Playing MPEGs is a problem for me...help

[DiverDick]

I have downloaded some of the MPEG files from Limewire. When I try to play them, I can only play the first few minutes and then no more.....and I know the downloaded file is complete and large...like 110mb. I use Quicktime 6.5.1 and a Mac G4 with OS 10.3.4

So what's up with that? Any help would be appreciated.

[spearson]

Welcome to the forums DiverDick! Sometimes when you think you have a complete file it can still be incomplete. I've download an MP3 once that was 4 MBs and I thought it was complete but when I played the song it was just like what you described. I recommend that you download the MPEG file again see if you get a complete file. Good luck.

[Lord of the Rings]

Just to add to that, I presume these are Mpeg1 type movies you're dwnlding. I've had the experience of having one which had chapters that QT had major problems clicking into (only on rare occasions did it succeed. Likewise it was a large file.) (I think it may've had something to do with the Windows software that encoded it!) May I suggest you also get a hold of alternative movie players just in case. I'd suggest VLC: http://www.videolan.org/
(which can also play divx, mpeg2, vcd's & dvd's), &/ MPlayer: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/news.html
Both are free. (In order for QT to play mpeg2 you need to buy the codec!)
Hope this helps.

[murasame]

This can also be due to a corruption somewhere in the file's code: when Quicktime encounters the corrupted point, it interprets it as a stop point and stops playback. This can also explain why, despite the fact that you know its a 100M+ file, Quicktime probably shows that it's only 1 minute long: when opening the file, Quicktime estimates the lenght of it by going through the data, right? Well, if it encounters a corruption in the file that prompts it to stop looking for further data, then Quicktime will think that the file is only as large as it was able to estimate (does this make any sense whatsoever?) :S