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MP4 Player for Windows 95?


FantasyAcquiesce

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The title says it all: I am looking for any method to run MP4 files on Windows 95: codecs, media players, etc. I've more or less accomplished the search on Windows 98 (requires KernelEx), now I'm hoping to play MP4's on a Windows 95 PC! Currently searching everywhere if there's a way~

Thank you all for your time!

Edit: Thanks to Roytam1, we have a wonderful MP4 decoder for Windows 98/ME and even a Windows 95 compatible build!

I backed up the file here: https://retrosystemsrevival.blogspot.com/2020/01/tcpmp-072rc1-mod-6.html

Edited by FantasyAcquiesce
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I am quite sure that it is possible, but working on a project like this in 2020 would be a waste of time.
You'd better ask RLoew's son if he want to release the "DllHook"  this may help you run the player application on Win95.

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Hi ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~

Windows 98 does not require kernel extensions to run MP4 video, this vanilla system has been happily playing MP4, see here:
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/5/?tab=comments#comment-1173021

If you try something like this in Windows 95, please let me know if it works.

Edited by Wunderbar98
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8 hours ago, Wunderbar98 said:

Hi ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~

Windows 98 does not require kernel extensions to run MP4 video, this vanilla system has been happily playing MP4, see here:
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/5/?tab=comments#comment-1173021

If you try something like this in Windows 95, please let me know if it works.

Thanks for your reply!

I tried VLC before but the program has a bit of issues with longer files. It's a great help to know SMPlayer does have a version that works on Windows 98. Version 0.98's seek bar won't work with KernelEx.

Edited by ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~
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Hi ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~

In vanilla Windows 98 SMPlayer 0.6.7 me thinks was the latest that could be used, but SMPlayer's seek bar does not appear functional either, it's greyed out. SMPlayer just opens up the video in 'mplayer', where the OSD (on screen display) shows video time by toggling the letter 'o' key and the arrows allow going back/forth. That's when using it in Windows. When launched via Cygwin, the OSD does not work or i don't know how. Sorry your original post just indicated does MP4 work, no mention of the seek bar.

In VLC 0.8.6d MP4 and the seek bar work, although i believe you may be right about issues with large video files. May test more thoroughly later. Sorry to sidetrack, this doesn't solve your Windows 95 issue.

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Would Media Player Classic work? I know long ago, I used this program on Windows 98... I am not sure if it will work on 95 though. You will have to use an old version. But I know that it can play MP4s. ^^

Edited by RikkaNoodles
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14 hours ago, RikkaNoodles said:

Would Media Player Classic work? I know long ago, I used this program on Windows 98... I am not sure if it will work on 95 though. You will have to use an old version. But I know that it can play MP4s. ^^

I don't think Media Player Classic 6.4.9.1 is capable of MP4's. I recall using it a couple years back without success...
The media player works fine with ffdshow, but MP4's are rendered horribly; the video is mostly grey. DivX's codecs didn't show up in Zoom Player (old and new version). K-Lite 2.51 was also pretty bad for MP4's.

I guess I'll just have to stay on Haihaisoft Universal Player w/ KernelEx. The single flaw in UP is the process not ending when closed (process explorer has to be used). VLC 1.1.0 might be a good KernelEx alternative.

How about BS Player? Anyone know the last Windows 98 version for that?

Edited by ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~
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Hi ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~

Not an answer for the Windows 95 issue, just wanted to clarify. Ran the VLC version above in vanilla Windows 98 yesterday. A 55 minute MP4, 259 MB, 640x360 resolution YouTube video played through without issue. This included running maximized, pause/restart several times, the progress bar worked well and was clickable/usable. Switched between several other applications during runtime too: Windows Explorer, COMMAND.COM window, RetroZilla. All ran well, aside form maximizing RAM and having to use the swap file.

Doublechecked and this VLC version appears to handle MP4 ouf of the box. Only issue was it used ~50-75% CPU use (used Process Explorer) during playback compared to ~50% with SMPlayer's mplayer testing the same video. Personal preference is just to direct videos straight to SMPlayer's mplayer, bypass SMPlayer altogether, and use the OSD for feedback, as it's so lean.

Not sure how this test video compares to your interpretaton of a large video file? In the Windows 98 era a 259 MB video was a fairly large file.

Edited by Wunderbar98
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Unfortunately most of these Windows 98 threads are outdated and it is not always clear whether this is vanilla or with kernel extensions. This thread indicates BSPlayer v2.x:
https://msfn.org/board/topic/105936-last-versions-of-software-for-windows-98se/?tab=comments#comment-701548

Don't know if useful, long thread on media playing:
https://msfn.org/board/topic/153566-windows-98-as-high-quality-video-player/

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Cannot tell about Win95 or vanilla98, but in my semi-tweaked 98se MediaPlayerClassic works okay. It's my favorite player for videos, incl. youtube. It does have one bug, I must not move the slider or it freezes. To jump forward, must remember to hit the space bar first or otherwise click PAUSE, then click (not pull) to another point on the slider, then click to start playing again.

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On 1/13/2020 at 5:38 PM, Wunderbar98 said:

Unfortunately most of these Windows 98 threads are outdated and it is not always clear whether this is vanilla or with kernel extensions. This thread indicates BSPlayer v2.x:
https://msfn.org/board/topic/105936-last-versions-of-software-for-windows-98se/?tab=comments#comment-701548

Don't know if useful, long thread on media playing:
https://msfn.org/board/topic/153566-windows-98-as-high-quality-video-player/

I tried BSPlayer 2.58 without success. It will not launch on Windows 9x even with KernelEx.

Thank you all for your suggestions! I hope to test Gomplayer on Windows 95 if I can get the chance to create a machine!

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2 hours ago, roytam1 said:

old good TCPMP for Windows may work as well, it even work on NT 3.51.

Thank you so much! I can't wait to test this on a Windows 95 when I get a chance! This player is crazy ahead of its time (2005) and even supports MP4!:blink:

EDIT: The program says MPEG4 AAC Audio decoder was removed due to intellectual property considerations...my MP4 ran anyway,but there was zero sound.

Are there any AAC plugins I could install for the Windows version? The video plays PERFECTLY...the plugins for pocket PC don't work...I tried using the plugins here, but the audio still won't work! I found the plugin for only PalmOS and PocketPC...could it be possible to extract the PocketPC's plg file and use it on Windows? There is evidence of getting AAC to work on the Windows version!

Current experiment: using these plugins or these ones. Link to Windows TCPMP here; confirmed working on Windows ME.

Maybe I could obtain the last version (TCPMP 0.65 win32) that did have MPEG4 AAC Audio decoder? Though it's reported to be artificially blocked because of version, I still require an .plg format plugin...could using a Hex editor possibly work at fixing this?

Dead links kill me x_x

Edited by ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~
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