Mp'3s and Wav files suddenly stopped playing

Hi,

Just recently I updated my old 10.6.8. for the first time to the newest El Captain. I can't say it been a peach but something that was working is no longer working. my Mp3's and wav. files not in Itunes stopped working. When I double click on them and the quick time player does not show up and they do not start to play.

I have tried one fix (below) that I found on line and it is not getting the job done. I have done this recommended method by one user and it doesn't help me out. I was wondering if anyone else might have some advice for me.

Highlight a mp3 with the mouse, then get info from the finder. (Right click or click+control key.) A window will open up with the mp3 info. Scroll down to where it says, "Open with:." Click on the tab to pick an application to open the mp3 with. If Quicktime doesn't show up in the drop down menu, pick OTHER at the bottom of the menu. The Application window (folder) should open up, if not, navigate to you Application folder. Scroll down to Quicktime and pick for the application to open the mp3 with. Done. Do the same with a wav file.

Best bet is to click on CHANGE ALL in the info window. This will change all mp3s and wavs file to open with Quicktime. Thanks

Try downloading and using the free third party VLC Player. Make sure you download the latest 64 bit version.

Thanks for the quick response. I did have an older version on my computer that I used at one time so I deleted that and got the new one installed. Unfortunately the same thing happened. I will be able to play one song opening it up with either the quicktime or the VLC and I will assign it to play all mp3's and wav. with either of those and it just plays that one song and I try to open up another song an there is nothing. Any other thoughts. thanks

rocco la penta said:

Hi,

Just recently I updated my old 10.6.8. for the first time to the newest El Captain. I can't say it been a peach but something that was working is no longer working. my Mp3's and wav. files not in Itunes stopped working. When I double click on them and the quick time player does not show up and they do not start to play......................

Click to expand...

Hi Rocco..... - welcome to the forum! Since you seemed to have upgraded through 5 versions of OS X (i.e. 6 -> 11), you really need to give us more information on your hardware - what computer model/year are you using, how much RAM is available, what is your HD capacity (and what 'free' space is remaining), and how much music is on your drive (and MP3 vs. WAV ratio - the latter are huge files, i.e. 10 MB/minute)? Might just help w/ better suggestions; also, why do you not want to import your music into iTunes? Dave

Hi Dave,

I wonder if we can maybe just cut to the chase seeing that you asked me about going thru 5 versions and I would like you honest opinion on this. My computer was bought in the fall of 2009 so it is six years old. I will say I did not wipe this computer totally clean but just did the upgrade over everything. Maybe that is why I'm having so many problems. I think my hard drive is about 650 and I have tons of audio on it because I'm in two bands but there still is about 150 gig free.
My question is to you and I would really like your honest opinion. Is it time for me to buy a new computer? My daughter seems to think so because she uses them at work and says they really don't keep them 6 years because everything simply gets out dated. That's hard for a guy like me who is 62 and still uses a vacumm cleaner thats been in my family since 1967. It's hard for me to take that because my mac was working fine a week ago and the only reason it doesn't now is because it would no longer communicate with my iphone 6. I thought that was kind of important and that is why I finally upgraded or (downgraded) the OS to El Captain. If it' time for a new computer and that is the life of an Apple then I guess I'll deal with it. It has been a total headache since I have gone to El Captain. It reminds me horribly of the days of old with microsoft computers. What do you think? Thanks

rocco la penta said:

Hi Dave,

I wonder if we can maybe just cut to the chase seeing that you asked me about going thru 5 versions and I would like you honest opinion on this. My computer was bought in the fall of 2009 so it is six years old. I will say I did not wipe this computer totally clean but just did the upgrade over everything. Maybe that is why I'm having so many problems. I think my hard drive is about 650 and I have tons of audio on it because I'm in two bands but there still is about 150 gig free.
My question is to you and I would really like your honest opinion. Is it time for me to buy a new computer?........

Click to expand...

Hello again - well, I'm not one of the experienced Mac hardware gurus here (and hope others will 'chime in' w/ advice), but you took a gigantic OS X leap w/ OLD hardware - El Capitan needs at least 4 GB RAM (Apple claims 2 GB is enough - don't believe it!), but probably 8 GB is the minimum for a fast functioning machine - so, you've not told us 'how much' RAM is in your computer (nor its model/date); also, your HD being 6+ years old could fail any time - do you have a backup of all of these audio files? If not, you really need to do that first, i.e. get an external HD and get your files onto it or you may lose all easily & quickly. My 'bottom line' is to get a new computer & assure that your data is duplicated on another drive (or two - I have redundant backups on my two Macs - iMac & MBPro) - hope this helps. Dave

Hi Dave,

I do have 4 GB Ram. I do have everything backed up. Have you had any experience with deleting everything and installing a new OS to a clean computer? I think that will be my last try at getting this working correctly again. Thanks

Yes, it is about time you looked at getting a new(er) computer.

No, that is not what is causing this issue, and the issue can likely be fixed without replacing the computer.

Have you tried running OnyX in "Automation" mode and see if that made a difference?

rocco la penta said:

Hi Dave,

I do have 4 GB Ram. I do have everything backed up. Have you had any experience with deleting everything and installing a new OS to a clean computer? I think that will be my last try at getting this working correctly again. Thanks

Click to expand...

In the spring of 2013, I switched to Apple computers after being on Windows for decades, so not a lot of experience regarding knowing the past hardware - and no I've not done what you describe above, however, many on this forum certainly have performed that chore, e.g. when a new version of OS X arrives, posts always come up on whether to just install 'over' the previous OS or to do a clean install which is what you are asking. Dave

My suggestion would be to try things in the following order before buying a new machine:
1. Download, install and run Onyx as member Chas_m suggested. That sometimes provides a noticeable improvement. Make sure that you download the correct version for your current OS.
2. If things do not improve backup your data and perform a clean install. We can help with that if you need directions.

If neither of these options work we can look at things and see which options are best. Until recently my main computer was a 2008 MacBook Pro with 8 GB of ram and an SSD drive. It's still running well a I plan to keep not around for a while as a supplement to the iMac.