mlb.tv: problems watching mlb.tv with quicktime and flip4mac

Same problem here.

What's worse, I subscribed this season when the MLB.tv FAQ indicated that RealPlayer was still supported.

Then, when I sent them a letter of complaint, I received a form reply indicating that I needed to read the FAQ (which I had quoted in my original message!) and learn from that.

I've filed a chargeback with my credit card company.

I missed an opportunity to test your theory. My brother was here with his MacBook Pro this past week. I won't see him again until I visit the States this summer.

Nevertheless, MLB.tv and WMV is such a terrible combination, that it isn't worth the money. I can't believe they dropped RealPlayer support.

Anyone have a G5 or Macbook Pro who's used QT to watch MLB.TV?

I have a G5 dual (and an excellent internet connection) with similar problems. So it's not that.

I noticed last night that the MLB.TV player page now warns me that my browser (Safari) is not supported and I should try Firefox instead. Gosh, why didn't I think of that?! (sarcasm) So they must be getting a lot of complaints. For me, in one case switching to Firefox did actually work, sort of, I was able to watch the game in grainy, jumpy video. But other times it has been just as bad, or worse, than Safari. The problem has nothing to do with the browser.

The most annoying thing that has been happening is that as I log in using different broswers (and testing WMP vs. Flip4Mac), eventually I log in too many times and get frozen out for the night. Actually, they now seem to have put me on a short leash. The first three or four times I had problems, it took 5 or more log ins until I was blocked for the night. Last night, I was blocked on my third try!

WMP for Mac is out of date, no longer supported, and basically doesn't work, at least not for long before it crashes. So it is a dead end. Flip4Mac is better in all respects and, since we are only talking about playing a video feed here, I'm hoping there will be a solution to the problem...

Is there a way to make Quicktime work better for MLB.TV? Please help!

Okay, after posting my earlier rant, I discovered that Flip4Mac has a community forums site, and lo and behold, at the top of the current postings in Web Playback > General Discussions is a thread about the MLB.TV problems, along with what looks like a solution:

http://www.flip4mac.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.aspx?catid=32&threadid=1175

I'll quote here the key portions of the answer:

"Try removing 3ivx and DivX Quicktime plugins. Make sure your monitor is set to millions of colors. ... Quicktime plugins can conflict since they come from different developers with different ideas on what to do when the plugin "sees" the file. In the mean time you can move the various plugins in and out by hand as needed."

I will report back later today once I've tried this on a live feed of a game...

Mac OS X (10.4.6)

D'oh! You've got me watching baseball now...

The sample live baseball feed seems to work for me. There are some graphical oddities, but the video is playing fine within the QuickTime plugin. I do have the Divx 6 component installed, but not currently the 3ivx one.

I have a cable connection, so it is maybe somewhat faster than DSL. But I really just meant it is reliable and it can't be the source of any problems.

My video lags behind and gets out of sync with the audio. Also, more often than not it will grind to a halt (sometimes just the video, other times everything will crash) and I will have to close the window and reopen it to get it to play again. I have made it all the way through a few games, but lately it doesn't seem to be working at all.

It turns out I don't have the plug-ins either, so I don't know. Maybe I should install them!

Today I had the lovely experience of being locked out again for logging in too many times (see my first post, above) ... I tried Safari twice and then went over to Firefox to try it there but couldn't log in. I will have to call them and see what sort of explanation I can get for this outrageous restriction.

The log-in restrictions are an indication of how crappy their new software is. I paid with a debit card, so I don't think I can apply for a charge back. So I guess I'll try the Flip4Mac forums myself. Unfortunately, because of the log-in restrictions, it is very hard to do any sort of trial-and-error systematic troubleshooting.

Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Glad to see this thread is getting some attention, as this is a problem that really deserves attention.

MLB is full of problems (steroids being the tip of the iceberg), yet they continue to screw loyals fans such as ourselves.

What truly bothers me about this is that I believe they've decided simply to ignore support requests from Mac users. Using their web form, I sent a request for support. I received a reply a couple of days later telling me that my original request had been lost, and could I send them information about my problem again. (Interesting--if they lost my original request, how did they know my email?)

I replied with all the details, including my setup (OSX and Safari), but they never replied. (I've since re-sent the same request twice, but I doubt they'll ever respond.)

I can't call them up, because I live in Japan and long-distance to the States can cost up to $3 a minute. I've read elsewhere on the Internet that callers to the MLB.tv support line often spend an hour or more on hold. I can't afford a $180 phone call.

Equally annoying is the fact that they indicated in their FAQ (before I paid for the subscription) that RealPlayer is supported. As we now all know, it isn't supported, and they've since removed that part from their FAQ.

Meanwhile, the FAQ still indicates that Safari is the recommended browser for accessing MLB.tv content, yet every time I try to access a game using Safari, I get an error message indicating that my browser is not supported. Huh?

And then, as Eric has mentioned, if I launch Firefox after getting the error message in Safari, MLB.tv tells me I can't log in because my password has been used too many times.

Enough is enough. I will file a chargeback dispute with my credit card company, and I will never spend another dime on any MLB product (including souvenir hats, etc.) again.

Sorry for the rant, folks. It just hurts to be treated this way by a game that I've loved and supported for nearly 40 years.

Okay, today I used the technique recommended on this thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2119642

I just put the two Flip4Mac plugins into the same /Library/Internet Plug-ins/Disabled Plug-ins folder that the WMP plug-in was already in (put there by Flip4Mac). Then I started up Safari and had the experience described by Adam Lobel in the above thread.

I was able to watch the game, with the same video/audio problems, but they tended to fix themselves instead of everything grinding to halt, which is what happens when I try using Flip4Mac (Safari v. Firefox doesn't seem to matter) on a "live" feed.

I found that I could also straighten out the video feed problem by hitting pause (or stop?) and then hitting play again. Useful for when the feed gets screwed up during a crucial moment.

I still intend to go onto the Flip4Mac forums and see if I can get some help. Also I'll try disabling various other Internet plug-ins to see if they are causing the problem.

But for now the only solution that allows me to watch an entire game is Adam's workaround. It doesn't count as problem solved, but it's a start.

Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I don't mind the poor quality or the lagging (Well I do, but that is miles away for us mac users) I am ****** at the Login bull! It times out, or cancels, then I press play and it says unauthorized... Okay I think, so I relogin, Oh great, too many logins. I mean seriously they need to just pin it to IP address. Or develop their own software that has a login system like apple iTunes or something that is bidirectional, because maybe i had Camino, Safari, Firefox all open at one point, but the video wont work in any. If it really continues to suck, Ill do a charge back, cause I am not having this all season. I wonder how this new "mosaic" feature is going to work at all with Flip for mac. Great just what i want 6 Quicktime boxes to open. Oh wait thats right none will anyway, they will have some crappy nation wide blackout.

I too have had problems getting MLB TV to run under Safari on OS 10.3. Doesn't seem to work.

I called MLB.com, and by coincidence, the analyst who I spoke with happens to own a G4 Mac Dual tower. He said he was watching the Yankee game via MLB TV on his Mac earlier this morning, running OS 10.4.6 and using Safari as his browser. He himself made a call to Apple technicians last week to help him configure his system properly ... kind of ironic.

Anyway, he insists that MLB TV will run on OS 10.4 with Safari as the browser. Below is his email that captured what he and I discussed over the phone. Memory is a factor, and he said that he had 1.5 Gig of RAM in his system. He said to be sure to get the latest version of Flash and the latest of Window Media Player (which is 9, and we all now is that last version supported for Macs).

I have 2 G4 Powerbooks, one running OS 10.3.7 (I like Panther) and a last Hi-res screen Powerbook that Mac sold before the MacBook Pro's came out. On the 2nd Powerbook, I'm running OS 10.4.6.

I was unable to get MLB TV to run on the 1st Powerbook (running OS 10.3.7) using Safari (I tried Firefox, but that had more problems).

So, I am shortly going to try MLB TV on my 2nd Powerbook (running OS 10.4.6) ... I have 2 Gig of RAM on it. This should be similar to the configuration of the Mac owned by the MLB.com analyst.

I'll report back after I try it later today (too busy right now).

- DA


---------------- EMAIL FROM MLB.COM -------------


Thanks for calling MLB.com today.

Some reminders about the set-up to watch the content on our site on your Mac:

Be sure you have the current versions of both the Windows Media Player and Flash installed. If not you can find them here:

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/help/faqsystemrequirements.jsp#q4

For the Windows Media Player, have the following settings in the preferences:

Under Performance, be sure to specifiy the best possible speed for your connection. Automatic detection of the speed is best. Set the buffering to 10 seconds or better of content

Under Network, in the streaming, be sure that only TCP and HTTP are selected. (If you still experience connection issues, select only the HTTP option)

Hope that helps get your connection working,

Roger Colton
MLB.com

Hopefully the following will help since the problem is maddening. As with everyone else, the Quicktime plugin worked but was grainy. I installed the Flip4Mac WMV plugin and the MLB broadcasts worked much better. Later I installed Windows Media Player to play some video for another unrelated website and then the connection problems began. After tinkering around, I got my connection after unchecking the Flip4Mac plugin, removing Windows Media Player then rechecking the Flip4Mac plugin. Perhaps unchecking Flip4Mac wasn't necessary, but I am not willing to go back and try at this point.

Play ball (c:

iBook 1.2Ghz PowerPC G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6) ibook

We discovered this link to fix our viewing on MACBOOK PRO
we now can watch the games when we want!
TRUE there are slightly grainy and skipping issues but at least we have a picture


How to Get Your Intel Mac to Play WMV Files
Written by Adam Scheinberg on 2006-03-07 23:29:23 UTC

http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=13902




I recently set up my new Macbook, and I was upset to see that my Windows Media video files no longer worked. The Flip4Mac player that Microsoft endorsed after they officially killed Mac Windows Media Player doesn't install or run on Intel Macs, but it can be easily circumvented with a little tinkering. Read on for details.

Click Here!

All Intel Mac systems include a program called Rosetta whose sole purpose is to emulate the PowerPC for non-intel native/universal applications. If you launch a non-native application, in theory, Rosetta kicks into action and dynamically translates to application to work in near-realtime. Although Rosetta is transparent, it's not invisible, and that's the trick. Apple has generously built into the Finder the ability to use Rosetta at will.

Here's the essence of this "non-hack." First, you'll need to proceed to flip4mac.com and download their latest release. Note that it is NOT a Universal application. It is packaged as a Disk Image (dmg) file, like most Mac applications, and contains a mpkg file, which is an installation package. Unlike most Mac bundled apps, which install with a simple drag and drop, the installer must be launched. Launching the mpkg will return a failure everytime.

Now that you've downloaded the file, mount the disk image and navigation to /Appications/Utilities. Find the application called "Installer," and either right-click or Apple+click to get the context menu. Select "Get Info." Beneath the color labels you'll notice a checkbox that reads "Open Using Rosetta." Check it.

Navigate back to the Flip4Mac disk image and run the installer. It will launch just fine. Install Flip4Mac. Close the installer. At this point, you should go back and change the "Installer" application so that it no longer runs using Rosetta.

Next, navigate to /Applications and choose "Quicktime." Now repeat the Rosetta emulation procedure to this application. Quicktime runs nicely in Rosetta for the most part, although there is clearly a delay for me on launch. Since it's so easy to toggle between emulation and native mode, it should be easy to change to Rosetta when needed.

I have had no problems using WMV files on the Macbook since employing this method. Although untested (and I should probably add unencouraged), this method likely works for other packages, plugins, and applications, but of course, use at yor own risk.

Got any other tips for maximizing and optimizing your Intel Mac? Share them in the comments!

MACBOOK PRO 15 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

MACBOOK PRO 15 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

MACBOOK PRO 15 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

MACBOOK PRO 15 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

MACBOOK PRO 15 Mac OS X (10.4.6)