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Website mp3 not playing WinXP 64-bit using Firefox but plays using IE

  • 10 replies
  • 16 have this problem
  • 21 views
  • Last reply by AliceWyman

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I have a website with embedded mp3 soundtracks that work fine when using IE but not with Firefox (latest version.11Beta). Have tried all the suggested plug-ins to no avail. Running WinXP 64-bit 2003 SP2. Video & soundtrack works fine on other websites such as u-tube.

I have a website with embedded mp3 soundtracks that work fine when using IE but not with Firefox (latest version.11Beta). Have tried all the suggested plug-ins to no avail. Running WinXP 64-bit 2003 SP2. Video & soundtrack works fine on other websites such as u-tube.

Chosen solution

Hi, Further to my previous reply. I have used cor-el code but have used Verdi's suggestion of having the soundtrack also in .ogg format & installed the necessary .ogg codecs for WMP & found that the soundtrack now plays when using Firefox as search engine. Thanks for the support.

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All Replies (10)

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That's because Firefox doesn't support playing mp3 files. It will play them if they are contained in a Flash audio or video player (like youtube) but not by themselves. If you are using the <audio> html element you can define multiple source files. Here are some instructions from our developer website - https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Using_HTML5_audio_and_video You can create an Ogg audio file that will work with Firefox by using a program like Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

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You might be using IE-centric coding. See these test pages

Above links from http://kb.mozillazine.org/Testing_plugins#Other_media_tests

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You have QuickTime installed according to your system details list and the QuickTime should be able to handle MP3 files if the file is send with a MIME type that the plugin supports.

Other plugins should be able to play such a MP3 file as well if a proper MIME type is used.


Can you post a link, so we can check with which MIME type the server sends it?

Modified by cor-el

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Hi Cor-el here is a link to my website: http://www.havewheelswilltravel.iinet.net.au/ Cheers

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The following bgsound tag in your page code is IE-centric ... meaning it only works in Internet Explorer:

<bgsound src="images/Soundtrack/On%20The%20Road%20Again-Willie%20Nelson.mp3" loop="-1">

Do a google search on bgsound firefox or embed mp3 sound Firefox and you will find many references, such as these:

Modified by AliceWyman

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Code like this should work to play the MP3 file with the Windows Media Player in Firefox or with another player that supports that MIME type (I'm on Linux and use the Gecko Media Player plugin).

You can set the height and width to 0 to hide the player, but I prefer to have control available.


<embed type="application/x-mplayer2" src="images/Soundtrack/On%20The%20Road%20Again-Willie%20Nelson.mp3" height="50" width="200">
<noembed><bgsound src="images/Soundtrack/On%20The%20Road%20Again-Willie%20Nelson.mp3" loop=-1></noembed>
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If you want Firefox to play embedded audio using mimeType "application/x-mplayer2" and you don't have the Windows Media Player plugin (or another plugin that handles that mimeType) the Play Windows Media files in Firefox with the Windows Media plugin article will help you install it. Even though you have Windows Media Player installed, you may still be missing the plugin required to play back embedded audio!

Modified by AliceWyman

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Chosen Solution

Hi, Further to my previous reply. I have used cor-el code but have used Verdi's suggestion of having the soundtrack also in .ogg format & installed the necessary .ogg codecs for WMP & found that the soundtrack now plays when using Firefox as search engine. Thanks for the support.

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Thanks for posting back. I'll mark your last reply as solving it.

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P.S. http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_sounds.asp has other solutions for embedding mp3 and ogg audio, for example:


<audio controls="controls" height="50px" width="100px">
  <source src="song.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" />
  <source src="song.ogg" type="audio/ogg" />
<embed height="50px" width="100px" src="song.mp3" />
</audio>

Modified by AliceWyman