Downloading and Installing VLC Media Player for Mac
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MAC:
(Updated 6/14/2011)
System requirements
Mac OS X 10.5 or later with Safari installed
To download and install VLC Media Player for Mac OS X 10.5 or later:
1. Go to the VLC Media website:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
2. Click on the orange Download VLC button.
3. Both Apple and Microsoft recommend a plugin to play Windows Media called Flip4Mac. (We have found it to work rather poorly.) If you have previously installed Flip4Mac on your computer, it MUST be uninstalled. Uninstalling Flip4Mac will not cause you to lose any functionality – VLC Media player will replace it.
Removing Flip4Mac WMV:
To remove Flip4Mac WMV software from your Mac:
1. In the Finder, open the Applications > Flip4Mac folder.
2. Launch the uninstaller (Flip4Mac WMV Uninstaller.pkg) and follow the instructions.
3. Relaunch your Web browser and QuickTime applications.
Note: The uninstaller does not remove your Flip4Mac WMV preferences or serial numbers that you may have purchased.
Please see below:
4. When the VLC download completes, the following folder will open. Then drag the VLC icon to the Applications folder on the dock. We recommend rebooting the computer after the installation. (Open the Read Me file to see more detailed instructions.)
5. IMPORTANT: VLC Media player works best with the Safari web browser, so we strongly recommend only using Safari.
6. Click on the following link: http://www.msia.org/live/archives.php This link will take you to our Webcast Archives page.
7. Click on one of the Windows Media links. The Windows Media 200 K Video link will give the best result, assuming that you have a high speed internet connection.
Addendum:
When you click on a Windows Media stream link, VLC Media player should launch automatically. With the most recent version of VLC - 1.1.9, the player may not launch automatically, or a different player - such as Real Player - may try to launch.
The following instructions detail how to set VLC Media player to automatically play Windows Media streams:
When you click on the Windows Media stream link, you will see a small .asf file downloaded in your pop-up Downloads window.
In the Dock, click on the Downloads Folder, and select Open in Finder. (If the Downloads Folder is not in your Dock, click on Finder in the Dock and you’ll see the Downloads Folder there.)
In the Downloads Folder, right click on the .asf file that was just downloaded. (If there is more than one .asf file, any will do.) Select Get Info.
On the Get Info page, you’ll see a pull down menu under Open with:. Select VLC from the pull down menu. If the Change All… button is not grayed out, select Change All…, then select Continue. (If the Change All… button is grayed out, it means that VLC is already the default player.) Doing these steps will cause VLC to open all files ending in .asf.
Close the Get Info page and the Downloads folder.
Click here to test that VLC Media player launches correctly.
If the player does not launch automatically after the link has been selected, there is a setting in Safari that may need to be changed. The "Open 'safe' files after downloading" box probably needs to be checked.
With Safari open, select Safari and then Preferences:
Then check the "Open 'safe' files after downloading" box:
Click here to test that VLC Media player launches correctly.
You are all set to use VLC Media player on your Mac for the webcast.
If the player still doesn't launch correctly - if you haven't done so already - restart the computer and give it another try.