OS 10.5.8 visual hub & switch.
I have some mp4 & wma files which I want convert to a format that will play in quicktime.
How do I convert them?
jaybass

Drag the files to the queue are marked by the caption, "Drag the files to be converted below"

On the To: bar select MPEG or iTunes.

Click Start.

Also, after opening QuickTime Player, you can select the .MP4 files, or right click on the .MP4 file and select QuickTime to play.

I did what you said....with itunes and mpeg but it would not play in either. A window opened said it was an unknown format
(wma.temp.mp5)
Is there another software that will do the conversion?

Thanks for your reply,
jaybass

Are these all audio files?

If so use Switch, since you said you have it.

I tried switch and it rejected the files. I tried various formats to convert to but no.
These files were downloaded using limewire pro and they are audio anthologies. Some were wma and the others au.
The wma files downloaded faster but I think I'll go back and try the au files...they should be okay. If they are or not, I'll let you know.
jaybass

If nothing is recognizing the files, then you may not really have audio files. They may be trojans. That's a problem using a peer to peer download.

The reason I'm saying this is that QuickTime should have opened both the .wma and .mp4 files. And so should have Switch.

WMV is a container, and most commonly includes WMV3 and WMV9 codecs, but can be almost anything, and it's what's inside that counts.

So it's hard to say what you've got in the WMA files for a codec. WMA is only a container, and really says very little as to the codec being used inside. I recommend looking at the first 8 or so bytes of the file and google around.

Terminal command:

dd if=*** bs=128 count=1 | xxd

where the *** are, instead drag the file from the finder into the terminal window. This should give us the hex output of the first 128 bytes of the file and we may be able to find it for you or identify it.

Recording hardware (sony digital camcorders) and most digital voice recorders use some really obtuse codecs and are sometimes extremely difficult to convert. That's probably where those files originated.

I'm beginning to doubt if these files are really audio files.
I tried burning them just for the hell of it and using toast/audio it said no files were added because they were not sound files or in a supported format. I tried 'data' and they did burn but when I tried to open them it said: the movie could not be opened and that the operation could not be completed
(OSStatus error -19000)
I did have them going through the motions using VLC but there was no sound. What does that tell you? How can I find out if I have a virus?
jaybass

I typed in as per you instructions and this what it said after
that:
/Applications/Utilities/
Anthologies\Andrew\Cruickshank\ \(Good.wma

What does that mean?
jaybass

FWIW, a far more straightforward way of doing exactly that is simply:

xxd -l 128 /path/to/file


[and that format should be less susceptible to "user input error" i suspect. ]

Of course you could try to open them on a Windows box, and see what blows up.

Hal,
I typed in your version and it read:

/Users/jondan/Desktop/Anthologies\Andrew\Cruickshank\ \(FULL\ Version.wma

Where do I go from there?

Jaybass

I did try to play them in windows media at the very beginning
without success.
Yesterday I downloaded a MP3 file from limewire and it played fine in itunes.
I've never used a windows box...how do I do that?
jaybass

Start over i guess...

1. launch Terminal.app
   .
2. copy the blue command below:
   xxd -l 128
   .
3. paste that into the Terminal screen and type a space after it.
   .
4. drag the file in question into the Terminal screen.
   .
5. now hit enter (or return) -- in the Terminal screen i mean.
   .
6. copy everything from Terminal -- including whatever you typed or pasted. (I.e., everything).
   .
7. paste that into into a post here wrapped in [code]tags[/code], so that we (i.e., Virtual1) can see it.

Is this what you looking for?


Last login: Sat Dec 19 13:18:11 on ttys000
dsl-173-206-203-52:~ jondan$ xxd -l 128 /Users/jondan/Desktop/Anthologies\ Andrew\ Cruickshank\ \(Good.wma
0000000: 3026 b275 8e66 cf11 a6d9 00aa 0062 ce6c 0&.u.f.......b.l
0000010: 8d19 0000 0000 0000 0a00 0000 0102 a1dc ................
0000020: ab8c 47a9 cf11 8ee4 00c0 0c20 5365 6800 ..G........ Seh.
0000030: 0000 0000 0000 02d3 c014 e814 0e46 a50f .............F..
0000040: cd25 777b 707f e4be 4700 0000 0000 10b0 .%w{p...G.......
0000050: 7519 7f7e ca01 3b02 0000 0000 0000 209f u..~..;....... .
0000060: e474 0000 0000 5088 2b74 0000 0000 ab05 .t....P.+t......
0000070: 0000 0000 0000 0200 0000 1f20 0000 1f20 ........... ...
dsl-173-206-203-52:~ jondan$

jaybass

According to these two threads...

Wma Files Unreadable?
videntify 1.0 BASH script for Mac OS X, Identify video file type and encoding

...that's a proper file header for a wmv [and/or wma] file alright.

We'll have to see what V1's advice is concerning that. [i was just trying to get that info he wanted, so he could help you. I usually just play .asf and/or .wmv files in VLC, and haven't tried doing any actual format conversions myself. Doesn't Perian and/or Flip4Mac do that?  idunno.]

--

Confirmed by filext.com: both wmv and wma have the following "identifying" (hex) characters:
30 26 B2 75 8E 66 CF 11 A6 D9 00 AA 00 62 CE 6C

--

I wonder if this might be something that Handbrake could handle better (than VisualHub)?

Hal,
Thanks for you input.

I don't understand anything about terminal. I hope V1 can enlighten me.
I take it these files are virus free?
I have MTR3...don't know if that can help.
I have never used handbrake. I'll check it out.

jaybass

<edit> Why ask me, i don't know where they came from.

I was starting to wonder if maybe they are DRM protected.
Have you successfully played them using any program yet?

They are virus free according to "cleanmymac" which found yesterday.

These files came from limewire which I have used several times quite successfully but they were tunes/songs which were MP3s.

These anthologies are just someone talking as far as I know.
I have not been able to play them on anything except VLC but without any sound.
Windows media will not play them.
DRMs? I don't know. Is there a way of determining that?
jaybass

(wow, dual scrollbars)

I was shortsighted in only asking for 128 bytes, we may be only seeing the container header and not the start of the actual audio stream, which would indicate the codec used. Try a larger value, show us 512 instead of 128.

seems very different.


Last login: Sun Dec 20 15:47:54 on ttys000
dsl-173-206-202-124:~ jondan$ xxd -1 512/Users/jondan/Desktop/anthologies\ andrew\ cruickshank.wma
Usage:
xxd [options] [infile [outfile]]
or
xxd -r [-s [-]offset] [-c cols] [-ps] [infile [outfile]]
Options:
-a toggle autoskip: A single '*' replaces nul-lines. Default off.
-b binary digit dump (incompatible with -p,-i,-r). Default hex.
-c cols format <cols> octets per line. Default 16 (-i: 12, -ps: 30).
-E show characters in EBCDIC. Default ASCII.
-g number of octets per group in normal output. Default 2.
-h print this summary.
-i output in C include file style.
-l len stop after <len> octets.
-ps output in postscript plain hexdump style.
-r reverse operation: convert (or patch) hexdump into binary.
-r -s off revert with <off> added to file positions found in hexdump.
-s [+][-]seek start at <seek> bytes abs. (or +: rel.) infile offset.
-u use upper case hex letters.
-v show version: "xxd V1.10 27oct98 by Juergen Weigert".
dsl-173-206-202-124:~ jondan$


Hope this tells you something.....jaybass

You needed to type a space after 512 before dragging the file into the Terminal window.

how big is one of these files? I would be happy to have you send me one, and see if I can open it, to determine if it's the file or something on your mac.

That's one tell.

The second is: you need to use an l (letter ell), instead of a 1 (number one).

l is for length (and we can also use "-len") .

[it's just the same command as before, with a 512 instead of a 128.]

This file is 4.2 MB


Last login: Sun Dec 20 19:58:03 on console
dsl-173-206-202-43:~ jondan$ xxd -l 512 /Users/jondan/Desktop/anthologies\ andrew\ cruickshank.wma
0000000: 3026 b275 8e66 cf11 a6d9 00aa 0062 ce6c 0&.u.f.......b.l
0000010: 111e 0000 0000 0000 0a00 0000 0102 a1dc ................
0000020: ab8c 47a9 cf11 8ee4 00c0 0c20 5365 6800 ..G........ Seh.
0000030: 0000 0000 0000 4592 1156 769b c24f 966d ......E..Vv..O.m
0000040: 15ad 9046 d7cf d7bb 0000 0000 0000 a089 ...F............
0000050: 6c9f 830c ca01 0300 0000 0000 0000 60cd l.............`.
0000060: 6701 0000 0000 404d 9f00 0000 0000 2206 g.....@M......".
0000070: 0000 0000 0000 0200 0000 5e34 0000 5e34 ..........^4..^4
0000080: 0000 3cb3 0400 fbb3 1122 23bd d211 b4b7 ..<......"#.....
0000090: 00a0 c955 fc6e e000 0000 0000 0000 1800 ...U.n..........
00000a0: 0000 fdf3 f0ad e707 4b33 a8b7 62bc 4637 ........K3..b.F7
00000b0: 65bd b043 7210 fe68 ceca 0400 0000 4452 e..Cr..h......DR
00000c0: 4d00 1900 0000 4a57 5743 3074 7469 426b M.....JWWC0ttiBk
00000d0: 4370 6c48 6179 4f2f 4956 4b51 3d3d 0083 CplHayO/IVKQ==..
00000e0: 0000 0068 7474 703a 2f2f 7777 772e 7265 ...http://www.re
00000f0: 6d61 726b 6162 6c65 736f 6e67 736c 6976 markablesongsliv
0000100: 652e 636f 6d2f 6c69 6365 6e73 652e 6367 e.com/license.cg
0000110: 693f 7669 646c 6f63 6b5f 7061 7261 6d73 i?vidlock_params
0000120: 3d61 5751 394e 6a55 784f 444d 354e 6a49 =aWQ9NjUxODM5NjI
0000130: 3759 3246 305a 5764 7663 6e6b 394d 4474 7Y2F0ZWdvcnk9MDt
0000140: 6d61 5778 6c62 6d46 745a 5431 7a62 3231 maWxlbmFtZT1zb21
0000150: 6c5a 334a 6c59 5852 7a62 3235 6e63 7935 lZ3JlYXRzb25ncy5
0000160: 3362 5745 3700 14e6 8a29 2226 174c b935 3bWE7....)"&.L.5
0000170: dae0 7ee9 289c a205 0000 0000 0000 8605 ..~.(...........
0000180: 0000 fffe 3c00 5700 5200 4d00 4800 4500 ....<.W.R.M.H.E.
0000190: 4100 4400 4500 5200 2000 7600 6500 7200 A.D.E.R. .v.e.r.
00001a0: 7300 6900 6f00 6e00 3d00 2200 3200 2e00 s.i.o.n.=.".2...
00001b0: 3000 2e00 3000 2e00 3000 2200 3e00 3c00 0...0...0.".>.<.
00001c0: 4400 4100 5400 4100 3e00 3c00 4300 4800 D.A.T.A.>.<.C.H.
00001d0: 4500 4300 4b00 5300 5500 4d00 3e00 4b00 E.C.K.S.U.M.>.K.
00001e0: 7300 4c00 7400 4900 7500 4a00 6800 4e00 s.L.t.I.u.J.h.N.
00001f0: 7700 3d00 3d00 3c00 2f00 4300 4800 4500 w.=.=.<./.C.H.E.
dsl-173-206-202-43:~ jondan$

jaybass

Roger,
Do want to send by email?

jaybass

sure. roger (at) rogergrow dot com

I won't be able to check back in here until tomorrow (Monday) evening, since logging in to ftm is blocked for me at work. maybe you'll have it all sorted out by then!

Lovely...

00000e0: 0000 0068 7474 703a 2f2f 7777 772e 7265 ...http://www.re
00000f0: 6d61 726b 6162 6c65 736f 6e67 736c 6976 markablesongsliv
0000100: 652e 636f 6d2f 6c69 6365 6e73 652e 6367 e.com/license.cg
0000110: 693f 7669 646c 6f63 6b5f 7061 7261 6d73 i?vidlock_params
0000120: 3d61 5751 394e 6a55 784f 444d 354e 6a49 =aWQ9NjUxODM5NjI
0000130: 3759 3246 305a 5764 7663 6e6b 394d 4474 7Y2F0ZWdvcnk9MDt
0000140: 6d61 5778 6c62 6d46 745a 5431 7a62 3231 maWxlbmFtZT1zb21
0000150: 6c5a 334a 6c59 5852 7a62 3235 6e63 7935 lZ3JlYXRzb25ncy5
0000160: 3362 5745 3700 14e6 8a29 2226 174c b935 3bWE7....)"&.L.5


I suggest you google "remarkablesongslive" --- since what turns up for me is not pretty.

BTW, i put that full (red) url into Safari and it downloaded a 380KB file called "PLAY_MP3.exe"

The wiki explains. << >> And Microsoft too: TrojanDownloader ASX/Wimad.BV

I clicked TroganDownloader ASX/Wimad.BV but it's only good for PCs unless I read it wrong.

Today I ran a virus scan through the entire system and it came up zero.
I also ran D/W and TTP which is normal.

Since you said what turns up "is not pretty" can you expand on your findings? Do I have a problem? Any suggestions?
I did trash all those wma files yesterday and downloaded (1)
wma file.
jaybass

When I searched on remarkablesonglive, one of first hits was this Microsoft Malware Protection Center article citing remarkablesonglive as the source of lots of infected malware for Windows computers. Given you are on a Mac it is unlikely your machine could become infected and although I don't know what antivirus app you used the fact you got a clean bill of health is a strong indication you did not become infected.

Running Diskwarrior and TechTool Pro would do no harm but neither should be expected to detect any malware or the effects of malware in your system. Most malware these days is focused on using your computer for nefarious and illicit purposes, not on damaging your machine.

When I browse to here

http://www.remarkablesongslive.com/licen...XRzb25ncy53bWE7

it downloads an exe player. "WRM Header" is important. Go here and go to "wrm":

http://club.myce.com/f32/removing-drm-wmv-best-solution-108497/index4.html

Looks like those are DRM-protected MP3 files.

I used iAntiVirus software which was endorsed by Macworld so I guess it is okay.

Thanks for putting my mind at rest.

Is there a reliable software to remove DRM from such files?

I really would like to open this particular file.

jaybass

That url you mention is a DOS file.

I think you right about these files being DRMs

jaybass

Hello, jaybass
FineTunedMac is a troubleshooting site which respects the rights of copyright holders and intellectual property laws.

In order to maintain the integrity of FTM, an answer to this question is not appropriate.

Perhaps you read me wrong... i never said your Mac was infected. But it clearly illustrates the nature and intent of these peer-to-peer places you visited.



I'd suggest you avoid P2P completely; maybe even toss Limewire in the trash to seal the deal.

Perhaps google can turn up some (legal) sources of Andrew Cruickshank audio/video materials. If they aren't free, then that might serve as a good measurement of how badly you really want them. [i doubt they'd be too expensive. (Andrew who? ).]

jay sent me one of the files, and it is DRM protected. I get this when I try to open it:

"Flip4Mac WMV DRM Content
Flip4Mac WMV is unable to play DRM protected content."

when I try VLC I get this:

"No suitable decoder module
VLC does not support the audio or video format "wmal". Unfortunately there is no way for you to fix this."

Songbird says: "the stream is encrypted and decryption is not supported."

so, I guess that answers that! (along with all the other stuff you guys figured out!)

Hi Dianne,
I was looking at some web sites that claim they use a legal method of removing the DRM but they were for PCs.

I'll revisit some of those sites and take a closer look.

jaybass

Sorry I misunderstood you.

I really do want them but it's the only avenue I could find.

I've tried google and others but to no avail.

I wasn't aware that peer to peer downloads should be avoided.

Thanks,

jaybass

Roger,

Thanks for trying.

jaybass

Ever since the iTunes store opened, and a host of other legal sources for a/v downloads followed (Amazon?, Rhapsody?, Napster?, etc.), practically all of the stuff in P2P-land is either pirated, poisoned, or both.

Pirated copies of Apple iWork 09
Pirated copies of Photoshop CS 4

You weren't aware of those two (Mac-related) examples? [there are probably more... i just happen to recall those two specifically.]

I think it's generally understood that file “sharing” [of that sort] is a euphemism for stealing.




I don't think we know what (exact phrase) you tried, or what (exact items) you're seeking. If we knew more, then perhaps we could help. [Seems more-or-less logical that: if these items exist in the pirate-sphere, then they probably also exist in the real world somewhere.]

Point taken.

I used umpteen wordings on google to try and bring up these anthologies but nothing. I also tried youtube.

I can access Andrew Cruickshank's films and plays but not his anthologies even after emailing the BBCs archives and a Scottish library but like you say, they a do exist somewhere. Obviously by the results from limewire.

Are there any Scots out there who can help?
How about you Hal?

jaybass

Hmm... you're right, not much turns up.

Maybe try emailing these folks, to see what they might know: TheRecordAlbum

That shop is in the uk and has the only LP of AC and I bought it about a month ago, but it didn't have on it what I was hoping for.
It irks me to know they out there and I cannot find them.
Oh well.
Thanks for your time.

jaybass

Googleing "anthologies Andrew Cruickshank" returns, among other hits, Andrew Cruickshank's Scottish Bedside Book; the vendor may be able to help you out.

This page looks like it's got at least part of what you're looking for(?), but it looks like it's not d/l'able. (Do you have the educational credentials?)

It may be the source of your DRM protected d/l's.

(Google search term: recorded andrew cruickshank)

Artie,
Sorry for the belated reply. That book site is just that...a book store.
The other one didn't give me any answers but might after extensive searching. Thanks for the lead.
jaybass

> Thanks for the lead.

Thanks for posting the question; I always get a kick out of searching for stuff that I know is out there somewhere, but where, and seeing how much new info I can squeeze out of Google with just a minor change in my search term.