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Weblog:   Build a Streaming MP3 Player
Subject:   Trouble for non-embedded .m3us
Date:   2005-03-17 12:03:06
From:   extra88
When I first tried this, simply using the old code with an .m3u file, IE6 played it using WMP9 but Firefox said it was lacking the necessary plugin. I have the latest version of QuickTime but it was not registered as the handler of .m3u files. I went into its control panel and made it so after which it successfully played the stream in Firefox *and* IE6.


However, this created trouble for non-embedded .m3u files. I run an on-demand site that uses Apache::MP3, a module that creates .m3u files on the fly to stream mp3s. Normally the .m3u files are downloaded and opened using a default appliction, iTunes, WinAmp, RealPlayer, whatever. After registering QuickTime as the handler of the mime type however, the plugin attempted to play these files within the browser. Unfortunately it failed to do so. I had the same result attempting to listen to an Internet radio station, Radio Paradise. Many Internet radio streams use .pls files instead of .m3u so the mime type change doesn't affect them but for me it's a killer. Ideally embedded .m3u files would be handled by a plugin and the rest by a helper app.
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  • David Battino photo Trouble for non-embedded .m3us
    2005-03-17 15:06:19  David Battino | O'Reilly Blogger [Reply | View]

    Interesting. What happens if you specify a plug-in within the external JavaScript file by adding CLASSID and CODEBASE parameters? Currently our embedding code is rather generic. —David
    • Trouble for non-embedded .m3us
      2005-03-18 08:16:54  extra88 [Reply | View]

      According to w3schools.com, the classid and codebase attributes are only used by ActiveX. That's fine for IE6 and it did in fact make IE use QuickTime instead of WMP but it doesn't help in Firefox. Firefox still asks for a plugin.
      • David Battino photo Trouble for non-embedded .m3us
        2005-03-18 15:04:52  David Battino | O'Reilly Blogger [Reply | View]

        Googling Firefox m3u turns up lots of suggestions for working around the Firefox problem. One site I found recommends changing the htaccess file on your server.

        I also came across a slick-looking MP3-streaming system called Andromeda. —David
        • Trouble for non-embedded .m3us
          2005-03-21 06:19:39  extra88 [Reply | View]

          I already have the mime type defined on the server, the problem is really with the client. Firefox doesn't seem to allow the definition of one program as the handler of a file type when it is downloaded and another program (plugin) when the same file type is embedded.
Showing messages 1 through 4 of 4.