Web
Cast Tech Help
HOW
DO I TEST MY WINODWS MEDIA PLAYER? Click
here. Microsoft answers the most
common video player questions online at this link, click
here, but you may want to read below first.
SITE
IS ASKING ME TO DOWNLOAD A PLUG-IN? This shold
be a rare problem for those of you running Winodws. Mac
users, you will need to get Windows Media Player components for QuickTime (Flip4Mac) from
Microsoft.com.
BarrelHorses.com is making big strides to broadcast all
feeds with the highest standards. You may have an old
or outdated version of Windows Media Player. GOOD NEWS!
The latest player is 100% FREE! Click
here.
STATUS
WINDOW BELOW THE FEED SAYS "WAITING".
This means the time your player is set to buffer has run
out and is not getting a feed from the event. This may
mean the feed from the event has dropped, the event is
over for the day or you may just need to wait a few minutes
until the feed from the site catches up with the servers.
Wait 60 seconds and click the play button on the player.
If your feed begins to buffer you are good to go. If not,
keep reading on this page. You may need to adjust your
buffer time.
GETTING
AN ERROR BOX? If you get an error that says,
Requested file not found, media not found, etc. the link
may be outdated or inaccurate." This means that either
the feed has not started, the feed is over, or the feed
has been delayed. THIS IS NOT A PROBLEM with your computer.
Simply try back again later or check the schedule of events
for the show. BarrelHorses.com simply feeds video from
the event, if the Internet connection at the event drops
there is almost nothing BarrelHorses.com can do. Sorry.
DELAY
PROBLEMS? If you are on a dial-up internet account, we
can not help you. These feeds are not designed for you.
Please, please do not contact us or go to the bulletin
boards to complain if you are on dial-up. Video feeds
require more than a 56k connection. Thanks. With that
said, even on a fast connection you can have delay issues.
Think of your computer being connected to our video server
with a garden hose. Due to the nature of the internet, every
now and again a bit of air - using the hose example - gets
in the line. This can happen on your or our end, when
this happens the feed drops. A hickup of sorts. But,
it may just drop for you and not for others. The best
way to fix this is to right click on the windows media
player and chose options. Then click the box that says
buffer and change the buffer setting to 15 seconds or
higher. The slower your connection the higher you should
adjust your buffer. When and if you do this, press F5 to reload the page and reset your player.
Maybe even close and restart your browser. Another important
thing to do is above the buffer, check the circle that
says, "Choose connection type" and choose yours
rather than let your computer do it for you.
Microsoft
offers extensive tech help on the WM Player too. Click
Here.
VIDEO
STILL PLAYING CHOPPY? Turn off or turn down your
video acceleration. Right click on the player window and
choose options. At the bottom choose advanced options.
Turn down the video acceleration bar to 50% or turn it
off if you are not on a VERY fast connection. If this
screws things up, you can always come back and click restore
defaults.
MY
FEED IS ONLY SHOWING ONE PICTURE EVERY FEW SECONDS?
Be sure that the feed is the only thing running on your
PC. Excel, Outlook, etc. rob RAM from your PC and will
slow down the feed. Also, this feed is designed for people
with broadband Internet access (i.e. Cable, DSL). If you
are on dial up AOL, Earhtlink, etc. the feed will be VERY
slow. Also if you have an older computer, a slow processor, or less than 512M of RAM (memory), you will probably see
decreased video quality; possibly very slow or jerky.
WHEN
I BLOW THE FEED UP FULL SCREEN IT IS BLURRY? This
feed is designed to be played on a small screen 320x240 (which is about 2.5 inches by 3 inches).
Why? Because we want many people to be able to watch.
If the feed is too big, the number of people who are able to watch will be limited only to those with super, super-fast internet
connections. When played
full screen, back away from your screen 6 feet and it
will look better.
I
AM GETTING A GRAY POP UP ERROR BOX ON MY PC THAT SAYS
"GENERAL ERROR". I KNOW THE EVENT IS OCCURING,
BUT THE FEED WILL NOT PLAY. THIS INFO WORKS FOR WM AND
RP.
The
video file is embeded in the actual web page. Place your
mouse over the video window and right click and choose
"play in real player". This will play the clip
outside of the web page. If this does not help then read
on. Some browsers will give you a "General Error"
message when using RealPlayer if the file or clip you
are playing is unavailable or damaged, or if you have
a damaged installation of RealPlayer. To correct this
problem, you will need to verify if the error occurs with
all clips, check your sound card and sound drivers, and
possibly remove and reinstall RealPlayer.
Solution 1: Determine if the problem is
with the specific file.
To rule out a problem with the file itself,
try playing sample files:
Open
http://service.real.com/test/
in your Web browser.
Click the links that match your connection speed. Dial-up
modem users should choose the 28K or 56K links.
If the sample files play, then the problem may be with
the specific file you were trying to play. If this is
a local file, try re-downloading a fresh copy of the clip
from its source. You will also receive a "General
Error" message if the file you are attempting to
play is on a network drive that is not connected.
If the sample files do not play, the problem
is most likely with the sound card and/or sound drivers
on your computer or the RealPlayer installation.
Solution 2: Update older sound card drivers.
RealPlayer requires that you have a sound
card. If you attempt to play a clip that contains an audio
track, and you have no sound card on your system, you
will receive a “General Error.” If your sound
driver is corrupt or out-of-date, you may also receive
this error.
If the installed driver is more than six
months old, you should update it. Driver updates are usually
available as a free download from the manufacturer’s
Web site. These drivers are usually updated every few
months. After installing the drivers, be sure to restart
your computer so the configuration changes take effect.
If updating your sound card drivers does
not fix the problem, you may need to completely remove
RealPlayer from your system. (You can reinstall it later.)
Solution 3: Remove and reinstall RealPlayer.
If
the problem appears to be caused by damaged RealPlayer
application files,
removing and then reinstalling RealPlayer can resolve
these problems.
Good
luck, your friends at the BarrelHorses.com Tech support
team
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