The VideoLAN Forums

Posted: **15 Sep 2018 11:33**

Hi all.

I am trying to convert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwbY9O_zMe4 to an mp4 by using vlc (v3.0.3 Vetinari).

Whatever I seem to do the network stream only plays and does not write more than 159 bytes to the file I have selected.

The steps I make :-

Start vlc
Media, convert/save...
Select network tab and paste url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwbY9O_zMe4
Select Convert from dropdown
tick convert radio, select profile "Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4)"
provide destination file via browse button
click Start (I am prompted to overwrite file if it does exist)
Video then plays - writes 159 bytes to the target file (shared https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MCj-AF ... sp=sharing)
Leaving the video to play through, nothing more is written to the target file.

I must be doing something badly, but I cannot see what - any guidance please?

--
Mark

Posted: **15 Sep 2018 13:14**

Sorry to self reply, but I thought to run from the terminal to see if there was any useful clue.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1luvw5 ... eaKRZ9nfKQ is the output which opens with :-

Code: Select all

[VLC media player 3.0.3 Vetinari (revision 3.0.3-1-0-gc2bb759264)
[00005561d4288570] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[00005561d428c4e0] main playlist: playlist is empty
Gtk-Message: 12:04:53.906: GtkDialog mapped without a transient parent. This is discouraged.
[00007feb84002d00] egl_x11 gl error: cannot select OpenGL API
[00007feb846c26b0] chain filter error: Too high level of recursion (3)
[00007feb8440b3a0] main filter error: Failed to create video converter

these last two line repeat until :-

Code: Select all

[00007feb880018c0] main video output error: Failed to create video converter
[00007feb880018c0] main video output error: Failed to compensate for the format changes, removing all filters

Which I have to suspect is my issue.

I will have a go at downloading the vlc source and see what I find as to why the creation of the video converter fails..

--
Mark

Posted: **21 Sep 2018 00:40**

I just tested your link on my VLC 3.0.4 running in Xubuntu 18.04 and had the same issue. I then clicked stop and right clicked on the item in my playlist and selected the save option. This worked. I think it has to do with how it parses the link for youtube... Apparently it is only parsed correctly after the video starts playing, which is why it fails to save...

Here is what VLC converts the link to:
https://r6---sn-5ualdn7l.googlevideo.co ... ps=1445000

Copy the address of the link and paste it into a text document and you'll see the conversion that occurs.

Posted: **14 Apr 2020 11:34**

I'm having the same exact situation, it is frustrating!
Please, what was the solution for you?

Posted: **14 Apr 2020 18:05**

Missing the swscale plugin?

Posted: **15 Apr 2022 03:34**

Same issue except with a download. Convert - add file - select H265MP4 - select destination and video starts playing and that's it. I think the last time I successfully converted a video was before the last update. Was there a bad update or could I have downloaded a corrupted update?

Posted: **12 Jul 2022 21:24**

Hey, I might have a solution for this problem, when you first time load video via link and it starts playing click ctrl+j for viewing codec and copy the codec address, then when you convert the video past CODEC address NOT url, sometimes this bugs out and you gotta do it for second time but should work. I hope it help ill also post this answer to two or three different threads with same question

The VideoLAN Forums

Convert plays and does not write to file, what am I missing?

Convert plays and does not write to file, what am I missing?

Re: Convert plays and does not write to file, what am I missing?

Re: Convert plays and does not write to file, what am I missing?

Re: Convert plays and does not write to file, what am I missing?

Re: Convert plays and does not write to file, what am I missing?

Re: Convert plays and does not write to file, what am I missing?

Re: Convert plays and does not write to file, what am I missing?