you less time & money to install, then trying to sell your mbp and buy a equivalent pc.
You will also then have the best of both worlds !
Hope your situation improves
a

 

The Macintosh generally doesn't have any issues playing videos on the internet. If you want us to check for verification please post links to those sites. Based on your past posts and since you're obviously frustrated I would really recommend to wipe the drive completely, reformat and install Leopard again. Download Perian, Flip4Mac and VLC. Actually between Perian and Flip4Mac you shouldn't have any issues playing videos in your web browser. Also download the latest version of Flash from Adobe's website. After the reformat you really shouldn't have much issue with the beachball appearing.

You're best bet is to start over fresh, most people don't have issues with a Mac from the start other than getting used to the fact that the browser doesn't maximize like a Windows browser does and such. In other words very small stuff.
Saying that the Macintosh is for "dummies" is sort of harsh and demeaning. Very astute computer users prefer a Macintosh.

 

I'm not really sure why they call it the wheel of death anymore... back with the early beta versions (pre 10.0), it could mean that you had a serious crash, but now a days, at the worst, it means you have an application that went haywire, and you can force quit to make it all good again. With my Mac Pro, I have had only two total crashes that forced me to restart in the entire year that I've owned it, both were caused by the TV tuner hardware/software taking over all my memory.

Most of the time though, the beach ball will go away after it finishes processing (and during this time, you can still use other applications), resulting in nothing actually crashing. If all else fails, you can "right click" on the icon in the dock, and select to force quit it, or Command-Option-Escape, and select the app to kill.

 

how much ram do you have?

 

I think he has 6GB in his Mac Pro....

 

Yup, 6GB. I'll get another 8GB this summer, now that the price has dropped down a bit.

 

not planing to sell your's and get new i7 nehalhem ones?

 

My school sells windows vista ultimate update. I thought in order to install windows I needed a full copy? Not sure if my school's is the full copy since it states "update"

 

2GB of ram