The VideoLAN Forums

When I try to play an AVI with VLC then occasionally I get a warning popup similar to

"This AVI is broken. Seeking will not work correctly. Do you want to repair it?"

Ok. I can click OK and VLC starts to repair the current AVI. But this fix is not permanently. The next time I
start playing the AVI the warning/error pops up again.

How do I permanently repair the AVI index and change it inside the AVI container?

Is a complete re-encoding really necessary ?

Could you tell me how long it takes to repair? I just had that same problem it's been repairing for over an hour and it still just has the 2 green bars.

It lasts for approx 30-45 min.

Did you found a solution for it ?

VLC temporarily repairs the index of damaged AVI files. If the file itself is also damaged the file still will not play. Try using Avidemux to repair the file permanently.

Where do I disable these annoying messages from being shown?

The message can be very useful if you find that an *.avi will not playback without rebuilding the AVI index. However, most times (e.g. partially downloaded file) will playback up to a certain point. If you do have a broken *.avi file, then another good program (in addition to DJ's suggestion of "Avidemux"), is VirtualDub (website here). That is, assuming you are running Windows. If not there are other programs which can do AVI index rebuilding.

If you do want to disable the message, then it can be turned off in Preferences. Just go to (in "Settings >> Preferences..."):
Input / Codecs >> Demuxers >> AVI

And select "Never fix" from the "Force index creation" drop-down box. Then select "Save". Next time a broken AVI file is opened the message should no longer appear.

Cheers, Arite.

Thanks.

Yeah it can be usefull but it pops up everytime something is played directly from RAR using VLCRAAR .... and i play everything directly from rar.

I'm having this exact problem in XP. The Avi's will play in Windows Media Player and Real Player just fine(go figure) but I get the "This Avi file is corrupted, Seeking will not....do you want to repair?..."

The AVI's will play on my desktop just fine with VLC 8.4c. They used to play just fine on the wife's laptop, but not now. I uninstalled and downloaded d and get the same message.

Deactivate it in the preferences.

If you do have a broken *.avi file, then another good program (in addition to DJ's suggestion of "Avidemux"), is VirtualDub (website here).

@Arite:

you mentioned VirtualDub. I am using VD sometimes for re-encoding but I did not found an option resp. a way
to repair an AVI index error WITHOUT full re-encoding.

How to I do just fix the AVI index but not re-encode the "main" content with VD?

Thomas

If you go to:
Video >> Direct stream copy

Then the video (and the Audio since that is set to Direct stream copy by default) will be duplicated. You should just be able to go to "File >> Save as AVI..." and save the output, which should rewrite a new AVI file with a correct index (although I have admittedly not tried it with a broken AVI).

Cheers, Arite.

To respond to Arite's suggestion.

I have just tried your method with VirtualDubMod (V1.5.4.1, buid 2178) on a broken .avi file of 327 mb. VLC would show abovementioned error message and if I ignored it would play the first few seconds and then stop. Opening up this file in VirtualDubMod immediately popped up a AVI Import Filter window telling me it was "Reconstrucing missing index block (aggressive mode)". This process took about two hours to complete but seems to have been in vain. When I tried to do a "save as" a .avi file of only 166 kb was saved, probably up to where VLC initially played it.

I'll try some other programmes and see what works.

I'd recommend using the latest version of VirtualDub as supposed to VirtualDubMod (which is good for e.g. importing things like MKV files etc.).

Arite.

Have any of you used DivFix++ (sourceforge) and is it faster?

Have any of you used DivFix++ (sourceforge) and is it faster?

Thanks, that program fixed my AVI index issues I had. I no longer get the AVI is broken message in VLC.

Have any of you used DivFix++ (sourceforge) and is it faster?

Emagin,

Thank you for suggesting DivX++. It worked and it worked very fast on the file.
--
Woody Autumn

Hi, DivFix++ author here.
It's good to see my program works for you.
But what if you have such problems with MKV files too?
Not for just seeking problems it's also true for broken MKV's and previewing too...

So at my last birthday, I open my other project code to public, and give present to humanity which name is project_Meteorite.
Keep in mind that, it might be help you soon.

And don't forget to donation to your favorite tools (It doesn't matter if it's mine or not )

Hi, DivFix++ author here.
It's good to see my program works for you.

Cool to see you around!

But what if you have such problems with MKV files too?
Not for just seeking problems it's also true for broken MKV's and previewing too...

MKV have many tools /D

So at my last birthday, I open my other project code to public, and give present to humanity which name is project_Meteorite.
Keep in mind that, it might be help you soon.

And don't forget to donation to your favorite tools (It doesn't matter if it's mine or not )

Cool , please go on and don't drop them... If you ever drop them, we can host them...

Can i upload this kind of videos online and view without any issues?

hi, does anyone know why the file is broken? i have just bought a new digital camera and this is the first time i have had the error message. never had it with my old camera or with any other avi's. all the answers i've found to date look to fix the problem, not ascertain the cause
any help appreciated
cheers

If VLC can't find the seeking infos, because the file is broken, incomplete or out-of-specs, VLC tries to rebuild the seeking infos so it can play it back.

I have VLC version 8 and 9 i have tried them both, but after the movie has played it 50% time there are some error pop ups comming and if i close that popup the player closes and the the pop ups are blank no message is displayed in it about crash or error.........

please, try with VLC 1.1.0-pre4

Hi,

I am trying to burn some avi's with dvdstyler and one avi it keeps crapping out on with this error " Can't find next AC3 frame: @ 5337472 we have 434d - broken bit-stream?"

I tried the DIVx++ repair and it keeps saying 1 error and it never fixes it.

I've tried some other programs but nothing works. I can play the avi with VLC videolan no problem.

Thanks for any help.

Gibs

Hi,

I am trying to burn some avi's with dvdstyler and one avi it keeps crapping out on with this error " Can't find next AC3 frame: @ 5337472 we have 434d - broken bit-stream?"

I tried the DIVx++ repair and it keeps saying 1 error and it never fixes it.

I've tried some other programs but nothing works. I can play the avi with VLC videolan no problem.

Thanks for any help.

Gibs

You are lucky! Author of DivFix++ strikes back . Why don't you place a bug report at DivFix++'s bug tracker?
Anyway, If you can send file, than I can analyze and tell what is wrong.
No one make such a thing if you bought a program like shareware It's beauty of being free & open sourced.
This days I a really busy but could look to file about what is wrong.
You can use online share services for file. I prefer netload.in. It's speedy.
Place a bug report at the tracker. Don't came here very often.

Thanks for using,or at least trying, DivFix++