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SL Plugin - no audio when watching OGG videos on Windows 
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Joined: 2012-08-26 06:18:04
Posts: 17
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Just installed the latest version of Cool VL on my desktop, running Windows 7 (x64) and laptop, running Windows 10 (x64). While the viewer itself works FANTASTICALLY, the bundled SL Plugin does not on either machine. When attempting to play an OGG video via parcel media, the visual plays but no audio.

Here are the steps to reproduce:
1) Set the parcel media to this test video: https://ia800300.us.archive.org/23/item ... d_wolf.ogv (any OGV video will do...this one was chosen for its small size and use of audio)
2) Set a texture to replace as the media texture
3) Place a prim on the parcel with the media texture on it
4) Watch the video either on the prim or in the embedded browser.

There will be no audio, but if you open the video up in an external browser, it will work. This is because the llPlugin and slplugin.exe is not delivering audio to the sound card in Windows.

Here is the resolution that works on both Windows 7 and Windows 10 (64-bit):
1) Download and install the main viewer
2) delete the llplugin folder and SLPlugin.exe from the Cool VL install folder
3) Copy the llplugin folder and slplugin.exe file from the Main Viewer install folder

You should now be able to play OGG videos with sound.

Attached are the log files from the Windows 7 (x64) machine.


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CoolVLLogFiles.zip [19.47 KiB]
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2017-04-30 16:38:38
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Joined: 2009-03-17 18:42:51
Posts: 5523
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The media in question plays just fine here (both video and audio).

You need to install gstreamer, like explained in the howto.

Also check what your system sound mixer is affecting the plugin's audio to (you may need to change the output to your loudspeakers).

DO NOT exchange the plugins with other viewers: the Cool VL Viewer does NOT use the same plugin interface and you will get crashes.


2017-04-30 22:04:05
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Joined: 2012-08-26 06:18:04
Posts: 17
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Hi Henri,

Thank you for replying to my previous post. On my Windows 7 computer, I went ahead and did a full install of the codecs, uninstalled Cool VL 1.26.20.19, deleted the Cool VL directory completely out of C:\Program Files(x86) (to get rid of any remaining llplugin files I copied over), reinstalled Cool VL from scratch, and was met with the same issue of no audio when playing OGG videos.

It's most likely isolated to the llplugin files or the slplugin.exe bundled with the distribution of Cool VL on 64-bit windows versions. The strange thing is that when I open the Windows Volume Mixer when playing an OGG video in Cool VL, it looks like the plugin is supposed to be playing audio but no sound is produced. This is not isolated to one computer or operating system, as I was able to replicate the issue on a different hardware configuration running Windows 10 (x64).

For reference, the log files for the Windows 10 (x64) installation is attached.


Attachments:
CoolVLLogFiles_Win10.zip [22.65 KiB]
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2017-05-02 05:08:49
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Joined: 2009-03-17 18:42:51
Posts: 5523
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OK, I managed to reproduce the issue on one computer (under Windows 7), and after pulling half of the last hairs left on my head, I finally understood what's wrong (which is partly Windows' own fault and bugs): the lack of sound is apparently due to the change I backported from LL's viewer last week (see in the change log: Backported from LL's viewer-64-callum a fix to "shared media a great distance away sometimes plays at maximum volume when entering a region or moving camera slightly"), which basically sets the volume to zero each time a new CEF plugin starts (and since the first media decoded by the viewer is the login web page, the first instance of SLPlugin.exe always uses CEF, and Windoze then remembers the zero volume it sets and that stupid OS then applies this setting to all subsequent instances, regardless of the played media), but in such a way, that even with the sound mixer, you cannot bring back the volume up when pushing the slider all the way up (another Windows bug)... It is not specific to OGG media either (all streaming media are affected), and it does not affect other OSes.

I reverted that change for next release, and you may, in the mean time, download the former Windows release.

However, there is worse: Windows is such a Mickey Mouse OS that, after you ran into that issue, and if you install any working viewer release in the same directory as where you installed the "broken" one (v1.26.20.19), the plugins will still get their volume zeroed while this won't reflect in the sound mixer (Windoze bugs, again: bug for not noticing the binary changed, and for not allowing to reset the volume with the mixer !!!), making it impossible to get sound out of them either...
To recover a functional system, you will need to manually edit the registry like so:
  • Close any running instance of the viewer.
  • Launch "regedit"
  • Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\LowRegistry\Audio\PolicyConfig\PropertyStore (and don't ask me why it is located under "Internet Explorer"... That's just Micro$hit logic !).
  • Delete the sub-folders (their name is made up an hexadecimal number with "_0" appended) in that folder which got a "SLPlugin" sub-string in their default value (use F3 to find them in values), or just delete all the sub-folders (they are not critical anyway and will be rebuilt automatically when needed).

Once this is done, you can restart the viewer (not v1.26.20.19, of course)...


2017-05-02 18:10:28
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Joined: 2012-08-26 06:18:04
Posts: 17
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Thanks Henri!

Thank you for all of your hard work in making Cool VL the best viewer out there! :D


2017-05-03 06:44:44
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Joined: 2009-03-17 18:42:51
Posts: 5523
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The issue is fixed, thanks to a workaround, in today's release.

Instead of reverting LL's changes, I modified them so that the default volume for the CEF plugin is set to 50% instead of 0%, the latter causing an "irrevocable mute" because of what furiously looks like a Windows bug.

I also made it so that all plugins (i.e. streaming plugins in excess of the embedded browser plugin) now use the volume catcher, the streaming plugins setting the system mixer volume to 100% via it (the streaming plugins, unlike CEF, got their own, built-in volume control and therefore did not use the volume catcher, but setting the system mixer volume to 100% ensures everything runs as expected).

This means that users of today's release will recover a functional system without having to manually fiddle with the (f*cking) Windows registry.


2017-05-06 08:37:44
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