Firefox - Progressive Downloading

Just installed latest version of Firefox. I like everything about it with one really big exception. It doesn't appear to support progressive downloading. Every file I click on wants to download completely before it will play. IE has been doing progressive downloads for at least 10 years. My iPhone does progressive downloads. Hard to believe that such a popular browser has such a serious shortcoming.

I download a lot of music files from usenet. I do not want to wait while an entire file downloads. I may not like it. With progressive downloading (what many people call streaming) I can sample the beginning of the song and stop the download if I don't like it. Same with certain video files. I have latest WMP plug in. But this doesn't appear to be a question about the latest of anything. The question is does Firefox support progressive downloading? If anyone is doing it, please tell me how. I have tried just about everything.

This 1.4MB .mp3 starts playing before the download completes:

http://www.SpywareDrGuide.com/Virtua...re_and_Now.mp3

(Guess it depends on how fast your internet is. If you're on a screaming connection, it'd only take a second or two to download).

On my 12 Mbps connection it only took several seconds to download that file. It did not start playing until the download was complete. I really would like to make Firefox my default browser. But until I can make it handle progressive downloads it will only play second fiddle to Internet Explorer.

When I left click an mp3 or WMV file in IE the file begins to play in WMP immediately while it is downloading. In Firefox a left click downloads the file into a temporary directory and plays it in WinAmp (my default mps player) or WMP (my default WMV file player) when the download is complete. I can see absolutely no option in Firefox which would allow the same behavior. The latest version of WMP plugin is installed.

Even cheap cell phones allow progressive downloads. Why not Firefox? Am I doing something wrong?

Same way FF works for me.

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I have latest WMP plug in. But this doesn't appear to be a question about the latest of anything.

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Is this the plugin you mean?
http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/...with%20Firefox

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Originally Posted by Train

Same way FF works for me.

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So why would anyone want such a lousy browser - one that can't play a file until the entire file is downloaded? What a waste of time! Internet Explorer has had this capability for years. All these years in development and Firefox still can't do it? My cell phone can do it for God's sake! And I read such great reviews about Firefox. Maybe Firefox users don't download anything. I download about 100 gigs a month. Many times it is necessary to just watch or listen to a small bit of the file in order to determine whether it is worth downloading. Can't do that with Firefox.

I guess it's back to Internet Explorer.

Sorry, but I happen to like it like that. But again, just my liking.

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Originally Posted by Midknyte

Is this the plugin you mean?
http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/...with%20Firefox

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Yes. That's the plugin installed in Firefox. There is also WMP dynamic link library 3.0.2.629 which appears to have been installed by default. Don't know why there's two.

How about this 12.5MB .mp3? It starts playing in Firefox here almost immediately:

http://www.SpywareDrGuide.com/Virtua...amba_Pa_Ti.mp3

This is what I get and I bet he is too.

https://discussions.virtualdr.com/im...2012/03/11.jpg

Evedently we have something set wrong.

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Originally Posted by Train

This is what I get and I bet he is too.

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/att...1&d=1330884355

Evedently we have something set wrong.

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It might be important here to say I am using Firefox version 10.0.2. But I really don't think that makes any difference.

Train I do not see what you see. I do not see that box.

I do not believe we have anything set wrong as you suggest. I have been all over Firefox settings. There is no setting that would change this behavior.

When I left click an mp3 file in Firefox it immediately starts to download to a temporary file and all I see is the download box. When the download is finished the song automatically begins to play. Even though a temporary file was created, if I then decide I want to download the file and keep it, the entire file must download again. If I am downloading from EasyNews I am then charged for double the amount of data. Doing the same thing in Internet Explorer, WMP immediately opens and the file begins to download. As soon as the download starts the song begins to play. The streaming file will then continue to download to a temporary file. If I then decide I want to keep the file I right click on the same link and "save target". The file will be saved to the chosen destination location from the temporary location immediately because it was already stored in the temporary location. In other words click "save target" and I hear "ding" immediately. It does not download again and I am not charged for 2 downloads like I am with Firefox.

I would like to hear from anyone who is capable of progressively downloading (streaming) any file with Firefox. I am convinced that it is impossible.

I installed Firefox twice in past years and I could not stream any file. Each time I dumped Firefox for this reason. Thinking that by now the developers would surely have added this capability I decided to try again. Wrong!

With respect to this issue, comparing Firefox to IE is like comparing a Model T to a Corvette. Why would any developer purposely design a browser that is not capable of progressive downloads?

I posted on Firefox support forum and all I got was nonsense from a few people who didn't even understand what I was talking about.

I like many other features of Firefox. But I may again be forced to dump it in favor of IE.

This whole thing is absolutely nuts! It makes no sense at all.

When I left-click on it in Firefox I briefly see QuickTime's big blue Q, QuickTime's gray bar shows up, the music starts playing, and continues playing while QuickTime's gray bar is showing both the song and download progression.

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Originally Posted by SpywareDr

When I left-click on it in Firefox I briefly see QuickTime's big blue Q, QuickTime's gray bar shows up, the music starts playing, and continues playing while QuickTime's gray bar is showing both the song and download progression.

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Is QuickTime also your default mp3 player? Will a wmv file also start playing in QuickTime if you left click on it? If it does, is QuickTime also your default wmv player?

I am reluctant to install QuickTime just for the purpose of streaming files in Firefox. I don't think there is a QuickTime plugin that will operate only in Firefox. I think the entire program must be installed in the computer. Once in it's almost impossible to get it out safely.

I have had one other person tell me that QuickTime was a solution here. Considering that Apple's computer market share is miniscule compared to PC's, I find it strange that Firefox developers would design a product for such a small market and ignore the millions who are using WMP.

In firefox click tools>options>applications and select the file extension(s) that you are trying to play/download from the list shown. You can then change the default action in the drop down box to it's right to either "ask" or use an application of your choosing.

Then next time you click on an mp3 file etc you should get the window shown above asking what you want to do.. ie- open with or save file. Then select the program or plug-in you want to use.

This ~5MB .wmv opens directly in Firefox. It took maybe 2-3 seconds for it to start playing.

http://www.spywaredrguide.com/Virtua...les/Boogie.wmv

Thank you folks.

It works now.

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Originally Posted by fink

In firefox click tools>options>applications and select the file extension(s) that you are trying to play/download from the list shown. You can then change the default action in the drop down box to it's right to either "ask" or use an application of your choosing.

Then next time you click on an mp3 file etc you should get the window shown above asking what you want to do.. ie- open with or save file. Then select the program or plug-in you want to use.

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OK I did this. I can now choose to open Firefox mp3 files in WMP. But I have to browse to and select WMP. When set as WMP (default) they still open in Winamp. Even when set to "ask" mp3 and wmv files still download completely before playing. When I left click on a file the download box opens and I see a progress bar indicating the download progress and the download speed. The file will not play until it is completely downloaded. If I select WMP and play, the file will download in it's entirety and play in WMP. If I select save, the file will download to the chosen destination and open in Winamp which is my default mp3 player.

When using IE as my browser both mp3 and wmv will immediately begin to play in WMP as the download progresses when the file is left clicked. In other words, they stream in IE. But they still will not stream in Firefox.

Spyware DR posted 2 test files in this thread - an mp3 file and a wmv file. When I left clicked them in Firefox they both downloaded completely before opening. They would not stream. Opening this thread in IE they streamed. I had to watch very carefully because both files were small enough that they downloaded almost instantly.

The bottom line here is IE will progressively download AKA "stream". Firefox will not.

You guys with fast connections should try to stream some larger files in Firefox. This will give you a better idea of whether they are streaming and playing or downloading first then playing. Try larger files in Usenet or EasyNews if you have it.

By the way Spyware Dr, I loved that short boogie video file.

Try disabling Winamp application detector in tools>addons>plugins. Also, if Winamp is your default player for MP3's then try switching to Windows media player instead at least temporarily to see if that makes a difference.

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Originally Posted by fink

Try disabling Winamp application detector in tools>addons>plugins. Also, if Winamp is your default player for MP3's then try switching to Windows media player instead at least temporarily to see if that makes a difference.

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There are no references to Winamp in the plugin list. Made WMP mps default. Makes no difference.

I have 3 computers. Late last night I installed Firefox on another of my computers also running Win XP SP3. The download behavior is EXACTLY the same. No progressive downloads. All files download in their entirety and play only when the download is completed.

I wonder if someone here would go on line and left click a large mp3 file and a large wmv file and see what happens. I think the behavior I am experiencing is (hard to believe) exactly the way Firefox was designed to run. Even my iPhone will stream an mp3 file from a usenet music group.

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Streaming media Normally Mozilla-based browsers deal with multimedia files (for example, .wmv and .mpg files) by first downloading them, and then launching the media player

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From an old 2007 article@ kb.mozillazine.org/Streaming_media

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Originally Posted by General Winters

From an old 2007 article@ kb.mozillazine.org/Streaming_media

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Thanks for sending this article. I looked into the various methods. Launchy is like going from Trenton to Newark via Sacramento. Downloadwith appears to be a very dated program that no one uses. QuickTime I will not touch. It's like using a hydrogen bomb to kill a mosquito. To use it for the singular purpose of streaming mp3 files is overkill. Additionally, once installed it can never be uninstalled. I can't remember the last time I ever saw a QuickTime file.

I have come to the conclusion that the developers of Firefox never meant it to progressively download or stream any media files. I am amazed by this. Streaming media is what everyone wants in this day and age. Who wants to take the time to wait while large media files are downloaded before they can be viewed or listened to? Did the developers ever hear of Netflix or Hulu? I get streaming music on my cell phone. My television gets Netflix, Hulu, and over 2 dozen more sites that stream video directly to it. Streaming media is where it's at today. But not for Firefox users.

There are some features in Firefox I like and I will keep it. But I will be using Internet Explorer whenever I go to usenet to preview and download media files. In this respect Firefox is a model T in a Corvette world and not suitable for this purpose.

Thanks everyone for all the help and suggestions. I appreciate it very much.