QuickTime MPEG 2 Playback Component won't install on El Capitan?

Yes, /Library/QuickTime has the AppleMPEG2Codec (v1.0.2 dated as you say) but as far as I know, MPEG Streamclip doesn't look there for the component, it looks in /System/Library/QuickTime, and then complains when it's not there.

The default QuickTime Player can play MPEG files (I assume it uses the /Library/QuickTime component), but QuickTime Player 7 will not ("The file is not a movie file.") perhaps because like Streamclip, it looks for the component in /System/Library/QuickTime and it's not there?

You need 1.9.3b8. The download should include the Utility MPEG2 Component M.Lion, which puts the component in the correct location.

As fox_m said the component may already be there.

Ah! I had a copy of 1.9.3b8 but not Utility MPEG2 Component M.Lion because my previous install was on 10.6.8 and didn't need it. So I re-downloaded 1.9.3b8, mounted the Quicktime MPEG2 dmg, ran the Utility, and it installed the component into /System/Library/QuickTime/. Success! Streamclip now plays MPEG files (both v1.9.3b8 and v1.9.2).

Thanks!

Brendan Jones wrote:

So I re-downloaded 1.9.3b8, mounted the Quicktime MPEG2 dmg, ran the Utility, and it installed the component into /System/Library/QuickTime/.

Glad it's working.

BTW, the component is no longer available from Apple.

Russ

I'm having this same issue. I have an iMac with El Capitan 10.11.6. I have the AppleMPEG2Codec component installed in /library/quicktime but Streamclip doesn't seem to be seeing it. I even deleted the Streamclip I had and installed the 1.9.3b8 that you recommended and it's still not working. Is there a way to get that dmg installer from Apple without buying it again? They have a record that I've bought the codec (it was installed before Capitan) but it looks like you're saying I have to have that dmg file AND the Streamclip's latest to make this work.

The product isn't sold by Apple any longer. Unless you have it already, perhaps on a Time Machine drive, I don't think you can get it.

You don't install it in recent OS versions. You simply mount the dmg and open Streamclip to access it.

Thanks for the response Tom. I guess this is a lesson to me to always keep the dmg files, not just install the application. I do own the MPEG2 codec (bought 3 copies for my computers) but I guess they're useless now. Streamclip says I don't have it, even though I see it in the /library/quicktime folder. I guess my next plan is to find a techie smarter than me (which won't be hard) and see if they can tell Streamclip where to look for it. I've tried completely removing Streamclip and reinstalling it in the hopes that it will auto look for the codec but no dice. I'm really stumped...

Email me.

For anyone still needing help with this issue, I've just found a workaround.

While QuickTime 7 and MPEG Streamclip under El Capitan can no longer open mpeg-2 files, although there is an AppleMPEG2Codec.component from 23 August 2015 (v1.0.2) in System/Library/QuickTime, the regular QuickTime Player (v10.4) can.

So I opened the mpeg-2 file with the QuickTime Player and then did a Save as a .mov file. Although it was a 94 minute long feature film (1024x576), this only took some 15 seconds. The saved format was "'mp2v', 720 × 576 (1049 × 576), Millions MPEG Layer 2, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz". This new .mov file could then be opened by both QuickTime 7 and MPEG Streamclip. However, neither my old but still functioning Final Cut Pro noir Handbrake understands the mp2v format.

I then tried something different: I noticed that in the other library (the by default hidden user library) i had an AppleMPEG2Codec.component dated 31 July 2016 (also v1.0.2). So, I replaced the 2015 one in the System library by doing an ALT drag copy (so I wouldn't loose it if it didn't work), the system told me that an older version existed, I said replace and was asked to validate with my password, and then it replaced it.

When this was done, I once again tried opening the mpeg-2 file with MPEG Streamclip and QuickTime 7. It was still not possible, but the regular QuickTime Player could - and could save it as a .mov file.

So, my conclusion is that no matter how you do it, MPEG Streamclip and QuickTime 7 can no longer access the AppleMPEG2Codec.component. However, the regular QuickTime Player can - and it very quickly converts the mpeg-2 file to a .mov file which MPEG Streamclip then can open. Problem sorted, although it requires one extra step each time.

The big question is how long MPEG Streamclip will continue to work, as it's no longer supported. I have therefore started to look for replacements, and right now MacX Video Converter Pro is the best replacement I've found. It can handle mpeg-2 and is much, much faster than MPEG Streamclip. The settings are quite different, so it takes some time to get used to, but it's quite versatile. It turned that 94 minute mpeg-2 into a usable (i.e. editable in Final Cut Pro) h264 .mov file in four minutes. Converting a 94 min film from mpeg-2 to .mov in MPEG Streamclip would have taken some 30 minutes.

QuickTime Player X does NOT use the component. It uses a completely different framework- that is why you had no problem opening the mpeg2 files with it.

The last time I checked there were instructions on MPEGStreamclip site on how to get the component to install on a recent system. I can't say whether it still works on Sierra but I suppose it might.

A workaround is not required and as Luis Sequeira pointed out, QuickTime Player X doesn't use the component.

To install MPEG Streamclip on El Capitan and have it able to open MPEG-2 files, you need to install MPEG Streamclip 1.9.3b8, the "Utility MPEG2 Component M.Lion" (which comes with the MPEG Streamclip installer), and have the original Quicktime MPEG2 component installer dmg from Apple.

You double-click the Quicktime MPEG2 component dmg to mount it, run the MPEG2 Component M.Lion utility, and it will access the dmg and install the QuickTime MPEG-2 playback component in the correct place. And then install MPEG Streamclip.

MPEG Streamclip (both version 1.9.3b8 and 1.9.2) will then be able to open and convert MPEG-2 files.

I have not tried this on Sierra so I don't know if it still works.

Good to know for those who still have the Quicktime MPEG2 component installer file. However, while this solution, created by Streamclip in 2012, worked for Lion and Mountain Lion users who hade lost the MPEG2 component, it's very doubtful if it works today for Sierra (I wrote El Capitan above, but the current problem came in September 2016 with Sierra). As both Streamclip and QuickTime 7 could read the MPEG2 component in all previous OS X versions, but can't after installation of Sierra, there must have been a major change. If QuickTime 7 can't read the MPEG2 component, I suspect that Streamclip can't either, no matter what one does.

It would be interesting to find out if anyone has succeeded.

Ian R. Brown wrote:

In order to use MPEG Streamclip …

Any ideas?

MpegStreamclip is functional without the component.

The mp2-component is only needed for some tasks, e.g. to convert DVDs back to something editable. And for that, the AppStore is full of tools, to mention the pineapple/Handbrake, first on the list (if it doesn't work, install VLC first…).-

Karsten Schlüter wrote:

The mp2-component is only needed for some tasks, e.g. to convert DVDs back to something editable.

So now, it's pretty much a free, albeit limited, compression app – with a few features that don't exist in Compressor, like the Batch List group.

FWIW, El Capitan was the last OS release on which I was able to copy the Component package to /Systems/Library/QuickTime. My copy of the installer is probably archived on an old drive, and in a pinch I suppose I could try to track it down. But probably time to move on.

Russ

Russ - I might be missing something, but Compressor does batching, more flexibly than MPEG Streamclip.

I've managed to migrate most of my workflow to Compressor, but there is one thing MPEG Streamclip does which Compressor does very poorly - and that is transcode MPEG-2 files.

If you transcode an MPEG-2 file directly in Compressor the quality of the output is rubbish. Horrible visual artifacts result. You also lose the audio. I have no idea why that should be, but it is.

But if I use MPEG Streamclip to transcode first, say from MPEG-2 to AIC or ProRes or anything else really, then further processing in Compressor is fine.

I really should report this to Apple because it is clearly an inexplicable bug in Compressor.

So your warning that MPEG Streamclip might not work in Sierra is a timely warning for me to stay on El Capitan, for the time being at least. I would like to migrate my entire workflow away from legacy applications, but at the time being I cannot.