[INFO] What to do when VLC crashes

[ajmas]

Software applications are far from perfect and sometimes they will crash. This can happen for any of number of reasons ranging from something on the system affecting programing assumptions to a simple bug in the code (programmers are human too), and sometimes the application is an innocent bystander broght down by an issue elsewhere. While we would like to say that VLC is perfect, reality dictates that it won't be (too many variables) and therefore there is always the odd the chance that it may crash. Follows are some steps to follow when it does crash:

• Remove your VLC preferences, which are located in /Users/<your user name>/Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlc (a folder and a .plist file) and then see if the issue persists.
• If the problem persists, see if there is a more recent version of VLC compatible with your version of MacOS X and see if the problem still presents itself.
• If the problem still persists, search in the forum or in the bug database, see if anyone else has the same issue.
• If you believe you have discovered a new bug then create a post in the forum indicating what steps led up to the crash and include the crash log, which appears in the window to send to apple. Please keep your posts polite and constructive.
• If it is confirmed to be a new bug, then create a new ticket in the bug database (if you don't have an account read the instructions on that page on how to create one).

Similarly, if VLC irrecoverably freezes (often with a persistent rainbow spin-wheel cursor), then on force-quitting you will sometimes get a crash log in this condition (this one indicates the likely freeze context). This is suitable for submission too. Always document what you were doing at the time and the format of the video.

BTW Don't forget the VLC developers are volunteers, i.e. not being paid for their time, so we encourage you to be patient about fixes.

Note 1: The following page documents how to get a crash log (it is for Webkit, but the general instructions are applicable to VLC): http://webkit.org/quality/crashlogs.html
Note 2: Development and testing is targeted to Apple computers, so practical help with regards to non-official clones ranges from very limited to non-existant.
Note 3: For the curious see Technical Note TN2123 on how to read a crash report.