VIDEO PLAYBACK ISSUES – WHAT TO DO While extremely isolated, I have had a few viewers who have told me they can’t view one or more of my videos. If you are having trouble with playing any video, there are several things you can try.

WHEN USING CHROME BROWSER THE PLAYER LOADS WITH IMAGE BUT VIDEO WON’T PLAY This may be caused by a security setting in the Chrome browser. To work around the issue go to Chrome/Preferences/Settings. Click “Show Advanced Settings”. In the “Privacy” section, click “Content Settings”. Then, under the “Cookies” settings, un-check “Block Third Party Cookies and Site Data”. Then click “Done”.  Now test to see if video plays.

CLEAR YOUR BROWSER CACHE Browsers often store or buffer data in the “cache”. Over a period of time, the cache can become too full which will affect performance when visiting many websites. Clearing your cache is a often recommended maintenance practice. Sometimes clearing your cache will improve performance when playing WoodTreks videos too. University of Indiana Shows you how.

UPGRADE YOUR FLASH PLAYER For optimal results on most video sites, it’s best to make sure you are using the latest version of the Adobe Flash player. Download it here. (If you are using the Apple iPad® or iPhone® please note that Apple has crippled the playback of all Flash videos on these devices. There is currently no fix for this.)

VIMEO ERROR MESSAGEIf, when attempting to view a video, you get the following error message, “The creator of this video has not given you permission to embed it on this domain” – here is what to do if you are using Firefox: Make sure your browser configuration file hasn’t been altered by sites such as crazedlist.org. The following fix only works for the Firefox browser: To access your Firefox configuration files type “about:config” in the URL address box at the top of the browser window. Hit return or enter. A warning screen may appear telling you to be careful with any changes you make. Do be careful. Once you enter the configuration screen, enter “sendrefer” in the search bar. This will bring up the parameter that has been altered. For Vimeo to work correctly, this parameter must be set to the default setting which is “2”. If it says “1” then change it to “2” and see if the problem is fixed. (As an alternative to re-setting your config file, you could install and use another browser, such as Chrome.)

DISABLE NORTON SECURITY – Some users have been able to fix a problematic video player by temporarily disabling Norton Security. Simply right click on the Norton Security feature to disable that service and then re-try the video play.

INSTALL AND USE A SECONDARY BROWSER My goal is for videos to play reliably in any browser, but if you want to get access to videos while we troubleshoot, please try installing and using another web browser. Here are links to three highly regarded cross platform Mac/PC browsers: 1. the Free Firefox browser 2. the Free Google Chrome browser here, or 3. the Free Apple Safari browser here. (Note: You may need to re-install the Flash Player after installing a new browser.)

AOL USERS The Internet Explorer (IE) browser that is installed by default as part of the AOL software package, may be preventing correct video playback, either delaying video playback or even preventing the player from loading. Using IE outside AOL (in other words the free standing IE) has, in some cases solved the issue. (Or install the Firefox Browser – see above)

LINUX USERS – Some versions of Flash for Linux are not playing nice with some Flash players. If you are a Linux user who is unable to view videos, please try re-verting back to Flash 9.  The archived flash players are available from Adobe at the URL:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_14266&sliceId=2

PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO TROUBLESHOOT THE PROBLEM. If these steps don’t work, or you’d like me to work on browser support issues, you can help. Here’s a list (sorry it’s so long) of questions that will really help locate the issue. If you will collect the data from this list below and send it to me, that will be a tremendous help.
1. What platform are you using? (example: Windows, Linux, Mac)
2. What Operating System and version are you using? (example: Mac OSX 10.5.2)
3. What are your machine specs? (example: 2.16 GHz Intel, 2GB Ram)
4. What Browser are you using? (example: Firefox 2.0.0.14)
5. What Flash version and build? (example: Flash 9.0.124.0)
Click here to check which version you have. Visit: http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_15507
6. What is your bandwidth? visit http://www.speedtest.net to test

ONE MORE OPTION TO TRY This is rare:

1. Please visit the following URL:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager03.html
2. You will see there “Adobe Flash Player Settings Manager” (on the top of the right frame). This website actually changes the settings on your installed player.
3. Under the “Global Storage Settings” tab, you will see a checkbox: “Allow third-party Flash content to store data on your computer”. If it’s unchecked for you (by default it’s enabled), check it as “enabled”.
4. Switch to any another tab in the Settings Manager to make sure your settings are saved.
5. After that, visit Woodtreks.com and see if player will load. Wait till player loads and starts playing the video. If player doesn’t come up after minute or 2 please refresh page and/or repeat steps 1-5…

Still having problems getting videos to play? In the form below, please describe your issue or concern. Then simply click the “send” button.

Thanks for your interest and feedback.

Best Regards, Keith

The more information I am are able to get from you, the more easily I can track down the problem. My goal is to make this all very easy for you to use and enjoy. Thanks. — Keith