Firefox plugin displays "no video" on Ubuntu Edgy

[OskarS]

I just installed the firefox vlc plugin (using "apt-get install mozilla-plugin-vlc") and about:plugins says that it is installed. Problem is that when I go to any site containing video, all I get is a big black square with the words "(no video)" on it. I have the latest version of both firefox and vlc installed.

What am I doing wrong?

[dimstar]

Did you give it enough time to receive the stream.

On some sites I've seen it taking up to 30 seconds until the video might start. (I use it most of the time on imdb.com, for the trailers)

It takes a time, but it works for me.

[OskarS]

Doesn't help, nothing happens

[freddybob]

Same problem.

VLC 0.8.6; Firefox 2.0.0.1; Ubuntu 6.10

All I see are black boxes with the words "(no video)".

[pahles]

Same problem here.

When I use the link to the quicktime movie and open it directly in VLC it plays just fine!

[chunkyq]

I'm also experiencing this problem. The VLC plug-in hasn't worked for me for some time (perhaps not since I upgraded to 6.10), and I've just decided to do something about it.

I've installed all the relevant packages, uninstalled them, followed the instructions at http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Dapper#How_ ... la_Firefox to reinstall them, and it still just displays "no video".

about:plug-ins says its all enabled, and Firefox downloads the video, but all that is displayed is "no video".

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

I also have this problem....

[sysctl]

I can confirm the problem.

One question though. One of plugin files (/usr/lib/firefox/components/vlcintf.xpt) seems to be a link to (non-existent in Edgy!) ../../mozilla/components/vlcintf.xpt. However replacing it doesn't fix the problem. I've read somewhere that this file is no longer relevant in 0.8.6, is this correct?

[will.white]

I am a gentoo user trying out ubuntu. When I click on ABC radio national's audio download buttons, rather than getting a download prompt I get a new black window with white text "(no video)" in the centre. If my memory serves me correctly before I installed vlc I got a black window without the text. I have got rid of the totem plugins from /usr/lib/mozilla-firefox/plugins and installed realplayer, which works fine with real streams from ABC or the Beeb, the audio download buttons are just references to mp3 files. On a completely pristine ubuntu download totem seems to be useless even for playing dvds, it complains about being unable to mount /dev/hdc even though the dvd is actually mounted on /media/cdrom0. I am not interested in totem, even though the ubuntu desktop seems to depend on it (apt wise, I used debian before finding gentoo).

I think this is a firefox question, where does this black window come from?
Ubuntu 6.10 firefox 2.0.0.1

[sysctl]

So, does anybody have any insight or an educated guess why this doesn't work? At least for the vlcintf.xpt file.

PS
Does this plugin leave any logs that can be investigated?

[LWAA]

I am having the same problem using the vlc player plug in with Safari browser in mac osx

[dimstar]

try starting firefox from a console shell.

the vlc plugin is quiet verbose when it's started and the log could get some insight what is going wrong and what it is trying to do.

[FrenKy]

Hello,
I've tried to run it from the console, and also get black screen with title (No Video) and the console output is shown later in my post.
I see many, many posts both in Ubuntu forums as well as here, so I seriously doubt that all is OK with this plugin.

Running FF 2.0.0.1 and VLC 0.8.6 on Ubuntu Edgy.

Code: Select all

argn=type, argv=video/x-ms-asf argn=src, argv=http://people.videolan.org/~dionoea/vlc-plugin-demo/streams/sw_h264.asf argn=name, argv=plugin argn=height, argv=100% argn=width, argv=100% [00000001] main vlc debug: checking builtin modules [00000001] main vlc debug: checking plugin modules [00000001] main vlc debug: loading plugins cache file /home/frenky/.vlc/cache/plugins-04041e.dat [00000001] main vlc debug: recursively browsing `modules' [00000001] main vlc debug: recursively browsing `/usr/lib/vlc' [00000001] main vlc debug: recursively browsing `plugins' [00000001] main vlc debug: module bank initialized, found 213 modules [00000001] main vlc debug: opening config file /home/frenky/.vlc/vlcrc [00000001] main vlc debug: CPU has capabilities 486 586 MMX 3DNow! MMXEXT SSE SSE2 FPU [00000001] main vlc debug: looking for memcpy module: 1 candidate [00000001] main vlc debug: using memcpy module "memcpy" [00000278] main playlist debug: waiting for thread completion [00000278] main playlist debug: thread 2971327392 (playlist) created at priority 0 (playlist/playlist.c:184) [00000279] main private debug: waiting for thread completion [00000279] main private debug: thread 2925198240 (preparser) created at priority 0 (playlist/playlist.c:210) [00000280] main interface debug: looking for interface module: 1 candidate [00000280] main interface debug: using interface module "hotkeys" [00000280] main interface debug: thread 2915961760 (interface) created at priority 0 (interface/interface.c:231) [00000282] main interface debug: looking for interface module: 1 candidate [00000282] main interface debug: using interface module "screensaver" [00000282] main interface debug: thread 2903514016 (interface) created at priority 0 (interface/interface.c:231) [00000278] main playlist debug: adding playlist item `http://people.videolan.org/~dionoea/vlc-plugin-demo/streams/sw_h264.asf' ( http://people.videolan.org/~dionoea/vlc-plugin-demo/streams/sw_h264.asf ) [00000278] main playlist debug: adding playlist item `http://people.videolan.org/~dionoea/vlc-plugin-demo/streams/sw_h264.asf' ( http://people.videolan.org/~dionoea/vlc-plugin-demo/streams/sw_h264.asf ) [00000278] main playlist debug: adding playlist item `http://people.videolan.org/~dionoea/vlc-plugin-demo/streams/sw_h264.asf' ( http://people.videolan.org/~dionoea/vlc-plugin-demo/streams/sw_h264.asf )

// EDIT //
Is there a BUG # for this issue?

[yoann]

The VLC mozilla plugin usually displays "(No Video)" when it is unable to play the video file, which is the case if the codec is not supported, for instance.
Try playing the file directly with VLC (not the mozilla plugin): go to File -> Open File..., and enter the URL of the video file in the "Customize:" input area (at the bottom of the panel).
If VLC is unable to read it, then the mozilla plugin won't do any better...

[FrenKy]

2yoann
Thanks for replying.
If I do the steps you described, the file is played just fine in main VLC app.
e.g. for http://people.videolan.org/~dionoea/vlc ... w_h264.asf

Code: Select all

frenky@fdd:~$ vlc -v VLC media player 0.8.6 Janus [00000289] main demuxer warning: no access_demux module matched "http" [00000290] access_http access warning: unimplemented query in control [00000290] access_http access warning: unimplemented query in control [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (20301) [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (63726) [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (22773) [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (56763) [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (14812) [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (13572) [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (88358) [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (46424) [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (5438) [00000329] main video output warning: late picture skipped (67298)

[The_Boss]

The VLC main app is fine, it's the VLC plugin that's broken. Has anyone been able to get the VLC plugin to work properly

[sysctl]

Yep, I get pretty much the same result: everything plays in VLC, nothing plays with the plugin. Same configuration as FrenKy.

PS
As of now, I uninstalled all media plugins for Firefox, except mplayer and all embedded media works.

[smithy]

I had the same problem but found editing the html embed tag fixed it for me.

The page I wanted to view contained the following:

<embed
src="AxisMoviePoster.mov"
qtsrc="rtsp://192.168.2.131/mpeg4/media.amp"
autoplay="true"
controller="true"
target="myself"
pluginspage="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/"
height="496"
width="640">

I removed the src and target parameters, renamed the qtsrc parameter to src and added the following parameter:

type="application/x-vlc-plugin"

giving me:

<embed
type="application/x-vlc-plugin"
src="rtsp://192.168.2.131/mpeg4/media.amp"
autoplay="true"
controller="true"
pluginspage="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/"
height="496"
width="640">

which i saved locally and works fine for me.

Debian Etch, VLC 0.8.6 Firefox 2.0.0.1

http://www.smiths-sevenoaks.co.uk

[FrenKy]

2smithy
with all due respect, this is not THE solution.
Perhaps a pointer to VLC developers where should they search for error, but definitely not an solution.

[smithy]

yes, you're right - it's a workaround rather than a fix.

however it may turn out to be the only option as the quicktime mime type appears to been removed from the plugin in 0.9.0

https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/674

[SamHandwich]

I get the same problem for all embedded videos.

For one, since videolan doesn't rely on codecs, suggesting codecs is kind of silly.

I can enter the url of a .mov (or any other video format) when I open VLC and File > Open

I tried this video: http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/bluish/ ... d_1000.mov'

It doesn't work on the page, but it works in VLC.

Here is the output in terminal:

Code: Select all

** Message: plugin_get_value 1 (1) ** Message: plugin_get_value 2 (2) ** Message: plugin_get_value 1 (1) ** Message: plugin_get_value 2 (2) ** Message: plugin_get_value 1 (1) ** Message: plugin_get_value 2 (2) ** Message: plugin_get_value 1 (1) ** Message: plugin_get_value 2 (2) ** Message: plugin_get_value 1 (1) ** Message: plugin_get_value 2 (2) argn=src, argv=http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/bluish/sigur_ros/glosoli_hd_1000.mov argn=controller, argv=true argn=scale, argv=1 argn=autoplay, argv=true argn=cache, argv=true argn=type, argv=video/quicktime argn=pluginspage, argv=http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ argn=height, argv=288 argn=width, argv=640 [00000001] main vlc debug: checking builtin modules [00000001] main vlc debug: checking plugin modules [00000001] main vlc debug: loading plugins cache file /home/gorbachev/.vlc/cache/plugins-04041e.dat [00000001] main vlc debug: recursively browsing `modules' [00000001] main vlc debug: recursively browsing `/usr/lib/vlc' [00000001] main vlc debug: recursively browsing `plugins' [00000001] main vlc debug: module bank initialized, found 213 modules [00000001] main vlc debug: opening config file /home/gorbachev/.vlc/vlcrc [00000001] main vlc debug: CPU has capabilities 486 586 MMX 3DNow! MMXEXT SSE SSE2 FPU [00000001] main vlc debug: looking for memcpy module: 1 candidate [00000001] main vlc debug: using memcpy module "memcpy" [00000278] main playlist debug: waiting for thread completion [00000278] main playlist debug: thread 2997996448 (playlist) created at priority 0 (playlist/playlist.c:184) [00000279] main private debug: waiting for thread completion [00000279] main private debug: thread 2977106848 (preparser) created at priority 0 (playlist/playlist.c:210) [00000280] main interface debug: looking for interface module: 1 candidate [00000280] main interface debug: using interface module "hotkeys" [00000280] main interface debug: thread 2968689568 (interface) created at priority 0 (interface/interface.c:231) [00000282] main interface debug: looking for interface module: 1 candidate [00000282] main interface debug: using interface module "screensaver" [00000282] main interface debug: thread 2960296864 (interface) created at priority 0 (interface/interface.c:231) [00000278] main playlist debug: adding playlist item `http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/bluish/sigur_ros/glosoli_hd_1000.mov' ( http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/bluish/sigur_ros/glosoli_hd_1000.mov ) [00000278] main playlist debug: adding playlist item `http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/bluish/sigur_ros/glosoli_hd_1000.mov' ( http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/bluish/sigur_ros/glosoli_hd_1000.mov ) [00000278] main playlist debug: adding playlist item `http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/bluish/sigur_ros/glosoli_hd_1000.mov' ( http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/bluish/sigur_ros/glosoli_hd_1000.mov )

[Bravo]

I was trying to use this methode, but after about 15 seconds the video already started in my FireFox (2.0.0.2). So maybe it is just a lack of patience for some of us.

[SamHandwich]

I let the glosoli video (link above in terminal output) sit in firefox for quite some time and it still didn't load/play it.

It began playing almost immediately when I entered the URL directly into VLC.

I tried to use mplayer for now and uninstall vlc mozilla plugin but now some other video player packaged with ubuntu has taken over and I am too new to linux to change it to mplayer

[Metsf1]

Same exact problem. I can't believe I have to go back to Totem. Honestly, VLC is the best media player out there. It plays anything and everything. But this plugin is just an embarrassment. Is it like an empty file or something? I've searched here and the Ubuntu forums, and all I can find are people that have this problem. Seriously, somebody needs to fix this up. When embeded in firefox this plugin actually makes Totem look useful

[TrioTorus]

There has been a bug reported here: http://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/1140

I also wanted to report that the plugin version 0.8.6 doesn't work with the same no video message on firefox 2.0.0.3 on OS X.