.avi won't play? - FineTunedMac

I've got a .avi that has opened just fine for the 3-4 years I've had it, but I'm not sure of which app it opened in...QuickTime...VLC...I don't recall...maybe never even noticed.

I just tried to view it for the first time in a quite a while (possibly since pre-Snow Leopard), and it won't play: QuickTime 10 tells me that I need Flip4Mac, which I've already got (up to date), and VLC plays the audio, but not the video.

Has anybody got a clue as to either what has happened or what I'm doing wrong? (Do I maybe need to install QT 7?)

Thanks.

Is your Perian up to date?

Thanks, but with Flip4Mac I believe that I shouldn't need Perian.

Perian ('the swiss-army knife for QuickTime') and Flip4Mac (WMV via QuickTime) complement each other by covering different formats/codecs. It's definitely worthwhile having them both.

Originally Posted By: alternaut

Perian ('the swiss-army knife for QuickTime') and Flip4Mac (WMV via QuickTime) complement each other by covering different formats/codecs. It's definitely worthwhile having them both.

Thanks; I'll keep that in mind, but the immediate question is why has that avi, which has played just fine in the past with only Flip4Mac, stopped playing?

If it played before, that suggests that either a necessary codec is florfed or missing compared to the previously known-good config, or your avi file got corrupted.

Originally Posted By: alternaut

If it played before, that suggests that either a necessary codec is florfed or missing compared to the previously known-good config, or your avi file got corrupted.

Option 3: After finding all more or less in order in my Leopard volume and all in order in my test user account (which, needless to say, I should have tried earlier) I trashed VLC's App Support file and plists, and all is well.

Thanks for your input (and I'll remember Perian against [highly unanticipated] future need).

Edit: And, although it's now academic, QuickTime Player 10 still refuses to open the file...still tells me I need Flip4Mac or another of its ilk.

Originally Posted By: artie505

Edit: And, although it's now academic, QuickTime Player 10 still refuses to open the file...still tells me I need Flip4Mac or another of its ilk.

that, I believe, is what Perian would fix.

Chances are that you're correct, roger, but since I've gotten VLC working it's of no import.

On the other hand, though, the QuickTime 10 error message links me to an Apple doc that says

Quote:

To determine which component will most likely work for you:

Identify the filename extension of your media file:
If you haven't already, download the file to your desktop or other folder.
In Finder, select the file and choose File, then Get Info.
In the info panel, click the triangle next to Name & Extensions to expand that section and see the full filename with extension. If the filename is long, click in the filename box and scroll to the right to display the extension.
Match the filename extension to those in the table below and go to the linked website for more information.

FormatÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â File extension(s)Â Â Â Codec or componentÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Link to website
Windows MediaÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â [...] .avi Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Flip4Mac WMV Components for QuickTimeÂ Â Â Â Â Telestream

So it looks like I've uncovered a bug in either QuickTime Player or Flip4Mac.

Can anybody confirm or refute my issue?

Just logged into my test user account, and QTP will not open the avi there, either...same pop-up.

I found if I get information on the file and change, open with, to open with VLC it works fine. I'm not sure if you tried this yet.
Mark

VLC was my default "open with." I tried QuickTime Player only because VLC would open the file and play audio, but not video, but, as I reported in my post #15364 - 05/02/11 in this thread, I trashed my VLC App Support and plists, and all is now well.

The remaining question is why QTP tells me I need Flip4Mac, which I've already got, to which end I've filed a bug report with Telestream, the F4M developer.

Thanks for kicking in, though.

> The remaining question is why QTP tells me I need Flip4Mac, which I've already got, to which end I've filed a bug report with Telestream, the F4M developer.

Turns out that was the wrong question...that QTP was merely telling me that I need something non-specific other than VLC.

F4M support sent me a test .wmv file that opened just fine in QuickTime Player/F4M and advised me that .avi is a "general" wrapper for many different video formats (codecs?).

So the apparent correct question was "In which codec that is not recognized by VLC is my .avi formatted, and which app will open it?"

That question is, of course, now moot (with Perian stuck in the back of my head as a possible escape valve if I ever run into a similar situation).

Thanks to all who contributed.