Some of the common problems that result in questions asked of me are discussed here:
Netscape and SoundApp:
Q: IΓÇÖve setup Netscape to use SoundApp as the sound helper application. However, whenever Netscape launches SoundApp it reports an end of file error and wonΓÇÖt play the files. Why isn't it working?
A: The ΓÇ£file typeΓÇ¥ popup in NetscapeΓÇÖs helper configuration pane is not set properly. ΓÇ£PLAYΓÇ¥, which Netscape seems to default to, is a Play List. This setting will confuse SoundApp, since the file downloaded is not a Play List.
To setup Netscape to play Windows ΓÇ£.wavΓÇ¥ files via SoundApp, to the following:
1. Open the ΓÇ£General PreferencesΓÇ¥ dialog and select the ΓÇ£HelpersΓÇ¥ pane.
2. Edit the the following entry or create it if it doesnΓÇÖt already exist:
a. MIME Type: ΓÇ£audio/x-wavΓÇ¥ and Suffixes: ΓÇ£wavΓÇ¥.
b. Then under ΓÇ£Handled ByΓÇ¥ click the ΓÇ£Appliction:ΓÇ¥ radio button.
c. Click the “Browse…” button, find and select SoundApp.
d. Using the ΓÇ£File type:ΓÇ¥ pop-up menu, select ΓÇ£WAVEΓÇ¥ for the File Type.
3. Repeat for the ΓÇ£audio/wavΓÇ¥ MIME Type.
For other file formats, either edit an existing audio MIME type or create a new one for the desired type. Typically youΓÇÖll receive an alert from Netscape telling you that it canΓÇÖt find an apropriate plug-in for a type. See the ΓÇ£FormatsΓÇ¥ section for likely suffixes, for example ΓÇ£auΓÇ¥ for Sun Audio files.
MPEG:
Q: Why canΓÇÖt I play MPEG files?
A: SoundApp can only play MPEG files on PowerPC-based computers.
Q: OK, I have a PowerPC computer, but MPEG Layer III playback still doesnΓÇÖt work. Why not?
A: SoundApp canΓÇÖt yet play these on relatively slow PowerPC processor, especially those without Level 2 caches.
Q: Why does SoundApp refuse to play some MPEG audio files but not most others?
A: The MPEG audio files that will not play are most likely encoded using MPEG-2 instead of MPEG-1. MPEG-2 files can include multi-channel information and use a different encoding format for the MPEG bitstream. SoundApp cannot currently play MPEG-2 files.
Sound Playback:
Q: Why do some files (especially MPEG Layer III) start to play then stop?
A: Your computerΓÇÖs processor or disk drive is too slow. MPEG Layer III playback really needs a Level 2 cache to play properly.
QuickTime and Movies:
Q: Why does SoundApp only convert the first few seconds of some QuickTime soundtracks?
A: Currently SoundApp can only convert a single sound track in a movie. Some movies contain multiple sound tracks which contain the rest of the data. You can see these other sound tracks using the ΓÇ£Get InfoΓÇ¥ feature of AppleΓÇÖs MoviePlayer application.
