Microsoft MPEG-1 (50) Codec Missing

When trying to play some .MP3 files, the error message Microsoft MPEG-1 (50)
Codec Missing appears, and it gives an option for "web help" from the
microsoft site. This site in turn directs to the WMP11 plugin site, which
says the codec is not available and that I could do a web search for it.

Has anyone else had this problem, and is there a location to find this codec

Where is a sample MP3/MPEG file that shows this problem?

What third party multimedia software/packs have been installed to the
system?

Do you have a sample file that is broken in this fashion? It would be
interesting if these sample files also do not work for other people.

hi zachd,

i'm having the same issue as Extracampine whereby the Windows Media Player
11 says that i'm missing the Microsoft MPEG-1 (50) Codec !.. i'm running the
Vista Ultimate edition in my PC... i try to click on the help but it brings
me to microsoft page and says that this codec is not available !.. this MP3
file has no issue on my notebook running Windows XP with Media Player 11..
!?..

any ideas where can i get the MPEG-1 (50) codec??..
thanks a bunch...

It should already be there.

What third party multimedia software/tools/packs have been installed to this
system?

What's the output of WMP's Help:about:Technical Support Information menu
tool?

[wuntime]

I had this same problem trying to play mp3's on a fresh install of Vista.
"Microsoft MPEG-1 (50)" missing error and had hopeless redirection from WMP codec servers. Here's what you need to do if you get this problem;

firstly, don't use Windows media player.

Install the free AC3 Filter 1.45b

2,744 KB
nicely bundled audio filters and codecs ... FUN!

Sourceforge & mirrors


And secondly, use a decent media player please:

off the top of my head, here are three ...

VLC (highly recommend this one for all media)
Video Lan.org free download

Winamp (Still going strong)
Winamp.com free download

or even
iTunes (if you like that sort of thing)
iTunes 7.something

Rock on and enjoy my son, crank it to 11, because your eardrums wont last forever

The Microsoft codec servers don't have an MPEG codec on them. You cannot
get one that way.

You already have one on your system. If you're trying to download it,
something is most likely wrong on your local system, and covering it up by
switching players does you and others a disservice.

I have no problem with people deciding to go with Player X (why would it
matter?), but avoiding issues doesn't do anyone any favors. =\

Has anyone found a real solution to this problem, other than re-encoding the
offending MP3s? I am having the same error in WMP11 on a fresh install of
Vista, so I'm not sure what 3rd Party Codecs can be hijacking my Microsoft
MPEG-1 (50) codec... if any.

Is there a URL to a file showing this problem?

[kyna]

I have the same problem with certain MP3s. I also have the obnoxiously obstinate Vista running-platform. Do you use Vista? On an old version of WMP in the XP-platform, the files play just as they should. These particular files won't play in the Vista-platform WMP, though. Yet, they do play in the iPod, irFan, and WinAmp. As you said, the plugin referral site doesn't even have the codex. I've been attempting to discover where the "50" might actually be online. If I find out anything, I'll post it.

[DreaMen]

An easy solution that can help your MP3 file to play in WMP is to open it with iTunes and in the Advanced menu click Convert Selection to MP3. Then after the file is done converting open it again with WMP. It should now be able to play. This doesn't fix the missing codec problem, but it does enable your MP3 file to play in WMP.

I tried your suggestion and can now listen to the MP3 music that the WMP originally balked on.

Cool, I'm glad I was of some help.
But just a little advice, like I said in my last post, this doesn't fix your missing MPEG-1 (50) codec problem...which really shouldn't be ignored...any problem/error for that matter. As zachd had said before me, the codec should already be on your system and that the error is most likely caused by a 3rd party multimedia program.

I HAVE A SOLUTION.

Open the folder with the MP3 file in it that you want Windows Media Player
to play.

Click on "Organize" then "Folder and Search Options". Choose the view tag.
Untick "Hide extensions for known file types". Click "OK".

Right click in blank area of the folder. Choose "Properties" then the
"Customize" tab. Select "Documents" from the drop down menu. Click "OK".

You will now see files in the folder with their extensions. Change the
extension of the file you want WMP to play from ".mp3" to ".mp2".

Double click the file. It will play in WMP. The Codec is there all the
time. It is an mp2 codec!

Don't waste time looking for a codec that does not exist.

[vondeliusc]

This solution works perfectly. I received a song from a friend in China which has an .mp3 extension. Changed it to .mp2 and now plays fine w/o searching for the illusive Microsoft MPEG-1 (50) Codec. YAHHH!

What format is the presentation in? If it is in a recognized video format, you can 'rip' the sound from the vid track by using this site:
I have successfully separated from youtube videos and other types the soundtrack alone to an .mp3 file. The quality is not CD, but it is possible.

Sorry Paul,
Past my expertise area. Perhaps someone else who better understands your issue will be able to help you.
-Christian

[PaulMacFarlane]

The problem with renaming is you might not be able to.

I have a user with a CD with one of these files and I can't rename it because is part of a presentation.

I've spent over an hour trying to track down a solution, have tried about 8 and none work.

Lots of broken links out there - even the WebHelp link from WMP.

This whole thing is pretty bad on MS' part IMO.

The file is MP3. The problem is that this is a published presentation (with many more to follow) on a CD with slides, etc.

So I can't be converting, resyncing and reburning every CD that comes in.

Nope - it's on a CD in the law firms legal library. I do not have access to it right now.

Thanks - I'll give that a try.

[iceman8766]

Open the folder with the MP3 file in it that you want Windows Media Player
to play.

Click on "Organize" then "Folder and Search Options". Choose the view tag.
Untick "Hide extensions for known file types". Click "OK".

Right click in blank area of the folder. Choose "Properties" then the
"Customize" tab. Select "Documents" from the drop down menu. Click "OK".

You will now see files in the folder with their extensions. Change the
extension of the file you want WMP to play from ".mp3" to ".mp2".

Double click the file. It will play in WMP. The Codec is there all the
time. It is an mp2 codec!

Don't waste time looking for a codec that does not exist.

ummm wat if the folder that i want to open cant open?

[devdeathray]

Changing the file extensions worked perfectly. I had actually tried to convert the file with a file converter the first time and nothing happened. No error messages, but no music played either.

Could someone explain to my WHY this works?

[LifesBane]

Maybe this is related, maybe it's not, but I figure I'd post this fix anyways. I had been tinkering around in the registry to fix some MP3 problems in another program (which I did solve), but it seemed to have messed up WMP's MP3 support for me. I'm using an older version of WMP and I'm on XP, but I was getting the same error messages (including the redirection to the website that had no codecs available).

Don't worry about the first instruction that has you downloading WMP11, you may not even need to do that.

Just check if you have the l3codecp.acm file first. If you do, check for the two registry entries listed on the page. If they don't exist, just create them (right click -> New -> String Value). Once I created these values, WMP was back to normal.

If you don't have the l3codecp.acm file, I'd suggest probably following the last set of instructions that seems to allow you to individually extract that file as opposed to doing a full reinstall of WMP11.

WOOHOO so glad I found this post. Instead of hunting the internet for hours
I changed the extension and shazam I'm listening to the teleconference file
right now.

where can i find please this mped-1(50) codec missing?

Are you sure you need to ? What is the complete filename, and what
does the filename end in (for example mp3 , mp4, wav, wma, m4a)