When I download a video I am not able to play the whole thing.
Early in the download when I "launch" it will show me te first 2% or so.
Later when launch it will show the first 3-4% but then something happens.
When I have downloaded more, like 10% (many megs) it will not show the next part of the video.
I have tried Quicktime and downloaded a couple of other players, but nothing seems to work.
The videos are not complete, but it seems like I should be able to watch the percentage of the movie that has been downloaded into the "incomplete" file.
Thanks ahead of time for any help.
Y'all have been very thoughtful in the past.

Which version are using Michael? Versions prior to 3.X did not attempt to download the file in sequential order, but from 3.X on, every attempt was made to ensure that the file was downloaded in order. While this has no effect on the end result (you'll always have the full file), downloading in order can help with things like previewing and verifying. Of course, even with 3.X, the download can still be out of order (if a slow source is giving you the beginning of the file and a faster source is giving you the end of the file).

There is a patch that was sent into the development mailing list that displays a 'chunked' progress bar, so that people can clearly see which portions of the file are downloaded. The patch has taken the backburner for a little while, because there were some more pressing network changes that needed to be made, but I think after 3.2 comes out we'll look at integrating it.

Thanks.
I am using the latest version.

Your answer that I may have different chunks may be right on.
I am only downloading at 56K so it takes a long time to get a video.

What is so confusing is that I have seen 10 megs or so of the video on an earlier launch but when I launch again it after downloading more, it will only show me the first 2% or so.
The incomplete file shows as many as 20 megs, but again, when I try to play it back only the first 2-4% plays.
I very mucy appreciate you taking time out to help.
Michael Harrington
Tallahassee, Florida

Michael,

Some mpgs that were created on Windows exhibit a weird pattern on a Mac. If you launch a file, and manually move the scroll bar to the end and then back a bit, you may see different parts of a video, yet it won't play properly if you just hit the play button. Segments are obviously not being played.

There is a shareware program called Rosetta that will 'fix' and 're split' these problem videos. You end up with more files, but at least you can watch them.

This 'may' be what is happening to you.

While I certainly do not wish to contradict sberlin, who certainly knows more than I do and I respect, it seems strange to me that chunks would be going at diff speeds on 56k.

Since 56k is more or less the effective slowest speed, he would be the limiting factor in all downloads, so the chance of someone uploading slower than he can download is very low. While I could see this happening if you could dl faster due to a high speed connection, wouldn't the chance of someone uploading slower than a 56k could download be pretty low? Cuz this seems to be a repeating problem.

I didn't know he was on 56k before I answered.

Of course, it's still highly possible that earlier chunks of the file could be with slower downloaders. Regardless, downloading (and uploading) are being modified for the introduction of partial-file sharing, so we'll take a closer look just to make sure nothing's wrong.

Thank you Clueless.
I experienced exactly what you described but it was so strange I didn't know exactly how to describe it.
I could drag back the scroll button and see parts of the video I'd never seen.
I will check out Rosetta. Thanks.

Thanks also to whomever suggested VLC viewer.
It worked as promised.

I know it sounds ickey, but thanks again for y'alls help.
To have a group of wizards, white knights, gurus, out there doing their best to answer any yahoo's questions is mind boggling.

I have been teaching high school English for almost 30 years.
I was trained to teach the faculty how to use the Mac Plus when it was state of the art and have been "bi" (Windows at school, Mac at home) for the last decade or so.
I have done uncountable favors over the years, trouble-shooting for others and I guess I'm finally getting my "goes around, comes around".

Thanks again.
michaellloyd

Yeah, it was hard for me to describe as well.
You can get Rosetta via versiontracker, but you probably already know that, being a vet.
Using the Rosetta File Menu, try to 'fix' and 'split'. You can also try 'decode', and if you figure out what it does, tell me.

No problem Michael.

Sberlin I knew you couldn't be wrong.

I got Rosetta via Tucows.
I've been poking around with it but have no difinitive answer as to what it is doing.