mgdpublic
11-19-2003, 06:13 PM
I've set an href to an mp3 file but it attempts to downoad it to a temp folder rather than just play in Windows Media player as a stream. What can I do to make it do the latter? Thanks.
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toicontien
11-19-2003, 08:02 PM
Easy!
1. Creat a blank text file and call it something.m3u (the .m3u part is the important part). In this text file, place the absolute URL to the MP3 file that you want to stream. To get around a bizarre bug in Winamp, place one carriage return after the URL.
2. Upload the .m3u file to your web space.
3. Upload the MP3 file to the folder your .m3u file points to.
4. Add a link to the .m3u file from an HTML page.
The .m3u file type is the default playlist file type for Winamp. Most other media players can read this too, i.e. RealOne Player, Windows Media, Free Amp, Sonique, etc. If things don't work the way you want, change the file extension to .pls, which is the default file extension for Real Player playlists.
The user clicks on the link to the playlist. It opens in their default media player. This next part depends on how your web server is configured, but most web servers are configured to stream content requested via .pls and .m3u playlists. Most media players will then automatically buffer the stream and play the media (an MP3 file in your case).
You can stream .wma, .mp3, .wav, .ogg, .mid, heck, maybe even .mpeg files (I haven't tried MPEG files yet). Basically any audio type.
1. Creat a blank text file and call it something.m3u (the .m3u part is the important part). In this text file, place the absolute URL to the MP3 file that you want to stream. To get around a bizarre bug in Winamp, place one carriage return after the URL.
2. Upload the .m3u file to your web space.
3. Upload the MP3 file to the folder your .m3u file points to.
4. Add a link to the .m3u file from an HTML page.
The .m3u file type is the default playlist file type for Winamp. Most other media players can read this too, i.e. RealOne Player, Windows Media, Free Amp, Sonique, etc. If things don't work the way you want, change the file extension to .pls, which is the default file extension for Real Player playlists.
The user clicks on the link to the playlist. It opens in their default media player. This next part depends on how your web server is configured, but most web servers are configured to stream content requested via .pls and .m3u playlists. Most media players will then automatically buffer the stream and play the media (an MP3 file in your case).
You can stream .wma, .mp3, .wav, .ogg, .mid, heck, maybe even .mpeg files (I haven't tried MPEG files yet). Basically any audio type.
mgdpublic
11-19-2003, 10:44 PM
Thanks, I'll try that. In the text file, do I need to use an href command or just "http:// etc?" . Also, when I had a cheapo account of geocities it automatically streamed it. What's the difference?
toicontien
11-20-2003, 01:52 AM
In the text file, you only need the exact absolute URL to the file, like http://www.somedomain.com/music/song.mp3.
Geocities might have their servers set up to automatically stream MP3 files. When files are streamed, they use a different connection protocol than TCP/IP. The connection protocol used to transmit the file (I assume) has to do whether it's downloaded via the browser or opened in a different program.
Geocities might have their servers set up to automatically stream MP3 files. When files are streamed, they use a different connection protocol than TCP/IP. The connection protocol used to transmit the file (I assume) has to do whether it's downloaded via the browser or opened in a different program.
mgdpublic
11-20-2003, 08:32 AM
Ok I did that and it opens up mediaplayer but it says "connecting" forever. If I click on "play in default media player in WMP, it puts up the black video screen and begins to play it but at ridiculously slow download speeds. I'm using freewebs free service but it was never this slow with geocities. Why doesn't it play automatically in WMP and is there anything I can do about the speed?
mgdpublic
11-20-2003, 09:48 AM
I should add that the file is 1.29megs and takes about 3-4 minutes to buffer.
toicontien
11-20-2003, 12:02 PM
Programs don't need to buffer the entire song. What's best is to keep two copies of the sound on the server: One saved at a low bitrate and another at 128k for high bandwidth users.
MP3.com uses 24k per second at 11k hertz MP3s for dial-up users and 128k 14k/Hz for broadband. You'll need two links then to two different .m3u files, one file each points to one of the MP3 files.
MP3.com uses 24k per second at 11k hertz MP3s for dial-up users and 128k 14k/Hz for broadband. You'll need two links then to two different .m3u files, one file each points to one of the MP3 files.
mgdpublic
11-20-2003, 12:41 PM
I have cable and it still buffers and takes forever at that. Is it because freewebs sucks?
toicontien
11-20-2003, 05:56 PM
Yup. You got it. Head to http://www.mp3.com/ and stream a song from there. If it still takes a long time, then it's your cable connection. If the buffering time is quick, Freewebs suck.
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