Flash player troubleshooting FAQ

A player window opens, but the audio doesn’t start. What should I do?
My player keeps "buffering." What should I do?
Why does adding a story to my playlist interrupt the story that is currently playing?
How does the "My Playlist" functionality work?
The player does not launch at all when I try to listen to audio at NPR.org. What should I do?
When I click "Add to Playlist" or "Listen", the item isn’t added to my playlist. How can I fix this?

A player window opens, but the audio doesn’t start. What should I do?

Please check whether there is a "firewall" enabled on your network. A firewall is software or hardware used to keep unauthorized users from accessing your computer, but it can also block incoming data, such as our audio. The NPR Media Player attempts to connect to our servers over a variety of port/protocol combinations, and uses the first one that works. It first attempts ports 1935, 80 and 443 over the RTMP protocol, and then it attempts ports 80, 1935 and 443 over the RTMPT protocol.

If you are on an office network, you may need to ask your network administrator to allow access to the ports used by the media player. If you are on a home network, consult your firewall's documentation for instructions on how to allow audio streaming.

Some anti-virus software can also block streaming audio content. Disable your anti-virus software temporarily to determine if this is the source of the problem. If the stream works, consult your documentation to learn how to permit audio streams, and don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software.

Please also try clearing your cache and deleting your NPR cookies. If you need help learning how to do this, visit our related help topic here.

If you require additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

My player keeps "buffering." What should I do?

There are known issues with player performance for those with low speed connections, particularly dial-up.

If you are on a high speed connection, and your player has recently stopped working and displays a "buffering" message, please clear your cookies for NPR.org and empty your cache. If clearing your NPR cookies does not resolve the issue, please contact us.

Finally, here are several other options we can recommend for listening to NPR audio:

1) In addition to our Flash based media player, NPR's 24-Hour Program Stream is accessible via Real Player, Windows Media Player, or as an mp3 stream. You can find details, and a programming schedule, here.

2) Another option is to access our text-only site. This site, originally designed for screen readers and mobile devices, provides streaming audio in a low-bandwidth Windows Media format. The text-only site offers access to recent programs and recent content by topic area.

3) Many NPR member stations provide audio on their individual web sites. This audio is typically available in a variety of formats, including Windows Media and Real Media.

4) Additionally, many NPR programs are available for download via the NPR Podcast Directory -- Podcasts are MP3 files that can be downloaded to your computer and played locally, avoiding the unreliability of network connections. Many podcasting applications, such as the popular iTunes software, can be configured to automatically subscribe to particular content and download it automatically so that it is available to you when you want to listen.

Why does adding a story to my playlist interrupt the story that is currently playing?

There are a couple of simple reasons that you may be encountering this issue.

First, be certain that you are selecting the 'add to playlist' option. Clicking the audio icon or the headline for a story is equivalent to a 'listen now' command, and it may interrupt whatever story is playing. Clicking 'add to playlist' should not interrupt the story you are currently listening to.

Next, be certain that you are not adding stories from multiple windows. If you are opening a story from any window other than the same one you used to initially launch the player, a new connection will be formed and this will interrupt the player. To test this, open NPR.org in a single browser window. Select an audio story, and click to play it in the NPR media player. Finally, without opening any new browser windows, find another audio story at NPR.org and click 'add to playlist.' You should find that the issue you are describing does not occur.

As always, if you continue to encounter any difficulty, please do not hesitate to contact us.

How does the "My Playlist" functionality work?

In order to launch the media player and access your playlist, you must add a new item to the playlist by clicking either 'Listen Now' or '+add to playlist' for any story at NPR.org.

All items remain in the playlist for up to 7 days after the NPR Media Player was last opened, regardless of whether or not you are logged in. Opening the player resets this timeout limit. In other words, if you use the player at least once every 7 days, your playlist items should only disappear if you choose to delete them yourself.

If you are registered for an account at NPR.org, you will experience some additional player features.NPR Community members who are logged into their account will see a 'Save Playlist' option in the player window. Items saved to your playlist in this matter should remain in your playlist until they have been deleted regardless of how frequently you use the player. You will also find a 'Launch My Saved Playlist' option on the your 'Your Account' page for your profile.

You may reorder items in the playlist by clicking on the vertical grabber area at the extreme left of each playlist item, and dragging the item to a desired location.

Individual playlist items may be deleted from the playlist by clicking on the [x] at the top right corner of each item.

The player does not launch at all when I try to listen to audio at NPR.org. What should I do?

First, make sure that you have the latest version of Adobe's Flash installed on your system. The NPR media player requires Flash.

If you have an ad-blocker or are using hosts files to block or filter ads, this may prevent our player from launching. The NPR Media Player includes sponsorship credits. Turn off any ad-blocking software and see if this works.

Next, please check whether there is a "firewall" enabled on your network. A firewall is software or hardware used to keep unauthorized users from accessing your computer, but it can also block incoming data, such as our audio. The NPR Media Player attempts to connect to our servers over a variety of port/protocol combinations, and uses the first one that works. It first attempts ports 1935, 80 and 443 over the RTMP protocol, and then it attempts ports 80, 1935 and 443 over the RTMPT protocol.

If you are on an office network, you may need to ask your network administrator to allow access to the ports used by the media player. If you are on a home network, consult your firewall's documentation for instructions on how to allow audio streaming.

Some anti-virus software can also block streaming audio content. Disable your anti-virus software temporarily to determine if this is the source of the problem. If the stream works, consult your documentation to learn how to permit audio streams, and don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software.

If you are still experiencing difficulty after you have explored all of these possible solutions, please contact us for support.

When I click "Add to Playlist" or "Listen", the item isn’t added to my playlist. How can I fix this?

If you have installed the FlashBlock plugin for Firefox or other browsers, you may experience problems adding items to your playlist. To remedy this, you will need to add www.npr.org to the "whitelist" list of the FlashBlock plugin. You can do this several ways:

When I click "Add to Playlist" or "Listen", the item isn’t added to my playlist. How can I fix this?

Click the dropmarker on the Flashblock toolbar button and select "Allow Flash from this site" from the menu that appears.

ou can also select 'Add-Ons' from your browser's Tools menu, highlight FlashBlock, and click on the button to edit preferences for the FlashBlock add-on. From the preferences menu, you can add sites to the 'whitelist' by entering the url for the site in question in the appropriate field.

If you do not have FlashBlock installed, please review our other Help topics for alternate solutions or simply contact us for direct assistance.