Submit Hint Search The Forums LinksStatsPollsHeadlinesRSS
14,000 hints and counting!

Set a custom Windows Media Player streaming speed Apps
When I have used Windows Media Player (WMP) to view streams on the Internet, it has never been satisfying. If I selected connection speed (56kbps) in the Preferences pane, the quality was too low. But if I selected DSL/Cable, the stream regularly stopped. My internet download speed is 1024kpbs, and probably that is just not enough for the DSL setting. To solve this problem, you have to edit the file called Windows Media Player Prefs in your user's Library/Preferences folder. But first, convert it with xxd in the Terminal to a hexdump:
% cd ~/Library/Preferences
% xxd "Windows Media Player Prefs" > WMP.xxd
Now edit this WMP.xxd file with your favorite editor (e.g. vim).

The current setting is one of these values:
28k: 0000 7080
56k: 0000 e100
DSL: 0030 0000
T1:  00c0 0000
I found the setting at the line starting with 000007c0; actually, I found it precisely here:
0000770: 574d 5245 4756 414c 0000 0020 004e 0065  WMREGVAL... .N.e
0000780: 0074 0077 006f 0072 006b 0053 0065 0074  .t.w.o.r.k.S.e.t
0000790: 0074 0069 006e 0067 0073 0000 0000 0003  .t.i.n.g.s......
00007a0: 0000 0048 0000 0001 0000 000a 0000 0001  ...H............
00007b0: 0000 0001 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0001  ................
00007c0: 0000 0001*0030 0000*4d4d 5354 0000 002c  ........MMST...,
I changed the setting from 0030 0000 to 0010 0000, and now the streaming of video is perfect without any hiccups, and with satisfying quality. After editing the file, you have to convert it back using xxd again:
xxd -r WMP.xxd > "Windows Media Player Prefs"
[robg adds: I haven't tested this one. You might wish to make a backup of your prefs, just in case you do something wrong (though losing a prefs file isn't a huge problem).]
    •    
  • Currently 3.00 / 5
  You rated: 4 / 5 (4 votes cast)
 
[6,261 views]  

Set a custom Windows Media Player streaming speed | 1 comments | Create New Account
Click here to return to the 'Set a custom Windows Media Player streaming speed' hint
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Set a custom Windows Media Player streaming speed
Authored by: nsarpong on Nov 04, '05 08:12:25PM

this thing is awesome! i noticed a huge difference. although, 1 out of like 10 it'll start to get shaky and just stop. but all the other once i couldn't watch before, come through pretty good

---
If life hands you lemon.........slap that hoe!



[ Reply to This | # ]