Embed tag m3u filetypes not recognised
dan_d...@edenpics.com
I have seen that Firefox doesn't handle the M3U playlists files as it
does on internet explorer.
If you embed a code like this:
<EMBED src="file.m3u">
or with
<BGSOUND src="file.m3u">
it won't load, and display a message saying that another plugin is
needed. When you click on it, nothing is recognised and you must choose
manually.
So I think that this M3U filetype sould be recognised by Firefox like
IE does, and that this is a bug. Can someone confirm ?
I have tried with the latest firefox version.
Thanks,
Daniel
Nir
Roland de Ruiter
Just verified it with this code:
<html>
<head>
<title>Play list</title>
</head>
<body>
<object data="playlist.m3u" type="application/x-mplayer2" width="0"
height="0">
<param name="src" value="playlist.m3u">
<param name="autostart" value="1">
<param name="playcount" value="infinite">
</object>
Is this music playing?
</body>
</html>
This works on the Windows platform in FF and IE.
Probably won't work in browsers on other platforms (such as Mac or
Linux), 'cause there's no plugin for application/x-mplayer2.
Replacing type="application/x-mplayer2" by type="audio/x-mpegurl" (the
'official' content type for a M3U playlist) doesn't work either: Firefox
then reports that the plugin for audio/x-mpegurl is missing and upon
clicking the "Install Missing Plugins" button it can't find a plugin
handling this content type.
--
Regards,
Roland
Chris Ilias
> dan_d...@edenpics.com wrote:
>
>> I have seen that Firefox doesn't handle the M3U playlists files as it
>> does on internet explorer.
>> If you embed a code like this:
>> <EMBED src="file.m3u">
>> or with
>> <BGSOUND src="file.m3u">
>
Not quite. Firefox *does* support the <embed> tag.
The problem is the content-type being served.
If I use <EMBED src="test.m3u">, it gets served as audio/x-mpegurl.
Taking from the example, posted by Roland, if I add a content-type to
the HTML, it works:
<embed type="application/x-mplayer2" src="test.m3u">.
Test: <http://ilias.ca/tests/m3u.html>
QuickTime can handle the audio/x-mpegurl content-type. Just go to
Windows Control Panel-->QuickTime-->Browser-->MIME Settings. Under MP3,
check mark "MP3 Playlist".
Restart Firefox, then try <http://ilias.ca/tests/m3u-noMIME.html>.
--
Chris Ilias
mozilla.test.multimedia moderator
Mozilla links <http://ilias.ca>
(Please do not email me tech support questions)
Ron K.
> _Nir_ spoke thusly on 21/08/2006 4:31 PM:
>> dan_d...@edenpics.com wrote:
>>
>>> I have seen that Firefox doesn't handle the M3U playlists files as it
>>> does on internet explorer.
>>> If you embed a code like this:
>>> <EMBED src="file.m3u">
>>> or with
>>> <BGSOUND src="file.m3u">
>>
>> see this link :
>> http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.support.firefox/browse_thread/thread/83366a4c472fba0d/ac26e4b673f2b258?lnk=gst&q=bgsound+doesn%27t+play+in+firefox&rnum=1#ac26e4b673f2b258
>
>
> Not quite. Firefox *does* support the <embed> tag.
> The problem is the content-type being served.
> If I use <EMBED src="test.m3u">, it gets served as audio/x-mpegurl.
>
> Taking from the example, posted by Roland, if I add a content-type to
> the HTML, it works:
> <embed type="application/x-mplayer2" src="test.m3u">.
>
> Test: <http://ilias.ca/tests/m3u.html>
>
> QuickTime can handle the audio/x-mpegurl content-type. Just go to
> Windows Control Panel-->QuickTime-->Browser-->MIME Settings. Under MP3,
> check mark "MP3 Playlist".
> Restart Firefox, then try <http://ilias.ca/tests/m3u-noMIME.html>.
MIME types audio/mpegurl and audio/x-mpegurl are both handled by the
Crescendo 5.1 plugin. I know it is hard to find, however a request in the
multimedia test group should get a reply with the URL of a server
dispensing the universal NP/IE version of Crescendo Max. That was the last
version released before Liveupdate closed shop.
--
Ron K.
Don't be a fonted, it's just type casting.
gwtc
--
Files From The Not To Swift Department . . .
I was checking out at the local Wal-Mart with just a few items and The
lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine. I picked up
one of those "dividers" that they keep by the cash register and placed
it between our things so they wouldn't get mixed. After the girl had
scanned all of my items, she picked up the "divider", looking it all
over for the bar code so she could scan it. Not finding the bar code
she said to me, "Do you know how much this is?" I said to her "I've
changed my mind, I don't think I'll buy that today." She said "OK,"
and I paid her for the things and left. She had no clue what had just
happened.
dan_d...@edenpics.com
Hello all,
Thanks for the help and suggestions from everyone.
I have tested by forcing the type="application/x-mplayer2" suggestion
from Roland. This works on my computer, it is already a good point.
However, as Roland said, this won't work on a Linux station or any
computer without Windows Media Player.
My goal is to have a standard HTML 4 tag which makes sure that the
browser will recognise in all cases the M3U playlists and display them
correctly, using any player which can recognize the filetype (xine,
Mplayer, etc...), this is up to the browser to choose. This should make
the play be independent of the tag, ensuring that everyone will be able
to listen to my music (the main goal).
Using the <OBJECT> tag seems to me a wise thing as it is recognised by
Netscape and IE and FF I believe, and seems to be the standard tag to
use for this purpose.
Now, the problem is that using the type="audio/x-mpegurl" HTML
directive, this makes FF not recognise the MIME type at all, and asks
for installing another plugin, which he even didn't know which on eot
suggest.
This is my point: It seems to me that there is a bug in the way FF
handles this. To my opinion, FF should be able to know what player
which is already installed on the system can handle this
="audio/x-mpegurl", and even only the 'm3u' file extension, and it
ins't the case.
Can someone confirm that it is a bug, and tell the developper's
community to add this in the bug list if it is really the case ? I
didn't find how to report a bug on the Firefox website.
Thanks,
Daniel
Roland de Ruiter
one OBJECT tag inside the other. If the outer OBJECT tag doesn't
recognize/support the MIME type, the nested OBJECT tag is given a chance.
<object data="playlist.m3u" type="audio/x-mpegurl" width="200" height="200">
<param name="AutoPlay" value="True"> <!-- param understood by
QT -->
<param name="Loop" value="True"> <!-- param understood by
QT -->
<object data="playlist.m3u" type="application/x-mplayer2"
<param name="autostart" value="1"> <!-- param understood
by WMP -->
<param name="playcount" value="infinite"> <!-- param understood
by WMP -->
<span title="Sorry, no background music support for your browser"
style="font-size: 6pt;">Sorry, no background music support
for your browser
</span>
</object>
</object>
[1]<http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/objects.html#h-13.3.1>
Unfortunately FF still signals a missing plugin for the outer <object>
tags if their content type isn't supported. This seems to be a bug to me.
Alternatively you can use JavaScript to insert the appropriate <object>
tag (only one), but of course nothing will be played if the client
browser has disabled JavaScript.
Here's the JS I've been experimenting with:
<html>
<head>
<title>Play list</title>
<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript"><!--
function insertMP3Playlist(m3uFile, w, h) {
if (isMimeTypeSupported("audio/x-mpegurl")) {
insertXMpegurl(m3uFile, w, h);
} else if (isMimeTypeSupported("application/x-mplayer2")) {
insertXMplayer2(m3uFile, w, h);
} else {
document.writeln("Sorry, no background music support for your
browser");
}
}
function insertXMplayer2(m3uFile, w, h) {
document.writeln('<object data="' + m3uFile + '"
type="application/x-mplayer2" width="' + w + '" height="' + h + '">');
document.writeln(' <param name="autostart" value="1">');
document.writeln(' <param name="playcount" value="infinite">');
document.writeln(' <param name="AutoPlay" value="True">');
document.writeln(' <param name="Loop" value="True">');
document.writeln('</object>');
}
function insertXMpegurl(m3uFile, w, h) {
document.writeln('<object data="' + m3uFile + '"
type="audio/x-mpegurl" width="' + w + '" height="' + h + '">');
document.writeln(' <param name="AutoPlay" value="True">');
document.writeln(' <param name="Loop" value="True">');
document.writeln(' <param name="autostart" value="1">');
document.writeln(' <param name="playcount" value="infinite">');
document.writeln('</object>');
}
function isMimeTypeSupported(mimeType) {
if (navigator.mimeTypes) {
var supportedMimeTypes = navigator.mimeTypes;
var n = supportedMimeTypes.length;
for (var i = 0; i < n; i++) {
if (mimeType == supportedMimeTypes[i].type) {
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
// -->
</script>
</head>
<body><script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript"><!--
insertMP3Playlist('playlist.m3u', 0, 0);
// -->
</script><p>Is this music playing?</p>
</body>
</html>
--
Regards,
Roland
Roland de Ruiter
Explorers: you must click on the player to activate it [1] (which is
quite difficult when width="0" and height="0"). Has to do with Microsoft
loosing the MS/Eolas patent lawsuit [2,3]. Apparently [4] when you use
JavaScript document.write("<object ...>") from an externally loaded
script it should work.
[1]<http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/techinfo/activexupdate.mspx>
[2]<http://news.com.com/Microsoft+loses+in+Eolas+patent+ruling/2100-1012_3-5885657.html>
[3]<http://www.nabble.com/Microsoft-issues-IE-update-to-get-around-the-Eolas-patent-t1202526.html>
[4]<http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/author/dhtml/overview/activating_activex.asp>
--
Regards,
Roland
dan_d...@edenpics.com
> > Roland
Hello, Roland.
Thank you for this suggestion. I was so happy to see such an
implementation of the nested object tag for failure tests....
Unfortunately, I did try it right away and it seems that Microsoft IE 6
does't follow the w3c specification on this, because there were two
instances of the music playing together, with about 50ms of delay one
between each other. Have you seen that behaviour also ?
That is very sad, it would have been the real solution if it worked..
Else, do you know how I could report the firefox mimetype bug, is there
a bugzilla for firefox ?
Thanks,
Daniel
Ron K.
PM:
I am not sure this is a bug. What you have is a probable case of no
plugin registered to handle the MIME type and pass the data stream to the
plugin for processing. Look through your about:plugin listing for the m3u
MIME type. Then look through your Options dialog and review the Download
Actions listing. If the MIME types are not showing, click on the arrow in
top right corner of the pane to unhide them.
dan_d...@edenpics.com
> plugin registered to handle the MIME type and pass the data stream to the
> plugin for processing. Look through your about:plugin listing for the m3u
> MIME type. Then look through your Options dialog and review the Download
> Actions listing. If the MIME types are not showing, click on the arrow in
> top right corner of the pane to unhide them.
>
> --
> Ron K.
Hello, Ron.
In the "tools/options/downloads/modify actions", I do not see the M3U
extension defined. This is what seems strange to me and what I think is
not normal. Shouldn't FF have registered this M3U MIME type, as MP3 are
also i nthe same list ?
I didn't find how to choose the 'about:plugin' listing. Could you
please explain to me how to see that menu more precisely ?
Thank you,
Daniel
Ron K.
PM:
For the about:plugin listing just type that into the location bar. It has
been a historical carry over from the old Netscape Navigator series
browsers and suites since the early 90's.
I have an extension named MrTech Local Install that has added a drop down
menu under the Help Main Menu listing where I can select the item. There
may be other extensions to add buttons for the Toolbar or as menu items.
Firefox will not prompt a user to add items to the Download Actions until
the first instance that it detects a new MIME or file type. Unfortunately
the Firefox developers have not made user additions an option. We could
create MIME or Helper associations in the old Netscape Navigator when we
anticipated a need for them. It is this missing function that I consider
to be suitable for a Request For Enhancement at Bugzilla if one is not
there now.
The m3u MIME may not be as common as the mp3 MIME. Lots of mp3 files are
EMBED or OBJECT tagged as single files without use of play list files.
While the EMBED is a depreciated tag in HTML 4.1, Firefox does support it
as well as IE through 5.5. IIUC, IE 6 and newer dropped EMBED and went
totally to OBJECT.
Try a browser sniffer to detect IE and send it to a single instance of
your OBJECT. Then send FF, et.al. to a nested OBJECT as a shotgun
solution to find some plugin or helper that might be installed. Linux
users are more likely to have helper associations because plugins are more
a Windows thing and do not work in Linux.
Check the other posts in the thread for one by gwtc which has a link to
get the Crescendo Max plugin. It handles mp3 MIME and works well with
Windows.
Chris Ilias
> I didn't find how to choose the 'about:plugin' listing. Could you
> please explain to me how to see that menu more precisely ?
about:plugins
not about:plugin
dan_d...@edenpics.com
Hello, Ron and Chris.
Thank you now I got this about:plugins. It doesn't show any m3u
extension handled. This is the problem, and this is what I think that
the developpers should add by default.
Also, as you stated it, I was not able to add myself that mime type
myself, which is very astonishing for a thing like FF, I wouldn't have
expected that.
I will go the way you say, and try detecting the browser for MSIE (I
believe that all internet explorer do have those 4 chars to define
it...), and act accordingly. Good idea to nest the objects if it is a
Firefox browser, I will try this.
Someone already placed a bug for this, but it was marked as invalid. I
have reopened the bug.
Thank you Ron for your ideas your provided about this!
Regards,
Daniel
Chris Ilias
> Thank you now I got this about:plugins. It doesn't show any m3u
> extension handled. This is the problem, and this is what I think that
> the developpers should add by default.
If no plug-in is registered for that content-type, or no plug-in is
available, Firefox can't add it. I think what you want is for the QT
plug-in to register itself for that content-type by default.
> Someone already placed a bug for this, but it was marked as invalid. I
> have reopened the bug.
What's the bug number?
dan_d...@edenpics.com
Chris Ilias schrieb:
>
> > Someone already placed a bug for this, but it was marked as invalid. I
> > have reopened the bug.
>
> What's the bug number?
> --
> Chris Ilias
It's here:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=335199
However, I was not able to open it up again, it is still marked as
RESOLVED and I cannot change that status. Can you do it for me ?
Else, for those who are concerned that Microsoft would make all sound
and video media request a window popup to accept displaying it for
security reasons in IE 7, please vote for that bug report at microsoft
connect (if you have an account):
https://connect.microsoft.com/IE/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=185025
(related to Roland's suggestion work-around)..
Thanks,
Daniel
Chris Ilias
> It's here:
> https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=335199
>
> However, I was not able to open it up again, it is still marked as
> RESOLVED and I cannot change that status. Can you do it for me ?
I can, but I will not. It's an invalid bug report. As I said, if no
plug-in is registered for that content-type, or no plug-in is available,
Firefox can't add it. I think what you want is for the QT plug-in to
register itself for that content-type by default.
dan_d...@edenpics.com
Chris Ilias schrieb:
> _dan_d...@edenpics.com_ spoke thusly on 24/08/2006 4:46 PM:
> > It's here:
> > https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=335199
> >
> > However, I was not able to open it up again, it is still marked as
> > RESOLVED and I cannot change that status. Can you do it for me ?
>
> I can, but I will not. It's an invalid bug report. As I said, if no
> plug-in is registered for that content-type, or no plug-in is available,
> Firefox can't add it. I think what you want is for the QT plug-in to
> register itself for that content-type by default.
> --
> Chris Ilias
Chris,
How do you explain then that Internet Explorer recognises that m3u MIME
content and run the proper program?
You see, the thing is that users do install Firefox to have a better
browser than IE. Now after installation, they see that they cannot play
m3u files. They wonder why, are asked to install a plugin for this, and
they know that it is not needed as the proper program is already
installed on the computer (proof with IE). They would have to install
it twice for it to work, and have two versions of windows media player,
just because Firefox was not able to check that the current file type
for the m3u files was associated with windows media player or whatever
else.
Firefox should at least go into internet explorer to see the file
associations there and import them.
This is most probably already the case, because when I installed
Firefox, the MP3 files where recognised, and run with the windows media
player.
So please answer to that question:
Why does firefox run the proper plugin for the MP3 and not for the M3U
?
To be logical with your conclusion, then no plugin should be recognised
at all for no filetypes, as firefox was installed after the plugin,
isn't it?
Daniel
Moz Champion (Dan)
IE also recognizes the bgsound tag, and displays garbage code, does that
mean Firefox should do the same? Firefox should come with Active X as
default, solely because IE does?
The issue here is that its the QUICKTIME plug in NOT registering the m3u
audio file - Firefox isnt in charge of QuickTime.
Firefox doesnt tell the system (or itself) if WMP can handle
video/x-ms-asf Windows Media Video asf Yes
video/x-ms-asx Windows Media Playlist asx Yes
video/x-ms-wmv Windows Media Video wmv Yes
video/x-ms-wvx Windows Media Playlist wvx Yes
audio/x-ms-wma Windows Media Audio wma Yes
audio/x-ms-wax Windows Media Playlist wax Yes
video/x-ms-wm Windows Media Video wm Yes
video/x-ms-wmp Windows Media Video wmp Yes
video/x-ms-wmx Windows Media Playlist wmx Yes
its up to the plug in to do that. In fact the above list is from the
Flip4mac plug in - when it was added, the file types you see were
automatically added to the file regplugin.dat. If I take OUT the
Flip4Mac plug in those file types will disappear. Its not Firefox's job
to write to the regplugin.dat, its the plug ins job.
In this case, you fix whats broken. Whats broken is the QuickTime plug
in - it ISNT registering the fact that it CAN handle m3u files - they
dont appear in my list either (on a mac obviously)
Firefox isnt the 'overseer' of plugins, if a plug in can handle a
specific mime type, then the plug in has to tell Firefox such. QuickTime
is simply NOT telling Firefox that it can handle the file type.
From
http://www.soundscreen.com/streaming/embed_streams.html
Note: For .m3u files to work correctly, your web server must be
configured to deliver the correct mime type for .m3u files:
audio/x-mpegurl .mp4
From
http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=M3U
Generally known as a Winamp Playlist file, this format has been adopted
by a wide variety of MP3 players.
From
net.com/digitalmedia/blog/2005/03/build_a_streaming_mp3_player.html
An m3u file is simply a text file containing the URL of the MP3 and the
extension .m3u.
So your assumption that this file type is widely adopted is simply
another example of how Microsoft is insiduously re-writing the standards
for its own ends. m3u files are WINAMP Playlist files, not a Standard
mime type.
dan_d...@edenpics.com
Hello, Moz.
I do understand that normally, it is up to the plugin to register
itself for it's supported MIME types.
However, as apparently the result is not working properly when we
install firefox AFTER the plugins (which is the case of most people on
windows), then I believe that another solution should be provided to
that problem, for people to still see the media they want to see.
I believe that we cannot let non technicians tell them that they just
have to see the FAQs on how to solve this problem, or ask the newsgroup
list.
Therefore, I would suggest two algorithms to prevent this:
1. During the installation of firefox, we do check if there are some
known mime types which are not attributed to any other plugin. If it is
the case, then we check first in an existent version of the main
browser (which is detectable), and get it's MIME type program
attribution and import it.
2. If it is still not found, we check the known installed plugins
against that MIME type to know if it could handle it. If it does, then
we attribute it to that first plugin found.
That would make the problem be solved. However, this requires that the
allocation of the mime type would be done, in those cases, by firefox,
during the installation.
Else, I still have no answer from firefox as for why the .mp3 are
assigned by default in firefox to a working plugin, and not the .m3u.
Both must have the same way to be handled to me.
The fact that the .m3u is not an official ICAN mime type is true.
However, the way they are handled is different: .m3u file types can be
streamed easily, as .mp3 cannot, but the content is almost the same.
However, you will have to know that there are many sub-mime types which
are supported by the webservers, and thus it should also be supported
by the browsers.
Apache and windows web server do support that file type. here is a list
of classical file types supported by the servers:
http://www.w3schools.com/media/media_mimeref.asp
I hope this can bring somewhere. If someone else has the same problem
than me, please tell it here also.
Thank you for the time you provided.
Daniel
Moz Champion (Dan)
Within the context of this thread, the problem isnt that the plug in
isnt claiming that file type, the problem is that that file type ISNT a
standard one! audio/x-mpegurl .mp4 m3u files are Microsoft only files
The problem of installations not recognizing extant plug ins is a system
one. There is no problem on the Macintosh for example, as existing plug
in are in a specific place and the 'new' installation of
Mozilla/Firefox/SeaMonkey will pick them up from there. So its the
design of the Windows system (and its plug in sub system) that is
derelict here. Again it is predisposed to IE being used and makes it
difficult for other products
Ron K.
AM:
Something I see that you may not understand about installed plugins.
Plugins are for the most part just two or three np*.dll files and
associated *.jar class files that get copied into the Firefox/Plugins
folder. Then on restart of Firefox it registers the plugins with it's self.
The Moz developers know about applications like Quicktime and that the
application keeps a copy of it's Netscape compatible plugin np*.dll files
in the folder tree of the application. Firefox does have a plugin scanner
that looks for np*.dll files and copies them to the Firefox plugins
folder. When I installed Firebird, the precursor to Firefox, it scanned
my Netscape Communicator 4.xx plugins folder and copied all the plugins
from there as an action during migration to Firebird.
Microsoft stopped distributing Netscape compatible plugin files shortly
after Media Player 6.4 so use of newer applications which may support MIME
types such as .m3u must be as helper applications. Thus, without a
np*.dll to find in the plugins folder Firefox must rely on a server
sending a valid MIME type that can be compared to the internal list of
supported MIME types. If not listed then the intended action is to prompt
the user to browse to the applications *.exe and designate it as the
helper for the MIME type. Is that fool proof, no. Generally it does work.
What screws things up is user mail clients that botch the needed MIME
types for inline and attached attachments. Even though Apache knows how to
send a MIME of *.m3u it is the duty of the Webmaster to ensure the correct
content type is triggering the server to send a usable MIME to trigger
user clients to call either a plugin or helper to handle the content.
Chris Ilias
> Within the context of this thread, the problem isnt that the plug in
> isnt claiming that file type, the problem is that that file type ISNT a
> standard one! audio/x-mpegurl .mp4 m3u files are Microsoft only files
Are you sure of that? QuickTime and iTunes support m3u files.
Moz Champion (Dan)
> _Moz Champion (Dan)_ spoke thusly on 29/08/2006 1:23 PM:
>> Within the context of this thread, the problem isnt that the plug in
>> isnt claiming that file type, the problem is that that file type ISNT
>> a standard one! audio/x-mpegurl .mp4 m3u files are Microsoft only
>> files
>
> Are you sure of that? QuickTime and iTunes support m3u files.
They 'support' them but they dont list them.
a m3u file is nothing but a text list with a listing of mp4 files, its
not really a separate mime type at all.
audio/mpegurl is mp4 its NOT a m3u
All a m3u is is a 'playlist' for Windows Media Player
Chris Ilias
> Chris Ilias wrote:
>
>> Are you sure of that? QuickTime and iTunes support m3u files.
>
> They 'support' them but they dont list them.
And the difference is?
> audio/mpegurl is mp4 its NOT a m3u
>
> All a m3u is is a 'playlist' for Windows Media Player
Could you please cite sources, that say audio/mpegurl is not m3u, and
that m3u is "for" WMP (whatever that means)?
Moz Champion (Dan)
> _Moz Champion (Dan)_ spoke thusly on 29/08/2006 8:44 PM:
>> Chris Ilias wrote:
>>
>>> Are you sure of that? QuickTime and iTunes support m3u files.
>>
>> They 'support' them but they dont list them.
>
> And the difference is?
>
>> audio/mpegurl is mp4 its NOT a m3u
>>
>> All a m3u is is a 'playlist' for Windows Media Player
>
> Could you please cite sources, that say audio/mpegurl is not m3u, and
> that m3u is "for" WMP (whatever that means)?
Um, didnt I do that already?
Lets see... yep a couple of messages up.
You mean you want me to REPEAT things because YOU snipped them out? How
loverly
Anyway
From
http://www.soundscreen.com/streaming/embed_streams.html
Note: For .m3u files to work correctly, your web server must be
configured to deliver the correct mime type for .m3u files:
audio/x-mpegurl .mp4
From
http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=M3U
Generally known as a Winamp Playlist file, this format has been adopted
by a wide variety of MP3 players.
From
net.com/digitalmedia/blog/2005/03/build_a_streaming_mp3_player.html
An m3u file is simply a text file containing the URL of the MP3 and the
extension .m3u.
m3u is NOT audio/mpegurl audio/mpegurl is mp4
m3u is simply a PLAYLIST in text for WMP refering to the underlying mp4
files. The mime type audio/mpegurl is mp4
Its yet another clever ruse by Microsoft to make the web its own and to
shut out other programs. WMP 'sees' the m3u extension, then reads the
text, and plays the mp4 file! When in actuality there is nothing more
than the mp4 file in the first place!
m3u isnt a mime type, and doesnt have a mime type of its own, because it
was NEVER designed to! Its a Microsoft invention to 'mess up' other
browsers and plug ins and prevent them from playing the mp4 files
presented in their playlists.
Really, Chris, you complain so much when people dont snip, and then you
cant be bothered to read previous messages in the thread to get the
information? And you wonder why I dont like snipping? I could have saved
myself several minutes in just this one reply for example if the
information hadnt been snipped out of the thread.
squaredancer
generate the following:? :
*lol* in other words "shoot the webmaster" (again)
reg
Roland de Ruiter
Dan,
Two of the URLs you posted don't work (at least not for me). Maybe you
could have checked them before posting.
The first, <http://www.soundscreen.com/streaming/embed_streams.html>,
shows a message saying that the "domain name expired on 08/24/2006"
(well OK, probably the about the same time when you first posted the URL).
The second URL,
<http://net.com/digitalmedia/blog/2005/03/build_a_streaming_mp3_player.html>
(http:// added by me), redirects me to the main page of the site.
I'm not sure what you mean by "is" in "audio/mpegurl is mp4". If you
mean "audio/mpegurl is the same as (MIME-type?) mp4" then that is
incorrect. Firstly, the soundscreen.com page you cited mentioned
"audio/x-mpegurl", not "audio/mpegurl". Secondly the MIME type
"audio/mpegurl" is not an offical MIME type (i.e. it's not registered at
IANA [1]).
MP4 (or even MPEG-4, the multimedia *format* used for storing digital
audio and video) is certainly not the same as the MIME type
"audio/mpegurl". AFAIK, neither MP4 nor the MPEG-4 format have anything
to do with MIME type "audio/mpegurl" (or "audio/x-mpegurl"). There are
however (at least) 3 registered MIME types for MPEG-4 :
application/mp4 [1.1]
audio/mp4 [1.2]
video/mp4 [1.3]
Note, that with MPEG-4 I don't just mean a file with *extension* ".mp4",
but the MPEG-4 audio/video format.
M3U (MPEG Version 3.0 URL) is a file *format* for storing multimedia
playlists (recommended file extension ".m3u") and was originally used by
WinAmp/NullSoft [2,3,4]. So Microsoft has nothing to do with it except
that it adopted it as a playlist format for Windows Media Player, just
like many other mediaplayers --on various platforms-- have adopted it
[2] (including iTunes).
The contents of the playlist file could refer to *several* files in
*any format*, including MS/IBM Waveform audio (.wav extension), MPEG-1
Audio Layer 3 audio (.mp3), QuickTime Movie (.mov) or even MPEG-4
(.mp4). The mediaplayer will play each file contained in the playlist,
if it can handle the file's format (and if the file is accessible).
Although the MIME type "audio/x-mpegurl" is not an official MIME type
(i.e. not registered at IANA), it is widely accepted as the MIME type
for an M3U playlist. The Apache webserver, for example, associates a
file with .m3u extension with this MIME type. See also the MIME type
list at [5], the URL that you provided.
The "x-" in "audio/x-mpegurl" indicates that it is an experimental,
unofficial (=unregistered) MIME type. IANA (or rather the RFC4288)
allows these unofficial, experimental MIME types, see [6].
When you say "m3u is NOT audio/mpegurl" you are correct in the strict
sense of these words. However, like I just said, "audio/x-mpegurl" is
widely accepted a MIME type for an M3U playlist.
I'm wondering where did you get the impression that "The mime type
audio/mpegurl is mp4". If it was from
<http://www.soundscreen.com/streaming/embed_streams.html> (as said, this
domain has expired, but the page currently is available in the Google
cache at [7]), then you seem to be mistaken, since I think that the page
contains an error, the line:
audio/x-mpegurl .mp4
should be
audio/x-mpegurl .m3u
in order to match what the page describes, i.e. to configure a webserver
to associate files with extension m3u to be served with content type
(MIME type) audio/x-mpegurl (the line matches the format of the Apache
mime.types configuration file).
Further you when you say "WMP 'sees' the m3u extension, then reads the
text, and plays the mp4 file! When in actuality there is nothing more
than the mp4 file in the first place!" I get the impression that you
really think that an M3U file is the same as an MP4 file. As I said
before, an M3U play list can refer to *multiple* files in *any* format
(but typically audio and video only), including MPEG-4
Finally, let me say that from reading your messages I get the impression
that you seem to loathe Microsoft, however in the way you express this I
think you make a fool of yourself. If I were a Mozilla Champion I would
not write messages in the style you do.
[1]<http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/>
[1.1]<http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/>
[1.2]<http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/audio/>
[1.3]<http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/video/>
[2]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3U>
[3]<http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=65772>
[4]<http://hanna.pyxidis.org/tech/m3u.html>
[5]<http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=M3U>
[6]<http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc4288.txt>
[7]<http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.soundscreen.com/streaming/embed_streams.html&hl=en&lr=&sa=G&strip=1>
--
Regards,
Roland
Moz Champion (Dan)
Sorry, my apologies, the first page DID work when I originally posted
the material, I admit I didnt check it when I copy and pasted it again.
I have no excuse for the third url. I dont know why it got messed up.
>
> I'm not sure what you mean by "is" in "audio/mpegurl is mp4". If you
> mean "audio/mpegurl is the same as (MIME-type?) mp4" then that is
> incorrect. Firstly, the soundscreen.com page you cited mentioned
> "audio/x-mpegurl", not "audio/mpegurl". Secondly the MIME type
> "audio/mpegurl" is not an offical MIME type (i.e. it's not registered at
> IANA [1]).
> MP4 (or even MPEG-4, the multimedia *format* used for storing digital
> audio and video) is certainly not the same as the MIME type
> "audio/mpegurl". AFAIK, neither MP4 nor the MPEG-4 format have anything
> to do with MIME type "audio/mpegurl" (or "audio/x-mpegurl"). There are
> however (at least) 3 registered MIME types for MPEG-4 :
> application/mp4 [1.1]
> audio/mp4 [1.2]
> video/mp4 [1.3]
> Note, that with MPEG-4 I don't just mean a file with *extension* ".mp4",
> but the MPEG-4 audio/video format.
I was going by those websites. In checking the IANA site, audio/mpegurl
is not a registered mime, but then neither is audio/x-mpegurl either!
Microsoft lists that (with the extension m3u) for one of its products
>
> M3U (MPEG Version 3.0 URL) is a file *format* for storing multimedia
> playlists (recommended file extension ".m3u") and was originally used by
> WinAmp/NullSoft [2,3,4]. So Microsoft has nothing to do with it except
> that it adopted it as a playlist format for Windows Media Player, just
> like many other mediaplayers --on various platforms-- have adopted it
> [2] (including iTunes).
> The contents of the playlist file could refer to *several* files in *any
> format*, including MS/IBM Waveform audio (.wav extension), MPEG-1 Audio
> Layer 3 audio (.mp3), QuickTime Movie (.mov) or even MPEG-4 (.mp4). The
> mediaplayer will play each file contained in the playlist, if it can
> handle the file's format (and if the file is accessible).
So m3u is NOT a mime type, it cant be. Because the files underlying it
can be in several mime types!'
>
> Although the MIME type "audio/x-mpegurl" is not an official MIME type
> (i.e. not registered at IANA), it is widely accepted as the MIME type
> for an M3U playlist. The Apache webserver, for example, associates a
> file with .m3u extension with this MIME type. See also the MIME type
> list at [5], the URL that you provided.
> The "x-" in "audio/x-mpegurl" indicates that it is an experimental,
> unofficial (=unregistered) MIME type. IANA (or rather the RFC4288)
> allows these unofficial, experimental MIME types, see [6].
>
> When you say "m3u is NOT audio/mpegurl" you are correct in the strict
> sense of these words. However, like I just said, "audio/x-mpegurl" is
> widely accepted a MIME type for an M3U playlist.
widely accepted as a play list... not as a MIME type.
I dont loathe Microsoft.
m3u is not a proper mime type, its a file format that can 'encase' any
number of mime formats, mp3, wav, mp4 which all have their own mime types.
Ron K.
The Cardinal Rule in communications is: The sender of the message is
totally responsible for the communication process. Any time the receiver
hints they do not understand, they are innocent.
Chris Ilias
> Chris Ilias wrote:
>
>> Could you please cite sources, that say audio/mpegurl is not m3u, and
>> that m3u is "for" WMP (whatever that means)?
>
> Um, didnt I do that already?
"Um," no you didn't. The only working URL you posted, actually
contradicts both of your statements.
I asked you to cite sources that say "m3u is for Windows Media Player".
The only working URL you posted says that M3U is "Generally known as a
Winamp Playlist file, this format has been adopted by a wide variety of
MP3 players." Winamp is not Windows Media Player. Winamp isn't even a
Microsoft product.
I asked you to cite sources that say "audio/mpegurl is not m3u."
The only working URL you posted says "Be certain the server has
audio/mpeg as the MIME type for the .MP3 file extension and
audio/x-mpegurl for the .M3U file extension."
Since you don't seem to be differentiating between audio/mpegurl and
audio/x-mpegurl; how could you then say that audio/mpegurl is not
correct for m3u files? In fact, the OP used audio/x-mpegurl, which is
what that page says to use.
You argued that the OP shouldn't be using M3U files for embedding an MP3
playlist on his page, saying that it is "Microsoft only."
Dan, could you (or any Mac user) do me this favour: *On your Mac*, open
the QuickTime plug-in MIME Settings panel, and under "MP3" select "MP3
Playlist" so the associated MIME types and file extensions are
displayed; then take a screenshot, upload it somewhere (may I suggest
<http://www.imageshack.us/>), and post a link to that screenshot in a
reply to this post.
Here's what the Windows version of QT looks like:
<http://ilias.ca/screenshots/qtMIMEsettings-mp3playlist.png>
Look at the Google Search results for "audio/mpegurl",
"audio/x-mpegurl", and "m3u, mime type".
<http://www.google.com/search?q=audio%2Fmpegurl>
<http://www.google.com/search?q=audio%2Fx-mpegurl>
<http://www.google.com/search?q=m3u%2C+mime+type>
The notion that the OP did something wrong, by using an M3U file, then
serving it as audio/x-mpegurl, to embed an MP3 playlist, is simply
incorrect. The OP didn't do anything wrong, except not know what
content-type the M3U was being served as, and expect Firefox to be
responsible for assigning it to a plug-in.
> Really, Chris, you complain so much when people dont snip,
I do?
> And you wonder why I dont like snipping?
I never wondered why you don't like snipping. I /know/ why you don't
like snipping. I respect rules.
> I could have saved
> myself several minutes in just this one reply for example if the
> information hadnt been snipped out of the thread.
Who would have thought you were just going to repost the same links that
don't support your argument? :-P
Roland de Ruiter
OK
>>
>> I'm not sure what you mean by "is" in "audio/mpegurl is mp4". If you
>> mean "audio/mpegurl is the same as (MIME-type?) mp4" then that is
>> incorrect. Firstly, the soundscreen.com page you cited mentioned
>> "audio/x-mpegurl", not "audio/mpegurl". Secondly the MIME type
>> "audio/mpegurl" is not an offical MIME type (i.e. it's not registered
>> at IANA [1]).
>> MP4 (or even MPEG-4, the multimedia *format* used for storing digital
>> audio and video) is certainly not the same as the MIME type
>> "audio/mpegurl". AFAIK, neither MP4 nor the MPEG-4 format have
>> anything to do with MIME type "audio/mpegurl" (or "audio/x-mpegurl").
>> There are however (at least) 3 registered MIME types for MPEG-4 :
>> application/mp4 [1.1]
>> audio/mp4 [1.2]
>> video/mp4 [1.3]
>> Note, that with MPEG-4 I don't just mean a file with *extension*
>> ".mp4", but the MPEG-4 audio/video format.
>
>
> I was going by those websites. In checking the IANA site, audio/mpegurl
> is not a registered mime, but then neither is audio/x-mpegurl either!
That does not mean that these MIME types aren't being used (although I
would use "audio/x-mpegurl" and not "audio/mpegurl", since the latter is
not a registered MIME type; the former is allowed due to the "x-" prefix).
<http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/winmime.html> shows a list of MIME types
being used on the Internet (and which plugins can handle them). Several
of them are experimental (have "x-" prefix in their subtype), and
probably not registered with IANA (haven't checked). [I would be
surprised if more than 50% of the types on the page were registered with
IANA.]
> Microsoft lists that (with the extension m3u) for one of its products
So does QuickTime. And the Apache webserver. And maybe WinAmp and
the Crescendo plugin (can't check these two).
What is your point exactly?
>
>>
>> M3U (MPEG Version 3.0 URL) is a file *format* for storing multimedia
>> playlists (recommended file extension ".m3u") and was originally used
>> by WinAmp/NullSoft [2,3,4]. So Microsoft has nothing to do with it
>> except that it adopted it as a playlist format for Windows Media
>> Player, just like many other mediaplayers --on various platforms--
>> have adopted it [2] (including iTunes).
>> The contents of the playlist file could refer to *several* files in
>> *any format*, including MS/IBM Waveform audio (.wav extension), MPEG-1
>> Audio Layer 3 audio (.mp3), QuickTime Movie (.mov) or even MPEG-4
>> (.mp4). The mediaplayer will play each file contained in the playlist,
>> if it can handle the file's format (and if the file is accessible).
>
> So m3u is NOT a mime type, it cant be. Because the files underlying it
> can be in several mime types!'
M3U is not a MIME type, but not because of what you say.
M3U is a file *format*. Period.
[Originally used by NullSoft's WinAmp, and "audio/x-mpegurl" widely
accepted as its associated MIME type.]
With the same reasoning, would you dare to say that HTML (or its
associated MIME type "text/html", for that matter) is not a MIME type
*because* the files underlying it (your words), or files referred by it
(my words), can be in several mime types? [And what do you mean by "can
be in several mime types"?]
>
>>
>> Although the MIME type "audio/x-mpegurl" is not an official MIME type
>> (i.e. not registered at IANA), it is widely accepted as the MIME type
>> for an M3U playlist. The Apache webserver, for example, associates a
>> file with .m3u extension with this MIME type. See also the MIME type
>> list at [5], the URL that you provided.
>> The "x-" in "audio/x-mpegurl" indicates that it is an experimental,
>> unofficial (=unregistered) MIME type. IANA (or rather the RFC4288)
>> allows these unofficial, experimental MIME types, see [6].
>>
>> When you say "m3u is NOT audio/mpegurl" you are correct in the strict
>> sense of these words. However, like I just said, "audio/x-mpegurl" is
>> widely accepted a MIME type for an M3U playlist.
>
> widely accepted as a play list... not as a MIME type.
What do you mean? You seem to have left the subject out of this sentence.
So *what* exactly is "widely accepted as a play list..."?
And *what* exactly is "not" accepted "as a MIME type"?
OK, but I got a different impression when you said "Its yet another
clever ruse by Microsoft to make the web its own" and "Its a Microsoft
invention to 'mess up' other browsers and plug ins".
Your statement (a few messages back in this thread) that "m3u files are
Microsoft only files" simply isn't true.
Neither is "The mime type audio/mpegurl is mp4" in any way I can think
of. What exactly do you mean by it?
>
>
> m3u is not a proper mime type,
What's a "proper" MIME type (are there improper MIME types)?
M3U is not a MIME type. Period.
> its a file format
Yes
> that can 'encase'
What do you mean by "'encase'"? If you think that M3U is a container
format like the AVI file format (encapsulating metadata, audio, video in
various encodings, but resulting in *single* piece of footage), then
that is incorrect.
So what exactly do you mean by "'encase'"?
> any
> number of mime formats,
Do you mean file format? If not, what is a mime format?
> mp3, wav, mp4 which all have their own mime types.
Can't comment on this until you explain what you mean by "'encase'".
>
--
Regards,
Roland