Viewing the Colloquium Series

Below are instructions for viewing the colloquium series.  If you still continue to experience problems, please contact Kerry Harrity at kth5@pitt.edu

•  Colloquium recordings are currently best viewed using Windows operating system and using Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.  Below is an example of what you may see using Internet Explorer.

•  In order to run the video you must install the Windows Media Player ActiveX add-on. 

Viewing in FireFox

If you’re using the FireFox you can view the video without a plug-in.  However, you must click ‘Continue without ActiveX Control.’  See the screen shot below.  

Note: Dependent upon the Application Pack installed on your Windows PC, the lower portion of the presentation banners (head shots) may not be fully visible. If you wish to correct this problem in an Internet Explorer browser, select the Tools menu, then "Internet Options." On the "Security" tab select the "Trusted Sites" icon and click the "Sites" button. Make sure that the "Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone" checkbox is NOT selected and add the URL http://mediasite.cidde.pitt.edu to the list of trusted sites.

More Fixes for Netscape and Firefox web browsers:

If you’re experiencing problems viewing Mediasite with Firefox or Netscape because the video window is black but you still hear the audio, you’ll need to follow these steps to view the video.

1. Open one of the Mediasite presentations.

2. Place the mouse curser on the video window.  A little note should pop-up with “Click to activate and use this control”, now if you will just click once on the video window, this will allow you to control it.  Note:  if you double click on the window, this may expand the video window to fill your display.  If this happens, just press “Esc” will return to the view skin.

3. Leaving the curser on the video window, use the right mouse button to click on it which will open a drop down menu.

4. Near the bottom, you will see the “options” selection; use the mousse left click button to click on the “option” selection.  This will bring up the option window.

5. Make sure the performance tab is selected at the top of the window, near the bottom of the window is the “Video acceleration” control with a slider bar that has “None” one the left and “Full” on the right of the bar.  Place the curser in the middle of the slider bar and left click on it.  This will move the selector to the middle of the slider bar.

6. Left click “Apply” at the bottom of the “Options” window.  Another window will pop-up which is the “Windows Media Player”.   The window has written of it “This change might cause any digital media content that is playing or paused to restart.  Do you wish to continue.” left click on the “Yes” button.  Now click on the “OK” button at the bottom of the “Option” window.  This will close the window.

You should now be able to view the video as well as hear the audio.

Viewing Mediasite Presentations on a Macintosh

Do Mediasite presentations play on Macs? The answer is an unqualified yes. That said, you may

need to make some adjustments on your Mac or on your Mediasite Server to make presentations

viewable. Try the solutions below, in the order presented in this document. If presentations still

do not play back, contact customer support by going to the SmartServe Portal at

www.sonicfoundry.com/support.

Browser requirements on a Mac

Make sure you have one of the following browsers that will play Mediasite presentations on a

Mac.

• Safari 1.0.3 or later (Safari 1.2.4 & above recommended)

• Firefox 1.0 or later

• Netscape 7.2 for Mac OS X

Aside from browser compatibility issues above, there are three common problems that can be

addressed on the Mac itself. See the sections below and make any appropriate changes, in this

order, before making changes to your Mediasite Server.

Flip4Mac plug-in issues

Mediasite presentations must use the Windows Media plug-in to play. They will not play if you

have the Flip4Mac Windows Media component for QuickTime installed on your Mac. To disable

the plug-in:

1. Click your desktop, and select Apple > System Preferences to open the Mac System

Preferences.

2. Click Flip4Mac WMV under Other.

3. On the Plug-in tab, clear the "Use Flip4Mac WMV Internet Plug-in" checkbox.

4. Exit the dialog to save your changes.

5. Try to play a presentation. If it still doesn’t play back, go to the next section.

Starting a presentation is very slow

When viewing a Mediasite presentation on Mac systems running 10.4.x, there may be a long

delay before playback begins. In some cases, this delay can be a minute or more.

Note: This problem only seems to affect Mac OS 10.4.x. Earlier versions do not seem to have any

delay issues when starting playback

To resolve:

1. Open Windows Media Player by selecting Go > Applications > Windows Media Player.

2. From the toolbar select Windows Media Player > Preferences > Network Settings tab.

3. Uncheck TCP and UDP boxes and click OK.

Viewing on Intel-based Macs

Windows Media Player 9 for Mac must be run under Rosetta emulation on an Intel-based Mac.

As such, the browser must also be forced to run under Rosetta as well. To enable Rosetta

emulation:

1. Close all open browser windows.

2. Select Go > Applications to open the Applications directory.

3. Right click or ctrl-click your browser (e.g. Safari or Firefox)-and click Get Info.

4. In the General section, check "Open using Rosetta."

The next time the web browser is launched it will run under Rosetta emulation and presentations

should play back.