Resolving issues associated with streaming online content
How
do I get the latest CODECs for my player?
Why is my video playback
poor?
Why is my video distorted
or not displaying at all?
Why is my audio playback
poor?
Why do I have problems with
video or system freezes when playing video content?
Why can't I play clips on my computer
at work?
Am I behind a Firewall? Do I need
to use Proxy?
Player
Support
With
help for issues specific to the performance of your
player, please visit the link below associated with
your player.
Windows
Media Player Support
RealOne
Player Support
System
Requirements
PC
(Windows based computer)
Minimal Computer
- 120MHz
Intel Pentium processor or equivalent
- 16MB
of RAM
- 56.6Kbps
modem
- 16-bit
sound card and speakers
- 65,000-color
video display card (optional; required for video)
- Windows
98 operating system
- Internet
connection and web browser (I.E 4.01 or Netscape
4.0 or later)
Recommended
Computer
- 200MHz
Intel Pentium processor or better
- 32MB
or more of RAM
- Cable
or better
- Full
Duplex sound card and speakers
- 65,000-color
or better video display card
- Windows
98, Windows 2000, or Windows NT 4.0 with Service
Pack 4 or later.
- Internet
connection and web browser (I.E 4.01 or Netscape
4.0 or later)
Macintosh
Minimal
Computer
- Mac
OS 8.1 or later
- 64MB
RAM
- Virtual
Memory turned on, set to 65MB
- 604
PowerPC (200 MHz or better)
- 28.8Kpbs
modem Internet Connection
- Browser
support: Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or later,
Netscape 4.05 or later
Recommended
Computer
- Mac
OS 8.5 or later
- 64MB
RAM
- Virtual
Memory turned on, set to 128MB
- G3
233 (or faster) PowerPC
- 56.6Kbps
or better Internet Connection for both audio and
video
- Browser
support: Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or later,
Netscape 4.05 or later
^ back
to top
How
do I get the latest CODECs for my player?
If
you click on a file that is not standard for your
Player, the AutoUpdate feature will try to install
a plug-in to match. If a plug-in exists, your Player
will download and install it so you can play the file.
If a plug-in is not available, your Player will return
a "No update available", "Unable to
render", "Decompressor not found" or
"Missing codec" error. These errors occur
because the file was created with a codec that is
not installed on your computer.
For
more information on CODECs for Real, click
here.
For more information on CODECs for Windows Media Player,
click
here.
^ back
to top
Why
is my video playback poor?
RealPlayer attempts to show video at whatever color
depth your system is set to display. If the color
settings in your Control Panel are set less than 16-bit,
(see System Requirements) you will get poor or no
results when viewing video clips. You should increase
your screen resolution to 16-bit (thousands) or 24-bit
(millions) color.
- To
change your color depth in Windows
- Choose
Settings/Control Panel from your Start button.
- Double-click
Display.
- Click
the Settings tab.
- Change
the Color palette setting to High Color (16-bit)
or True Color (24-bit).
- Click
Apply. You may have to reboot your computer to have
the changes take effect; Windows will inform you
if you do.
Note:
You may not be able to go to a higher color setting
depending on the desktop area you have selected and
your video card. Windows will only allow you to select
choices that are appropriate for the installed video
driver.
^ back
to top
Why
is my video distorted or not displaying at all?
To deliver the best video in the fastest way possible,
RealPlayer uses the latest optimized video protocols.
Not all video cards or their drivers will function
properly with this optimized approach. If a video
card or its drivers are incompatible you may see unexpected
results (see The Symptoms immediately below).
The
Symptoms
Incompatibility with optimized video usually manifests
itself in one of the following ways:
- You
do not see any video in your RealPlayer Display
panel. All you see is an empty, magenta square.
- You
do not see any video in your RealPlayer, only a
snowy picture that moves. (Go to Turn off Optimized
Video.)
- You
see video in your RealPlayer but it has a green
tint to it and may be distorted so that you only
see stripes of the video or only part of an enlarged
picture. The overall effect is as if you were looking
through a hole at a larger screen.
- You
see video in your RealPlayer but it is stretched
vertically or horizontally in only one direction.
The picture distorts into a wide, flat picture or
a tall, thin one.
- You
see video, but it is more like a slide show than
moving pictures and/or the edges are ragged and
pixelated (looks like it is made up of a bunch of
blocks rather than a clear picture).
If you are experiencing one, or more, of these symptoms,
confirm the problem by using the test below to be
sure that optimized video is the issue and not some
other conflict.
Confirming
the Problem
If you are seeing any or all of the above symptoms,
do the following to make sure it is an optimized video
issue:
- Connect
to a video clip or click Play to start playing a
loaded video clip.
- Wait
until the video is exhibiting one of the above symptoms.
- Click
and hold on the title bar of your RealPlayer (the
blue bar on the top of the Player).
- Drag
your RealPlayer to a new location on your desktop.
- If
you saw the video playing properly while you were
dragging your RealPlayer but the problems reappeared
when you stopped dragging your RealPlayer (or shortly
after you stopped dragging it):
Turn
off Optimized Video
- Select
View/Preferences... from your menus.
- Go
to the Performance tab (see Performance Preferences).
- Find
Video card compatibility at the bottom of the tab.
- Deselect
(uncheck) Use optimized video display.
- Click
OK.
- Close
RealPlayer and restart it. (If you have StartCenter
running, you will need to close this as well to
fully restart RealPlayer. To close StartCenter,
right-click on the StartCenter icon and select Close
StartCenter. StartCenter will restart when you launch
your Player again).
- Attempt
to play the video again.
If you still do not see the video playing properly,
then other issues may be affecting your RealPlayer.
Contact Technical Support at http://service.real.com
for access to the RealPlayer Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) and other up-to-date and technical information.
- If
you update or change your video driver or video
card, you should reselect Use optimized video display
to see if it works properly. If it does not, follow
the instructions above again to solve the conflict.
^ back
to top
Why
is my audio playback poor?
Playback quality varies depending on available bandwidth
and how the file you are playing was encoded. If the
quality is garbled, choppy, or skipping, use the following
guidelines to isolate and correct the problem.
If
the quality was poor when firstrun_plus.smi or Welcome.smi
file played at the end of the RealPlayer installation,
you could have a sound card conflict. Try changing
the settings on the Performance tab (see Performance
Preferences).
If
the quality was good when the firstrun_plus.smi or
Welcome.smi file played at the end of the RealPlayer
installation, but is bad when you try to play a clip
from a web, use the View/Statistics to check for lost
packets (see your RealPlayer Help file for more information
on the Statistics pane). If the packet loss is high,
it may be due to a busy network. If this is the case
you should also see the net health indicator blinking
yellow or red on your Status bar. RealPlayer users
can select PerfectPlay Mode from the Play menu and
try to play the clip again or connect to the site
at a later time.
If
the quality was good when the firstrun_plus.smi or
Welcome.smi file played at the end of the RealPlayer
installation, but sounds bad for every clip that you
try to play on the Internet, complete the following
steps.
If
the playback quality is poor:
- Check
the actual modem connection speed. This speed may
be shown in the lighted display for external modems
or through an information window if you have an
internal modem (check the user manual for your modem).
Sometimes service providers use a lower rate connection
speed such as 28.8Kbps, so, even though you are
dialing in to your ISP on a 56Kbps modem, you are
only receiving data at 28.8Kbps.
- If
your computer seems sluggish during playback, try
adjusting your playback performance. On the Performance
tab of your Preferences, adjust the Playback Performance
slider closer to Lowest CPU usage.
- If
audio on every site is scratchy, popping, or distorted,
click Settings... in the Sound card compatibility
section of the Performance tab and choose Disable
16-bit audio. (Windows only)
- If
you are getting no audio or audio is playing back
quickly (everything sounds like a chipmunk), click
Settings... in the Sound card compatibility section
of the Performance tab and choose Disable custom
sampling rate.
- If
you are using an external modem with a Windows PC
and the Statistics window shows minimal packet loss
(10% or less), your system may have a problem with
the speed at which packets are transferred between
the modem and your computer. Try setting the port
speed higher (at least twice the modem speed).
^ back
to top
Why
is RealPlayer still rebuffering or giving poor playback?
Packet loss occurs when information is unable to successfully
travel from one server to another. When RealPlayer
connects to a RealServer serving variable bandwidth
content, the server detects your Internet connection
speed and sends the best stream possible for that
connection. However, As the quality of your Internet
connection changes due to packet loss,
To
minimize poor playback, try playing the content during
times when Internet traffic is not at its peak. U.S.
business hours and weekend evenings are peak times.
Connections and playback will be better at other hours.
^ back
to top
Why
do I have problems with video or system freezes when
playing video content ?
With the video enhancements in RealPlayer Basic 8,
there are a few requirements to ensure the best video
experience. If video appears erratically or you experience
system freezes while attempting to play video files,
you may be able to solve it with the following suggestions.
RealPlayer requires a minimum of 16-bit color in Windows
95, 98, ME, NT, and 2000. If your computer is incapable
of displaying at least 16-bit color, you may only
get a black square in RealPlayer when you play video
content.
To
check your color settings:
- Click
the Start menu, choose Settings, and then Control
Panel.
- Double-click
the Display icon.
- Click
the Settings tab.
- Make
sure that "High Color" or "True Color"
is selected in the colors list.
- Click
OK.
- Restart
your computer if prompted.
RealPlayer
requires Microsoft DirectDraw (DirectX) certified
drivers. RealPlayer uses DirectDraw for the following
Optimized Video features: Hardware Stretching, Blitting,
and Overlay support. The video hardware must support
these features in order to function correctly with
the Optimized Video setting.
Many
popular video cards use WinDraw drivers instead of
DirectDraw drivers. The WinDraw driver incorrectly
reports the capability of the video hardware to RealPlayer,
causing RealPlayer to think that the video hardware
can do things that it cannot. When the video is optimized
and the video hardware cannot support the optimization,
problems will occur. Problems range from poor quality
or garbled video to RealPlayer becoming unresponsive
and system freezes. If you experience similar problems,
try disabling the Optimized Video setting in RealPlayer.
To
disable Optimized Video in RealPlayer:
- Start
RealPlayer.
- Click
the View menu and choose Preferences.
- Click
the Performance tab.
- Click
to clear the "Use optimized video display"
check box in the Video card compatibility section.
- Click
OK.
- Restart
your computer.
The
following cards are known to have DirectDraw problems.
Regardless of the setting in RealPlayer, optimized
video is automatically disabled if any of the following
card and driver combinations are detected:
ATI
Rage II+ PCI, ati_m64
RAGE PRO TURBO AGP 2X (English)
Matrox Millennium G200, AGPMGAXDD32.DLL Matrox
Millennium G200 AGP, mga64.dll
Matrox Millennium G200 AGP, tsirchnl.dll
Matrox Millennium II PowerDesk, MGAXDD32.DLL
Matrox Millennium II PCI, mgapdx64.drv
Diamond Viper V33", vprddle.DLL
NVIDIA GeForce 256 AGP Plus (Dell), NVDD32.DLL
Diamond Viper V330, vprdrvle.drv
Diamond Viper V550, NVDD32.DLL
NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Ultra, NVDD32.DLL
Hercules Thriller 3D Series (v 0.81.3539), v200032.dll
Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc.
Stealth II G460 Ver. 1.12\x0d\x0aV, stlthg46.dll
STB Lightspeed 128, with STB Vision 95, stbvisn.drv
Diamond SpeedStar A50 for Windows 98, DMSSA50x.dll
ALL
STB cards that use nVidia Riva 182zx:
STB Velocity 128 3D, stbv128.drv
STB Velocity 128 (TV Support), STBV128.DRV
STB Lightspeed 128, without STB Vision 95, stbls128.drv
S3 Inc. Trio64V+, s3_2.drv
Chips And Technologies, Accelerator (new), chipsnd.drv
Cirrus Logic 7548 PCI, cirrusmm.drv
NeoMagic
controllers (widely used in Dell laptops):
NeoMagic MagicGraph 128XD, NmgcDD.dll
NeoMagic MagicGraph 128XD, Nmgc.drv
NeoMagic MagicGraph 128 PCI, nmx.drv
NeoMagic MagicMedia 256AV, NmgcDD5.dll
Diamond Stealth II G460, s2g432le.dll
Diamond Stealth II G460, s2g432le.dll
^ back
to top
Why
can't I play clips on my computer at work?
If you're on a local area network which is attached
to the Internet, and are unable to play RealMedia
files from remote web sites, it's possible that your
company's firewall is preventing the stream from reaching
you. Users can receive live and on-demand audio and
video from the Internet without exposing their company's
network to security risks.
If
your computer is behind a firewall, please see RealNetworks'
firewall page for more information: http://service.real.com/firewall/
^ back
to top
Am
I behind a Firewall? Do I need to use Proxy?
If you are behind a firewall you may consistently
have one of the following problems:
You
are accessing the Internet via an Internet Service
Provider or a cable modem and have trouble connecting
to RealAudio or RealVideo files on some or all Web
sites but you can play local .RM or .RA files such
as videotest.rm, which was copied to your RealPlayer
directory when RealPlayer was installed (c:\Program
Files\Real\RealPlayer by default, Windows only).
You
are on a local area network which is attached to the
Internet, and are unable to play RealAudio and RealVideo
files from some or all remote Web sites but you can
play local .RM or .RA files such as videotest.rm,
which was copied to your RealPlayer directory when
RealPlayer was installed (c:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer
by default).
You
receive one of the following errors consistently while
trying to play content:
- Error
18: Invalid socket error
- Error
22: Requested server is not valid
- Error
108: Invalid Auto Transport Configuration Setup
If
you are still unsure about whether or not you are
behind a firewall, contact the Systems Administrator
for your ISP or your company.
First
attempt to Auto-configure your transport settings:
- From
the File Menu, Select View/Preferences.
- Select
the Transport tab.
- Make
sure the dot in front of Automatically Select Most
Efficient Transport is selected.
- Click
Auto-Configure...
- The
Auto Transport Configuration box should come up.
- Click
OK.
- As
soon as the configuration is done, the message,
Auto Transport Configuration is complete will appear
in the box.
- Click
OK.
- Attempt
to play a clip on the Internet.
If
this does not help, you may try to manually configure
the Player for the firewall. The RealPlayer can be
configured to receive RealAudio/RealVideo through
several different transport methods in order to accommodate
firewalls. These transport methods include:
- UDP
on a single port
- TCP-only
- HTTP-only
The
UDP option may offer better sound quality than TCP,
so TCP-only may not be desirable. The RealPlayer also
offers the ability to limit those inside a firewall
to receiving UDP on only one port, which makes router
configuration easier. Please contact your System Administrator
for the Port number they have configured for UDP transmission.
To
configure the RealPlayer to receive UDP through a
single port
- In
your RealPlayer, select Preferences on the View
menu.
- Click
the Transport tab.
- Click
Use Specific UDP Port and enter the UDP port number
through which you want to receive the UDP streams.
- Click
OK to save your changes.
To configure the RealPlayer to use only TCP to stream
audio or video (no UDP)
- In
your RealPlayer, select Preferences on the View
menu.
- Click
the Transport tab.
- Select
Use Specified Transports.
- Click
RTSP Settings... and/or PNA Settings... Each transport
is set separately.
- Choose
Use TCP to Connect to Server. Make sure that the
Attempt to Use TCP for All Content box is the only
one checked.
- When
you are finished, click OK.
- Click
OK in the Preferences window to save your changes.
To
configure the RealPlayer to use receive content through
HTTP-only
The HTTP-only option allows almost all Players behind
a firewall to access RealAudio and RealVideo content.
In your RealPlayer, select Preferences from the
View menu.
- Click
the Transports tab.
- Select
Use Specified Transports.
- Click
RTSP Settings... and/or PNA Settings... Each transport
is set separately.
- Click
Use HTTP Only at the bottom of the dialog.
- Click
OK.
- Click
OK in the Preferences window to save your changes.
In
some cases you may need to set a proxy so your RealPlayer
can receive information. In most cases, Use my web
browser's HTTP proxy will work. However, depending
on the firewall protecting your connection to the
Internet this may not be enough. Please contact the
System Administrator for the correct address and Port
numbers for your network. Incorrect information can
cause your RealPlayer to appear to not work.
^ back
to top