Safari unable to load plug-in

Question

Hi, this problem is baffling me. Every web site I go to I can't load Quicktime video or audio files. Every time it tries to load the file it gives me a dialog saying "Unable to load plug-in. The page "blah-blah-blah" attempted to load an Internet plug-in named "Quicktime Plug-In 7.3", but the plug-in failed to load successfully." And it shows me a little Lego block with question marks on it.
I searched the forums here trying to find a solution and I tried every one I found, none worked. I've reinstalled Quicktime, but that hasn't worked either.
Can anyone think of a solution? Am I missing something? Thanks.

Answer 1

Your problem relates to Flash video.
These are the downloads and the settings you need in order to view/hear pretty much everything that the net can throw at you: The setup described below has proved repeatedly successful on both PPC and Intel macs, but nothing in life carries a guarantee!
It is known to work in the great majority of cases with Safari 3.0.4, QT 7.3 and OS 10.4.11. (If you are running Leopard, ensure that all plug-ins have been updated for OS 10.5)
Assuming you already run Tiger versions OS 10.4.9 or above (this has not yet been verified with Leopard) and have Quicktime 7.2 or above, and are using Safari 2 or 3, download and install (or re-install even if you already had them) the latest versions, suitable for your flavor of Mac, of:
RealPlayer 10 for Mac from http://forms.real.com/real/player/blackjack.html?platform2=Mac%20OS%20X&product= RealPlayer%2010&proc=g3&lang=&show_list=0&src=macjack
Flip4Mac WMV Player from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx (Windows Media Player for the Mac is no longer supported, even by Microsoft)
Perian from http://perian.org/
Adobe FlashPlayer should first be uninstalled using the appropriate uninstaller available here: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_14157&sliceId=2 and then the latest version obtained from here: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1ProdVersion=ShockwaveFlash and installed.
(You can check here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/about/ to see which version you should install for your Mac and OS. This: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?email&NewsID=19845 may also interest you.)
In Quicktime Preferences, under advanced, UNcheck Enable Flash, and under Mime settings/Miscellananeous only check Quicktime HTML (QHTM).
See also the very informative post from QuickTimeKirk dated Dec 3, 2007 in this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1268489&tstart=0
In Macintosh HD/Library/Quicktime/ delete any files relating to DivX (Perian already has them).
Now go to Safari Preferences/Security, and tick the boxes under Web Content (all 4 of them).
Lastly open Audio Midi Setup (which you will find in the Utilities Folder of your Applications Folder) and click on Audio Devices. Make sure that both Audio Input and Audio Output, under Format, are set to 44100 Hz.
Important: Now repair permissions and restart.
The world should now be your oyster!
You should also consider having the free VLC Player from http://www.videolan.org/ in your armory, as this plays almost anything that DVD Player might not.