VLC is able to open all other files I've tried from the same mounted drive, no problem. This isn't a permissions problem. If I open the file with WMP from the same location, it opens. It's not a problem with the file. If I copy it to the local drive, it opens in VLC.
The initial error is:
Here's what happens when I log with verbosity level 2:VLC is unable to open the MRL 'file:///Z:/TV/Top%20Gear/Season%2016/16x03.avi'. Check the log for details.
I tried process monitor to see if anything useful was shown when opening the file. This might be a little difficult to read, but this is all I get:main debug: adding item `16x03.avi' ( file:///Z:/TV/Top%20Gear/Season%2016/16x03.avi )
qt4 debug: Adding a new MRL to recent ones: Z:\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi
main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
main debug: rebuild done - 2 items, index 0
main debug: Creating an input for '16x03.avi'
main debug: processing request item 16x03.avi node Playlist skip 0
main debug: resyncing on 16x03.avi
main debug: 16x03.avi is at 1
main debug: starting new item
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for '16x03.avi'
main debug: thread (input) created at priority 1 (../.././src/input/input.c:214)
main debug: thread started
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB
main debug: using timeshift path 'C:\Users\Chemosabe\AppData\Local\Temp'
main debug: `file:///Z:/TV/Top%20Gear/Season%2016/16x03.avi' gives access `file' demux `' path `Z:\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi'
main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='' path='Z:\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi'
main debug: looking for access_demux module: 2 candidates
qt4 debug: IM: Setting an input
main debug: meta ok for (null), need to fetch art
dvdnav warning: cannot open DVD (Z:\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi)
main debug: no access_demux module matching "file" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 25.000 ms - Total 25.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 25.000 ms)
main debug: creating access 'file' path='Z:\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi'
main debug: looking for meta fetcher module: 1 candidate
main debug: looking for access module: 2 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\Chemosabe\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\fetcher
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher\tvrage.lua
main debug: using meta fetcher module "lua"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 2.000 ms - Total 2.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 2.000 ms)
main debug: removing module "lua"
main debug: searching art for 16x03.avi
main debug: looking for art finder module: 2 candidates
filesystem debug: opening file `Z:\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi'
filesystem error: failed to read (One or more parameters are invalid)
main debug: no access module matching "file" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 6.000 ms - Total 6.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 6.000 ms)
main error: open of `file:///Z:/TV/Top%20Gear/Season%2016/16x03.avi' failed: (null)
main debug: finished input
main debug: thread ended
main debug: dead input
main debug: thread times: real 0m0.032001s, kernel 0m0.000000s, user 0m0.015600s
main debug: changing item without a request (current 1/2)
main debug: nothing to play
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\Chemosabe\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\art
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art\01_googleimage.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art\02_frenchtv.lua
qt4 debug: IM: Deleting the input
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art\03_lastfm.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art\04_musicbrainz.lua
main debug: no art finder module matching "any" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 9.000 ms - Total 9.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 9.000 ms)
main debug: art not found for 16x03.avi
main debug: TIMER input launching for '16x03.avi' : 38.000 ms - Total 38.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 38.000 ms)
The "Buffer Overflow" result seems to not be indicative of a particular failure, the same exact thing happens when successfully opening the file from the local filesystem or with WMP from the mapped drive.1:57:55.9923641 AM vlc.exe 4400 CreateFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
1:57:55.9930594 AM vlc.exe 4400 QueryBasicInformationFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS CreationTime: -1, LastAccessTime: -1, LastWriteTime: -1, ChangeTime: -1, FileAttributes: A
1:57:55.9935077 AM vlc.exe 4400 CloseFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS
1:57:55.9947138 AM vlc.exe 4400 CreateFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
1:57:56.0167666 AM vlc.exe 4400 QueryAllInformationFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi BUFFER OVERFLOW CreationTime: -1, LastAccessTime: -1, LastWriteTime: -1, ChangeTime: -1, FileAttributes: A, AllocationSize: 576,716,800, EndOfFile: 576,577,416, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False, IndexNumber: 0x718022c, EaSize: 0, Access: None, Position: 0, Mode: , AlignmentRequirement: Byte
1:57:56.0192541 AM vlc.exe 4400 CloseFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS
1:57:56.1169784 AM vlc.exe 4400 CreateFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
1:57:56.1171362 AM vlc.exe 4400 QueryAllInformationFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi BUFFER OVERFLOW CreationTime: -1, LastAccessTime: -1, LastWriteTime: -1, ChangeTime: -1, FileAttributes: A, AllocationSize: 576,716,800, EndOfFile: 576,577,416, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False, IndexNumber: 0x718022c, EaSize: 0, Access: None, Position: 0, Mode: , AlignmentRequirement: Byte
1:57:56.1173544 AM vlc.exe 4400 CloseFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS
1:57:56.1228520 AM vlc.exe 4400 CreateFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
1:57:56.1233024 AM vlc.exe 4400 ReadFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 2,048, Priority: Normal
1:57:56.1238952 AM vlc.exe 4400 ReadFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4,096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Priority: Normal
1:57:56.1243927 AM vlc.exe 4400 ReadFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Offset: 32,768, Length: 2,048
1:57:56.1244393 AM vlc.exe 4400 ReadFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Offset: 32,768, Length: 4,096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Priority: Normal
1:57:56.1250490 AM vlc.exe 4400 ReadFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Offset: 524,288, Length: 2,048
1:57:56.1250941 AM vlc.exe 4400 ReadFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Offset: 524,288, Length: 4,096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Priority: Normal
1:57:56.1257888 AM vlc.exe 4400 ReadFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Offset: 524,288, Length: 2,048
1:57:56.1258334 AM vlc.exe 4400 CloseFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS
1:57:56.1303406 AM vlc.exe 4400 CreateFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
1:57:56.1395082 AM vlc.exe 4400 QueryBasicInformationFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS CreationTime: -1, LastAccessTime: -1, LastWriteTime: -1, ChangeTime: -1, FileAttributes: A
1:57:56.1408280 AM vlc.exe 4400 CloseFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS
1:57:56.1426018 AM vlc.exe 4400 CreateFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
1:57:56.1483689 AM vlc.exe 4400 QueryAllInformationFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi BUFFER OVERFLOW CreationTime: -1, LastAccessTime: -1, LastWriteTime: -1, ChangeTime: -1, FileAttributes: A, AllocationSize: 576,716,800, EndOfFile: 576,577,416, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False, IndexNumber: 0x718022c, EaSize: 0, Access: None, Position: 0, Mode: , AlignmentRequirement: Byte
1:57:56.1487578 AM vlc.exe 4400 CloseFile \\JABBA\data\TV\Top Gear\Season 16\16x03.avi SUCCESS
I'm out of ideas, but totally happy to troubleshoot further if it'll help pinpoint the exact source of the problem.