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

1 Installation
- 1.1 Updating Quicktime
- 1.2 Quicktime audio settings
2 Quicktime browser settings
- 2.1 Suggested MIME Types
3 Resetting the Quicktime browser plugins
4 See also
5 External links

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Installation

Windows XP/Vista users should download the latest version of Apple's Quicktime Player, available as a standalone version (without iTunes). Windows 2000 users should download Quicktime 7.1.6. Windows 98/Me users should download Quicktime 6.5.2.

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

Download the chosen installer.
Exit your Mozilla browser and close all other unnecessary programs.
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 latest version isn't offered this way, you can install the latest Quicktime standalone "over the top" of your current installation. This will automatically replace the older version with the new one.

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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 Settings 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.

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.

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. 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:

Close your Mozilla browser.
Delete all "npqtplugin*.dll" files (npqtplugin.dll, npqtplugin2.dll, etc.) from your browser's installation directory plugins folder.
Delete all "npqtplugin*.dll" files from the Quicktime plugins folder (usually C:\Program Files\QuickTime\Plugins).
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, open the "Mozilla" or "Firefox" folder in the profile_folder location and delete the file "pluginreg.dat".

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