A much more advanced RMVB codec is out!

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You may remember my previous article on playing back RMVB (RealMedia Variable Bitrate) videos on Windows Mobile. Back then, the only hack available was pretty much useless: it only ran on Marvell (ex-Intel) Xscale CPU's and delivered a really inferior performance (very low video speed, useless for watching anything).

A brand new version has just been released, which works much faster and, according to other reports, other (not only Xscale) platforms too. You can download it HERE, from the first post (do NOT download the CAB file in the fourth post, it won't work!). Copy the contents of the ZIP file on a storage card or a directory on your handset. Fire up File Explorer on your mobile and make sure "Show all files" is enabled. It's disabled by default; enable it by tap-and-holding an empty area anywhere – for example, at the bottom of any listing – and selecting "Show all files" from the context menu. Then, select all the files and Copy them (either the context menu or Menu / Edit / Copy). Go to \Windows on your mobile and select Menu / Edit / Paste your files to this directory. Alternatively, you can just copy the files via an ActiveSync connection; for example, via Total Commander's WinCE FS plug-in.

Now, you'll still need to import the registry file, rmvb.reg, into the Registry. If you have a REGEDIT 4-compliant, import-capable registry editor on your handset, you can do this directly. If you, on the other hand, only have a REGEDIT 5-compliant one (like Resco File Explorer or SOTI's Pocket Controller on your desktop computer), you'll need THIS file I've created for you instead of the one coming with the original distribution. (Please see my Registry Editor bible for more info.)

NOTE: unlike with the previous and, in other respects, much inferior plug-in, this one has some compatibility problems: it just displays "The parameter is incorrect" with some of the videos; for example, the hotel_california _ra5.1_640x480_30s.rmvb test video I used in my previous article (and this one too):

Other users have also reported this problem. Also note that many users have also reported audio/video synchronization problems.