Any way to play real media streams without installing that terrible player

[mikemikez]

???

I sure hope so..:)


Thanks for the info..


Mikez

[handler55]

I began this, but didn't get very far:

Tried with Real Audio only - got the file using Streambox and converted it to MP3 with dbpoweramp while monitoring registry and file access, so I have a list of the DLLs and registry keys that are necessary. I'm not sure whether the DLLs need to be registered or anything, as I haven't had a blank Windows installation to test it on.

With the necessary registry keys and DLLs, I think you should be able to play RealAudio streams, at least, with IrfanView.

[Pojken Purken]

I'm not so optimistic. Real Audio is a proprietary and closed format. What's so awful with the player anyway? For me it works just like Media Player... no probs.

/PP

[BlackSun]

It's closed and licensed. I wanted to add playback for Realplayer content, but the license suckz, we can't play this kind of content if we are playing a format in competition. i.e. we can play MP3 because it's in competition with Real Audio, same for AVI, etc...

[Teegedeck]

...and have you ever tried to convert a realvideo-file? A friend asked me how to convert this stuff because a client of his company wanted to know. I just gave him some theory on video-conversion (AviSynth and stuff) and lateron tried it myself. Guess. Closed format. It's pure shit.

[handler55]

Just found this in Lockergnome's Tips and Tricks froms December 2001:

Find an old (or virtual) machine to install RealPlayer onto.
In the C:\ Program Files \ Common Files \ Real hierarchy, grab the contents of \Codecs, \Common, and \Plugins.
In the C:\ Windows \ System (or System32) folder, grab pncrt.dll. Now, navigate to the machine's registry: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Software \ RealNetworks \ Preferences. Be sure to export three of its subkeys: \DT_Plugins, \DT_Codecs, and \DT_Common. In each case, they should point to the appropriate folder hierarchy (the ones you just copied from the Program Files folder).
Copy the three folders and the DLL file back to their original locations (on your primary machine this time).
Double-click the REG file to merge its contents into the Registry.

Now any third-party player that requires the Real codecs should play your RealMedia.

[Latexxx]

There is a tool called tinra, which convert .rm to avi. More info: http://www.vcdhelp.com/rmto.htm

[Vespers]

A few third-party players were developed to bypass the RealBeast, but they still require the Real codecs to be installed. Josh Waggoner says; you just need to copy over a couple of files and Registry settings to be set. Find an old (or virtual) machine to install RealPlayer onto. In the C:\ Program Files \ Common Files \ Real hierarchy, grab the contents of \Codecs, \Common, and \Plugins. In the C:\ Windows \ System (or System32) folder, grab pncrt.dll. Now, navigate to the machine's registry: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Software \ RealNetworks \ Preferences. Be sure to export three of its subkeys: \DT_Plugins, \DT_Codecs, and \DT_Common. In each case, they should point to the appropriate folder hierarchy (the ones you just copied from the Program Files folder). Copy the three folders and the DLL file back to their original locations (on your primary machine this time). Double- click the REG file to merge its contents into the Registry. Now any third-party player that requires the RealStuff should play your RealMedia.

If you get the
innoreal plugin for WinAmp, and use Nicemc, you'll be able to view all Real Media without having that bastard bloatware app installed on your box.

[geocapital]

The only thing, I can say is that Cooledit is supposed to open real audio files. So, it could work for them.

[gabest]

Try http://vobsub.edensrising.com/get2.php/mplayerc.rar. It can play real media files inside a "WMP64-like" window. Of course you still need realplayer/one installed because of its decoder dlls...