QuickTime Stutter

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I'm again having an odd problem with QuickTime,



The problem only relates to mpg 1,2 and 4 (avi, mov, divx etc no problem)

Occurs with everything using qt, player, finder preview browsers ect

Consistent and repeatable



When I play a movie it stutters briefly at 1s, then plays for 7 more seconds until the frame freezes. The counter keeps running. Processor useage shoots up to about 90%



If I click pause the processor useage returns to normal, click play and I get 8 seconds of video, then freeze frame and increased processor use, I can repeat this continually with any one of 20 mpg's I have tried.



I can scrub through a movie or hold fast forward and it does this without a problem.



I had this problem a month or so ago, someone suggested removing the xvid delegate component which seemed to solve it, however it's back again and I no longer have this component.



As of this moment I have only 4 components installed:



QuickTimeMPEG4.component

QuickTimeMPEG2.component

QuickTimeMPEG.component

QuickTimeComponents.component



This seems to be the minimum I can get down to for testing.



Does anyone have any ideas?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    What version of OS X and QuickTime are you using?



    If you've removed anything from the /System/Library/QuickTime/ folder (which it sounds like you have), you should put it back. Then go to the /Library/QuickTime/ folder and see what's in there. If there is anything, take it out. Given all the fiddling with components, it might be a good idea to delete the component caches (named something along the lines of com.apple.Components2.localcache.QuickTimeComponen ts*) found in /library/caches/ and system/library/caches/ and restart.



    Do the files play O.K. in VLC?



    *weird! That space in "components" is not put there by me, can't get it to go away!
  • Reply 2 of 9
    Hi, I should have mentioned:



    10.4.8 and 7.1.3



    I had tried deleting the caches and restarting, it didn't change anything.



    I removed the components from /System/Library/QuickTime/ one at a time, restarting each time and nothing changed at all ( except the obvious fact that I couldn't play formats I'd removed! )



    I had also removed everything from Library/QuickTime/ and again no difference at all.



    I have also re-installed QT etc. No change.



    The files all play without fault in VLC.
  • Reply 3 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jake bullet


    Hi, I should have mentioned:



    10.4.8 and 7.1.3



    I had tried deleting the caches and restarting, it didn't change anything.



    I removed the components from /System/Library/QuickTime/ one at a time, restarting each time and nothing changed at all ( except the obvious fact that I couldn't play formats I'd removed! )



    I had also removed everything from Library/QuickTime/ and again no difference at all.



    I have also re-installed QT etc. No change.



    The files all play without fault in VLC.



    Hey, try this. Quit all applications, remove ~/Library/Preferences/Quicktime Preferences , ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist



    also do MacHD/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Quicktime.plist



    When doing the last one, you may have to authenticate with an administrator name and password. Be sure if you remove it to the desktop and not the trash, it may not remove from the folder, only copy it. The goal is to make sure they are no longer in the corrosponding folders. You may also want to remove the /Library/Internet Plug-ins folder as well.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    Thanks, all tried but no difference at all.



    I should also have mentioned that I have tried creating another user on the machine and the QT problems are identical when logged in there.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    What's the smallest file you've got that's not working? You could upload it to MediaFire (free, no account needed), then I can see if QuickTime has any problems for me. Or do you have another Mac you can test it on anyway?
  • Reply 6 of 9
    I have another mac here, also running 10.4.8 and 7.1.3, all my files transfer and play ok on it.



    What's really odd is that If I open two files, one an mpg and the other a wmv, the wmv will play fine while the mpg freezes at 8 seconds, the wmv will continue to play without any problems whatsoever even when the other freezes.



    I've also just noticed there is no sound from the mpg, foreground or background, on it's own or playing alongside another file.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Hmmm… This is an odd one… have you repaired permissions?



    But seriously, try having a look in Audio Midi Setup (found in /Applications/Utilities/) and making sure the output device sample rate is set to 44.1 kHz.



    Do you have a FireWire cable? Can you try taking the Mac that is playing the file O.K., and start that up in Target Disk Mode (shutdown, press power button and immediately hold down "T" key until firewire icon appears on display, then connect firewire cable to both Macs), and see if the Mac currently having problems is able to play the file O.K. from that drive. I'm wondering if the files are perhaps severely fragmented on the "problem Mac".
  • Reply 8 of 9
    Well done that man, the midi setup was at '96000' now i've changed it all the files work perfectly.



    I would never have imagined that midi settings could cause video to freeze!



    Thank you.
  • Reply 9 of 9
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    WooHooooooo!



    The app's name is a bit of a misnomer. As you have discovered, it is also for configuring audio settings that don't have anything to do with Midi.



    For future reference, there is probably some app on your machine that when you run it changes the audio settings without telling you. If the problem happens again, just use the Audio Midi Setup program to put the sample rate back to normal.
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