offline .ram files will not play in realplayer10

Bob
08/08/2004 06:35 pm
O.E. downloaded part of a website that included audio files with a ".ram" suffix to my laptop for offline study. The protocol appears to be RTSP.
RealPlayer10 will not play the files unless the laptop is connected to the internet.
The error message from RealPlayer begins with "connection to server could not be established" if playing is attempted while offline.
I have done internet searches looking for references to this problem but haven`t found anything
specific to offline browsing.
If I need to be doing something differently, please advise.
system: Windows 98 connection: cable
website example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/foghlam/beag_air_bheag/section06/index.shtml
Oleg Chernavin
08/09/2004 04:46 am
You are probably browsing without the Offline Explorer Internal Web server enabled. If so, please select the Project, click the Map tab and find the rtsp://.... files there. Double-click them to view offline.

Does this help?

Best regards,
Oleg Chernavin
MP Staff
Bob
08/09/2004 07:09 pm
> You are probably browsing without the Offline Explorer Internal Web server enabled. If so, please select the Project, click the Map tab and find the rtsp://.... files there. Double-click them to view offline.
>
> Does this help?
>
> Best regards,
> Oleg Chernavin
> MP Staff


Many thx for your assistance. Sadly, that does not work either.
I downloaded the website with vanilla options.
Options_Internet_Connection_Internal Http server_Enable on port 800 is checked.
The message from RP10 is that this clip cannot be played, it contains unexpected data and may be corrupt.
I un-checked the internal server option so that it was not active and tried again.
This time Rp10 displayed the message that this metafile contains invalid syntax and would not play.

It is my belief that the .ram files have been gimmicked by the owner due to copyright paranoia.
Methinks there may not be a workaround.
I used Webcow to download just the language files into a different directory and they will only play if the internet connection is available. When it is not, the RP10 message is that connection to the server could not be established.
There may very well be something else that I am missing, and if so, please point it out. In any case,
thank you, again, for your time and attention.

Bob

Oleg Chernavin
08/10/2004 04:44 am
But did you find the actual file that ends with .rm under the Map tab? If you can find it, try to Shift-right-click it and choose Play. Is this possible?

Oleg.
Bob
08/12/2004 07:58 pm
> But did you find the actual file that ends with .rm under the Map tab? If you can find it, try to Shift-right-click it and choose Play. Is this possible?
>
> Oleg.


I most abashedly apologize for my stupidity.
I did not realize how the .ram files worked, that they were only pointers. The .rm files were never
captured, and cannot be. The owner will not allow it.
Many thx, Bob.
Oleg Chernavin
08/13/2004 02:49 am
Offline Explorer Pro loads all these files well. I just used the following URL:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/foghlam/beag_air_bheag/section06/index.shtml

Level=1

File Filters | Video and Audio sections - I changed their Location box to "Load from any site". Then click OK button and start loading the site.

Oleg.
Jonno
09/13/2004 09:11 am
I use offline to save live streams from the BBC website. I can playback the .ra files through the Offline Explorer interface, but is it possibly to playback the downloaded file WITHOUT OfflineExplorer?

Just curious.
Thanks,
J

Oleg Chernavin
09/13/2004 09:27 am
Yes, sure. You can find the location of the downloaded file in the download directory. Use Windows Explorer to double-click the file to view it.

Oleg.
Jonno
09/13/2004 10:22 am
> Yes, sure. You can find the location of the downloaded file in the download directory. Use Windows Explorer to double-click the file to view it.

The files I download won`t play in this way! Real Player (v10) launches but will not play the file. However, if I upload the file to my webserver, it plays fine. And it also plays fine through the OE interface. Could this be a new form of protection to check if the file is "online".

If you want to try, use OE to record a few minutes from this live stream and then try and playback from your download directory.....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/realmedia/live/localradio/manchester.ram

Cheers,
J
Oleg Chernavin
09/13/2004 10:57 am
The .ram files do not contain any video/audio. They only specify the real file location. You need to find a folder with rtsp@ name and find a file with .rm or .ra extension in it.

Oleg.
Jonno
09/13/2004 11:05 am
> The .ram files do not contain any video/audio. They only specify the real file location. You need to find a folder with rtsp@ name and find a file with .rm or .ra extension in it.

I know! I was just suggesting this link as an example.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/realmedia/live/localradio/manchester.ram

(OE will find the .ra file and start downloading. Finalize, then locate the .ra file in rtsp@ folder. Please try playing the .ra file from your download directory and it doesn`t work. But it does play from OE interface.)

Thanks for your patience.
J
Oleg Chernavin
09/13/2004 12:03 pm
I located the live.ra file, double-clicked it and it played nicely directly from the hard disk.

I am using the RealOne player (v. 2.0, based on Helix v. 6.11).

Oleg.
Alexander Bird
09/17/2004 12:20 pm
I hope you got the answers you wanted. However .ram files are not themselves audio files but they point to the audio stream on the internet - which is why you need to be connected.

> O.E. downloaded part of a website that included audio files with a ".ram" suffix to my laptop for offline study. The protocol appears to be RTSP.
> RealPlayer10 will not play the files unless the laptop is connected to the internet.
> The error message from RealPlayer begins with "connection to server could not be established" if playing is attempted while offline.
> I have done internet searches looking for references to this problem but haven`t found anything
> specific to offline browsing.
> If I need to be doing something differently, please advise.
> system: Windows 98 connection: cable
> website example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/foghlam/beag_air_bheag/section06/index.shtml
Giuliano
10/17/2004 04:39 am
> I located the live.ra file, double-clicked it and it played nicely directly from the hard disk.
>
> I am using the RealOne player (v. 2.0, based on Helix v. 6.11).
>
> Oleg.

Dear Oleg. I am a lay person when it comes to computers. I installed OE but it didn`t help me get the video I want from the webpage I am interested in. The Real player says that there is something missing, which doesn`t allow me to have the vieo downloaded to my notebook. How come?
Oleg Chernavin
10/18/2004 06:07 am
Alexander Bird:

Can you please describe me in details, what video you were downloading and your steps you tried to do? I need the page URLs and other details that may help.

Oleg.