UNFCCC Webcast Troubleshooting

This page will help you find solutions, should you encounter any problems while playing live and on-demand webcast.
  1. There is no webcast played even though the player shows Ready message.
  2. I can hear the sound but there is no picture.
  3. The picture quality is poor.
  4. The picture is fuzzy/green.
  5. The buffering phase lasts very long.
  6. Webcast playout stops frequently for buffering.
  7. Webcast is played with an older version of Windows Media Player.
  8. Hardware and software requirements.

The most current help with the Windows Media Player you can get from the Microsoft's Windows Media help-site.

  1. There is no webcast played even though the player shows Ready message.

    The most common reason for such a behavior is that the older version of Windows Media Player is used. You should download a newer version, i.e., version 10 with all recommended updates or version 11. If buttons in the player window are disabled (gray), you have an older player version.

    If you are using Mozilla and despite installing the newest Windows Media Player, an older version is started to play webcast, the solution is provided in section regarding older WMP versions.

    If the player still shows Ready message but there is no picture, the reason may be the firewall settings either on your computer or your ISP's firewall settings, which block ports that are required for receiving the webcast (554 and 1755). In this case you should:

    • turn off UDP protocol in Windows Media Player by running Windows Media Player, selecting Tools from its menu, next selecting Plug-ins and Options, and unmarking UDP in the Network tab under Streaming protocols;
    • check firewall port blocking by typing telnet 212.191.227.124 554 in the command window and pressing Enter; If the command window goes blank, type GET / and hit Enter twice. If you see some messages including the one starting with RSTP, everything works fine and firewall settings are not a problem. If the command window does not go blank and you are using a personal firewall on your computer, you need to modify rules that apply to Windows Media Player. If the command window does not go blank and you are using external firewall, you should contact your network administrator.

  2. I can hear the sound but there is no picture.

    There are two possible reasons for such a behavior. Your Internet access link bandwidth may be too low, perhaps only temporarily, to receive the webcast (see Internet connection requirements in section Hardware and Software requirements) or you may have some non-standard codecs installed on your computer, for example codecs needed to play DivX streams. In the latter case you may try to uninstall these codecs as they may interfere with the operation of the standard codecs.

  3. The picture quality is poor.

    The picture quality depends on the user's Internet access link bandwidth. The higher the bandwidth, the better the quality subject to the webcast encoding quality. The webcast is encoded with the speeds of around 100 kbit/s, 300 kbit/s and 500 kbit/s, which means that if you are able to receive the webcast at the speed of 548 kbit/s, you should be receiving the highest quality available. The player should automatically select the best quality stream given the available bandwidth and make the necessary adjustments when the available bandwidth changes.

  4. The picture is fuzzy/green.

    The most likely reason for such a behavior is the fact that there are some non-standard codecs that are used by Windows Media Player installed on the computer. You may want to try to uninstall these codecs as they may interfere with the operation of standard codecs.

  5. The buffering phase lasts very long. The webcast playout stops frequently for buffering.

    The most common reason for long buffering phase is low bandwidth on the Internet access link. The player should detect the available bandwidth and adjust the speed accordingly but you may also control the speed manually. In order to do that click with the right mouse button on the player window, select Options, then select Performance tab and choose 128 Kpbs as connection speed. You may also try different speeds or just wait for the player to detect bandwidth availability. One way to check link status is to select Statistics option for the menu displayed after clicking with the right mouse button in the picture area, then select Advanced tab and compare the value of Bandwidth available with the value of Bandwidth in use. If the second value is higher than the first one, the playout will be interrupted and data buffering will take place.

  6. Webcast is played with an older version of Windows Media Player.

    Typically this problem occurs when Mozilla or Firefox browsers are used but it may also happen with Internet Explorer. Even though you have the newest Windows Media Player installed on your computer, webcast is played with an older player version. You can recognize this situation by checking whether the player's buttons are disabled, which is the case with the older player version. The older version is not suitable for playing high quality multimedia encoded with Windows Media 9. In order to fix this problem, download the following file, save it on your computer, on the desktop for example, and then run it by double clicking on its name. It is sufficient to run it one time. This action should force Mozilla and Firefox to use the newest Windows Media Player you have installed.

  7. Hardware and software requirements.

    Hardware PC:

    • CPU: Intel Pentium III (700 MHz) or better
    • Memory: 256MB
    • Soundcard and Loudspeakers
    • Videocard and monitor:1024x768 screen resolution, 16 bit color depth. Recommended 1280x1024 and overlay support

    Hardware Mac: Any computer supported by Mac OS X version 10.1.5

    • CPU: 450 megahertz (MHz) PowerPC G3 processor or higher recommended
    • Memory 256MB
    • Soundcard and Laudspeakers
    • Videocard and monitor:1024x768 screen resolution, 16 bit color depth. Recommended 1280x1024

    Software PC:

    • Operating systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
    • Internet Explorer 6 or newer, Firefox 3 or later (on Windows XP or Vista), Opera 9 or later (on Windows XP or Vista), Javascript enabled

    Software Mac:

    • Operating systems: Mac OS 10.1.5 or later, Mac OS 10.2.x
    • Windows Media Player 9 for Mac OS X (can be downloaded from Microsoft's webpage)
    • Safari, Javascript enabled

    Internet connection: A minimum internet connection of a 128kbit/s. For optimum streaming results a connection of 640kbit/s is recommended.