VLC 2.2.3 still can't handle XiVs

[Egtverchi]

I just downloaded the 2.2.3 update, and I had the same problem I had with 2.2.1:

I am currently using a MacBook Air OS X 10.11.4, with Safari 9.1.

When I open a particular QuickTime (.mov) video, I get the following pop-up error message:

"Codec not supported
VLC could not decode the format "XiVs" (No description for this codec)"

The video seems to be playing just fine, though; all I have to do is close the pop-up. (Perhaps there is some special feature I wouldn't be able to access?) If the video is looping, however, the window has to be closed manually every time it restarts, which makes the video essentially impossible to watch.

In a previous discussion, another user asked about disabling this pop-up - since the video is actually playing! - and was told that "this dialog only pops up for serious errors". I appreciate that, but if the video is playing fine for a regular user who basically just wants to watch it as is, and the issue is serious primarily for the developers, I still think there ought to be a way for non-advanced users to hide it, at least on a particular video. Unless it is sending out an automatic error report, it does you no good, and annoys me.

[fkuehne]

That's interesting indeed. Can you share a sample file with us on http://streams.videolan.org/upload/ so we can see what's going on and silence that error?

[Egtverchi]

Happy to do so, but be forewarned - it's NSFW. Unless I hear otherwise, I'll upload it tomorrow.

[Egtverchi]

I just uploaded the file, with a brief note referencing this thread. Hope you can figure out what's going wrong. Thanks for looking into this.

[fkuehne]

Thanks for sharing - problem reproduced

[fkuehne]

Apparently some audio codec we don't support (yet).

[Egtverchi]

I'm delighted that you found the problem so soon! Now: assuming that VLC will eventually add XiVs to its database, is there anything I can do (or you can do) in the meantime, to at least prevent that pop-up error notification from reappearing every time the loop restarts? If I could close it the first time and have it stay closed, that would solve 99% of the problem (for me).

[fkuehne]

Regrettably there is no way to disable that dialog, however I can share a pre-release version with you very soon

Turns out, XiVs is actually an Ogg Vorbis audio track. Can you confirm that there is no hearable audio to be expected for the uploaded sample? Can you share a sample with the same issue but with audio?

[Egtverchi]

I have three videos (by different artists) which produce the same error message, and none of them have any audio when I play them. I haven't been able to find those videos elsewhere to confirm whether or not they are supposed to have audio. However, the one I sent you is the first in a series of three, made by the same artist; the other two (which are mp4 files) play just fine, and neither one has an audio track. So my best guess is that the one I uploaded doesn't actually have any audio either.

[Egtverchi]

One more bit of evidence. The other two videos by the same artist list the following two codecs:

H.264, AAC

If AAC is the audio, it is worth noting that despite using an audio codec, there is no actual audio whether I play them with QuickTime or with VLC. So perhaps the artist did the same thing on the video I uploaded, using a codec but not putting any content on the audio track.

[Egtverchi]

Or not . . .

I just found a different video in two different versions, on two different sites. The .mov version generates the same "codec not supported" error on VLC, and there is no sound; the codecs are VP80 and XiVs. However, the .webm version, which opens automatically with VLC, does have audio. So I don't really know whether the .mov video is supposed to include audio and VLC won't play it, or whether the artist failed to properly create the audio file for the .mov version.

I am going to try to upload both of them, but they are larger files, and at the moment I'm in a B&B with somewhat limited broadband. If I don't succeed today, I'll do it tomorrow when I'm home.

[fkuehne]

Hey, here is a pre-release version with fixes you can try http://files.feepk.net/_/fs8WcTt

[Egtverchi]

Ummm . . . when I open that first video I sent you (#1 of three by the same artist), using VLC 3.0.0-git, all I get is a blank screen! The controls appear at the bottom, the counter advances normally, and the play/pause button seems to work, but no picture. I tried playing it again with 2.2.3, and it still plays fine aside from the error message.

Further issues with 3.0.0: As a control, I tried opening #2 of the three videos by the same artist, which played just fine on 2.2.3. It played through once with 3.0.0-git - and then VLC just "quit unexpectedly"! I tried it again; same result - plays fine once, then quits. I sent an error report, with a brief text.

Then I tried it once more - and it wouldn't even start playing! VLC just quit before the video image or the playback controls appeared. I tried #3 of those videos, and it wouldn't open either, just quit when I tried. I verified that #2 and #3 still work just fine with 2.2.3.

I'm going to upload #2, so you can figure out what's going wrong.

[maxnem]

Hey, here is a pre-release version with fixes you can try http://files.feepk.net/_/fs8WcTt

Thank you! It fixed the XIV issue. Now I have audio

[Egtverchi]

I saw maxnem's message, and tried again. Got several errors, and sent my own text with the Error Report each time, attn. F. Kuehne. In brief:

Video 1 (of three): loops just fine with VLC 3.0.0-git, but still, all I get is a completely blank screen, with the controls and the (active) counter at the bottom.

Video 2 and 3: If I play either one, it loops fine. If I completely Quit VLC, I can usually reopen it and play the other one. However, if I Stop Playback on either of them, by using the "Stop" function under playback controls (rather than Quitting VLC), I have problems when I try to play the other one - either it refuses to open, or it loops a few times and then quits. On one occasion, I had trouble playing Video 3 even though I used "Quit VLC" after playing Video 2.

I hope the error reports will provide more technical data on the failures.

P.S.: No audio on any of them.