VLC Not Playing Youtube Streaming Videos

[vlc_lover]

I'm on VLC 3.0.8 Vetinari. If I open a youtube link in the "open network stream" option, there's just a 2sec flicker of the play-progress bar and that's it. Occasionally it'll play 1 frame and stop. This used to work for many years and suddenly stopped in mid Dec 2019. Anybody have a fix? Youtube did this in the past in 2019 to break VLC but some folks proposed a code change in youtube.luac which fixed it, but now it's again broken.

[sorontur21]

Same here, again it odesnt work. Nothing at all, no video. Its bad, my 3 years old brother doesnt get that it doesnt work so hes angry on me, please help. I cant listen to him anymore lol.

[bogdanm]

had same problem today. VLC v3.0.8
after searching this forum:
First I uninstalled VLC completely
Installed latest nightly build (v4.0.0) -> http://nightlies.videolan.org
I took "youtube.luac" file from this build -> saved to different folder
reinstalled version 3.0.8 and copied luac file from nightly build

and converting / streaming works for me.

[sorontur21]

had same problem today. VLC v3.0.8
after searching this forum:
First I uninstalled VLC completely
Installed latest nightly build (v4.0.0) -> http://nightlies.videolan.org
I took "youtube.luac" file from this build -> saved to different folder
reinstalled version 3.0.8 and copied luac file from nightly build

and converting / streaming works for me.

That really work, thanks

[bookworm2099]

which link did you click? there are so many to choose from! TIA!

[sonster9000]

I copied the youtube.luac from version 4.0 into a different folder. Uninstalled 4.0 and then reinstalled version 3.0.8. Copied the file back into 3.0.8 and rebooted the machine. Didn't get it to work. Still experiencing the same problem. Anyone else encountered a different alternative to getting this feature back??? I was able to copy several instructional videos off of YouTube and found this feature in VLC to be incredibly helpful. Now that I can't do it is just terrible!!!

[bookworm2099]

I didnt see any youtube.luac links, only "debugging" or .msi.... which /build/win32/did you pick? and what date? I cant seem to find it....

[abigler33]

I used the latest one from 1/24. But I would think any one with 4.0 version should work.

Downloads\vlc-4.0.0-20200124-0832-dev-win64.zip\vlc-4.0.0-dev\lua\playlist

[Daiyan]

The "fix" above of copying the version 4 lua files didn't work for me either.

[Daiyan]

The instructions in the first link given here fixed this for me!
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=151896&p=499858#p499716

Repeated here for convenience:

If the videos list appears in the Vlc "playlist" view but the videos won't start, follow this steps:
1) delete the file "youtube.luac" in [vlc directory]/lua/playlist directory (ex: c:Program FilesVideoLANVLCluaplaylistyoutube.luac)
2) get the latest version of thr "youtube" script from here:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/videolan/vlc/master/share/lua/playlist/youtube.lua
3) place the file in the directory [vlc directory]/lua/playlist (where "youtube.luac" was)

[bookworm2099]

@daiyan thank you so much!!! It worked!!!

[sonster9000]

Carried out the instructions that "Daiyan" outlined in entry dated 1/25/2020 @ 14:35. Didn't work. Noticed that the link was actually lines of code so I saved the web page as a text file named youtube.lua.

Placed the file in the following path on my hard drive: This PC/Local Disk (C:)/Program Files (x86)/VideoLAN/VLC/lua/playlist.

It did NOT work for me!!! Noticed however that all the lua files in the folder are type, LUAC file. The file I saved from the link that Daiyan highlighted was a text file, not a LUAC file. Additionally, I originally saved the file with the name of "youtube.lua". When that didn't work, I changed the file name to "youtube.luac" and that didn't work either.

So now I'm wondering if VLC doesn't like to work for me given that the file is text and not a dedicated LUAC file??? I'm not a programmer so how do I take the content that was in https://raw.githubusercontent.com/videolan/vlc/master/share/lua/playlist/youtube.lua and save it as (or convert it to...) a LUAC file?

I can't help but think I'm getting close but I'm missing something!!!

[bookworm2099]

What i did was:
click this link: http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/win32/
open this one: vlc-4.0.0-20200124-0249/
downloaded this one: vlc-4.0.0-20200124-0249-dev-win32
opened it: downloads/vlc-4.0.0-20200124-0249-dev-win32/vlc-4.0.0-dev/lua/playlist
then i dragged the "youtube.lua" file to: windows-SSD (C:)/programs files/videoLAN/VLC/lua/playlist
it asked me to replace it, i clicked "yes". it told me i need permission to move it, i clicked the option with the shield.
i closed the vlc app, waited a few minutes, and then reopened it. the network streaming worked for me...

[kat78681]

Registered on the forum today just to say 'Thank you!' to bookworm2099. Been battling that VLC stream issue and those steps worked perfectly.

[sonster9000]

My appreciation to "bookworm2099" for a thorough step-by-step outline. Unfortunately, it still didn't work for me. At this point, I give up...

[sonster9000]

One last thought: I'm just wondering if my process is different than those who have contributed to this thread. Here's what I'm trying to do (and have been able to do until recently...):

Launch VLC and YouTube side by side.
Copy the link to the video in question in YouTube
Go back to VLC and click on "Media"
Select "Stream" or Ctrl+S
Click on the tab named "Network"
Paste the link that was originally copied in YouTube
Instead of clicking on the "Stream" button, click on the pull-down arrow
Select "Play"

At this point, the original YouTube video should begin playing in VLC. The cool thing I was able to do in the past was that I could go into Advanced settings in VLC and be able to record the video while it was playing and save it as a file. I was able to amass about 15 instructional videos (all of them having to do with Windows 10 settings that you didn't know about...). Now VLC won't let me do this anymore. Very very disappointing...

[kat78681]

sonster9000... the process that was failing for me was different, after a few steps, from what you noted.
Launch VLC and YouTube side by side.
Copy the link to the video in question in YouTube
Go back to VLC and click on "Media"
differs here...Select "Stream" or Ctrl+S
becomes...Select "open network stream" or CTRL+N
Paste the copied link into the Network Protocol field (the only field on the screen)
Play button becomes clickable, click Play, video plays in VLC
Click Tools in VLC menu at top of video
Click 'Codec Information'
Copy the string that populates the 'Location' field
Paste the string into the Chrome address bar, video plays in tab
Right-click tab video, select 'save video as'
Change the name field to something helpful (from videoplayback)
Save.
Video is available in your folder.

[sonster9000]

Kat78681...

I tried out your steps and in the Location field there was no content present.

[TexasOutlaw503]

I am having the same problem. I used to be able to play most YouTube videos by simply clicking media tab / open network stream / and pasting the url in the box and hitting play. Now all it does is flash a thumbnail and the title and then it vanishes.......... never plays. Hitting "Play" does nothing but re-open the input box. This happened recently

[TexasOutlaw503]

I am running the 64 bit version also

[Lotesdelere]

I am having the same problem.

What about you read few posts above yours ?
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?p=499882#p499882

[ashlee123542]

I made a video! Hope this helps! It really helped me!
If you do not see the Nightly Builds download link under the YouTube video, refresh the page!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqblBfvV5zg

[G o r d]

Thanks everyone and a good video Ashlee123542. This worked after I realized I had two VLCs installed on my dual boot. (Win7 and Win10), computer and I fixed the proper one for the OS I was currently on!!
The 64 bit version of the nightly build containing youtube.luac is what worked for my system.

* This was for Windows10 Pro 64 bit Version 1903
* VLC 3.0.8 downloaded and installed on 2019-11-08 into C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC
* vlc-4.0.0-20200128-0835-dev-win64.zip from
http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/win64

those who have the 32 bit version of VLC installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC
will want to get the 32 bit version of youtube.luac included in the nightly build:
* vlc-4.0.0-20200128-0249-dev-win32.zip from
* http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/win32

[kat78681]

I don't know that this means anything, but wanted to note it just for the sake of thoroughness. I am running a 64-bit OS, but, being out of ideas, I followed bookworm2099's steps exactly and grabbed the 32-bit version he mentioned. It felt odd to do, but worked for me. I don't know if it's because those 2 luas are identical or what. I was just tired of fighting the problem and mindlessly did what was written. I never messed with a 64-bit version, figuring it better to not check a gift horse's teeth. Again, I don't know that any of this matters. Just noting it for the record. I hope everyone gets a solution.

[Pixel Dust]

had same problem today. VLC v3.0.8
after searching this forum:
First I uninstalled VLC completely
Installed latest nightly build (v4.0.0) -> http://nightlies.videolan.org
I took "youtube.luac" file from this build -> saved to different folder
reinstalled version 3.0.8 and copied luac file from nightly build

and converting / streaming works for me.

I downloaded and installed the 64 bit version of 4.0.0 and made the swap; so far, all is well again. My test video, previously failing, now plays in VLC.