Nero Showtime can't play .asf files

[lgmayka]

On my laptop computer, Nero Showtime can play .asf files (created by the Aiptek IS-DV camcorder) just fine. But on my desktop computer, Nero Showtime simply says, "Cannot play this media file". How am I supposed to debug this?

Needless to say, I am running the latest, newly downloaded version of Nero software on both computers. Indeed, most multimedia software is installed identically on both computers.

[Baldrick]

it maybe requires latest wmp 10.

[lgmayka]

Thanks, but I already have the latest Windows Media Player 10. And keep in mind that the .asf files play just fine in WMP as well as RealPlayer 10.5. In fact, they play well on the laptop computer. Just not on the desktop computer.

As I mentioned, the real question is perhaps, Just how does one go about debugging these decoder problems? Showtime's error message is of course absolutely useless.

[normcar]

I would suggest you use Gspot or some to ensure that the file is indeed an ASF file. Sometimes it is really a different type of file, but if a player such as windows media player can handle both types of files, it will autmatically decide to use the .ASF file as a .MPG for example. So use Gspot to ensure it is an ASF and that you have the correct codec loaded on the computer.

[lgmayka]

Thank you for the suggestion. I installed and ran Gspot on this supposed .asf file. (Note that WMP10 and RealPlayer 10.5 do play this file correctly.) Gspot says

File is ASF (.WMA/.WMV)

and that its stream type is

video/x-ms-asf

but all codec information comes up as n.a. (Not Available, I presume). So what does this mean? Is this really some other type of file? Should I try changing its file extension?

By the way, WMP10 says that this file uses video codec mpeg4z and audio codec adpcm_ms.

[normcar]

I believe you do not have the correct codec installed. I forget which codec collection I use, but someone should be able to tell you which codec or collection to install.

[lgmayka]

By the way, Sherlock 2.0 (from corecodec.org/projects/sherlock) says that I have two "declared" codecs which have not actually been installed/registered:

Arcsoft Mpeg Encode Filter (used in converting PalmOS files)
Nero Digital Video Encoder

Note that I own Nero 6 Ultra Edition with all updates, which is supposed to include all of Nero Digital. I don't know why this codec is "declared" but not actually present/registered. I do have

Nero Digital AVC Video Enc
Nero DVD Decoder
Nero Video Decoder

[normcar]

Try installing this codec. Its under the Codec section in Tools.

ASF Codec / MPEG-4 V1/2/3

[lgmayka]

Uh, thanks anyway, but I wouldn't touch that ancient corrupted piece of garbage with a 10-foot pole. First, the codec it contains, mpg4ds32.ax, is a full 5 years older and 4 major versions behind the one that is already correctly installed in my system. Second, the description and copyright have been altered to say "Microcrap," which means exactly what it says: That this is some hacked-up piece of crap! It could contain a virus or who knows what else.

But thanks anyway!

The bottom line is that I already have that codec. For some reason, Showtime is just refusing to use it.