BleepingComputer.com: Wmp Won't Show Video, But Plays Audio Okay

When I play a .wmv file, Windows Media Player opens and the audio starts, but the player screen stays black. I can't get the video to display.

I tried updating from WMP version 10 to version 11, but that didn't fix it. I also installed what I thought were the newest codecs from MS (file name is WM9Codecs.exe). Near the end of the install of the new codecs I got a message that said "Microsoft Media Technology" wasn't compatible with this version (or something like that). But, at the end of the install of the new codecs, I got another message saying the install completed and that I needed to reboot. The pc rebooted fine.

I have gone into Quicktime and made sure it wasn't set as the default player of .wmv files.

I have checked that WMP is the default player of .wmv files.

It has been over a month since I played a .wmv file and I don't remember everything that I have changed on the pc since the last time I played one, but here are some changes I do remember:

Installed Jungle Disk (a front end for using Amazon's S3 web based storage. Uses something called WebDav.).

Un-installed Zone Alarm free firewall.

Updated Adobe Reader

Installed and uninstalled trial of IP Traffic Monitor 2.2

Updated my password manager

Updated Firefox

Thanks for any help you can give. - Joe


Toshiba laptop, XP Home SP2 all critical updates

Have you tried to uninstall and then reinstall WMP?

I'd try installing Klite codec pack. http://www.codecguide.com/

I did uninstall WMP 11, so am back to WMP 10. Still no luck. I have chosen so far not to reinstall WMP 11 just yet because I read some negative things about it during my research. I did learn something that might be of use to others though. I had planned to do a system restore back to a date before I upgraded to WMP 11 after I had uninstalled it, but, all my restore points were erased/deleted during the uninstall of WMP 11. I don't know if that's normal, or is a sign of something quirky with my pc, but I was surprised.

Thanks for the idea and link to the klite codec site. I may give that a try. I'm also considering installing VLC Media Player. Will post my results either way.

Joe

NOOOO!!! Do NOT install K-Lite, it's full of bloat and conflicting filters. Also has illegal beta and copyright distributions if I'm not correct. More info here, 2nd post and a few subsequent posts by the same user.

Your restore points might have cleared because you cleaned up your disk space.

VLC is good, but I'd recommend you either get CCCP (no, not the Russian thing), a codec pack with 2 excellent media players (it actually works, it's custom built by experts with help by the same person who explained K-Lite's evilness above), or MPlayer. Both are excellent choices.

Is it possible your WMP 11 was a corrupt install? And are you positive the .wmv doesn't have a black screen itself?

I installed VLC, and am still having the same problem. Screen is black while a video file is playing. I'm sure the files that I have tried have video, because I have watched them before on the problem pc and on another pc.

Regarding the lost restore points, I didn't do a disk space clean up and the restore points were there a couple of days earlier.

Don't know if the WMP 11 install was corrupt. I did get a message about "Windows Media Technology" not being compatible. If it was corrupt, I think the odds of VLC not working would be small. But, I know very little about media files and players.

Does it still seem like a codec problem? Since a current version of VLC with current codecs doesn't work, I'm wondering if it could be something else. Is there some windows service that could have been shut off unwittingly or unknowingly that needs to be running?

Thanks for your input.

Joe

Please try CCCP. I have never had a problem with it and you can get support on the forum. Installs all needed codecs, disables any if needed, and supports everything that's not so obscure it's antediluvian.

I don't like VLC. Doesn't operate on its own set of codecs.

that hammer and sycle have always scared me off

the site is hosted in the usa, them mkv started with some brilliant russian origins tho

so did kasp

I stop at mediaplayer10, then I load the latest ffdshow, if my nero vision won't play it I use media player classic

I then use dvdflick to convert to dvd files

Quote

that's the problem, you need to fix directx/directshow, that way windows does the work and more programs work with more file types/containers

http://forum.digital-digest.com/index.php

This post has been edited by DaChew: 09 May 2008 - 10:45 PM

here's the hijackthis of codecs

use carefully

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Codec_Sniper

This post has been edited by DaChew: 09 May 2008 - 10:57 PM

DaChew, on May 9 2008, 08:42 PM, said:

CCCP was a pun on the Russian thing. But don't worry no affiliation. If you must know there's more relation of CCCP with the Japanese cartoon world than Russia
While I agree with not installing stuff that supports dictators or communists, but there's no reason if there's no relation and it's a great solution.

Nice find with the codec HJT, nice way to put it

I guess the reason we don't use it over at digital video is it's just a player and we try to encode also, I do a lot of video conversions and watch on the big screen

Sorry for delay in responding. Haven't worked on this problem for awhile.

Night before last I happened to notice a strange listing on the recently opened programs list in the Win Start Menu. It was called something like "Convert Video to VLC mode" as opposed to some program name. The path was to VLC. Curiosity got the best of me and I clicked it. The VLC player gui flashed on the screen for less than a second and disappeared. Then I opened a .wmv file and VLC opened and played it just fine. If I had known to go through this step after I installed VLC, VLC probably would have worked the day I installed it. I assumed VLC was ready to go after the installation when I saw the VLC logo/icon associated with all the video files on my pc.

WMP 10 still won't play .wmv files.

Chewy, am I understanding correctly that you are recommending I "fix" directx/directshow? If so, here's dumb question #2: How do I fix directx/directshow? Do I download and install DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer from Microsoft at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

Any specific instructions would be appreciated.

Skyfuser, thanks for the input. I'm not going to install any more video players as long as VLC is working. I would like to get WMP 10 back up and running though.

Thanks for the help - Joe

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/FFDshow.htm

this is just ffdshow


skyfuser's link has this and a few more tweaks, probably mkv based
I don't stream HD out so I never bother with them

the ffdshow tries to fix directshow/x with windows

fixing media player is a tall order tho, an almost impossible task

I stopped at wmp 10 myself

I just worked through the trouble shooting process at this link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306317 and got WMP 10 playing video again. Adjusting the video acceleration in WMP 10 (Tools > Options > Performance tab > Video Acceleration: changed from Full to the middle position.) fixed the problem. Don't know when or how it was moved to full, or if it always was at full and something on the pc has changed and WMP 10 won't play at full acceleration anymore. Either way, I'm glad it's operating again.

The link had several things to test/try that I didn't know existed. Hope it helps someone else someday.

Joe