MozillaZine

QuickTime

From MozillaZine Knowledge Base

Mozilla applications are regularly updated for security and stability; however, Mozilla does not provide updates for plug-ins. Plug-ins can cause crashes and hangs and may contain security vulnerabilities. Information on security and stability issues affecting QuickTime Player is available at Apple's website.

The QuickTime Player for Windows makes it possible to view and listen to many different types of media, including audio and video "embedded" in web pages. Firefox and other Mozilla browser users often ask why they are told that additional plugins are needed for content that QuickTime can handle, when the QuickTime Player is already installed. In most cases, it's just a matter of enabling the QuickTime browser plugin for a particular MIME type

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Installation

  • Windows XP and Vista users should download the latest QuickTime Player for Windows from Apple's QuickTime download or QuickTime Support page. (You can also download QuickTime at PluginDoc but it might not be the latest version.)
  • Windows 2000 users should download QuickTime 7.1.6 for use with Firefox 2 or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey.

Important: QuickTime 7.1.x is currently on the Add-ons Blocklist and does not work in Firefox 3.

Another option is the unofficial QuickTime Alternative (but read this for important information).

  1. Download the chosen installer.
  2. Exit your Mozilla browser and close all other unnecessary programs.
  3. Run the installer.

If you are installing Quicktime Alternative, make sure that the "Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape/Opera Plugin" is checked when selecting which components to install.

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Updating QuickTime

If your version of QuickTime doesn't include an "Update Existing Software" feature or if the new version isn't offered this way, you can install the new QuickTime version "over the top" of your current installation. This will automatically replace the old version with the new one.

You can verify the QuickTime version your Mozilla browser is detecting in about:plugins or, in Firefox 3, in "Tools -> Add-ons -> Plugins".

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QuickTime audio settings

  • From within the QuickTime Player, click "Edit -> Preferences -> QuickTime Preferences" (or double-click "QuickTime" in the Windows Control Panel) to open the QuickTime Preferences window.
  • Go to the Audio tab and find the drop-down menu under "Music Synthesizer"
  • If using QuickTime Alternative, you must select "General Midi" under "Music Synthesizer", as QuickTime Alternative does not include the "QuickTime Music Synthesizer".
  • If using the official QuickTime Player, you can either select "General Midi" or "QuickTime Music Synthesizer". Note that, if your system has a better quality sound card, Midi files may sound better using the "General Midi" synthesizer.
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QuickTime browser settings

  • Open the QuickTime Preferences window from within the QuickTime Player ("Edit -> Preferences -> QuickTime Preferences") or by double-clicking "QuickTime" in the Windows Control Panel.

Image:QTbrowser.png

  • Click on the Browser tab, then click the MIME Settings button at the bottom. The MIME Types window will open.

Note: If you are using Windows Vista and the Mime Types window does not open, see this forum thread.

Image:QT_MIME_types.png

This is where you enable the QuickTime browser plugins for different types of media. (Don't go to the File Types preferences by mistake; those are for Windows file associations.)

  • In the MIME Types panel, select the media types you wish the QuickTime plugin to handle in your browser.
  • Click OK to close the Mime Types window
  • Click OK to exit the QuickTime Preferences.

Close and reopen the browser to effect the changes.

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Suggested MIME Types

Audio

  • AIFF audio
  • uLaw/AU audio
  • MIDI
  • WAVE audio

MPEG

  • MPEG media
  • MPEG audio
  • MPEG-4 media

MP3

  • MP3 audio

Images

  • QuickTime image

Important: When selecting the media types you want QuickTime to handle under MIME Types, do not select "Flash media", if present, as this will cause a conflict with the Flash plugin. Note that, as of QuickTime 7.3.1, the Flash media handler has been disabled and "Flash media" should no longer be listed. [1]

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Resetting the QuickTime browser plugins

Sometimes the QuickTime plugins are not detected properly, even though you have selected the right media types in the QuickTime browser settings, as described above. You may receive the error, QuickTime Unavailable. The QuickTime Plug-in requires the QuickTime System extension version 5 or later. If you enter about:plugins in the address bar, you may also see plugins listed from different versions of QuickTime [2] or other inconsistencies. To reset your QuickTime browser plugins:

  1. Close your Mozilla browser.
  2. Delete all "npqtplugin*.dll" files (npqtplugin.dll, npqtplugin2.dll, etc.) from your browser's installation directory "plugins" folder.
  3. Delete all "npqtplugin*.dll" files from the QuickTime plugins folder (usually C:\Program Files\QuickTime\Plugins).
  4. Go to "Start -> Control Panel -> QuickTime -> Browser (tab) -> Mime Settings" (see above) and reselect your preferred media types.

If you still have problems, close your browser and delete (or rename) the "pluginreg.dat" file. In Firefox 3 and SeaMonkey 2, this file is located in the profile folder. In Firefox 2 and Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey 1.x, "pluginreg.dat" is inside the "Firefox" or "Mozilla" folder in the profile folder path. See Profile folder - Firefox and Profile folder - SeaMonkey for the location.

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See also

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External links

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Related bug reports

Retrieved from "http://kb.mozillazine.org/QuickTime"