Quicktime under Mac OS X Leopard can’t play movie or video files saved in .avi format encoded with DivX format without a little help. Also if you get no sound from avi files on your Mac, the following avi audio codec will solve that problem for you.
Here’s what you need to make Quicktime on Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) play .avi movie files:
Quicktime Video Codec - Free Xvid Quicktime Component for DivX codec avi files
Quicktime Audio Codec - A52 avi audio codec for Quicktime
Download both of these disk image files (.dmg) and double click them to mount these files (make them visible and accessible through Finder as another Device (top left hand corner of Finder) on your Mac.
Next we need to put these components into the right folders. Within Finder, click on the Xvid Alpha device. Within this Finder window, you should see a file named Xvid_Codec 1.0 alpha.component. You need to copy and paste this item into /Library/QuickTime/ folder on your Mac. The easiest way to find this folder is click on the first device (looks like a metal hard disk) within Finder (mine is called Leopard), then find the folder named Library, and within that, another folder named QuickTime. Paste the Xvid Alpha file into this folder (or drag and drop it if you have two Finder windows open).

For the audio part of playing .avi files in QuickTime you need to place the A52 codec component into /Library/Audio/Plug-ins/Components/ folder. Luckily the author of the A52 audio codec for playing avi files in Mac made shortcuts right within the .dmg file for A52 Codec. When you double click the A52Codec .dmg file you’ll see two huge arrows pointing from the codec files to the folders they should be dropped into so simply drag and drop the two files into the folders (which are actually shortcuts to the correct folders on your Mac machine).
If you want QuickTime to recognize and play Dolby AC3 encoded audio from movies, copy the AC3MovieImport component into the /Library/QuickTime folder as well. This definitely won’t hurt and you’ll probably enjoy it later.
After this if you already have QuickTime running, Quit QuickTime (Command + Q), don’t just Close it, since QuickTime will still be running in the background. You need to fully quit QuickTime and restart it for the codecs to be loaded by QuickTime, so this step is necessary.
After all this try double-clicking your .avi movie file again and see if both audio and video are now being displayed by QuickTime.
Enjoy your movies
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January 10, 2008 at 12:40 am
aONe
good post. But I really just need A52 component and Xvid, copy to /Library/Components and all works.
One question, u know something about mpga audio codec?
January 17, 2008 at 12:52 am
donkeyhotay
Wow! Just when I was at a low point I discovered your post. I had already found the Xvid component (not realizing it was only for video) and was frustrated to get audio only on some AVI files. Goggle found your post for me, and thanks to you, I downloaded the A52 and AC3 components and now have audio AND video!
I just need to say that I’m constantly amazed by the generosity of people like you who post helpful information like this. You didn’t have to post this, but you did, making my life (and hopefully others’) easier and more enjoyable. Thank you VERY, VERY much!
January 24, 2008 at 9:06 pm
paulsmyth45
Thanks so much very helpful! im new to using a Mac you’ve saved me from pulling my hair out!
January 24, 2008 at 9:42 pm
hanlons
Hi
Great Post!
I also stumbled across this and thought it might be my saving grace!
All connected to my TV/Decoder:
I get video (AVI’s) - no problem
I get DVD’s through Front Row (with AC3/5.1) - no problem
I get System Sound - no problem
I get iTunes Music (sound) - no problem
But can I get sound my AC3 encoded (via handbrake) AVI files - No - Urrggghhh!
Can you think of anything I could try?
I have made your recommendations and I have also followed this great link :
http://geekwithfamily.com/2007/07/05/home-theater/howto-5-easy-steps-to-output-dolby-digital-from-quicktime-player/#more-228
But still AC3 Sound escapes me.
Any help, much appreciated.
Scott
January 26, 2008 at 7:03 am
ringostar69
Ok, I installed the A52 codec in both the library/Components and the Library/audio/plug-ins/components directories. Then I rebooted the Mac just to make sure they took. Still no audio.
In other words I am having the same luck as Scott.
The Video file I have was created with a flash to Xvid converter program on an IBM. According to Gspot the audio codec is MPEG (MP1/MP2), ISO/IEC. I am beginning to think this converter is a piece of s..t because it really seems odd to me that it wouldn’t use the A52 codec. So my next step is to find an MPEG codec to shove into quicktime.
I have VLC player loaded and it works great.
Anyway Scott you might want to try another DivX movie. Get a demo from somewhere.
If any of you geniuses have any other ideas I would sure love to hear them.
Thanks,
January 26, 2008 at 12:56 pm
deckard
Have you guys given Perian a try? I ran into an issue trying to play mkv HD video files and it seemed like Perian (a collection of various codecs packaged into an easy to install package) was the solution of choice for me. Here was my short post on that: http://installingcats.com/2008/01/01/play-mkv-movies-on-quicktime-in-mac-os-x-leopard/
January 27, 2008 at 2:50 am
ringostar69
In regards to my post above. I found that the converter I was using is converting audio to Mpeg, which, for some reason does not work with my quicktime. It does function with the VLC because the VLC has the proper codec loaded.
After digging around and trying several converter programs I found that the AVS4YOU will do the conversion. It is the only converter that I found that allows you to select the codecs you want! The MP3,ISO MPEG-1 Layer 3 works great in my quicktime. I think, but I am not sure, that it uses the A52 codec, if not it is using one that comes in quicktime.
The following converters, in my opinion, are junk. They use oddball codecs, and there is no way to change them: YouTube FLV to AVI suite Pro and APlusFLV2DivX. The Aplus converter is so bad that not only didn’t it work in quicktime, in failed to function in WMP 9 and Gspot failed to recognize the video codec at all. Whoever makes that sould be….
The movies I have made with AVS4YOU work on both Quicktime and WMP9 with standard DivX codecs. They are fairly compact and appear to stream well on my IBM Servers.
The only disadvantage is AVS4YOU is IBM only.
Cheers,
Ringo
April 9, 2008 at 5:59 pm
k0rneliuz
Nice one mate… worked a treat. Thanks
April 28, 2008 at 12:53 am
erisedilla
This worked for my video just fine but the audio was still an issue until I downloaded perian and then it all worked. Thanks for posting this!
June 5, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Lynx:o
GREAT! Thanks a lot for the much needed codec. Worked perfectly!
June 9, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Ivan
Great. Thanks so much. I have not been able to play .AVI files on Mac OS 10.4.11 for 6 months - very depressing as I like the camera very much (fuji finepix S5700) and I was not looking forward to bringing it back.. anyway, the codec here has solved the problem.. nice one.
June 15, 2008 at 12:28 am
Ali
great post, only thing is that installed both the components and still nothing works. any ideas whats going on?
June 16, 2008 at 5:19 am
nexenta
Hi,
My problem is related to VLC maybe is not the right post where should i ask but still..
I use VLC because it has Subtitles engine and is quite easy to use it. I never figured how in the world I could have subtitles in Quick Time - *.sub not *.srt files. But after i downloaded the latest VLC version I observed that my VLC player freeze after a few seconds of playing.
Do you have some ideeas?
Thankx!
June 16, 2008 at 7:02 am
Goncalo
Hello!
After doing all the suggestions, I made simply two things. But it only worked after the second one:
1. Installed a plugin called Perian
2. Upgraded Dix X Codec to Div X Pro on the System Preferences Window
Right after I’ve done this, the sound simply came back. I noticed that from the 180 days testdrive Codec I had only 15 days left. After inserting the Serial Key, it gave me unlimited use, hence the SOUND CAME BACK!
Hope it helps.
July 2, 2008 at 9:22 am
Raul
This worked like a charm! Thanks for the post!
July 5, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Felix
This was great. Really appreciate the great explanation, the links and how it works. 5 out of 5 stars for this work!
July 5, 2008 at 9:40 pm
xShadow88x
Thanks for Perian! Deckard u saved my life. Thanks
July 8, 2008 at 11:41 pm
REYNE
Congrats on a good post and considering how much I like and use Quicktime, I must say that VLC is far easier and convenient for playback.
It’s also free as a bird and takes far less CPU time
July 10, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Problem Child
Perian finally got audio for me in my avi files
thanx!
July 12, 2008 at 12:47 am
Natalie
Thanks so much! I followed your instructions and finally got my dvds to play! Well done on an excellent post
July 16, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Jack
Thanks for this explanation, Leopard. I installed the Xvid quicktime component for mac but still couldn’t see the video of avi files. Any suggestion? Thank you!
July 16, 2008 at 8:11 pm
brady
downloaded both and still dosnt work?! any ideas!? hmmm
July 16, 2008 at 8:15 pm
brady
just downloaded perian also and it still dosnt play .avi!!!! any suggestions!
July 18, 2008 at 10:25 am
Paul
I could not figure out what was going wrong, but this fixed my lack of audio problem. Thanks for posting this!
July 21, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Callaghan
Thanks for the post. Didn’t work for me originally, so I installed Perian, which worked like a charm.
July 22, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Brady
perian still dosnt work for me? do i need to delete the other 2 downloads for it to work?
July 31, 2008 at 6:42 am
vinny
i cant get the audio to work!!!
i tried installing perian.. then going to the old perian 1.0 and then installing the new divx and taking the new divx off and of course the 2 codecs u put above but the audio still wont work… PLEASE HELP I NEED THE AUDIO for home videos…..
please help me fix thisssssssssssss
August 1, 2008 at 4:17 pm
1 Punch Jackson !!
Top man….. Thank you very much !!
Just brought my Macbook 2weeks ago and it nearly went out the window after downloading movies, and not getting any sound…..lol
Thanks again
Jackson
August 5, 2008 at 11:22 am
Narita
I have both but QT stiil no audio, I usually play on VLC and it works fine. Now my problem is when i burn them to DVDs and when i tried to play them on my DVDplayer no sound comes out just like in QT
August 5, 2008 at 11:56 am
Misha
Thanks a lot!!!
Now I can use on my MAC only 1 player instead of VLC for .avi files and quicktime for other video formats.
August 12, 2008 at 12:22 am
Marjo
Thank you so much! This is a great post!
Really helpful!
Keep on posting!
August 14, 2008 at 4:15 am
Mosscat
Great stuff! Instructions on the original post work great!!! Thanks for the info!!
August 20, 2008 at 11:25 am
Gerry
Fantastic and easy to follow installation instructions. I could not get video or audio before, and after installing the components, i got video!!!
Then I installed Perian, and I got audio as well. No need to reboot my macbook, just re-open Quicktime.
Thankyou so much, you guys are tops!!!
August 24, 2008 at 12:13 am
photogirl
Perian worked like a charm!!!! Thanks Deckard!!
August 25, 2008 at 5:24 am
Jamie
Thanks a lot. Great article, very helpful
September 1, 2008 at 3:51 am
Alina
this article was really helpful. thanks
September 6, 2008 at 2:07 am
Yug Modnar
Perian did the trick. Cheers.
September 9, 2008 at 10:31 am
Emily
I Did all this but I still don’t receive any sound
September 9, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Dudi
Hello
I was having the same problem as everyone else which is SOUND does not work on QUICKTIME only when trying to play an .avi file (films/videos)
After Installing the Codes the this poster advised - This did not solve the problem for me like a few other people, I followed the guy who posted this advice hereunder:
1. Installed a plugin called Perian
2. Upgraded my DixX Codec to DivX Pro which is in the System Preferences Window
and sound has returned, i’m not sure which of the 2 solved it as I was in a hurry to try all avenues so i tried everything and then restarted quicktime and voila.
SOUND NOW WORK, PROPS FOR POSTING
Cheers
September 10, 2008 at 1:19 am
sukun
thanks a lot: only problem, I don’t have any QuickTime folder in my Library (!!). SO I created one and it works… don’t ask me how. Do you have any suggestions?
and also: how to read MPEG and WMA files?
thanks again
September 14, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Jeff
I found that just installing the DivX Codec (http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/) worked best for me! If you installed the
Quicktime Video Codec - Free Xvid Quicktime Component for DivX codec avi files
and the
Quicktime Audio Codec - A52 avi audio codec for Quicktime
like the original post suggests. Then, delete those files. although the Quicktime Audio Codec - A52 did not affect the playback of the avi movie I would remove it to avoid possible problems in the future. I would rather only have a few components in the “/Library/QuickTime/” folder for future troubleshooting, than to deal with an abundance of possible problem components.
September 15, 2008 at 8:35 pm
davis moes
thanks so much!! worked perfectly
September 17, 2008 at 8:08 pm
morganm2
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I just got a mac and was searching for the past two days on codecs and I had similar files but NO DIRECTIONS on how or where to put/install them.
So thanks again
September 20, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Abby
Mplayer 1.0 pre8 rc5 - Perfect for Mac
This is the newest Universal English Version, compatible with MPEG/VOB, AVI, Ogg/OGM, VIVO, ASF/WMA/WMV, QT/MOV/MP4, RealMedia, Matroska, NUT, NuppelVideo, FLI, YUV4MPEG, FILM, RoQ and PVA,support XAnim, and Win32 DLL code。Also works for VideoCD, SVCD, DVD, 3ivx, DivX 3/4/5 and WMV movie。
Free Download Address
http://www1.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/MPlayerOSX_1.0pre8.dmg
September 22, 2008 at 10:52 pm
MacBook Confused
I downloaded all sorts of things, , , sometimes there was video but no sound, sometimes the video was flashing, and finally, thank God, I tried Perian alone, and my videos work perfectly.
Thank you
October 5, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Dean
Perian worked for me when the A52 codec mentioned in this article did not.
October 9, 2008 at 7:36 pm
DonkeyHotay
Perian also worked for me. It does seem to make a difference whether or not you remove older codecs as Perian suggests (http://perian.org/#support). I didn’t do this the first time I installed Perian and had no luck. I went back, uninstalled Perian (you need to go to System Prefs > Perian and click on General > Remove Perian) removed an old divx codec, reinstalled Perian and now my AVI movies play with audio and video (How novel! Thanks for nothing, Apple!). Of course, the next time Apple upgrades QuickTime, this will probably all break again. As Joe Biden might say about Apple “I love ‘em. God bless their hearts. But why do they have to fix what’s not broken.” Anyway, thanks for the help here! YOU ROCK!
October 17, 2008 at 11:06 pm
TCallis
Thank YOU!
October 30, 2008 at 10:39 am
Luke
Thats F***ing brilliant!! thank you very much.
November 1, 2008 at 10:02 pm
James Colestock
Thanks Holmes..
November 4, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Dr Sound
Great stuff! I downloaded the XviD component and the A52 audio codec and those were no problem. BUT I’ve got one BIG problem…QuickTime is not in my library. What haven’t I done right?
November 12, 2008 at 10:26 pm
popo
If it’s not a DivX file—and if you’re adventurous enough to step outside the comfy confines of QuickTime— I recommend trying either MPlayer OS X or VLC Media Player. These excellent and free multimedia players can tackle many of the video formats unknown to QuickTime. My favorite is MPlayer OS X. I’ve thrown nearly every type of AVI file I could find at it, with great results. It also lets you use the arrow keys to skip backward or forward during playback—a feature QuickTime doesn’t offer.
http://www.moviesmac.com/tutorial/avi-converter-mac.html#121
http://www.videolan.org/