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Receiving the Red Bull BWA Stream
Receiving the Red Bull BWA Stream
1. A working sound card in your PC - if you can listen to music on your PC you are OK to receive streams! Please remember to check your volume setting before trying to access the stream!
2. Windows Media Player (WMP) must be installed and working (already comes with Windows 98/2000/XP/vista - try listen to music with WMP to confirm). If you do not have WMP, you can download the latest version (recommended) from: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia...
3. Enough dedicated Internet bandwidth to receive the stream - 200kbps is required for Big Wave.
4. Access to the stream source.
(if you are not sure how to open Media Player, go to Start-then choose Run-type mplayer2.exe - hit OK - Media Player opens - select File, then Open, type the URL above [or open the attached file] and hit OK). It may happen that WMP may try to download a codec automatically (will say so) - this is normal and should complete automatically.
If nothing happens (no playback, no codec download), assuming you are trying this from the office, it may well be that streaming has been blocked by a firewall. You may then need to contact your IT department about opening access for streaming.
Assuming the above works, but you wish to view from the Big Wave Africa website, using the web-based stream player, requirements & instructions follow below:
1. You need to be using Internet Explorer (IE) as your browser
2. IE needs to be correctly configured to support ActiveX controls,
3. You have sufficient Internet bandwidth to receive the stream (at least 200kbps).
If you are using IE (presumably if you use Windows XP), you need to setup IE to allow ActiveX controls and scripting. Assuming you use IE, do the following:
From the IE menu bar go to Tools-Internet Options-Security-Custom Level, then change the following:
1. ActiveX controls and plug-ins:
Download signed ActiveX controls must be ENABLED
Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins must be ENABLED
Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting must be ENABLED
Close your IE browser, re-open and try accessing the popup again. If you still have exactly the same problem, you may need to restart your machine for the settings to become active. This should get you using the popup to access the stream without any issues.
Some more generic requirements, tips & suggestions:
1. Microsoft Media Player version 7 or later is installed on your local machine. You can download the latest Media Player for your Windows platform from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia...
2. You have sufficient bandwidth to receive the stream - at least 200kbps. In the event you have insufficient bandwidth, you may experience stream 'buffering', perceived as interruptions in the audio stream.
3. If you are accessing the stream behind a firewall (as would most likely be the case if you are doing so from the office), make certain that the firewall does not block media streaming on port 80 (you may need to ask your IT support department this question).
4. If you are accessing the stream via a proxy, please make certain that you apply the correct proxy settings for the Media Player (Tools, Options, Network, Configure...) and that the proxy does not block streaming on the configured port.
5. Ensure that are using the correct connection speed based on how you connect to the Internet (dialup, ADSL, LAN etc) - in Media Player, configure the speed using menu options: Tools, Options, Performance: Connection Speed (change from 'Detect...' to what you use)
6. If you have a slow Internet connection and are experiencing interruptions in the stream, try increase the buffer size used by the Media Player.
In Media Player, configure the buffer size using menu options: Tools, Options, Performance: Network Buffering (this is more helpful for slower connections; apply buffer size increases until performance improves).
Additionally, as you have insufficient bandwidth to receive the stream without interruption due to fluctuations in your Internet connection speed, try listen to the stream without any other Internet processes running that consume dedicated bandwidth (file transfers, many simultaneous browser sessions etc).
7. If you are experiencing problems accessing the stream from the website using Internet Explorer (IE), in the IE browser, on the menu bar, go to Tools, then Internet Options, then in 'Temporary Internet Files' click the Settings button, then set 'Check for newer versions of stored pages' to the first option i.e. 'Every visit to the page'; click OK, then OK again, close and restart IE. Try connect to the stream again using the web page link.
8. Buffering is usually symptomatic of a bandwidth glut or bottleneck in your Internet connection. If you access the Internet via a shared Internet connection (as you do via the LAN), this is likely the reason for the buffering.
If your setup meets the above requirements, you should receive the Red Bull Big Wave stream without any problems. Please contact me directly if you still cannot connect after trying the above.
