Video Not Supported

[Wallingford]

I've updated to the latest realplayer version and my movies/vid player is up to date.

Recently I downloaded a s@3rock video from one of the threads here and got a "file type not supported" prompt.

I figure the original was shot in Japan, possibly a difference in the way the video is configured, or some kind of unknown (to me) codec. Does that even make sense? Do I understand the words coming out of my mouth?

Anyway, downloaded today from wm2009 post this morning, once again, "not supported." I've been downloading from this thread since he started it, what has changed?

Also, got a thumb drive, half the vids will not play, "unsupported." Transfered the "good" videos back to the hard drive, but yet they were playing when I transferred them to the thumb drive, 2017-2020.

Anyone have any idea what might be happening? What patch, update, codec, mystery player, voodoo, shaman, meaning of life guru at the top of the mountain, do I need to fix this?

[lickateesplit]

I would try another video player before banging my head against the wall.

[ViceLikeEye]

VLC is usually the answer. VLC is beloved, because it's the most robust and reliable media player, for the last couple decades. 99% of the time, if VLC can't play it, your media is fucked and nothing else will play it.

http://videolan.org/vlc/

[plasmus]

Not sure, whether the Real Player is still maintained with the highest priority. The whole company seems to be in a slow, well planned wind-down (but I have no insight - just Wikipedia knowledge).

I regularly used the Real Player myself, but only till around 2005, afterwards I used a freeware player of which I don't even clearly remember the name, but it had some interesting zoom and aspect ratio functions, useful in the 4:3 to 16:9 transition time. Since around 2010 I use the VLC Player, and never looked back.

There are indeed several highly advanced freeware media players around, and VLC certainly is the best when it comes to the compatibility with even the newest or most exotic codecs, So, I fully endorse the comments by lickateesplit and ViceLikeEye to simply use a new media player for the files the Real Player refuses to play.

BTW, I'm typing this using a browser that was last updated in 2012 and is already unusable on several websites, so I totally understand the desire to stick with tried and true software. But it's no problem to simply use more than one program to watch videos (or to browse the internet).

Cheers, and good luck!

[Wallingford]

plasmus There are indeed several highly advanced freeware media players around, and VLC certainly is the best when it comes to the compatibility with even the newest or most exotic codecs, So, I fully endorse the comments by lickateesplit and ViceLikeEye to simply use a new media player for the files the Real Player refuses to play.

So, I'm understanding that the Movies and Video player default that comes with the computers in Windows is inadequate as well? It is playing damn near everything else.

While I appreciate all of your answers, I don't believe anyone has picked up on the original post explaining that RP was not my only option.

Aside from downloading a new player, what are my options with the ones I already have? In the past, downloads have prompted something to the effect of You will need codex rpxy25* to play this video, would you like to download it now?

*completely random generality, not specific.

[plasmus]

Originally Posted by Wallingford

Aside from downloading a new player, what are my options with the ones I already have?

Well, I remember installing a "codec pack" in the early 2000's to watch otherwise unplayable videos. No idea, if this still works, or if such codec packs still exist at all.

There are also these "analize & repair" programs. Some video encoding programs (like my personal go-to software Avidemux) also have such a function. But there's no guarantee that it'll really work.

Your older videos may just have become corrupted (that happens with thumb drives or any other modern data storage solution).

The newer videos may indeed use a codec that is not (yet) supported by either Real Player or the inbuilt Windows media player. it's understandable that uploaders often will use the newest codecs for their videos.

Really, I'm no expert at all, but I'm constantly at this topic, mostly not even for porn but for badly encoded music videos hosted on "amateur sites", so to speak.

Just try VLC! It even comes with a recording function so the videos afterwards might be playable with practically any other video player software.

To my experience, if the VLC player can not play (and, if wanted, record/re-encode) a video, you're most likely out of luck, just like ViceLikeEye already said.

Cheers!

[Lonewolf]

I would suspect a broken codec. Media Player Classic Mega (I use Mega, as it includes more codecs than you typically need) would solve the issue I think, as it comes with a "Codec Tweak Tool", which includes an option to fix broken codecs.

Another option, discussed above, would be a different media player, like VLC... not crazy about VLC, but it will play just about anything, and has a decent, if unspectacular, built-in EQ.

A third, off-the-reservation kind of option, is to use a video converter, which in many cases would "fix" the codec issue, or, allow you to convert to a different format altogether.

Media Players that are part of the "bloatware" that comes with computers will play standard formats, and have a smattering of codecs, but the aftermarket stuff is better, IMO, as it largely has been improved by users... open-source...

There are standalone codec packs, but I'm not sure how well they fit with "standardized" players... you can search here for the standalones.

[chokes999]

Originally Posted by Wallingford

I've updated to the latest realplayer version and my movies/vid player is up to date.

Recently I downloaded a s@3rock video from one of the threads here and got a "file type not supported" prompt.

I figure the original was shot in Japan, possibly a difference in the way the video is configured, or some kind of unknown (to me) codec. Does that even make sense? Do I understand the words coming out of my mouth?

Anyway, downloaded today from wm2009 post this morning, once again, "not supported." I've been downloading from this thread since he started it, what has changed?

Also, got a thumb drive, half the vids will not play, "unsupported." Transfered the "good" videos back to the hard drive, but yet they were playing when I transferred them to the thumb drive, 2017-2020.

Anyone have any idea what might be happening? What patch, update, codec, mystery player, voodoo, shaman, meaning of life guru at the top of the mountain, do I need to fix this?

I have always used K-Lite Codec pack to keep my Media Player Classic up to date but recently had a problem with a video that it could not play. (I have, but never use VLC. I just don't like it.) Handbrake converted the file from whatever format it was to MP4 and solved the problem.

[ViceLikeEye]

Originally Posted by plasmus

Just try VLC! It even comes with a recording function so the videos afterwards might be playable with practically any other video player software.

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

A third, off-the-reservation kind of option, is to use a video converter, which in many cases would "fix" the codec issue, or, allow you to convert to a different format altogether.

VLC has a built-in video converter! It not as slick as Avidemux, but I've used VLC to convert videos (old and probably partially corrupt WMV's) that Avidemux could not convert. Again, VLC is the answer. It's robust.

You Tube

You Tube

[DarkRaven671]

So, if you want to troubleshoot this, then I suggest trying VLC anyway to see if the files work at all.

If they don't, then the files could be corrupt. There are several ways for files on a thumb drive to get corrupted. But since you have the same problem with new files it's probably not the case, unless they got corrupted during download or on your hard drive, which is possible. Do you experience other unexpected behaviour or instabilities with your system?

If they do play in VLC, grab Mediainfo:

http://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

It'll show you everything you need to know about a file from a technical point of view. By comparing this with what is officially supported, it might tell you why the RealPlayer can't play the files.