playing m4a in browser

mcgarry · 01:34 PM

Hi,
Thanks to some help from here a few weeks ago, I got my sites up and running out of my house. One of them is for my brother, who wanted me to put up some of his self-recorded songs. On the downloads page of that site,

www.the-optimist.com/music.html

the mp3 links work fine in every browser, but the one test m4a link I put up returns text output only in Safari (Firefox brings a dialog up and I have not yet tested IE).

I did create a .htaccess file in the-optimist.com's document root, which includes the text

AddType audio/mpeg mp3
AddType audio/mp4 m4a

What am I missing ? (yeah, besides the ability to design a website that doesn't look like crap -- I learned enough html to do the basics back in 1996 and I've never moved beyond)

ChicoWeb · Jan 18, 2005, 03:40 PM

Could be your host. Some of them don't allow you to write your own MIME types. I had a issue like this with a client and his server. I had to end up hosting the files myself.

mcgarry · Jan 18, 2005, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChicoWeb

Could be your host. Some of them don't allow you to write your own MIME types. I had a issue like this with a client and his server. I had to end up hosting the files myself.

I host myself-- an old iMac by my desk running 10.2.8 (Apache 1.3.33).

ChicoWeb · Jan 18, 2005, 05:09 PM

Then I would imagine you njeed to add this MIME type under httpd.conf file.

Search for:

Code:

 AddType application/x-tar .tgz'.

and after it place:

Code:

AddType audio.mp4 .mp4 .m4a .m4p

mcgarry · Jan 18, 2005, 05:44 PM

Thanks! that worked. Firefox opens up a player in the browser (right-click will download), and Safari begins a download; either is fine with me. I'll test on a Windows machine when I get a chance, but really I thought this would just be a nice touch for Mac or iTunes users.

Do I still need the .htaccess file I made?

Lastly, a note on nomencalture:what is the proper usage of m4a vs. mp4, at least in my application?

crazzyeddie · 06:04 PM

m4a is mpeg4 audio (what you want to distribute). mp4 is mpeg4 protected, aka iTMS protected music, which is useless to distribute.

mcgarry · Jan 18, 2005, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazzyeddie

m4a is mpeg4 audio, mp4 is mpeg4 protected, aka iTMS protected music.

Thanks, I have not yet purchased anything from iTMS. Do purchased files use the .mp4 suffix, while the files I import into iTunes (as from my brother's CD) get .m4a?

crazzyeddie · Jan 18, 2005, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgarry

Thanks, I have not yet purchased anything from iTMS. Do purchased files use the .mp4 suffix, while the files I import into iTunes (as from my brother's CD) get .m4a?

Yes, exactly.

Brize · Jan 18, 2005, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazzyeddie

m4a is mpeg4 audio (what you want to distribute). mp4 is mpeg4 protected, aka iTMS protected music, which is useless to distribute.

I'm unsure about this. I thought that protected AAC files had the m4p extension, rather than mp4.

rendezvouscp · Jan 18, 2005, 09:07 PM

Brize is correct. Protected AAC (MP4) files are .m4p and unprotected are .m4a, while audiobooks are .m4b. They are all MP4 files.
-Chase

crazzyeddie · Jan 18, 2005, 09:27 PM

m4p... mp4... You know what i mean

Jan 18, 2005, 01:27 PM	#1
mcgarry macrumors 6502a Join Date: Oct 2004	playing m4a in browser Hi, Thanks to some help from here a few weeks ago, I got my sites up and running out of my house. One of them is for my brother, who wanted me to put up some of his self-recorded songs. On the downloads page of that site, www.the-optimist.com/music.html the mp3 links work fine in every browser, but the one test m4a link I put up returns text output only in Safari (Firefox brings a dialog up and I have not yet tested IE). I did create a .htaccess file in the-optimist.com's document root, which includes the text AddType audio/mpeg mp3 AddType audio/mp4 m4a What am I missing ? (yeah, besides the ability to design a website that doesn't look like crap -- I learned enough html to do the basics back in 1996 and I've never moved beyond) Last edited by mcgarry; Jan 18, 2005 at 01:34 PM.
	0

Jan 18, 2005, 03:40 PM	#2
ChicoWeb macrumors 65816 Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: California	Could be your host. Some of them don't allow you to write your own MIME types. I had a issue like this with a client and his server. I had to end up hosting the files myself. __________________ C H I C O W E B D E S I G N C H I C O H O S T I N G Content Management Solutions - M A V I E O Design Studio
	0

Jan 18, 2005, 05:09 PM	#4
ChicoWeb macrumors 65816 Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: California	Then I would imagine you njeed to add this MIME type under httpd.conf file. Search for: Code: AddType application/x-tar .tgz'. and after it place: Code: AddType audio.mp4 .mp4 .m4a .m4p __________________ C H I C O W E B D E S I G N C H I C O H O S T I N G Content Management Solutions - M A V I E O Design Studio
	0

Jan 18, 2005, 06:02 PM	#6
crazzyeddie macrumors 68030 Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Florida, USA	m4a is mpeg4 audio (what you want to distribute). mp4 is mpeg4 protected, aka iTMS protected music, which is useless to distribute. __________________ Macbook Air 2010 Core 2 Duo 2.13Ghz 4GB DDR3 RAM iPhone 5 Black Last edited by crazzyeddie; Jan 18, 2005 at 06:04 PM.
	0

Jan 18, 2005, 09:07 PM	#10
rendezvouscp macrumors 68000 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Long Beach, California	Brize is correct. Protected AAC (MP4) files are .m4p and unprotected are .m4a, while audiobooks are .m4b. They are all MP4 files. -Chase __________________ Santa Rosa 2.4 15" Matte MacBook Pro Iron Money
	0

Jan 18, 2005, 05:44 PM	#5
mcgarry Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Oct 2004	Thanks! that worked. Firefox opens up a player in the browser (right-click will download), and Safari begins a download; either is fine with me. I'll test on a Windows machine when I get a chance, but really I thought this would just be a nice touch for Mac or iTunes users. Do I still need the .htaccess file I made? Lastly, a note on nomencalture:what is the proper usage of m4a vs. mp4, at least in my application?
	0

Jan 18, 2005, 09:27 PM	#11
crazzyeddie macrumors 68030 Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Florida, USA	m4p... mp4... You know what i mean __________________ Macbook Air 2010 Core 2 Duo 2.13Ghz 4GB DDR3 RAM iPhone 5 Black
	0


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