MacTubes 3.1.6 is out
***Important Notice***
May 15, 2015
MacTubes is now officially dead.
After not needing an update for over 2 years, Google once again changed their API, and MacTubes is broken again, and it looks like for good this time. The developer has announced that they have abandoned the project. So MacTubes is now officially abandonware. You can grab the source code here and try to bring it back to life yourself, but it will be no easy task; even for a seasoned developer.
Alternatives
Your alternatives now are really just two - two good ones anyway. Using HTML5 on the site to view videos, which can be done in 90% of all browsers, as only older ones or text-only options are excluded. My personal preference is to use PPC Media Center. Dan the Luddite has posted about this software here and also here on his blog.
PPC MC Update: Nov. 5, 2015
There is now a 5.5 release, which is also PowerPC only instead of universal, of PPC Media Center. You can download it here.
Downloaded the zip and opened it. Found a boatload of files, none of which remotely resembles an icon to move to my applications folder.
ReplyDeleteNothing to run. No instructions except a warning from someone whose "English is not good" and instructions "About project file" that say I can change and build it from source...
This is where I realize that what is attributed as a file for all is, at best, a file for a few techies. If this is what it means to keep using a PPC it's time for me to abandon ship.
Fail.
The fail is on you I'm afraid. You obviously downloaded the source file on the right rather than the one on the left just called file.
DeleteWhat you downloaded is the source code which is for people that know how to develop software.
You can't choose the wrong thing and expect it to work.
Almost died with laughter reading "Unknowns'" comment, and then died again with: "You can't choose the wrong thing and expect it to work."
ReplyDeleteHopefully he/she/it will download it, and experience the joy that is Mactubes. If by chance he/she/it reads this, make sure you set the player to quicktime or you'll be bitterly disappointed with playback. Also, make sure you have the latest quicktime (7.6.4) and Perian installed so you can see all the flv file sizes. If you just can't get Mactubes working then there is Youview, it is still supported but no longer actively developed. And you have to payup to be able to download.
Agree we owe a huge debt to the Japanese gentleman who created Mactubes and keeps it alive for 10.4 and PPC. Domo Arigato Mr. Mactubo.
It was a bit funny yes. I figured that no one who reads this blog wouldn't know what source meant. I prefer to link to the download area of the developers site rather than hot linking to the main app. The download page also gives those that want the source also that option.
DeleteBy the way... I have a proposition for you. Please email me.
Thanks for bringing Mactubes to our attention, Zen. Thanks, also, to dr.dave for referencing the Quicktime 7.6.4 update. It's curious that Apple hasn't made it available through Leopard's Software Update.
ReplyDeleteSince 2010 or so I have noticed that Quicktime and iTunes updates don't show up on 10.5 PowerPC. I have experienced this and so have many people I know. You need to manually acquire them in this situation.
DeleteA good idea I thought of was filling a 16 GB thumb drive with every 10.5 update and newest versions of default apps. Saves a lot of bandwidth over time for me because I do installs on a lot of different systems.
I'm using QuickTime 7.7 on Leopard.
ReplyDeleteYou can download it from here:
http://support.apple.com/downloads/#quicktime
I had this already but still have not upgraded from 7.6.4. I don't do anything online directly with QT so security isn't a concern.
DeleteThanks for sharing. I should add that link the Part 1 of the Video on PowerPC series.
YTBrowser9 for Classilla, a plugin of sorts for the browser that lets you view YouTube videos in OS 9, has also been updated.
ReplyDeletehttp://page.freett.com/macos9/YTBrowser9/en.html
I have no experience with this at all. Does it require flash?
DeleteYes it does, but it shouldn't be difficult to find. I forget what the last version of Flash was for OS 9; I believe it was 7.x something. Macintosh Garden should have it. Just unstuff it and put it in System Folder:Internet Plugins. Install YTBrowser9 and you'll be able to search and play videos. It's a bit tricky to use at first, but play around with it and you'll be able to figure it out. The quality isn't the greatest, but it's amazing to me that one can even view YouTube videos in OS 9 in these times.
DeletePPC Luddite has a post about it in his archives that explains how it works. That's how I learned about it. View it here: http://ppcluddite.blogspot.com/2012/01/viewing-youtube-in-mac-os-9.html
Flash is a deal breaker for me. I only recently started using OS 9 again for the first time on one of my own systems since 2003. All I really do is some classic gaming (Shogo) so I can certainly live without YT on 9. Especially when there is MacTubes on X.
DeleteI did finally try Classilla though and I really like it. Quite fast and capable.
Yeah... I figured the requirement for an old, insecure version of Flash wouldn't suit you, but I thought I would mention it in case you were interested in giving it a quick go for shits and giggles.
DeleteI did a lot of testing on Classilla in its earlier incarnations, on various old machines (6100, 6400, 8150 Server, early G3s), for Cameron and the others that contribute to it. The only one I couldn't get it to run on was an old 6100, but I've heard others have subsequently done so. Cameron deserves major kudos for his work on Classilla and TenFourFox.
Hey Zen....I don't know if you already know about this, or even if there is a PowerPC Linux version available in the repositories, but you have to try out and report back on SMplayer. I downloaded it tonight, and on a not very great D600 Latitude (1.4 ghz Pentium M) running Lubuntu 12.04 LTS with a piddling 32 MB of video RAM I can stream 720p fullscreen youtube. No kidding. I can also almost stream 1080p, and can playback downloaded 1080p only using 76% CPU. Before SMplayer I struggled to play 360p fullscreen in Mplayer or VLC, even tweaking the advanced settings.
ReplyDeleteIts right up there with Coreplayer IMHO, comes with a trillion codecs-it picks ffh264 for 720p playback on this 2003 era PC laptop. Its also got a Mactubes/minitube like youtube browser.You access it under Options. As of tonight it works great. Also can download.
I didn't actually install it from synaptic come to think of it, rather from this ppa:rvm/smplayer.
I actually found and installed this a while ago but had not gotten around to trying it out yet. You reminded me of it and I went and tried it out for a few min. Very impressive!
ReplyDeleteI was playing 480p h.264 at 62-67% CPU consumption on a G4 7455B 1.0 GHz. 360p XviD at 18-22%. This is a good margin better than GNOME Mplayer or VLC. I can't wait to play more with it.
This is why I need you around here! You point out amazing things. Like luakit for example.
I was wondering if we could use MacTubes to watch this new kind of YouTube feature: live videos...
ReplyDelete