VLC crashes upon clicking: Media >> Stream (or Ctrl+S)

[Jimmypants]

Upon clicking Media >> Stream (or Ctrl+S), VLC crashes with following error message:

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library
This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
Please contact the application's support team for more information.

My PC:
Win7Pro, up to date
VLC 3.0.8

I have no idea what is causing this. I read each of the forum topics here using search keywords +crash +stream +Runtime, but it seems that none of the topics had a solution for my situation.

[Gabrel]

Reinstall Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Libraries. Download and install the latest package to see if it helps.

Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x86)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=5555

Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x64)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=14632

[GrampaWW]

I have read multiple reports on the web spanning at least a decade that trying to execute any of several of the selections on the VLC Media menu causes this Visual C++ runtime error. I have uninstalled (with Revo Uninstaller) the VLC I had, which was 3.0.18 Vetinari, which is the current latest. I even downloaded a fresh copy of that release from the VideoLan web site just yesterday, even though it is the same version I already had. I've reinstalled it more than once. I have visited this web page:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/w ... w=msvc-170

I already had the 2015-2019 Visual C++ redistributables installed, but I've now replaced both the 32-bit & 64-bit versions of those with the ones off that web page, which are the 2015-2022 versions 14.34.31938.

Made no difference. VLC has lost, among other things, the ability to play video from one file & audio from a different file synchronously. About the only thing on the Media menu that works is the simple Open. Videos do still play, but there remain some problems.

Things all went down the toilet a few days ago, maybe a week ago, when out of the blue, VLC prompted me to authorize some sort of privacy thing. This was a popup box with 2 checkmarks I needed to check. I remember one of them was for permitting the VLC automatic updates. I can't remember what the other one was. But as soon as I did that, I started noticing small but annoying differences in the way VLC worked. Used to be that if I selected a media file on the VLC playlist & hit Enter, focus would switch to the VLC player window. This focus switch no longer happens. I started getting videos opening in weird sizes & positions, partially off screen, that I've had to repeatedly resize & reposition. Videos used to always open fullscreen. Now it's unpredictable what they will do. Several settings I hadn't changed in years got lost. It takes only a few moments to change them back, but it took maybe half an hour to find them because I hadn't changed them in years, so I'd forgotten where they were. Things like always open the preferences dialog with All selected, like the directory into which to save screenshots, like the font selection for subtitle rendering, minor things like that. I sure know were they all are now since I've done several reinstalls of VLC & had to redo the preferences a few times.

While I'm here I may as well mention this, which actually has been happening since before all this other stuff erupted. When you go to Preferences -> Video -> Output modules -> Direct3D11, VLC packs it in. Every other Preference is accessible, even the other Output modules. Just this one causes VLC to crash.

I have changed nothing in my system. This you can accept without question since I'm running Windows 7. I turned off Windows Update years ago, when the possibility of getting system updates ended.

I am annoyed. The solutions being offered don't fix anything. VLC caused some collateral damage when they put up that privacy permission prompt. Is somebody taking this issue seriously? This is not a dumb user error. This is a dumb developer error. Do please get on it & fix it.

[GrampaWW]

I went to the extreme of installing tonight's nightly build of VLC 4. There are some promising things there but one of them is NOT the correction of the Visual C++ runtime error. That error persists. There were too many oddities about the way the user interface operated for me to keep it installed. I suspect a certain amount of the oddities had to do with the fact that I'm running Windows 7 & the GUI is probably more compatible with W10 or W11.

How do I go about reporting a problem to VLC? I tried looking at their support forum & I couldn't figure out how to do it. The search seemed a bit odd, too. I tried a search for this Visual C++ runtime problem & it didn't seem to be reported, which I flat don't believe. Is that forum hosted on GIT? Do I simply need to log into GIT & then everything will make sense? Is anybody listening here?

[Lotesdelere]

The VLC issues tracker is there:
https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues

[GrampaWW]

Thank you for responding. Yes, that's the place where I was looking earlier for a problem report for this issue. I will see if I can raise the issue over there. Thanks again.

It seems I have to wait for my "GITLab administrator" to approve my registration with that forum. I was expecting to receive a validation E-mail from there within seconds. But it looks like it doesn't work like that with them. So I have to wait for some unknown time until somebody gets around to approving my registration. Such is life . . .

Stranger still. I decided to sign in using my GITHub ID. The VideoLan site says "that E-mail is already taken." Uh, yeah. It's mine. The weird thing is when I go to GITHub itself, it shows me signed in. I guess I just have to be patient until I get some notification that the GITLab (not GITHub) administrator has gotten on my case & lets me in.

[GrampaWW]

I had a minor brainwave. I Revo uninstalled VLC yet again & installed it yet again. Whenever I launch VLC, it gives me a nag screen with 2 checkboxes. They are for (1) Allow metadata network access & (2) Regularly check for VLC updates. There's also a bunch of double talk that sounds like it was written by a team of lawyers on there explaining something about privacy. After several years of using VLC, I had never seen this dialog box until about a week ago. I just checked the boxes & clicked Continue thinking this was all harmless. But that was the moment when things went down the drain for VLC. So this time when I ran VLC for the first time after my latest reinstall, I unchecked both boxes & instead of clicking Continue, I clicked the red X in the upper right corner to cancel the dialog. Poof magic. The problems with window sizes, positions, & focus from the Playlist went away. Sadly, most of the entries on the Media menu still generate the Visual C++ runtime error. Plus I get the stupid nag dialog every single time I launch VLC. At least it's not every single time I play something, & things do continue to play fine. But I no longer have access to synchronous playback, open a network stream, open a disk, & a couple of other functions on the Media menu. Simple Open & Open Folder do work. It's the fancier functions that fail. Clearly, this problem is related to the stupid privacy thing. Everything was fine for years. There was no reason to foist this privacy nag dialog on the world now. The least they could have done was make it work properly instead of breaking the product. Don't they test these things?

[GrampaWW]

I'm rather discouraged that GITLab administrator, whoever he, she, or it is, has not yet approved my registration at the VLC issues forum. Well, I'm not waiting for that. If & when that approval finally arrives, I'll just open an issue & give the URL of this thread as a reference. Here's what I have done.

1. Open VLC Preferences in All mode.
2. Navigate to Advanced -> Logger
3. Enable logging at the Debug level of verbosity.
4. Save.
5. Close VLC.
6. Check the output directory. I would have erased any log file that might have been there but it turned out there was none.
7. Launch VLC.
8. Reject the permissions dialog as I explained above.
9. Ctrl+Shift+o. This is supposed to launch the synchronous playback file specification dialog.
10. Instead, I got the Visual C++ runtime error, as described by the original poster above back in October of 2019.
11. Dismiss the error by clicking the OK button in the error box.
12. After a short hesitation, VLC closed.
13. Rename the log file.
14. Launch VLC.
15. Turn off logging.
16. Close VLC. Probably overkill at this point but I wanted to be careful.
17. Discover that yet another log file had been created, explaining why I did step 13 above.
18. Erase the new log file.
19. Rename the log file from step 13 back to its original name.
20. Read the log file. To my uneducated eye, it looks singularly unhelpful & uninformative.
21. Came here & posted this. It's quite annoying that you can't attach files to posts here. At least the file is short so copying it inline here isn't totally rude. Actually, the limit on the size of a post prevents me from including the log file within this post. No matter. I'll follow this post with another one that consists of only the log file.

If it so happens that GITLab administrator doesn't approve me before the next ice age, or more likely before sea level rise makes Cincinnati oceanfront property, perhaps somebody who could actually address this issue will defy the odds & actually look at this. I stand ready to perform whatever further diagnosis & testing is required.

[GrampaWW]

Part 1 of 2. It turns out I had to split this up.

Code: Select all

-- logger module started -- main debug: VLC media player - 3.0.18 Vetinari main debug: Copyright © 1996-2022 the VideoLAN team main debug: revision 3.0.18-0-ge9eceaed4d main debug: configured with /builds/videolan/vlc/extras/package/win32/../../../configure '--enable-update-check' '--enable-lua' '--enable-faad' '--enable-flac' '--enable-theora' '--enable-avcodec' '--enable-merge-ffmpeg' '--enable-dca' '--enable-mpc' '--enable-libass' '--enable-schroedinger' '--enable-realrtsp' '--enable-live555' '--enable-shout' '--enable-goom' '--enable-sse' '--enable-mmx' '--enable-libcddb' '--enable-zvbi' '--disable-telx' '--enable-nls' '--host=x86_64-w64-mingw32' '--with-contrib=../contrib/x86_64-w64-mingw32' '--with-breakpad=https://win.crashes.videolan.org' '--enable-qt' '--enable-skins2' '--enable-dvdread' '--enable-caca' 'host_alias=x86_64-w64-mingw32' 'CFLAGS= ' 'CXXFLAGS= ' 'PKG_CONFIG=pkg-config' 'PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR=/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/lib/pkgconfig:/usr/lib/x86_64-w64-mingw32/pkgconfig' main debug: using multimedia timers as clock source main debug: min period: 1 ms, max period: 1000000 ms main debug: searching plug-in modules main debug: loading plugins cache file C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\plugins\plugins.dat main debug: recursively browsing `C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\plugins' main debug: plug-ins loaded: 496 modules main debug: opening config file (C:\Users\WildWilly\AppData\Roaming\vlc\vlcrc) main debug: looking for logger module matching "any": 2 candidates file debug: opening logfile `M:\VDH Testing\VLC Log.txt' main debug: using logger module "file" main debug: translation test: code is "C" main debug: looking for keystore module matching "memory": 3 candidates main debug: using keystore module "memory" main debug: CPU has capabilities MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4.1 SSE4.2 FPU main: one instance mode ENABLED main debug: Creating an input for 'Media Library' main debug: Input is a meta file: disabling unneeded options main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB main debug: using timeshift path: C:\Users\WILDWI~1\AppData\Local\Temp main debug: `file/directory:///C:/Users/WildWilly/AppData/Roaming/vlc/ml.xspf' gives access `file' demux `directory' path `/C:/Users/WildWilly/AppData/Roaming/vlc/ml.xspf' main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='directory' location='/C:/Users/WildWilly/AppData/Roaming/vlc/ml.xspf' file='C:\Users\WildWilly\AppData\Roaming\vlc\ml.xspf' main debug: looking for access_demux module matching "file": 15 candidates main debug: no access_demux modules matched main debug: creating access: file:///C:/Users/WildWilly/AppData/Roaming/vlc/ml.xspf main debug: (path: C:\Users\WildWilly\AppData\Roaming\vlc\ml.xspf) main debug: looking for access module matching "file": 27 candidates main debug: using access module "filesystem" main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "prefetch,cache_read": 24 candidates cache_read debug: Using stream method for AStream* cache_read debug: starting pre-buffering cache_read debug: received first data after 0 ms cache_read debug: pre-buffering done 304 bytes in 0s - 296875 KiB/s main debug: using stream_filter module "cache_read" main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "any": 24 candidates playlist debug: using XSPF playlist reader main debug: using stream_filter module "playlist" main debug: stream filter added to 0000000002aaf4d0 main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "any": 24 candidates main debug: no stream_filter modules matched main debug: looking for stream_directory module matching "any": 1 candidates main debug: no stream_directory modules matched main debug: attachment of directory-extractor failed for file:///C:/Users/WildWilly/AppData/Roaming/vlc/ml.xspf main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "record": 24 candidates main debug: using stream_filter module "record" main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='directory' location='/C:/Users/WildWilly/AppData/Roaming/vlc/ml.xspf' file='C:\Users\WildWilly\AppData\Roaming\vlc\ml.xspf' main debug: looking for demux module matching "directory": 55 candidates main debug: using demux module "directory" main debug: looking for meta reader module matching "any": 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\WildWilly\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\reader lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\reader lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\reader\filename.luac main debug: no meta reader modules matched main debug: `file/directory:///C:/Users/WildWilly/AppData/Roaming/vlc/ml.xspf' successfully opened main debug: looking for xml reader module matching "any": 1 candidates main debug: using xml reader module "xml" main debug: EOF reached main debug: removing module "directory" main debug: removing module "record" main debug: removing module "playlist" main debug: removing module "cache_read" main debug: removing module "filesystem" main debug: creating audio output main debug: looking for audio output module matching "any": 6 candidates

[GrampaWW]

Part 2 of 2

Code: Select all

mmdevice debug: using default device mmdevice debug: display name changed: VLC media player (LibVLC 3.0.18) mmdevice debug: version 2 session control unavailable mmdevice debug: volume from -192.000000 dB to +0.000000 dB with 1.500000 dB increments main debug: using audio output module "mmdevice" main debug: keeping audio output main debug: looking for interface module matching "win_msg,none": 16 candidates main debug: using interface module "win_msg" main debug: looking for interface module matching "hotkeys,none": 16 candidates main debug: using interface module "hotkeys" main debug: looking for interface module matching "globalhotkeys,none": 16 candidates main debug: using interface module "win32" main: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface. main debug: looking for interface module matching "any": 16 candidates qt debug: Boring first Run Wizard main debug: looking for extension module matching "any": 1 candidates lua debug: Opening Lua Extension module lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\WildWilly\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\extensions lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\extensions lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\extensions\VLSub.luac lua debug: Scanning Lua script C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\extensions\VLSub.luac lua debug: Script C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\extensions\VLSub.luac has the following capability flags: 0x5 main debug: using extension module "lua" main debug: looking for services probe module matching "any": 7 candidates main debug: no services probe modules matched qt debug: Sorting by column -1, order 0 qt debug: Sorting by column -1, order 0 main debug: using interface module "qt"

[GrampaWW]

This web site is so restrictive. You can't attach files. You can't insert images. It's quite annoying. Anyway, I believe this is the convoluted way you have to do things. Here is a screenshot of the privacy nag screen I've been talking about. Don't worry. It's small. I wish I could embed the image here, even if it's hosted elsewhere. But I haven't stumbled upon the magic spell to make that happen. I've searched this forum for that advice but I didn't find it. I would be most grateful if somebody were to enlighten me on this subject.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gS1sR ... p=sharing

My current standard practice is to uncheck the 2 checkboxes, then click the X in the top right corner. I imagine I could just hit the Esc key but I don't trust that to do what I want. So I click the mouse on the X. This nag box appears every time I open an instance of VLC. Not every time I open a new video, just every fresh launch of the player. I first saw this dialog box about a week or so ago. After years of never seeing it, suddenly it appeared one day & I don't know why. But ever since I innocently allowed it to do its dirty, I have had this Visual C++ runtime error.

And GITLab administrator is still ignoring me so I am continuing to post problem diagnosis here.

[GrampaWW]

I just couldn't let this go. I scoured my settings & found Interface -> Main interfaces -> Qt. On that long page of checkboxes, I had checked the one that says, "Embed the file browser in open dialog." I thought that sounded like a perfectly harmless thing to do. But the default for that is unchecked. I had checked it. I stand before you admitting that I had changed it from the default. I decided to uncheck it to restore it to its default setting.

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!!!

After I unchecked the box for embed file browser, I closed VLC. Then I relaunched it & this time, I accepted the 2 checkboxes on the nag dialog. Everything now works fine. All the selections on the Media menu work: Open Multiple Files, Open Disc, Open Network Stream, Open Capture Device, Open Location from Clipboard. I just opened most of those menu selections without actually doing the function. But I thoroughly tested both synchronous playback (Open Multiple Files) & Open Network Stream. They both worked fine. I have also closed & relaunched VLC a couple of times & the privacy nag dialog is no longer appearing.

So what exactly is that embed file browser setting? What does it do for you? With that setting unchecked, when I tested synchronous playback, I got a normal everyday file selection dialog, like I have always gotten, like I get in countless other applications. I have always assumed that VLC was handing control off to the operating system, Windows 7 in my case, & it was managing the file picker from that point until you clicked the Open button (actually, I just hit Enter) to give the selected file back to VLC. So what is embedded file browser? What does it look like?

More importantly, why does it not play nice with the Visual C++ runtime?

[Lotesdelere]

then click the X in the top right corner.

You're not supposed to do that but to click on the Continue button.

[GrampaWW]

Yes, of course, quite right. I was doing that to make VLC operate correctly while I still had the box checked for the embedded file browser. But once I unchecked that box for the embedded file browser, I did click Continue on the privacy nag box. I did say that above. I did accept the nag. Once. And since then, VLC hasn't nagged me again, something else I did say above.

But the privacy nag box is a secondary issue. The primary issue is the Visual C++ runtime error. That shouldn't happen. Checking the box for the embedded file browser or not checking that box is not supposed to make any difference in whether the Visual C++ runtime error occurs. That error should never occur. That's what I'd really like somebody to investigate. I wouldn't mind getting confirmation from others that they can reproduce the Visual C++ runtime error by checking the embedded file browser box, & that unchecking the box stops the error from occurring. If we can get a certain momentum going, maybe we can get this problem fixed. Like I said a few posts back, web searches I did turned up multiple reports of this bug over a decade or more. I never saw anybody saying oh yeah, such & such cured the problem. I'm offering not so much a cure as a workaround. I'd like to know to what extent this generalizes. If enough people can confirm this, maybe we'll provoke the good folks at VideoLan to do something about it.