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Help: mp4 vids downloading as ".txt" files

S

Sam Spade

macrumors regular
Original poster
Just started using OS X and downloads have proven to be frustrating for an Apple newbie. I've downloaded some videos which are showing up on the hard drive as mp4.txt files.

What do I need to do to these files in order to play the videos?
 
Try renaming the file (select the file and press return) and simply delete the '.txt' at the end of the filename (i.e. change the file extension to '.mp4'). A box should show up asking you if you are sure. Choose 'use .mp4' and it should work. 🙂
 
where did you download these from?

what happens if you delete the .txt and leave it as nameofvideo.mp4?
 
I am very suspicious.
If you have downloaded them using Peer-to-Peer (Acquisition / Limewire) then check the size of the file. If it's in kilobytes and you were expecting megabytes then you might have a PC virus (benign in a Mac.)

A classic ploy to catch out PC owners is to put double suffixes on the file name so they think they are getting something else, i.e.
afile.mp4.txt

Alternatively, the two best video players I've found for OSX is
MPEG streamclip from Squared 5 (converts files into iPod friendly format much better than Quicktime)
VLC (plays AVIs that even Quicktime struggles to open.)

I assume you've tried Quicktime?
 
This happened to me once when I used Safari. All you have to do is remove the .txt from the end of the filename so that the extension is MP4 (as gedi82 suggested).
 
Yes, simply removing the ".txt" from the file name worked.

Now, onto another problem: .avi videos have sound, but no picture. Any ideas?
 
Some web servers are configured to serve .mp4 with the text/plain content type. Safari respects this type and duly adds the .txt extension. Some other browsers will leave the extension as-is.

As for your .avi issue, have you installed DivX etc?
 
Install Perian. It's a codec pack that helps quicktime recognise nearly all the different types of media files available.

Failing that, install VLC player, which really can recognise just about any file type you can throw at it.
 
Nermal said:
Some web servers are configured to serve .mp4 with the text/plain content type. Safari respects this type and duly adds the .txt extension. Some other browsers will leave the extension as-is.

As for your .avi issue, have you installed DivX etc?
Click to expand...
I've got a new iMac. DivX appears to be pre-installed. I also installed Perian. I'm still not getting a picture on .avi's.

I'll try VLC, I guess.
 
OK, downloaded VLC. It worked! .avi files now have both picture and sound.

I'm surprised Perian didn't work.

Thanks, guys!
 
Sam Spade said:
I've got a new iMac. DivX appears to be pre-installed.
Click to expand...

The only ay DivX could be preinstalled is if the reseller installed it for you. If you bought the system directly from Apple then it's definitely not preinstalled.
 
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