There’s a new widget in town – BBC Radio Widget 3.0. Featuring, by popular request, an in-widget schedule!
Hopefully the first of several widget releases in the next few weeks (due to brief access to an internet connection, hurrah!).
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I have the same problem as Ross above…
I can’t get BBC widget to work via my Mac Book Pro, 10.4.10 & realplayer 10.1. Again, the message says that the realplayer plug in isn’t installed, but realplayer works fine otherwise. Have tried a restart etc but with no luck.
Can anyone help? I REALLY want to get this widget working…it will be in constant use.
Hi, I used to love using the BBC widget on my PowerBook; now I have a new iMac and it doesn’t work for more than a few minutes. Tried rebooting and the Garage Band trick; no change — the player sounds great for a while, then goes silent and that circly thingy comes on showing more data is on the way. I know squat about programming but I suspect the fault lies not in the widget itself because I sporadically have a similar issue with XM Radio (a satellite radio service in the US that also offers online listening). It, too, worked flawlessly on the older machine. In conspiracy-minded moments I note that the only reliable way left for me to listen to online radio is via iTunes. There is some issue with Windows Media Player and the new iMacs, is there not? — thus the need to download a Flip 4 Mac converter. Any possible connections here?
Doug: You may not have the plugin installed, even if you’ve got the application. There should be an option to install the plugin from somewhere inside, otherwise you can delve through the .app bundle and make an alias to the plugin you’ll find there inside the internet plugins folder.
Eric: Ugh, network stuff. The widget uses RealPlayer so you don’t have to worry about WMP; if you’re having issues with both, it’s probably something to do with your network setup, but I really couldn’t begin to diagnose it I’m afraid. If you still have your PowerBook it might be worth comparing settings – both the connection settings in RealPlayer and your network setting in System Preferences – to see if there’s an obvious difference. Either that, or browse Real’s online support…
seems like a awsome widget thanks!!
BBC Radio has new logos, are you going to update the widget with the new logos
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/2007/08/new_logos_for_bbc_radio_cool_o.html
http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/radio/1707
BBC Radio has new logos, are you going to update the widget with the new logos
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/2007/08/new_logos_for_bbc_radio_cool_o.html
http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/radio/1707
Jimi
Yes. Even though they suck. Though I want to wait until I have something more substantial than just a rebranding exercise, really.
I get the same problem, but the only way I can rectify it, is if I move my realplayer icon from the applications folder, to the desktop, then the widget works fine!
Strange, very strange!
Has anyone managed to test this on Leopard?–does it work okay?
Thanks.
It works fine, though in the build I managed to test it on there was a cosmetic bug with the Done button on the rear – this really was a Leopard issue that should have been fixed for the release build, though. No functionality issues that I noticed in my brief test.
Hey,
Great widget, saves me having to go to the bloody website everytime! Also just wondered why BBC radio Derby was singled out in your description on the apple.com widget website. Its just thats where I’m from…
Cheers
Andy
Absolutely – I’m a Derbeian too
I’m having a few problems with Leopard (other than the dodgy button), every so often Radio1 will cut out. It also usually happens when I first load up the dashboard, click on the play button, leave radio1 buffering, close dashboard and nothing will play until I open dashboard again.
Rob: Yes, it seems that if you leave Dashboard before audio begins to play the widget gets muted. That seems to be a bug in Dashboard, I don’t yet know if I can work around it.
It seems as though its not just limited to buffering. I find that if i press play, let it load so it actually beings playing then exit dashboard it mutes itself.
EDIT: That’s on OSX 10.5.1
Great Widget! It saves me having to go to the BBC website. Good job!
I just installed Real Player 11 and sound only comes out of the left speaker.
Reverting back to Real 10 has cured the problem. Anyone else seen this issue?
I have a problem with leopard 10.5.1 and real player 11. In the widget mode, they just work fine, but after I leave widget to my desktop, the sound stops playing. When I back to widget, the sound plays again.
In Leopard I cannot hear audio when I quit dashboard either. If I create my own widget using web clip in Safari, the option “only play audio in dashboard” appears in the widget… looks like this needs adding to the BBC Radio Widget.
Andrew, you’re almost certainly right. Apparently this limitation was buggy in 10.5.0, as there were only isolated reports of dodgy audio before the update. All being well, expect a release, complete with the disgusting new BBC Radio branding, soon.I think this may have been a hasty response. There doesn’t seem to be any reason to suspect that there has been a deliberate change in policy in Leopard’s Dashboard; certainly there’s no documented change. Could be a bug somewhere.I have to concur with Aqua who says that the radio widget works when Dashboard is visible, but when I hid Dashboard, the sound of the radio widget disappears. Hmm…
The only bug I can reproduce is that the audio will not begin / will cut out when RealPlayer plugin is buffering the stream while Dashboard is hidden. I’m fairly sure this must be what most people are experiencing; often the stream will need to be rebuffered soon after starting, so it may look like the audio cuts out as soon as you leave Dashboard. This is a bug with Dashboard, unfortunately.
Thanks for this, I couldnt do without it!
I am having the same bugs in Leopard as above but it clearly looks like Apples fault. (as with hundreds of the other new bugs)
Hawkman, is there still going to be an update on the horizon? I think we’ve gathered it’s a change in Leopard causing the bug that stops the audio (it’s not buffering or anything like that) but can it be fixed?
Have just loaded Leopard and now the BBC Radio Widget gives me a window saying it can’t locate the Real Player plug-in. I’ve truied reloading real Player and reloading the widget – all to no avail.
rml: Try running the RealPlayer app, let it install the web plugin, and restart your Mac.
Dan: It does not appear to be anything I can work around. It’s a Dashboard bug and sadly only Apple can fix it; every time the stream needs to be buffered the sudio will cut out if Dashboard is hidden. You can use the widget on the Desktop in Dashboard developer mode, but it’s hardly a solution.
Same problem under Leopard – Real Player is not found whatever I try. Worked fine under Tiger.
hey! loving the widget! it has to be my favourite, so thanks so much for making it. i think i bought you a beer as well!
regarding leopard, the widget seems to be working, but has an odd behaviour. when i open the dashboard and click play the widget searches for a very long time without starting the stream. however, if i click the “i” button to flip the widget, then click done to flip back the stream kicks in immediately… bit strange! works fine at the moment as a work-around but any chance of an update/fix to make this unnecessary?
cheers!
Hey, Neko again.
Could it be that some of us are using Real Player 11 and that keeps the widget from detecting Real Player? I say this because some websites popup a dialog saying I don’t have the plugin installed, but to press cancel if I do… And it works!
Neko again,
I was browsing the source code of the widget, and I think the problem might be the Plugin detection module.
This alternative document can be of help to you.
I’m having a very strange problem. I connect to BBC3 and after around 3- 5 minutes the sound stops, a disk graphic is spinning and then it will stop. I tried setting the internet speed settings in RealPlayer 10.1.0, but that doesn’t seem to do anything. This has only been a problem on OSX 10.5.n. I tried looking at the widget source code but I don’t see anything remarkable in there to make a difference? Does anyone have a clue?
Hey Hawkman,
Is there any news on an update of the BBC widget for Leopard or has development now stopped?
There is unlikely to be an update soon – certainly not one which fixes the audio problem, as that’s an OS bug by the looks of things – as Real Life has caught up with me at the moment. Best hope for sorting things out is an OS update which addresses it.
Love the widget but I’m suffering from the Leopard issue. Is there anyway you can give us users more info on what the Leopard bug is so we can also push Apple to fix it?
Unfortunately, even with Leopard 10.5.2, the problem with the BBC Widget has not been fixed
I have other widgets that use audio and the problem is not there such as the widget, Rabbit Radio. So is this problem with Leopard or with the BBC Widget?
The problem is with the interaction of Leopard – specifically, the new Webkit – and Real Player plugin; it’s the behaviour when a page is designated as ‘inactive’ – a hidden tab in Safari, or Dashboard not showing. How plugins were handled in this situation changed some time ago, before Leopard was released, beginning this bug (it also briefly caused QuickTime to behave weirdly)… and the bug has worsened in the current RP11 beta. It has been submitted as a bug to both the Webkit group and Real. We’ll see what happens.
I presume Rabbit Radio doesn’t use Real Player.
There is a work around for the widget going silent.
If you get the latest copy of Tinkertool (3.8a) and then in the General Tab choose Enable Dashboard developer mode you can start the radio and follow the instructions on moving the widget to the desktop and the widget continues to work when you return to the Finder and other applications. I know this goes against the spirit of a widget but it does make it work!
Cheers
Do you know that your site has been marked as “malware” by Google?
This is a great Widget – my favourite – put sadly no longer seems to work since I upgraded to 10.5.2. It works when Dashboard is visible but once Dashboard is hidden the sound stops
I’ve gone back to listening to the beeb over their web site.
Will there be a Widget version that works with 10.5.2.
I have NOT upgraded yet, I think I’ll wait to upgrade till the new Widget comes out.
Dixon, IL.
Thibault – Thanks for this. Google won’t say why, turn down appeals, and the site they link to for help – stopbadware.org – doesn’t have a problem with us. So, a bit stuck. Thanks Google.
To those asking about Leopard compatibility – as mentioned about, it’s out of my hands I’m afraid.
I hear you, but thank-you for providing this great widget in the past. Just wanted to say that – so that you knew your efforts were appreciated greatly.
If its of any help I have the same problem with BBC iplayer if I minimize the iplayer window which indicates its not a problem just with dashboard…
You’re right, I over-simplified. Inactive tabs share the problem too.
hey guys, I have tried to listen bbc radio in the dashboard by using a web clip. Make sure to push the (i) button to uncheck “only play audio in dashboard”. Then it’s done. This is a temporary settlement. I hope someone can fix the problem because it’s really a nice widget for me.
Thanks for this in the past Hawkman, but yeah has now been rendered redundant by Apple when the dashboard isn’t visible. Hope you manage get a workaround/wait for 10.5.3 … life used to be so simple..
Oh well, upgraded to 10.5.3 last night and problem persists… :s
Hey guys, I just figured out a way to make this widget works while dashboard is hidden. Do NOT upgrade your Realplayer to 11, stay with Realplayer 10 and the widget works fine on 10.5.x.
This is a fix for the leopard/dashboard sound cutting out issue,
Its pretty much what Richard Gardner said above:
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/dashboard_widgets_on_my_mac_os_x_desktop.html
and its a much more stable stream than using a web browser for some reason