Some of the common problems that result in questions asked of me are discussed here:
Netscape and SoundApp:
Q: IΓÇÖve configured 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¥ pop-up 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: 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 Layer I or II files, but it can play MPEG-2 Layer III files and Shockwave ΓÇ£.swaΓÇ¥ 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.
Q: Why doesnΓÇÖt clicking in the progress bar work for some files?
A: Not all file formats inherently support random access and SoundApp doesnΓÇÖt yet emulate this capability for those formats. File encodings that do not support random access are: MOD/S3M/MTM files using the ZSS driver, Amiga IFF Fibbonacci-delta compressed files, DVI ADPCM and any of the G72x compression formats.
AppleScript Ranges:
Q: Why does the start at and stop at AppleScript parameters work for some files and not others?
A: SoundApp doesnΓÇÖt support these parameters for stereo SoundEdit, non-block based compressed files (Fibbonacci-delta, G.72x, Huffman and DVI ADPCM), MOD/S3M/MTM and MIDI. Future versions may support some of the compressed types for conversion.
