Shopsmith Forums

Hello all,

We have been working hours on end trying get the Sawdust Sessions available to everyone. With much success we have been able to reach most of you out there in the "ether." However, we have a few folks who, with all of our research and development, still have not been able to view the session on Saturday.

So, to try and get these folks connected, I would like to ask of the Mac users "What is you setup/configuration you use that has worked for viewing the Saturday Sawdust Sessions?" Hopefully we will be able to glean something from your experience so to help those having these problems.

Because we have looked under every stone we can think of, we do need your help in finding the problem of these folks who are unable to watch Nick drop stuff live on Saturday. (he he)

Nick and I really appreciate your input and hope to get all of you up and viewing our Saturday sessions.

Be good,

Drew

Drew has suggested we should start a thread on configuring you Mac to see the live Sawdust Sessions, which we stream in Windows Media. He has also suggested that neither he nor I are sufficiently experienced with Macs to be able to advise you Applecores out there.

Therefore, I'm going to start this thread by asking for advice from those of you who own a Mac and have successfully watched our live Sawdust Sessions or the Windows Media Test Page (http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/Test_Classroom_A.htm). Just how did you do it?

At the same time, I also want to post this advice from our Hands Online! FAQ:

This website is currently optimized for PC users with Internet Explorer and the latest version of Windows Media Player. However, Mac users on Safari should have no trouble, provided you have a recent Windows Media Player plug-in. We suggest you try Flip4Mac -- they have a decent WMV plug-in.
Additionally, here are two links to pages on the Microsoft web site that may be of some help as you configure your computer:

• Windows Media Player for Mac FAQ
• How to Set Up Windows Media Player on Mac

There is an extra ")" at the end of the URL, I have all the plug-ins and see the page, blackboard and chat log but the video window just has a static Shopsmith picture. I have no issues viewing the emails or archived sessions on my MAC.

On Windows I get a Windows Media plug-in where the picture is (on my MAC) but still don't see any moving video.

This could have something to do with firewall settings, I will look into it tonight.

Here are the specs on my system and software:

iMac (Early 2006) 2.0 Ghz Intel Core Duo, 1 Gb ram, 159 Gb disk space free
OS X Leopard v10.5.1
Safari browser v3.0.4 (also use Firefox v2.0.0.11)
Flip4Mac beta v2.2.0.39 (required for Leopard)
Belkin router (firewall disabled)
Netopia dsl modem (model 3341)

Like Paul, I see the black board and the chat window fine, but the video window just shows an outline with the same background that's in the rest of the window.

Bruce

Drew,
I posted a link to your test classroom on the forum at Flip4Mac. The administrator tried it with his pc running xp and ie7 with wmp 11. He says he sees the player but nothing will play. Is that what it should look like? I don't even see the player my Mac.

Also, I can play windows media from other sites like BBC and Woodworking Channel just fine on my Mac. The Shopsmith site is the only one so far that doesn't work.

Bruce

Try it now, Bruce. For reasons that I don't understand, the link seemed to be broken between the Test Classroom and the video. It would not play for me on my PC, so I checked the source code. The code looked fine, but I uploaded a back-up copy anyway and the video began working again. All I can think of is "gremlins" --the same critters that steal pencils and tape measures and cause our circuit breakers to trip in the middle of a webcast. This place is rife with them.

With all good wishes,

Thanks, it still doesn't work on my Mac, but I will ask the guy at Flip4Mac to look at it again.

I am using Flip4Mac beta v2.2.0.49, I think 39 had a serious bug, it works fine for me.

paulmcohen wrote:I am using Flip4Mac beta v2.2.0.49, I think 39 had a serious bug, it works fine for me.

Paul,
I wish I knew why it works for you. I have the final version 2.2.0.49. It still won't work for me.
Bruce

I know so very little about this that I feel foolish even volunteering information, but I took a look at the Microcroft newsgroup "Windows Media for Mac," ( http://www.microsoft.com/windows/window ... d9ec02d785 ) and the impression I got was that if you first downloaded Windows Media for Mac and then downloaded the Flip4Mac codecs, the two might conflict. Here is a snippet from one of the posts, grammatical errors and all:

"WMP and FLip4Mac conflict usually. I would recommend re-downloading the latest version of the FLip4Mac QuickTime codecs for WMV and reinstalling
them. They should make sure they deactivate the (completely obsolete)
WMP plug-in in the process."

If that isn't helpful, Bruce, you might wander over there and post your problem. See if someone more knowledgable than me comes to your rescue. Preferably someone who can write clearly.

With all good wishes,