Download and Install the Cosmo Player VRML Plugin

The Cosmo Player VRML plugin was NOT developed at NIST, only the new installer described below. The instructions below are provided as a service to the VRML community. No support for Cosmo Player is available.

Go to section:

New installer for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera Original installer for Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari Getting Started / Keyboard Shortcuts   Uninstall

What is VRML?

VRML is the Virtual Reality Modeling Language, a standard file format to display 3D models on the web. Use the VRML Plugin Detector to check if you already have a VRML plugin installed.

Download Cosmo Player

Two different installation programs are available for the Cosmo Player VRML plugin for Windows. The installation programs work with any version of Windows including 8, 7, Vista, and XP.

1. New - A Cosmo Player installation program (developed in 2005) is available that can be used as an alternative to the original Cosmo Player installer described below. It overcomes the difficulties in using the original installer with Internet Explorer, however, it was never thoroughly tested. Follow the instructions below to download and run the new installer.

2. Original - The original (from 1998) Cosmo Player VRML plugin installation program cosmo_win95nt_eng.exe can be downloaded from NIST. Using this installation program, Cosmo Player in Internet Explorer might not work. The installation program does work with Firefox and other browsers, however, some manual intervention is required. Follow the instructions below depending if it is being installed in Firefox or Internet Explorer. Due to changes to Firefox 21 and greater, this workaround does NOT work.

After the plugin has been installed, use the VRML Plugin Detector to check if it works. The web browser should be restarted before trying to detect a newly installed plugin.

Firefox 21 and greater

If you already had Cosmo Player installed in Firefox and upgraded to version 21 or greater and Cosmo Player no longer works, then follow these instructions.

• Type about:config into the Address Bar and hit Enter.
• Confirm that you will be careful if this is your first time opening the page.
• Search for plugins.load_appdir_plugins and double-click the entry to toggle the value to True.
• Restart Firefox.

Limitations

• Cosmo Player can only be installed in 32-bit web browsers regardless if it is a 32-bit or 64-bit computer. There is no 64-bit version of the plugin.
• Cosmo Player does not run under Linux or Mac OS X. Some VRML plugins for Linux and Mac OS X are listed on the VRML Plugin Detector.
• Cosmo Player cannot display X3D files.

Installing in Chrome or Safari

If a VRML plugin is already installed in Firefox or Internet Explorer, then when Chrome or Safari is installed, the VRML plugin might be available in those web browsers as well. The original installer should work with Chrome and Safari, but the new one does not. Using Cosmo Player in Chrome or Opera might require using the OpenGL renderer. See the instructions below to set the renderer in the Cosmo Player plugin.

Cosmo Player History

At one time or another, Cosmo Player has been developed and available from many companies including SGI (IRIX), Cosmo Software, Platinum, Nexternet (reborn as Pivoron Player), and most recently Computer Associates. The Windows version of the plugin is no longer available from any of them. The last version of the plugin, Cosmo Player 2.1.1, was released in 1998.

1. Before running the new installer, it is recommended to uninstall any VRML plugins that are already installed.

2. The new installer (CosmoPlayer.exe) can be downloaded in the zip file CosmoPlayer.zip.

3. After starting the installation by running CosmoPlayer.exe from the zip file, first agree to the license agreement and then select which web browsers to install the Cosmo Player VRML plugin into.

   

4. Usually the web browser needs to be restarted to recognize the plugin. Use the VRML Plugin Detector to check if the plugin has been properly installed.

5. VRML files might have to be associated with whatever web browser Cosmo Player was installed in.

6. Due to changes to Firefox 21 and greater, the new installer does not work without some fixes. There are two fixes. One of them is described here.
   • Type about:config into the Address Bar and hit Enter.
   • Confirm that you will be careful if this is your first time opening the page.
   • Search for plugins.load_appdir_plugins and double-click the entry to toggle the value to True.
   • Restart Firefox.

1. Download the original Cosmo Player installation program

2. Since the original Cosmo Player installer is very old (1998) and does not recognize any of the newer web browsers, a file must be created manually that the installer expects to find. Due to changes to Firefox 21 and greater, this workaround does NOT work.

   The file that must be created has to be named netscape.exe. It can be created by copying, pasting and renaming any other file. It does not matter what is in that file as long a file with that name exists before Cosmo Player is installed.

   The newly created netscape.exe must be placed in the same directory as the web browser executable, typically:

   • Firefox - C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
     • sometimes the Firefox directory is - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Mozilla Firefox
   • Chrome - C:\Documents and Settings\{myusername}\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application
     • sometimes the Chrome directory is - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application
   • Opera - C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera
   • Safari - C:\Program Files (x86)\Safari

   On a 32-bit computer, the Program Files directory is C:\Program Files\.
   On a 64-bit computer, with a 64-bit version of a web browser, the Program Files directory is C:\Program Files\.

   Below is a screenshot of the directory for Firefox 20 or less. Due to changes to Firefox 21 and greater, this workaround does NOT work.

   

    

3. After starting the installation (double clicking on cosmo_win95nt_eng.exe) and going through the Welcome and Software License Agreement dialogs, in the first Select Components dialog, choose "Other (unsupported browsers)" and click "Next".

   

    

4. In the second Select Components dialog, choose the option for "Netscape Browser - Unsupported Version" and click "Next".

   

    

5. In the "Netscape Install Directory" dialog, click on the "Browse..." button..

   

    

6. In the "Choose Folder" dialog, browse to the Path where the file netscape.exe was created in step 2 above and select the "plugins" directory. Then click on "OK". The Plugin directories are typically:
   • Firefox 20 or less - C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\plugins
     • sometimes the Firefox plugins directory is - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Mozilla Firefox\plugins
   • Due to changes to Firefox 21 and greater, this workaround does NOT work.
   • Chrome - C:\Documents and Settings\{myusername}\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\Plugins
   • Opera - C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera\Plugins
   • Safari - C:\Program Files (x86)\Safari\Plugins

   On a 32-bit computer, the Program Files directory is C:\Program Files\.
   On a 64-bit computer, with a 64-bit version of a web browser, the Program Files directory is C:\Program Files\.

   The following is a screenshot for the Firefox plugins directory on a 32-bit computer for Firefox 20 or less.

   

    

7. Click on "Next" in the "Netscape Install Directory" dialog. The following is a screenshot for the Firefox plugins directory.

   

    

8. Click on "Next" in the "Choose Destination Location" dialog.

   

    

9. The remainder of the installation can proceed using the defaults settings.

10. Usually the web browser needs to be restarted to recognize the plugin. Use the VRML Plugin Detector to check if the plugin has been properly installed.

11. Setting the VRML file association (mimetype) for the web browser is usually not required, but after installing Cosmo Player in the web browser, opening a local .wrl file might not start up the web browser. In that case, the web browser needs to be set as the application that opens .wrl files.

• Using the original Cosmo Player installation program with Internet Explorer no longer works. A new Cosmo Player installation program, described above, can be used with Internet Explorer.
• The original Cosmo Player installation program does work with web browsers such as Firefox and Chrome, however, some manual intervention is required to make it work.
• Other VRML plugins that work in Internet Explorer are listed on the VRML Plugin Detector.

On a 32-bit computer, the Program Files directory is C:/Program Files/.

The interactive performance can be improved by adjusting some settings. Click on the checkmark in the lower right corner to display the Preferences window. Use the "\" key to display the Cosmo Player console for any warning or error messages. Use the "=" key to display the frames per second.

OpenGL vs. Direct3D Rendering

To change which renderer is used, click on the checkmark in the lower right of the Cosmo Player control panel. Then click on the Graphics tab. Select the Direct3D or OpenGL renderer. Chrome and Opera might require the OpenGL renderer.

Blank or black screen

If you have a blank or black screen when trying to display a VRML file in Cosmo Player, then click the checkmark in the lower right of the Cosmo Player control panel. Then click on the Graphics tab. A blank or black screen can be caused by having a NonRendering Renderer selected. Select either the OpenGL or Direct3D renderer.

The original URL for this page is http://cic.nist.gov/vrml/cosmoplayer.html