IE 9 won't play Mp4 videos

Chanimal wrote on 5/9/2011, 7:25 AM

I updated to Internet Explorer 9 over the weekend. Suddenly, none of the sample videos I have on my server that were encoded with Vegas AVC/mp4 will stream (using either 640x480 or a 640x360 widescreen). They must download entirely and then IE 9 opens it's own window and plays them (can't resize, etc.).

They pop up in their own window with WMP with IE 8, but not with IE 9. I found a link that tells about it at http://help.videojs.com/discussions/problems/323-videojs-mp4-file-not-working-in-internet-explorer-9-on-one-server

It appears to be a video header issue that can be fixed to make the server more compatable with IE 9, but when my ISP made the changes, it still didn't work:

Support comments:
From the link http://help.videojs.com/discussions/problems/323-videojs-mp4-file-not-working-in-internet-explorer-9-on-one-server , I have added the following code in the .htaccess file at the public_html directory and now your issue should be resolved :

AddType video/m4v m4v
AddType video/mp4 mp4

I researched further and there are some comments about the codec that was used to make the mp4 files. I used the Vegas MainConcept AVC.

I know I can recommend folks use IE 8, but I shouldn't have to worry about it and I expect a lot more visitors will start to switch.

austinfinch.com is one of the sites on my server with sample videos that are not working.

Any similar experiences and work arounds (without having to re-render all the videos to a different format).

Thanks - Ted

Comments

Tom Pauncz wrote on 5/9/2011, 7:57 AM

Ted,
I am seeing the same issue on Firefox 3.6.17.

You might want to try to process your MP4 files using MP4 fast Start.

In another recent thread it was said that the SONY encoder places some meta data at the end of the file, which is why the whole file needs to download.

MP4 Fast Start moves that info to the beginning of the file.

YMMV,
Tom

amendegw wrote on 5/9/2011, 9:02 AM

First, I would strongly recommend that you use a Media Player such as JW Player or FlowPlayer or one of the many others to play the videos from you site (or all your users will run into the same problems you see).

The problem is that the WMP plugin is not installed and/or configured on your Internet Explorer installation. The computer I'm at right now happens to play mp4's in Quicktime - the Quicktime Player will work as well. But in either of these cases, you are at the mercy of the user's configuration - that's why a server based Media Player is better (actually, it's specified on the server, but actually plays on the client).

Unfortunately, I'm not in a position where I can give you a step-by-step. If no one has chimed in by this afternoon, I'll be back.

...Jerry

Edit: Try this: open the following URL: http://www.jazzythedog.com/videos/chrissoccer.wmv I believe IE will recognize it as a needing to install the WMP plugin. Then try to open one of you mp4's. My guess is that it will now work.

Edit2: In doing some further research, it looks like this is controlled by the file associations.

1) Find an mp4 on your hard drive.
2) Right-Click on it.
3) Select "Open with"->"Choose Default Program"
4) Select "Windows Media Player" (or VLC or Quicktime or ??)
5) Make sure "Always use this program" is checked.
6) Click "Okay"

amendegw wrote on 5/9/2011, 1:09 PM

Ted,

Allow me to be so presumptuous as to suggest a better way to display your mp4s - and its pretty simple to implement. First, click here: Just a Horse If you don't like it, go no further, but if you do, here's how to implement:

1) As Tom Pauncz suggested, you must use mp4faststart to allow your videos to progressively download.
2) Download three free javascript libraries:
...a) jQuery
...b) SimpleModal
...c) JW Player

Modify the following html to fit your webpage (note there's a bug in the way this forum displays the & [title] tags, but any web programmer worth his/her salt should be able to find and correct that. Detail is here:
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.5.2/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="js/jquery.simplemodal-1.4.1.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="../JWPlayer55/jwplayer.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">

function playIt(divID)
{
// modify the CSS style of the div container
$(divID).modal({
opacity: 80,
overlayCss: { backgroundColor: "#342826" },
position: ["25%","25%"] ,
onClose: function ()
{
$.modal.close();
}
});
}

</script>
<style type="text/css">
#simplemodal-container a.modalCloseImg
{
background: url(images/x.png) no-repeat; /* adjust url as required */
width: 50px;
height: 58px;
display: inline;
position: absolute;
top: -20px;
right: -20px;
cursor: pointer;
z-index: 3200;
overflow: visible;
}
div.divmain
{
background-color: Black;
width: 1024px;
height: 768px;
margin: 0 auto;
text-align: center;
}
</style>
</head>
<body style="background-color: #000000;">
<div class="divmain">
<p style="color: Orange; font-size:x-large;">
Just a Horse</p>

<img src="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20447760/Horse.jpg"
alt="Eagle Scout" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='pointer';" onclick="playIt('#player')" />
<p style="color: White">
Click the image to play the video<br />Choose your favorite Image</p>
<br />


<div id="player" style="display: none;">
<div id='container'>
Loading the player ...</div>
<script type='text/javascript'>
jwplayer('container').setup({
flashplayer: '../JWplayer55/player.swf',
file: 'videos/horses-1.mp4',
height: 368,
width: 640,
autostart: true,
events: {
onComplete: function ()
{
$.modal.close();
}
}
});
// jwplayer('container').play();
</script>
</div>
<div style="display: none;">
<img src='Images/x.png' alt='Close' />
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Edit: Fixed Firefox bug.

Enjoy!
...Jerry

Chanimal wrote on 5/9/2011, 3:08 PM

First, thanks for the response.

These videos stream just fine on IE 8.0, which is why I thought they were fine. The do not stream on IE 9.0. Nothing is different about the videos. I can try MP4 Fast Start--but why would it work with IE 8 and not IE 9?

Regarding the other post about associations, when I click on a mp4 file on the computer it loads Windows Media Player by default, so I don't think that is the issue.

I understand that IE 9 is more compatable with HTML 5. Perhaps the 8 is more lose in its standards. Especially if Firefox also has a similar problem (and it may be more compliant (although you don't have 4.0).

I thought it might be server associations or something related to the server. I'll try to re-render with fast start and go from there. I return and report the results.

BTW, I don't run them within a window (like your sample (thanks)) since I want to be able to re-size if desired--which is an option when they load into WMP by default.

amendegw wrote on 5/9/2011, 3:45 PM

Oh my, it looks like your committed to a non-standard way of delivering web video. I don't think I can help you any further than what I've posted above. Maybe others can.

Good Luck!
...Jerry

btw, in order for IE9 to display HTML5 video, it must be delivered within the <video> tag. On your webpage, the link is directly to source file which is downloaded and played via a local (i.e. non-browser) media player.

Chanimal wrote on 5/9/2011, 3:45 PM

No, fast start is not the issue. I took one of the files and ran fast start on it. I then transfered it over to my server, linked to it from a web page and clicked the link.

It does the exact same thing. It still downloads the entire file before it plays (in it's own window btw--instead of with Windows Media Player).

In IE 8.0, it works fine. Any comments?

deusx wrote on 5/9/2011, 10:46 PM

Render to Mp4 from Vegas, use MP4 fast start on a file and then use one of the available flash players to play your video.

It's insane to even contemplate using quicktime or windows media player in this day and age ( has been for at least 3-4 years ).

Flash player will make sure 99% of you site's visitors see videos the same way. With quicktime and WMP who knows what they'll get. Resizing should not be a factor considering all of the problems you get by using those players ( you can always offer a download to open in whatever player they want ). Flash player can also be resized, but you'd probably have to code one yourself for that.

Larry Clifford wrote on 2/28/2013, 4:04 PM

I just saw this. I am looking at installing IE 9 in Windows 7 SP-1 64-bit.

Does anyone see a problem using just that install?

Does anyone know of other problems with other applications.

Thank you,
Larry