Slow response on video seek

[Python42]

Lately I have noticed that when I use the hotkeys to skip ahead/back in a video, the response is extremely sluggish. If, for example, I repeatedly press arrow-right, I must wait a second or two for the video to respond accordingly. By comparison, if I do the same operation playing the same video with ffplay.exe (bundled with ffmpeg) the response is virtually instantaneous. What could be the reason for this delay? This didn't used to be a problem.

vlc 3.0.14
Windows 10 Home
Dell Inspiron 5759
ffmpeg 4.2.3

[Hitchhiker]

https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=156428

If none of the options in the above link resolve the issue for you install the latest nightly build which resolves similar issues according to this post: https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.ph ... 12#p517812

You can download the latest nightly build (3.0.15) from here: https://nightlies.videolan.org/

[Python42]

I tried the latest nightly build. Both the msi and exe versions failed to install. With the msi it says

There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor.

For the exe I get

Error opening file for writing. C:\Program Files\VideoLan\VLC\libvlc.dll

I tried running both as Administrator.

I tried running from the unzipped zip file and it ended up freezing and destroying my existing 3.x version (audio but no vlc playback window). I uninstalled the 3.x version and was able to install the exe 4.x version. While it works, it still has the same bad response as the 3.x version.

[Python42]

Since I still had the install file for version 3.0.12 I uninstalled vlc and re-installed that version. It does not have a problem responding to seek commends. It's nice and peppy just like ffplay. I did not delete the preferences or cache on any of the install/uninstall steps so can I assume the problem arose some time after 3.0.12?

[Hitchhiker]

I tried the latest nightly build. Both the msi and exe versions failed to install. With the msi it says

There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor.

For the exe I get

Error opening file for writing. C:\Program Files\VideoLan\VLC\libvlc.dll

I tried running both as Administrator.

I tried running from the unzipped zip file and it ended up freezing and destroying my existing 3.x version (audio but no vlc playback window). I uninstalled the 3.x version and was able to install the exe 4.x version. While it works, it still has the same bad response as the 3.x version.

Run this Microsoft troubleshooter: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/top ... f927e1eb4d

[Python42]

I don't need to run the troubleshooter. As you can see the problem went away after dropping back to version 3.0.12. I was eventually able to install version 4.x which had the same lagging problem as 3.0.14.

[Hitchhiker]

The troubleshooter is intended to address the problem of installing 3.0.15 which on your system generates the error message.

N.B. Running a version less than 3.0.13 puts your system at risk from this security vulnerability

[Python42]

For the sake of being thorough I downloaded the 3.0.15 exe installer. It had the same install problem so I downloaded and ran the troubleshooter. After spending many minutes I responded with "Select the program you are trying to install". VLC was not in the list. I selected "Not listed",. The troubleshooter completed without doing anything.

I renamed "C:\Program Files\VideoLan" to VideoLan.3.0.12 and reran the installer. After the install I loaded a video. It seems that 3.0.15 performs properly, no lagging when skipping ahead via hotkeys. So it appears that my original problem has been solved (thank you) but I am still curious as to why

1. The install had to be done after a rename
2. The troubleshooter failed to find a problem

Oh, wait. The troubleshooter was from Microsoft, and I have never seen "Please wait while we search for a solution" from Microsoft actually ever find a solution.

[Hitchhiker]

Interesting that renaming the installer to an older version works (good thinking). I can't explain why I'm afraid.

As for the troubleshooter I must admit I've only ever used it to uninstall apps which couldn't be uninstalled any other way and that has always worked for me. So on that basis I assumed it would perform satisfactorily with uninstalling an app, but apparently not.

Anyway, glad to hear 3.0.15 fixes the problem.

[Python42]

No no no no no! I did NOT rename the installer. I renamed the folder where my 3.0.12 version was installed. Then I had to jump through hoops later to delete it once 3.0.15 was installed (access denied messages).

[Hitchhiker]

Oh...sorry, I misunderstood you then. It seems odd though that renaming the installation folder would cause the installer to run properly.

[Python42]

I presume it was because by renaming the original installation folder there were no files to be overwritten during the installation. As far as the installer was concerned (except for preferences/cache) it was doing a clean install.

[Hitchhiker]

It could be the case that the Windows installer (msiexec.exe) went pear-shaped for some unknown reason. Usually though it needs to be unregistered and then re-registered to get it to work properly again.

It might be worth running sfc /scannow to check system files.

[Python42]

I ran sfc. Not sure what result I was hoping for but it didn't report any problems. Of course, it only finds the ones it looks for. Everything seems to be running fine for now in any case.

[Hitchhiker]

Usually if there's something amiss you'll see something like this after a scan completes.


(click to enlarge)

[Skrybe]

I just want to say that the latest release 3.0.14 has done this to me too. The previous version before the security fix update was perfectly smooth. But since this update seeking in any video is jerky. Doesn't seem to matter the codec, the file size or the resolution. Interestingly, it's jerky for awhile then it's like it caches it and that video will seek smoothly from then on. I've recently (in the last two days) updated my hardware. It was happening on the old setup with a Ryzen 2700x and GTX1070 and on the new setup with a Ryzen 5800x and RX6900XT. All latest drivers, Windows 10 64bit, 64GB ram, 1TB NVMe drive. Videos were also jerky regardless of whether they are on the NVMe drive, a regular SSD or a HDD.

I'm going to try installing a nightly or the beta and see if that resolves the issue. I also had a look at that guide link and will give it a try. But I must say at the time the guide was posted I had the same setup 2700x & GTX1070 with zero stuttering on seek.

edit:

Just tried the 3.0.15 MSI and had the same problem installing as the previous poster. Downloaded the EXE version and it installed fine (although windows defender wanted to stop it). Just tested several videos and they all seem to seek smoothly again. Only thing that seems to hiccup is a 10GB VR video. So that's probably understandable.

[Hitchhiker]

MSI installation files can be run from an elevated command prompt if experiencing problems. The syntax is as follows:

• msiexec /a “pathtotheMSIfile”

Example:

• msiexec /a “C:\Users\Username\Downloads\vlc-3.0.15-win64-95cce99f.msi"

To get the path to the file, hold down the Shift key while right-clicking on the MSI file and then click "Copy as path" to copy the path to the clipboard. You can then paste the path in the Command Prompt by right-clicking and then clicking Paste.

[stevenroussos]

Tried everything else mentioned here & elsewhere. Turning off Fast Seek, counterintuitively, fixed it.