FLV Extension

[Geo.]

Hi,
I've just installed V4.10 (win xp)
Is there any way I can get Irfanview to play a file with an .FLV extension?
It is not recognised and the option doesn't seem to be listed in the extensions.
Thanks,
Geo.

[matera]

Yes, IrfanView does play FLV's. You need to have the plugins for the new version, then you can drag files into IV and/or use the Windows "Open with" feature to create an association. There is no way to associate the format automatically yet.

[Geo.]

Thanks for the prompt reply Matera.
I've just installed the plugins as advised and the FLV file is now playing.
Thanks!

[jhmeyers]

FLV not working for me

I have upgraded IrfanView (on WinXP Pro SP2) to version 4.10,
and have also upgraded the IrfanView plugins to version 4.10

A visit with my web browser to

http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/

confirms that I have flash version 9.0.47.0 installed.
which also appears to be the latest version offered.

My SWF files display beautifully with IrfanView (thanks!)

However, when I attempt to open any FLV file with IrfanView,
either by drag-and-drop or by making IrfanView the default application
(instead of "FLV Player") for files of type FLV,
the following error message box appears
(image is also attached to this post):

"Flash player needs an update
Installed Flash player on your computer is too old.
You need at least version 7 to display this video."
(but I already have version 9, as confirmed above)

Have I misunderstood about IrfanView being updated to play FLV files,
or made some other mistake?

Thanks for any pointers, and best wishes!

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

FLV files are playing fine for me, so I wonder what it might be?

1. Something special about the FLV file you're trying to play
2. Running an old version of IV via an old shortcut? (Check About)
3. Incorrectly installed plugins? (Reinstall)

[jhmeyers]

FLV files are playing fine for me, so I wonder what it might be?

1. Something special about the FLV file you're trying to play

No, all FLV files, saved over a long period of time.

2. Running an old version of IV via an old shortcut? (Check About)

"About" says4.10 (I even ran iview410_setup.exe again)

The only location into which I ever installed IrfanView is the suggested default
"C:\Program Files\IrfanView" (within which is the upfated "Plugins" folder),
so it would be difficult for any older version to survive being overwritten.

3. Incorrectly installed plugins? (Reinstall)

Reinstalled irfanview_plugins_410_setup.exe, no change.

Flash.dll and Flash4.dll show creation date 2007.09.21 04:55, FWIW
(whereas modification date is at the time installed, see below).

File sizes:

11/30/2007 03:56 AM 159,232 Flash.dll
11/30/2007 03:56 AM 437,248 Flash4.dll

MD5 checksums:

bd22bf3df7902584dace62aca30d854e Flash.dll
91a22809d2cd1ae0eba3042215ac108e Flash4.dll

Calling attention again to the error message, it doesn't say that
the FLV file is any problem, but claims that the installed Flash player
is "too old" (older than version 7), whereas the only version
(from Adobe) ever installed on this computer is version 9.

What program (or DLL) is responsible for that?

Should this be moved to the "bugs" forum instead?

Thanks.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

My Flash.dll plugin shows

Created: 17 November 2006, 18:10:33
Modified: 30 October 2007, 21:28:46
File Version: 2.0.0.5

Flash4.dll shows:

Created: 22 November 2006, 09:28:48
Modified: 30 October 2007, 21:28:48
Version: 3.9.5.0

Try moving those files, and run the plugin setup file again.

Have a look and see if you have a folder named:
What can happen is that they get installed wrongly into:
C:\Program Files\IrfanView\Plugins\Plugins\ for example instead of
C:\Program Files\IrfanView\Plugins\

Then the old ones don't get replaced.

I like at least one person to confirm this as a bug before moving it to the Bug Reports forum, otherwise we may be wasting Irfan's precious time by sending him false bug reports.

[jhmeyers]

My FLV mystery points to... Microsoft IE

Regarding the additional comment you added,
I do not have a ...\Plugins\Plugins folder
(I did not re-direct the Plugins installer to the Plugins
directory, but read the directions and left it as it was,
specifying the main IrfanView program directory).

After renaming and re-installing (from two independent sources),
I now have the following DLL files:

xxxx.dll - after most recent irfanview_plugins_410_setup.exe
xxxxE.dll - renamed after previous run of EXE installer
xxxxZ.dll - from independently downloaded irfanview_plugins_410.zip

http://irfanview.tuwien.ac.at/plugins/irfanview_plugins_410.zip

Version 2.0.0.5
11/30/2007 07:02 AM 159,232 Flash.dll
11/30/2007 03:56 AM 159,232 FlashE.dll
08/30/2007 04:50 PM 159,232 FlashZ.dll

Version 3.9.5.0
11/30/2007 07:02 AM 437,248 Flash4.dll
11/30/2007 03:56 AM 437,248 Flash4E.dll
02/22/2007 11:06 PM 437,248 Flash4Z.dll

MD5 checksums (and Zip file internal checksum):

bd22bf3df7902584dace62aca30d854e Flash.dll
bd22bf3df7902584dace62aca30d854e FlashE.dll
bd22bf3df7902584dace62aca30d854e FlashZ.dll
32-bit checksum within Zip file: 847c7ff0

91a22809d2cd1ae0eba3042215ac108e Flash4.dll
91a22809d2cd1ae0eba3042215ac108e Flash4E.dll
91a22809d2cd1ae0eba3042215ac108e Flash4Z.dll
32-bit checksum within Zip file: d52d2b9f

It would appear that both sources
(EXE installer and independent ZIP)
result in the same files, and the same results for me,
which are that SWF files do play, but FLV files do not,
the latter all complaining about the flash player version.

The fact that the error message advises one to
go to Adobe's web site and get a new flash player
suggests that IrfanView (and/or its DLLs)
is not detecting the actually installed flash player,
at least not the one that my everyday web browsers use.

Further exploration in diagnosing the problem:

My default web browser is Opera (current version 9.24)

I also sometimes use Firefox (my version being 2.0.0.9)

Each of the above, when visiting

http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/

or http://www.codegeek.net/flash_version.htm
reports version 9.0.47.0 of Adobe flash player.

However, Internet Explorer 6 (I won't touch IE7
reports version 6.0.88.0 of Adobe flash player!

It would appear that the installation of Adobe flash
player version 9 in the browsers I actually use
does not update Internet Explorer,
and that IrfanView relies on Internet Explorer's version
(apparently an entirely different, "ActiveX" based monstrosity,
which I actively block with my IE security settings
that evidently must use a different set of installed files.

So my conclusion is that IrfanView is probably doing what it should,
relying on Microsoft's "private" version of the flash player,
while my other two browsers get along fine together,
both using exactly the same common set of files
which only one of those browsers alone needed to install.

It's curious that there was no trouble playing SWF files,
but perhaps FLV files "hear a different drummer,"
and march to different music

Microsoft is, as usual, the "odd man out,"
and IrfanView is one of the many wonderful blessings
which spare us from the fate of otherwise having
to suffer along with only Microsoft dictating everything

Update:
Yes, IrfanView now plays FLV also,
now that I've updated IE's private version of Adobe Flash!

Thanks a lot for your efforts, and kudos to Irfan.

[gyrocam]

I confirm that upgrading Flash from within IE, even though i don't use it (either) fixed the problem of IrfanView recognizing .FLV files.

[eregener]

I'm sorry, I'm having this same problem. I am teaching in China, which requires me to bring my USB drive seven times each week to seven assorted computers with outdated software, and every time I get the message saying that Flash needs an upgrade.

I checked this on my laptop: if I uninstall Flash from my laptop, IrfanView will not play Flash files AT ALL.

Doesn't IrfanView have a self-contained Flash player? I have to be able to play .FLV files directly from self-contained software on the USB drive, and IrfanView seems to be only capable of playing them from the Flash plug-in on the host computer.

I would happily follow the instructions "take the Flash plug-in from inside IE" if I could understand them. Please, WHERE is this plug-in located in IE? I see no file named Flash-anything in the Program Files\IE folder or its subfolders.

[Sam_Zen]

I'm afraid IrfanView doesn't have a self-contained Flash player. It depends on the installed plugin.
Especially if you want to run a portable version, this will cause problems.
IrfanView is still basically a bitmap viewer, so the options for video and audio are restricted.
So I would advice to use a seperate app for playing .FLV files to avoid trouble, like the simple FLVPlayer by Nirsoft.

[eregener]

Thanks for your reply, Mr. Golden Mean! I couldn't understand what the technical commentary in this thread was all about.

Following your advice, I have installed on my USB drive the Applian FLV viewer, recommended on the Nirsoft site. If I have trouble with it in the classrooms, I'll let you know when the week starts.

[curupira]

How to update your Irfanview to see FLV files

I don't understand the problem people have here. When my instalation of Irfanview 423 showed the message that my flash needed updating, I just went to Adobe and looked for a flash update.
The thing is:
There are updates for Mozilla and for Internet Explorer. One has to use the Internet Explorer flash update (although if you use Mozilla it doesn't hurt to update that too).
To ease for people who have that sort of trouble, I just uploaded the files to Rapidshare. Hope people who are browsing google to find out about this thing just click there and download and install

Good luck

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Thanks for trying to help, but I wouldn't recommend anyone to download executable files from an unknown source. If any users need Flash updates they should locate them and download from the offiical update site.

[lbdude]

update

Adobe just released an update for Flash version 9.0.246,
e.g. for those people, who run Windows 98se.

I always had some problems with the Flashplayer and its sometimes not easy to find the link and download, thats why I post those links here. No endorsement here.

Interestingly that archive contains a file "flashplayer9r246_win_sa.exe".
Does that "sa" stand for StandAlone Player?