First steps
- Installation not working? Save the file rather than Open it. Then search for the file and open it directly.
- Still not working? Check you have admin rights for Applications and Program Files Folder. Windows user should also check their anti-virus and security program settings and Vista users may need to disable UAC. Still not working? Sending us the installation log file (using the Fault Report option on the contact-us page) can help us investigate if we receive multiple reports with an issue.
- Perform a clean installation of BBC iPlayer Desktop:
- If you can't install BBC iPlayer Desktop visit this FAQ for futher information.
- If You can install BBC iPlayer Desktop but it's not working correctly, such as giving you a black screen? Send us the BBC iPlayer Desktop log file.
Installation problems
You should first uninstall previous versions of BBC iPlayer Desktop and Adobe Air.
When installing BBC iPlayer Desktop or Adobe Air, make sure that you Save files when prompted and then open them. .
The installation log file should then be sent to us, but first check if it contains the following lines:
- text="truncated or corrupt" - ensure that you are click Save rather than Open when asked to download BBC iPlayer Desktop.
- Directory can't be written to - ensure that you have admin rights on your computer. For instance, Mac users need to have admin rights for the /Applications folder.
If you did click Save and opened the bbc_iplayer_desktop file from your computer please note this when you contact us.
General problems
If you are having problems with Adobe Air or Flash, see this advice at Adobe's site on how to remove Flash*.
You may also need to remove previous versions of Air and install the latest version*.
If you continue to have problems with BBC iPlayer Desktop, you need to send us the log files as described here.
If the following message is displayed:
"This application cannot be installed because this installer has been misconfigured. Please contact the application author for assistance."
This Adobe article may help*.
Other problems
Known issues
- Slow downloads - some users are experiencing slow downloads. If this is an issue, Windows users can get the WMV version; select the Windows Media Player option under the More downloads tab.
- No screen reader support
- No keyboard controls
- When I play a programme, my computer fan runs constantly and other applications are slow
Video decoding and scaling uses a large amount of processor power. To minimise processor usage, watch in fullscreen. - When I try to download a programme, I get an error message "the maximum space of your repository has been reached"
Go to the Settings tab and choose how much hard disk space to allocate for saving programmes. - In fullscreen mode, there are sometimes scroll bars around the video window
If you encounter this problem, return to normal view mode and then go back to fullscreen view mode. The scroll bars will disappear. - Downloads are sometimes slow
Programmes are downloaded in small chunks, so that you can resume partially-completed downloads. We are working on making downloads faster. - There is no way of viewing current download speed
Windows users can see this by hovering their pointer over the System Tray icon. - The BBC iPlayer Desktop application window is too big/in the wrong place
We are aware of some problems with the size and placement of the application window, especially on dual-screen systems and systems with very small displays (eg, netbooks). We are working to resolve these.
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If you have detailed issues about using BBC iPlayer not covered here, please read our Where can I go to discuss BBC iPlayer? FAQ or you can Contact Us.
