error -2003: a data handler needed by the movie could not be found

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error -2003: a data handler needed by the movie could not be found

Hello.

I just purchased QuickTime Pro and the MPEG-2 add-on for it, for the single purpose of transcoding some MPEG-2 recordings to H.264. However, when I try to open any of my MPEG-2 files in Quicktime, I get the message: "error -2003: a data handler needed by the movie could not be found (my-filename.mpg)"

I can play these files in a number of different free players--VLC, Mplayer, Windows Media Player, RealPlayer... but not in the player I paid $50 for.

Can someone please help me?

Windows XP Pro

Posted on Feb 1, 2008 11:33 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 1, 2008 2:32 PM in response to nickhart

Had you read the FAQ page for the MPEG-2 Playback Component you would have found that some audio formats are not supported. You would have also found out that QuickTime Pro can't export audio from muxed file formats.
Try MPEG Streamclip (free) for the conversion.

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Answer 2

nickhart Author

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Feb 2, 2008 10:56 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

That doesn't really help. Besides, I haven't even got to the point where I'm trying to export. I get this error message when I try to open the file. I can't even play back the clip.

And the MPEG-2 page clearly states: "The QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component provides QuickTime users with the ability to import and play back MPEG-2 content, including both multiplexed (a.k.a. muxed, where the audio and video tracks are interleaved together into one track) and non-multiplexed (a.k.a. elementary) streams."

Also, Streamclip crashes when I try to load my MPEG-2 clips, so that's not going to work (and even if it did, I am trying to find a simple way to take the HDTV content I've recorded off the air and get it onto my AppleTV--I want fewer steps, not more).

Looks like I'll have to waste some time calling customer service to get a refund, since there's no way to do this via the website.

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