Use the QuickTime plugin to play audio and video

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quicktime_logo.png The QuickTime application from Apple, Inc. includes a browser plugin that enables you to play movies and other online media in your Firefox browser. QuickTime is included on Mac systems and is available for Windows. This article explains how to check that QuickTime is installed and working and includes some troubleshooting suggestions if you are having problems with QuickTime.

Note: QuickTime is not available for the Linux platform, but Mplayer is a popular Linux media player that can play back QuickTime media. In order to use Mplayer to play QuickTime stream in Firefox, you must install two programs named gnome-mplayer and gecko-mediaplayer. Your Linux distribution may have these packages readily available to install.

Testing QuickTime

To see if QuickTime is installed and working,To see if the QuickTime browser plugin is working, visit one of these pages and try to play one of the QuickTime videos:

If the QuickTime video plays, the QuickTime plugin is installed and enabled.

Note: To complete the test on a Windows system, you may need to enable some features of Firefox to communicate through your Windows Firewall. To enable these features, click Unblock when prompted by Firefox.

Installing or updating QuickTime

To install QuickTime (or to update to the latest version):

  1. Go to the Apple QuickTime download webpage.
  2. Download the QuickTime installer file to your computer.
  3. When the download completes, close Firefox.
  4. Find the file you downloaded and double-click it to start the QuickTime installation.

QuickTime is pre-installed and can be updated using the Mac OS X Software Update feature.

Enabling or disabling the browser plugin

When QuickTime is installed, QuickTime's browser plugin is enabled by default and should work in Firefox. You can disable or enable the browser plugin in the Firefox Add-ons Manager.
If the browser plugin is disabled, the QuickTime tests linked above and other embedded QuickTime media will not play, even though QuickTime is installed.
  1. Click the menu button Fx89menuButton, click Add-ons and themes and select Plugins.
  2. In the list of plugins, select QuickTime Plug-in.
    • If you want to disable the plugin, click the Disable button.
    • If you want to re-enable the plugin, click the Enable button.

Changing how media is handled

When you click on a link to download a media file and the QuickTime plugin can handle that type of file, it will open automatically in Firefox with the QuickTime plugin. You can change this behavior by selecting a different download action in your Firefox Application settings. For more information, see Manage file types and download actions in Firefox.

Embedded media

  • For Windows 7 and Windows Vista:

You can only change the file types that are associated with QuickTime Player. The Internet media types that are handled by the browser plugin are enabled by default for all supported media types and cannot be reconfigured.

  • For Windows XP:

The QuickTime plugin enables certain media types by default. If you are having problems with embedded content in a webpage, you can reconfigure the QuickTime browser plugin:

  1. Open the QuickTime Player.
  2. At the top of the QuickTime window, select the Edit menu, select Preferences, and then select QuickTime Preferences.... The QuickTime Preferences window appears.
  3. In the QuickTime Preferences window, select the Browser tab, and then click MIME Settings.... The MIME Types window opens.

    win-quicktimemimesettings.png
  4. In the MIME Types window, you can specify the media formats you want QuickTime to play in Firefox. These settings apply only to online files; they do not apply to files opened through your operating system.

Suggested MIME Types

Audio

  • AIFF audio
  • uLaw/AU audio
  • MIDI
  • WAVE audio


MPEG

  • MPEG media
  • MPEG audio
  • MPEG-4 media


MP3

  • MP3 audio

Embedded media

Note: The following does not apply to Mac OS X 10.6 and above which does not include any configurable QuickTime Internet media types settings.

On Mac OS X 10.5 and below, you can select the types of content you want the QuickTime plugin to handle, since some Internet media types are not enabled by default. If you are having problems with embedded media in a webpage, you can reconfigure the QuickTime browser plugin:

  1. From the Apple menu, click System Preferences.... The System Preferences window appears.
  2. In the System Preferences window, click QuickTime , select the Advanced tab, and then click MIME Settings.... The MIME Types window opens.

    mac-quicktimemimesettings.png
  3. In the MIME Types window, you can specify the media formats you want QuickTime to play in Firefox.

Suggested MIME Types

Audio

  • AIFF audio
  • uLaw/AU audio
  • MIDI
  • WAVE audio


MPEG

  • MPEG media
  • MPEG audio
  • MPEG-4 media


MP3

  • MP3 audio

Uninstalling QuickTime

For information about uninstalling QuickTime from your Windows PC, see:



Based on information from QuickTime (mozillaZine KB)