RealPlayer
Windows users have two choices for playing RealMedia: the official Real Player or the ad-free Real Alternative. Both will work in Firefox and Mozilla Suite, but Real Alternative version 1.32 or later has the advantage of including a "modified plugin" that overcomes a problem with incorrect coding on certain webpages containing embedded Real media, as explained here.
Installation
- Remove any older versions which may be on your system.
- Download the Real Player or Real Alternative installer.
- Close all instances of Firefox or Mozilla Suite and any other unnecessary programs.
- Run the setup program.
- If installing Real Alternative, make sure that the "Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape/Opera Plugin" is checked when selecting which components to install.
After the Player installation is complete, start Firefox/Mozilla Suite and enter about:plugins into the Category:Location Bar. "RealPlayer(tm) G2 LiveConnect-Enabled Plug-In (32-bit)" and should be listed.
Windows Plugin issues
Plugin not recognized
If you install Firefox or Mozilla Suite after having installed RealPlayer and the Real Player plugin is not recognized, you will need to copy these two files:
- Copy "nppl3260.xpt" from
C:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\Netscape6\nppl3260.xpt
to the Mozilla Firefox or Mozilla Suite installation directory "components" folder - Copy "nppl3260.dll" from
C:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\Netscape6\nppl3260.dll
to the Mozilla Firefox or Mozilla Suite installation directory "plugins" folder.
An alternate method would be to reinstall RealPlayer.
Vanishing Controls
The Windows Plugin for Firefox had a problem whereby after using a control button it would vanish. If you are still experiencing this you should install the latest version of RealPlayer. You may also then need to follow the manual steps described above to apply the fix.
Plugin crashes
In Firefox 4 and above, the RealPlayer plugin will crash on sites with embedded Real Media such as the Test your Real media player page at www.slp3d2.com linked from Testing plugins bug 667399). You can disable the "RealPlayer(tm) G2 LiveConnect-Enabled Plug-In" in the Add-ons manager Plugins list to avoid such crashes. Note: Direct links to Real Media files (such as this .ram file can still be opened in the RealPlayer application itself, even though the plugin is disabled.