Movie problem - Plays in some browsers, not in others

[BellaStar]

I've read so many forum threads that my head is spinning.

I'm running Coppermine 1.5.12. Link to my test site: http://test03.thealmostaranch.com/cpg15x/. I tried this with .mov and .wmv files so far. Results are the same with both file types. There currently is one .mov file in the gallery. It's in the album at the bottom. There are no private albums. The theme is a modification based on the curve theme.

Firefox 3.6.9 on a Mac
      Not even a blank space where the movie would play.

Safari 3.1.2 on a Mac
     Movie plays fine.

Firefox 3.6.13 on a PC
     Same as Firefox on a Mac.

Internet Explorer 8 on a PC
     Movie plays fine.

I found many threads regarding this problem, but they got me more confused than anything else. I'm thinking the solution is in one of these two, but which one?
http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php/topic,31291.0.html
http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php/topic,68600.0.html

One last detail, according to the statistics from the websites where I will eventually install Coppermine, the most common browsers used to access these sites are Internet Explorer and Firefox. So, how do I fix this so movies show at least in these two browsers, if not all?

[BellaStar]

Ok, decided to do some more testing. I uploaded a .wmv and an .avi. Wasn't able to test on the PC side, but got the same results as above on the Mac.

Additionally, I installed a completely separate gallery on the same test site (http://test03.thealmostaranch.com/othertest/). This new test gallery uses a different database than the one mentioned in my post above (different table prefix and different cookie name as well). I configured it exactly as the other one, uploaded the same movie files and then applied the fix mentioned here: http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php/topic,68600.0.html. I thought, this is the most recent solution I saw on this problem, so let's try it. Here are my results.

Firefox 3.6.9 on a Mac
      Firefox now gives me a warning saying I'm missing a plugin (see screenshot 01.jpg). First time
      this ever happens to me. I try finding the plugin, doesn't work (see screenshot 02.jpg).

      On the two other movie files (.avi and .wmv), I see a space where the movie should be, but nothing shows up.

Safari 3.1.2 on a Mac
     Movies play fine.

So now I'm really stumped and out of ideas on what to do.

[phill104]

This is a browser issue, not a Coppermine problem. As I am sure you can appreciate, your machine needs to correct codec to play any movies and the same goes for browsers. Coppermine is just a store for the files and it is up to the user to have the right player. If I were you I would upload my movies in .flv format then they can be streamed and will work on most browsers (which is why youtube use it). There is even a plugin on these very boards that will convert videos to .flv as you upload them but be aware it uses a lot of server resources so probably best to do it before uploading.

[peterlustig]

Sorry for not being able to help here -- but I have the same problem. And I can say that I have the same problem since upgrading from cpg 1.4.27 to 1.5.x  My *.swf's were running just fine under firefox and IE on PCs before the upgrade. Now Firefox doesn't play them any more...

[BellaStar]

I understand your point about codec files, Phill, but I don't think this is the problem here. To prove this, I've uploaded a new video in both test galleries. Here's a direct link to both pages where the video is:

Unmodified Coppermine test gallery:
http://test03.thealmostaranch.com/cpg15x/displayimage.php?album=4&date=thumb&pid=49#top_display_media

Coppermine test gallery with fix from http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php/topic,68600.0.html applied:
http://test03.thealmostaranch.com/othertest/displayimage.php?album=1&date=thumb&pid=4#top_display_media

This video won't play in Coppermine, but does in my blog no matter what browser I use. Here's a direct link to my blog post:

http://blog.thealmostaranch.com/comments.php?y=10&m=07&entry=entry100713-213948

So how do I get these videos to play in Coppermine?

[phill104]

Your blog has technology built in to allow the playing of these without the need for the correct codec on the users end. Coppermine 1.4.x was the same as 1.5.x in that you had to add the correct plugins/mods if you wanted facilities such as this. Remember, Coppermine was developed as a Photo gallery, not a Video gallery.

Please take a look through the available plugins that will add the functionality you are after, there are quite a few that may suit - http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php/board,91.0.html

[BellaStar]

Thanks, Phill. Will look through the plugins and see if I can find a solution. Will report here the result of my search.

[BellaStar]

The Flash Media Player plugin (http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php/topic,62704.0.html) works like a charm. Took me a while to figure out how to convert my video files to a format accepted by the JW Media Player used in the plugin, but I got it working now!

Thank you for your help, Phill. You've made me a happy girl!

[Αndré]

The same story again. Some people reported that Quicktime video playback is impossible with cpg1.5.8, so I checked the code and 'corrected' a typo. After the release of cpg1.5.10 some people reported that it's impossible to play other video file types (WMV files in this case). So I checked the code again and fixed the code for Windows Media Player files. We're now at cpg1.5.12 and you reported that the playback of mov, wmv, avi and swf files doesn't work?

I'd be happy if someone could help me to test the playback of several file types. Coppermine differentiate the following player types we need to test:

Code (include/themes.inc.php) Select Expand

            $players['WMP'] = array('id' => 'MediaPlayer',
                                    //'clsid' => 'classid="clsid:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95" ',
                                    'clsid' => '',
                                    'codebase' => 'codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=5,1,52,701" ',
                                    'mime' => 'type="application/x-mplayer2" ',
                                   );
            $players['DIVX'] = array('id' => 'DivX',
                                    'clsid' => 'classid="clsid:67DABFBF-D0AB-41fa-9C46-CC0F21721616"',
                                    'codebase' => 'codebase="http://go.divx.com/plugin/DivXBrowserPlugin.cab"',
                                    'mime' => 'type="video/divx"'
                                   );
            $players['RMP'] = array('id' => 'RealPlayer',
                                    'clsid' => 'classid="clsid:CFCDAA03-8BE4-11cf-B84B-0020AFBBCCFA" ',
                                    'codebase' => '',
                                    'mime' => 'type="audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin" '
                                   );
            $players['QT']  = array('id' => 'QuickTime',
                                    'clsid' => 'classid="clsid:02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B" ',
                                    'codebase' => 'codebase="http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab" ',
                                    'mime' => 'type="video/x-quicktime" '
                                   );
            $players['SWF'] = array('id' => 'SWFlash',
                                    'clsid' => ' classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" ',
                                    'codebase' => '',
                                    'mime' => 'type="application/x-shockwave-flash" ',
                                    'data' => 'data="'.$picture_url.'" '
                                   );
            $players['UNK'] = array('id' => 'DefaultPlayer',
                                    'clsid' => '',
                                    'codebase' => '',
                                    'mime' => ''
                                   );

[phill104]

I do not seem to be experiencing any problems - http://www.windsurf.me.uk/cpg133/thumbnails.php?album=13

[BellaStar]

André:
I'm not a programer, but if there's something I can do to help, let me know 'cause I sure would like being able to just upload the videos I have without having to convert them. I don't know about playback of .swf files (don't have one to try), but the .mov, .wmv and .avi files I have wouldn't show in Firefox. I can set up a test bed to test code modifications you come up with if you want. Let me know.

Phill:
What browser do you use to view your gallery? I visited the link in your post and here are my results in Firefox 3.6.9.
Mi Senora: Player popup shows, media not found.
Duncan Adam Planing Duck Gybe: Goes to normal display page (with filmstrip), blank square where video should be.
El Tur: Player popup, video plays.
brog_loop: Goes to normal display page, blank square where video should be.

Then I moved further down the page to try different video types according to the thumbs showing.
By A Sleepy Lagoon: Goes to normal display page, blank square where video should be.
Portland Speedstrip 260707: Goes to normal display page, blank square where video should be.
Mike G Rhodes: Goes to normal display page, no blank square, cpg's picture area is reduced to about 30 pixels in height.

I tried the same videos in Safari 3.1.2, they all played without a problem (except for Mi Senora, media not found).

[Αndré]

I can set up a test bed to test code modifications you come up with if you want.

That would be great!

[phill104]

the mi Sinora file seems to have vanished, not a browser problem but mine. I've tested in IE8, FF and Safari and all the other videos are working as they should be (apart from the fact the box is to the left in FF, I hadn't noticed that before)

You have to be patient with the non .flv files as they take time to download before playing. I really must convert them to .flv's.

I have also just tried them on my work laptop in FF and IE and they are playing fine. Will test on Linux later.

[BellaStar]

André:
My test bed is up and running: http://test03.thealmostaranch.com/vidtst/index.php

Phill:
I have left the browser open on one of the files for like 5 minutes and nothing happened, no video showing. And there's no activity going on my internet connection, so the file isn't even downloading. I don't know what else to say.

[Αndré]

My test bed is up and running: http://test03.thealmostaranch.com/vidtst/index.php

Here are my test results (which might be meaningless as I don't have installed all codecs and browser plugins which may be needed):
- fawn.mov - nothing happens, no traffic, no player will be shown
- gunfight.wmv - works as expected
- pheasant.avi - works as expected
- test.mov - nothing happens, no traffic, no player will be shown

Seems that I don't have the needed codec/browser plugin to play Quicktime files on the machine I'm currently using. But I'm quite sure that Quicktime movies work if you have the needed codecs installed. Can someone please verify my test results? Thank you.

[phill104]

They work for me as I have quicktime pro on this machine.

[Αndré]

So the following players works as expected:

• WMP (Windows Media Player)
• QT (Quicktime)

which are all players used in Coppermine's default filetypes table.

For completeness we should also check

• DIVX (DivX player)
• RMP (RealPlayer)
• SWF (Shockwave Flash player)
• UNK (Default player for all other file types)

[BellaStar]

I have Quicktime Pro as well, version 7.6. However, that prompted me to try something. I decided to put together a page with the movies on it. The first instance of a movie uses the <embed> element, the second one doesn't, i.e. just like the code Coppermine generates. Sure enough, I can see the first one, not the second one. Here's my test page:

http://test03.thealmostaranch.com/MoviesTest.html

I then did some research on W3 and discovered that the <object> element calls for ActiveX to be used to play the movies. ActiveX are used only by Windows. I'm on a Mac so ActiveX are useless to me (as well as to people on Linux), hence why I need the <embed> element to be used so I can see the videos.

The page on W3 where they describe the <object> and <embed> elements: http://www.w3schools.com/media/media_quicktime.asp
Firefox's help page where they talk about ActiveX: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/ActiveX?s=activex&as=s

[Αndré]

FYI: Remove deprecated <embed>-tag

[BellaStar]

I see. It's unfortunate though as Firefox is the second most widely used browser and that means a whole lot of people are unable to view videos.

It also means I won't be able to have users uploading their own content because not everyone knows how to convert video files to a format compatible with the flash player.