Frequently Asked Questions

Usage Questions

• Why do I see a black or white screen when I play something?
  See the Troubleshooting page.
• I crash when a video is played.
  A small group of people crash when a YouTube video is loaded in the browser control in Gmod. Unfortunately, this is Valve’s problem and only they can solve it. Garry has stated that he is unable to fix it.
• PlayX didn’t crash for me until recently.
  Gmod upgraded to the Source 2009 engine in mid-2010 and with it came the Webkit rendering engine, replacing Internet Explorer as the browser control in game. (Note that the Steam update with Webkit has no pertinence to this.) See the above question.
• I don’t remember the YouTube Player addon crashing me.
  See the above question. Also be aware that the YouTube Player addon uses an outdated method of rendering that is highly susceptible to memory leaks.
• What games do I need?
  You don’t need any games, but some PlayX models require Counterstrike:Source, Portal, or Day of Defeat: Source. Not all do though.
• I see “PlayX source is required for repeater” when I spawn it. How do I play something?
  There are two types of PlayX entities: the main PlayX player and the repeater. You need to spawn the player. The repeater is for repeating the image from the main player.
• Can I play a movie file that I have for other people?
  If you convert the movie file to a FLV file, you can upload that to a website and play that using PlayX. However, be aware that FLV files cannot be skipped to a position, so people who join afterwards will be unable to see the video.
• Can I play a file from my computer?
  No. PlayX is an online media player. You can, however, upload a FLV version of the file to somewhere and use that.
• How do you play Hulu videos?
  You need to browse to the video page on Hulu and use the URL in the address bar. For example: http://www.hulu.com/watch/135132/family-guy-brian-griffins-house-of-payne
• I get the Lua error playx/playx.lua:443: attempt to call field 'GetHumans' (a nil value)
  You are pirating Gmod.

Server Administrator Questions

• Do other people need the addon to see the screen?
  No.
• Does this cause server lag?
  No. PlayX consumes no server CPU and no server bandwidth while a video is playing. The lag you (and others) may experience is due to the video taking up all of your own Internet bandwidth (get a better Internet connection!).
• I get a bunch of Lua errors repeatedly.
  If you are running a server, make sure that you allow file download and/or your fast download works. Otherwise, try removing the PlayX folder and reinstalling PlayX.

Developer Questions

• I want to create something using PlayX.
  See the API (3.x) page. You will have to download the newtake branch of the code (link on that page). The current released version of PlayX, 2.5, is not as easily extended.

Find the forum thread for PlayX here, where you can ask questions:
http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=927313