I am running LimeWire on a Macintosh G3 (with OS 9.0.4), and I've recently encountered a problem: Every mp3 that I download appears as a RealPlayer file. Until last week, mp3's were downloaded entirely in Quicktime format. Why has this changed? My computer does not have RealPlayer, nor any extensions that would cause such a change. Has something about Limewire itself changed? If so, please let me know what has changed and how I might be able to fix it. Thank you.

Wait...

the format of a MP3 fils is .mp3, all players should be able to play these files! There is no Real Player format or something else!

So if i understand you right, quicktime doesn´t play your mp3s?

Morgwen

No... Quicktime plays mp3s just fine... but not the ones I've downloaded recently. Whenever I try to play one of these songs on Quicktime it says that it can't find the right extensions to play it. However, I can play the songs I downloaded before this week just fine.

From your on-screen QuickTime controller:
1. Click onto the black triangle and select QuickTime Setting (or is it named Plugin Setting?)
2. Then click on MIME Setting (towards the bottom of the window)
3. You should be able to find a row which has to do with MP3.
4. Allow Quicktime to play MP3.

I suspect that recently you've altered the configuration. This could happen when you try to play something while you're using a browser (eg. Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc).

Good luck.

Along the same lines. I would like all of the mp3 files to download as realplayer files. How do I control this? Why does limewire seem to sometimes download mp3s as realplayer files while other times it does not?

You may also want to check your Control Panels->File Exchange preferences, aka Internet Explorer's "File Helpers".

This control panel is responsible for mapping file extensions (like .mp3, for instance) to the "corresponding" Mac OS file type and creator code information.

All files in Mac OS 9 and prior, whether a document or application, have "type" and "creator code" attributes. These attributes consist of four letters (or numbers) that help identify which documents belong to which application and vice versa. For example QuickTime Player has type "APPL" (Application) and creator code "TVOD." A quicktime mp3 file will have a creator of "TVOD" and type "Mp3 ". The "TVOD" part is what identifies that it was created by QuickTime Player. When you double-click the file, it's opened by the application that "created it." "TVOD" is unique--no other Mac OS application has this creator code--in fact you normally register your app's CC with Apple when you create a new app. This code is also responsible for determining what icon is associated w/ the file.

When you download a file off the internet or using LimeWire, those files do not originally contain type and creator code information. All the file has is the 3 letter file extension, ".xxx" The File Exchange control panel's "PC Exchange" tab is the point where that "file extension to creator-code and file-type" mapping takes place.

If you indeed don't have RealPlayer, and wish to open the file in Quicktime Player, use the "File Translation" tab to set that preference. Click the "Add..." button, locate the .mp3 file that's associated w/ Real Player, and choose to open it w/ Quictime Player.

You may also want to try rebuilding your desktop file by holding down the Command+option keys right after all of your extensions load but before you see the Finder/Desktop and icons.

Hope this helps...