Fraunhofer codec

[BroomQueen]

I got a cell phone and the usb cable to put mp3 ringtones on my phone, well it wasn't workign so I emailed motorola, they said something about the Fraunhofer audio codec that comes with winXP is a DECODE only and to contact microsoft to change it back or whatever. Anyways, I'm gonna put here exactly what they said maybe someone could help me cuz microsoft charges too much to call them for tech support...

Regarding your inquiry, Windows XP comes with an MP3 driver, the Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 codec, that allows MP3 playback and low-quality MP3 recording. After installing certain software packages, the ability to record MP3's may be lost.
When you look in the Control Panel, Sounds and Audio Devices, Hardware tab, Audio codecs, Properties, and Properties again you'll see the driver listed as "Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 codec", highlight it and click on Properties, if you see it listed as "Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 codec (decode only)". This confirms that the wrong driver is installed.

The cause is simple: some packages (CD burning software, music editing software) install a playback-only version of the driver. The driver in question is l3codeca.acm, which is replaced by the playback-only version l3codecx.acm. Fortunately, the original driver file is not lost. We recommend you contact a computer technician, Microsoft support (1-800-936-3500) or HiWired (866-392-9992) so they can assist you in getting the mp3 editing capabilities back on your PC.

Anyways, I did have this codec, does anyone know what they're talkin about to 'get the original' one back? They list a codec l3codeca.acm and I have that one in a .cab file. I extracted it to c:\windows\system (i looked up where it goes) and got rid of the one they said was decode only, except it didn't work anyone have any ideas? THANKS!

[mh2360]

What version of Windows Media player do you use? I'm pretty sure that upgrading/reinstalling it might also reinstall the mp3 codec.

I also found a tutorial:

http://www.looprecorder.de/tut_l3codec.php

At the bottom it explains that you can install the codec without (re)installing WMP11.

[BroomQueen]

I have 10 installed (can't install 11 haha) I actually found the l3codecp.acm and installed it (hopefully, at least it's there when i got into control panel, audio, all that thing and click on the properties, so im gonna hook up my phone now and see if it works

[Rawit]

Yes, the Fraunhofer / Windows Media Player situation is very annoying. Reinstalling or upgrading MIGHT help, but often it doesn't. I use the LAME ACM MP3 codec, which gives me nice results. I'm able to use it in combination with Motorola Phone Tools, which I guess is the program you need it to function with. You can remove the Fraunhofer codec if needed (back it up!).