I’m using ELAN 4.9.0 on Mac 10.10.4. I’m continually getting problems reading .wav files. This is especially the case when I try to create a new project: I get a Coca QT Player can not handle the file quicktime/QTException. This occurs with just about all the wav files I’ve tried. (The waveform is visible in ELAN but no sound is present. I can get it to work if I go to the link audio, remove the link and then add it again, but this gets rather tedious. Any idea why the initial link doesn’t work but going through the link option does?
Just to give an update. I’m having lots of problems with the files now. Even some of the ones that previously worked no longer work, and sometimes I can’t even add the link later, like I had previously been able to do. I tried reinstalling but that didn’t help at all. Curiously, sometimes I can get audio by beginning a new project. I did recently update OS X: could that be what’s causing the problem? It’s at a point right now where ELAN is unusable.
That’s mysterious, regular .wav files should just work, independent of whether it is a new document or an existing one and whether it is linked via File - New or via Edit - Linked Files.
If the problems started after updating the OS, there might be a connection to that. I’ll update a 10.10 Mac to the latest version and see if the problem is reproducible.
-Han
Thanks for the response. I realize that I also changed the name of the .wav file. Of course, this means I get prompted to locate the file, which I do, but then I get the error message (and I can usually, but not always, remove and re-add the link). Sometimes an .eaf file with the new linked audio opens, other times not. Sometimes I create a new project, others not. So it’s one of those problems that might be hard to reproduce. (And one file created when I downloaded a previous version of ELAN and saved would never work (that is, edit-link), but I had the version from the new ELAN and that worked). So, yes, mysterious
Sorry, and here’s one other thing. I’m not sure if this is consistent or not, but I think I have more problems with the linked files on an existing project if I use FILE - OPEN (either shortcut or drop down) rather than click directly on the the .eaf file.
Do you think your problem is similar to the one described in this post (although that describes a different situation):
https://tla.mpi.nl/topic/elan-for-mac-crashes-when-clicking-on-search-result-from-searching-multiple-eaf/
I’m not sure if it was on this forum or in an email exchange, but I believe others reported a difference between File-Open and opening a file from the Finder as well. Not solved, I believe.
In some similar cases interference by other applications or utilities have been reported, e.g. TextExpander, Moom or Bartender.
Thanks for answering. The problem with using File-Open versus Finder was discussed here:
https://tla.mpi.nl/topic/elan-4-4-0-mac-osx-freezing-when-i-try-and-open-files/
I turned off TextExpander (and Default Folder X) but that didn’t help either.
Now that I know that I can open the .eaf file in Finder, the problem isn’t as acute as it was before. I haven’t had time to investigate further, but I think the problem with linking when creating a new file may have been due to the fact that the audio file in question was on an external hard drive (but I’m not entirely sure that that is the cause).
A bit frustrating for all concerned, but I know it’s not possible to resolve if you can’t reproduce the behaviour.
I have a very similar problem. I get the same error message and see the waveform, but can’t play it. But it appears to be random. Sometimes I will open an .eaf file, either from Finder or from the ELAN menu, and get the error message, sometimes it works just fine. I don’t have to relink or change the WAV file in any way. Usually I have to close the file and reopen it several times before the player works. I can find no pattern to consistently reproduce the error. I’m running Mac OS 10.9.5. I originally copied ELAN into Applications under my user folder (institutional practice, since most software installation and update is managed by a university utility) then moved that folder to the root Applications folder. The error was the same for both. The full error message is:
No player could be created for:
- [filepath]
The Cocoa QT Player can not handle the file.
quicktime/QTException
Update: I tried switching to Quicktime for Java in the same file, and tried creating a new .eaf file with the Quicktime for Java setting already set, and I get the same error message and behavior.
I’m not sure if QuickTime for Java still works on Mac OS, probably not ‘out of the box’. And that’s not really a solution anyway, I think.
Unfortunately we haven’t found a real solution either. Your remark that you can’t find a pattern seems to confirm our ‘conclusion so far’ that the problem is a threading issue, where ‘native’ and Java threads are involved. And where it is unpredictable when the problem occurs and unknown why it sometimes occurs (and therefore unclear what to do about it).
-Han
Thanks for the reply! I’ve begun keeping notes about my user steps and outcomes and will post again if I see a pattern.