No sound in .avi files in QuickTime among other players.

AVI is just a container so we need to know what video/audio codecs are used.

Can MPEG Streamclip or VLC player play it? What does MPEG Streamclip's Get Info say about the codecs?

Hi there

I too am having the same issue since my last software update, any AVI clips won't play in Quicktime but play fine on the camera and also play fine when I uploaded them onto Facebook. If I open the same files in VLC they play with sound and if I open them in MPEG Streamclip it quits after about 3 seconds giving me an error message.

Other files like 3GP .mov and .DV play fine in Quicktime.

Does Quicktime just need to release a bug fix for this problem, since everyones problem seems to have started with the recent update.

Please help!!!

Tracey

You may be interested in this exchange with Hoodster, who posted the following in this thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7656336#7656336

Right, i got fed up and did some messing around of my own. In my QT components folder were a load of codecs, as you would expect, including Perian, which i installed earlier as it seemed to have helped others. On a hunch, i figured that if 2 of the components in a folder could both be used by QT to open a movie, QT would use the first one installed. Therefore i took components out 1 by 1 until i got audio playing. This happened after i removed the XVid 1.0 alpha component. To make sure i was right i swapped them over a few times, and had them in the same folder as well, and indeed, QT would play audio when the XVid component was not present, or if it was present but had been added after the Perian component.

So now i had audio. However, now QT would take a ** of a long tome to load any videos, a very frustratingly long time in fact. So now i investigated the new problem and found a post here http://www.macupdate.com/reviews.php?id=22923 about how Perian 1.1 makes this happen, with a tip to go to http://mac.majorgeeks.com/ and replace it with it's previous version. I did this, and bingo bango, video _+ audio loading as it should.

So, installing Perian will fix the problem of the audio - if you remove certain other components first, and then replacing it with its previous version (1.0) will solve the slow-loading issue.

To which I made the following response:

That is a most interesting observation, and confirms that the location and version of plug-ins for QT plays a part.

In my HD Library/Quicktime I have Perian 1.1, Flip4Mac components, Apple Intermediate Codec, and AC3 Movieimport component. I don't have XVid.

The link you provided to Macupdate, as far as I can see, refers to problems with Perian 1.1 and QT 7.4.1, not 7.5, and another 'variable' is that you are running Leopard and I am running Tiger.

It may therefore be that Perian 1.1 works better with Tiger than leopard?

Or that Perian 1.0 works better with Leopard than Tiger?!

Either way, and this needs further exploration, it seems that certain combinations of third party plug-ins do not work when you have QT 7.5, and possibly that updating those components cures the issue with QT 7.5.

The presence of DivX in that folder when Perian is present is known to cause problems.

Thank you for posting your findings. 🙂

You may find that worth exploring.

I too am having the same issue since my last software update, any AVI clips won't play in Quicktime but play fine on the camera and also play fine when I uploaded them onto Facebook. If I open the same files in VLC they play with sound and if I open them in MPEG Streamclip it quits after about 3 seconds giving me an error message... Other files like 3GP .mov and .DV play fine in Quicktime.
While the AVI file container enjoys limited QT support, the compression formats often used with them are not normally natively supported by the QT structure and rely on third-party components. Since applications like VLC (which include their own independent codecs) continue to work while the QT Player and MPEG Streamclip (which rely on installed components) do not work, have you considered conducting running a "component conflict" test on your system to determine if this latest update has either re-arranged the order in which components are called or now creates a conflict between components that previously worked together fine? While I admit I rarely use AVI myself, I do keep a limited number of files available for "testing" purposes. My files still play fine. Of course, I also make it a habit to only install and keep a very limited number of codecs to specifically avoid such problems.

Does Quicktime just need to release a bug fix for this problem, since everyones problem seems to have started with the recent update.
Probably not. Although there is at least the possibility that a third-party component may have been rendered incompatible by the update, normally it is the function of the third-party company to keep up with changes made by the host company and not the other way around. Secondly, there is the possibility that the problem may be tied to the order in which the components are called into service and not a bidirectional conflict between two or more components per sé. In the past, the installation of new or modified components has changed the order in which they may be accessed for the playback of a particular compression format with one sequence working correctly and another not working at all since the "wrong" component is now trying to play back the content. (At least one user has posted that he/she performed such conflict testing and, as a result, fixed the problem on their own.)

i had the same problem...

i solved it yesterday... this is how i did it:

from library/quicktime i removed all the plugins to the trash. installed a fresh copy of quicktime 7.5
then added all the plugins again.

it works now!

i hope does for you guys..

I removed the contents of the Quicktime folder found in the library, reinstalled Quicktime, replaced the library folder contents (codecs or whatever those files are), restarted and the problem of no audio persists.

The same movies do play with audio on the DivX player though. So now what?

The same movies do play with audio on the DivX player though. So now what?
Check your audio compression format. It could be AC3 with DivX which is not natively supported by QT. Do you just have the DivX Media Player or do you also have the free DivX QT component installed? If installed, which version?

What difference does it make? The problem is not that DivX is working, the problem is QT isn't.

What difference does it make? The problem is not that DivX is working, the problem is QT isn't.
Perhaps if you had the most current DivX QT component installed, then the QT player could play the DivX files which are not in and of themselves QT compatible. The DivX Player contains its own built-in codecs for playback while the QT Player/structure as installed does not have any DivX support. (If you have a diesel engine you probably would not try to run it on gasoline.)

They aren't DivX files. They're just avi files. They happen to work in DivX and I had/have a DivX plugin for QT so it doesn't matter anyway.

Let me just put it this way - Does anyone know the cause of having no audio in avi files in QT since the update came out and does anyone know the solution?

They're just avi files

There is no such thing. AVI is merely an (outdated) container which can include a number of different codecs, not all of which can be made Mac-compatible.

You may be interested in this exchange with Hoodster, who posted the following in this thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7656336#7656336

Right, i got fed up and did some messing around of my own. In my QT components folder were a load of codecs, as you would expect, including Perian, which i installed earlier as it seemed to have helped others. On a hunch, i figured that if 2 of the components in a folder could both be used by QT to open a movie, QT would use the first one installed. Therefore i took components out 1 by 1 until i got audio playing. This happened after i removed the XVid 1.0 alpha component. To make sure i was right i swapped them over a few times, and had them in the same folder as well, and indeed, QT would play audio when the XVid component was not present, or if it was present but had been added after the Perian component.

So now i had audio. However, now QT would take a ** of a long tome to load any videos, a very frustratingly long time in fact. So now i investigated the new problem and found a post here http://www.macupdate.com/reviews.php?id=22923 about how Perian 1.1 makes this happen, with a tip to go to http://mac.majorgeeks.com/ and replace it with it's previous version. I did this, and bingo bango, video _+ audio loading as it should.

So, installing Perian will fix the problem of the audio - if you remove certain other components first, and then replacing it with its previous version (1.0) will solve the slow-loading issue.

To which I made the following response:

That is a most interesting observation, and confirms that the location and version of plug-ins for QT plays a part.

In my HD Library/Quicktime I have Perian 1.1, Flip4Mac components, Apple Intermediate Codec, and AC3 Movieimport component. I don't have XVid.

The link you provided to Macupdate, as far as I can see, refers to problems with Perian 1.1 and QT 7.4.1, not 7.5, and another 'variable' is that you are running Leopard and I am running Tiger.

It may therefore be that Perian 1.1 works better with Tiger than leopard?

Or that Perian 1.0 works better with Leopard than Tiger?!

Either way, and this needs further exploration, it seems that certain combinations of third party plug-ins do not work when you have QT 7.5, and possibly that updating those components cures the issue with QT 7.5.

The presence of DivX in that folder when Perian is present is known to cause problems.

You may find that worth exploring.

They aren't DivX files. They're just avi files. They happen to work in DivX and I had/have a DivX plugin for QT so it doesn't matter anyway.
As Klaus1 pointed out AVI is simply a file container developed by Microsoft to interleave the frames of audio and video content as a simple means of maintaining synchronization spatially. (Microsoft dropped official support for this container more than a decade ago.) Since the AVI file type is just a generic container, it can hold hundreds of combinations of audio and video compressed formats employing thousands of setting combinations which, by the way, can include DivX, Xvid, 3ivX, WMV, and other proprietary and/or open codecs for which the proper QT components must be installed if they are even available and compatible with your particular OS and version of QT (which is why I not only asked if you had a DivX component installed but which version it might be).

Does anyone know the cause of having no audio in avi files in QT since the update came out and does anyone know the solution?
It is extremely difficult to diagnose a problem when you are unwilling to provide symptomatic and or work flow information regarding a problem which may be limited to a relatively small group of users. In fact, one thing you could do would be to post a copy of your problem file and let other users see if they and duplicate your problem. If they can, then the problem may be a general one and if they can't is likely limited to your particular system configuration.
Further, you say you removed and then replaced all of your components. You did not mention whether or not you did so one at a time, whether you performed playback tests with each removed to see if there were any changes, or whether you closed and then reopened the QT Player before making playback tests in order to re-initialize the active QT Player component list. In short, we don't know what you did, how you did it, or even whether your results are valid.

Hi, I've been having some similar issues as the original poster, and none of the remedies I've been able to find in the forums have helped.

The problem I've encountered is that none of the .avi files on my computer play back with sound any longer on my MacBook. They do, however, play on my iMac, and on my friend's MacBook. They also play back with sound in VLC and the DivX player. They also don't have any sound in QuickLook.

I've tried several things to fix the problem: I tried repairing the disk permissions with Disk Utility and then rebooting. I've tried installing, and then reinstalling Perian several times. I've also tried deleting all of my components (in the /library/quicktime folder) and replacing them with copies of the components in my iMac and in my friends MacBook. I've also reinstalled Quicktime.

I'm apparently running Quicktime Player v7.5 (149.5) with QuickTime v7.5.9 (861)
Here's a list of the files in my /library/quicktime folder:
AppleIntermediateCodec.component, AppleMPEG2codec, DivX Decoder, DivX Enconder, Flip4Mac WMV Advanced, Flip4Mac WMV Export, Flip4Mac WMV Import, and Perian

I am apparently running version 1.1 of Perian, and version 2.2.0.49 of Flip4Mac. I've uninstalled DivX, although the component files are still in the /library/quicktime folder.

Anyone have any ideas? Any other information I could give that could help (and how can I get that information?)?

Thanks in advance

Hey guys. I had the same problem when I updated my quicktime program to 7.5, the .avi files played WITHOUT sound. What I did, which actually worked was to update my divX for mac from 2.1 to 2.2 and I downloaded Perian 1.1 and it worked already. I think the essential codec was Perian though, because when I downloaded divX, nothing happend and only when Perian was downloaded, quicktime 7.5 started playing my .avi files with sound.

Just search divx and Perian on google and you'll be good to go 🙂 HOPE THIS HELPS EVERYONE.

by the way. On the website of divX it says codec 6.6. I think the divX codec is 6.6 and the player is 2.2, i downloaded it also by the way though because its bundled with the download.

So, the DivX Community Codec should be 6.6 and the Player should be 2.2.