VLC no longer starts playing

[Saribro]

For starters: I'm on WinXP Pro SP2, the problem started with 0.8.4, after which I decided to uninstall VLC, delete de appdata folder, remove all entries on the HD/registry I could find, and reinstall 0.8.4a. To no avail.

Last Friday I watched some .avi, doesn't matter, closed down VLC, went home for the weekend. This Sunday I come back, plug in my ipod, copy a .avi I got from home, doubleclick it, VLC starts, and nothing happens.
The play-arrow turned into the pause-button as if something was playing, but I'm not getting any video, no audio, no progressbar, no time elapsed in statusbar. The vlc-window (WxWidgets) does seem to be refreshing, or some kind of flickering is taking place. Sometimes when I close VLC after another fruitless attempt, the video window briefly (split second) pops up and disappears again.
I've tried disabling Overlay and using Windows GDI Output, but none had any effect (which doesn't suprise me, as nothing actually happened on the system because I was gone.)

Any thoughts are welcome. If you need more info, do ask.

[Saribro]

To clarify: I'm not getting any playback on any file, including files that I've played countless times before.

[DJ]

Given you are saying that it is an XP machine I wouldn't expect the machine to be to slow to run these files.

1. What is the machine (GPU & CPU)?

2. You mention XP SP2, has your video and audio card's drivers been updated since the SP2 update?

3. Have you tried playing any of these files on another player?

4. You mentioned .avi which is a container. Do you know what is in the container (audio & video format)?

5. You also mention storing an .avi file on your ipod and transferring it. I wasn't aware you could do this successfully??? A CD or DVD may be more appropriate.

On the surface it seems that something is missing or corrupted. You could also try doing a system scan using the "File Signature Verification Utility". It can be found through your "Start" menu, Accessories, System Tools, System Information, when the program opens select the "Tools" tab and select it then follow the on screen instructions. Also in the "Tools" menu it may be worth running the DirectX Diagnostic utility and all the tests. Please note the version and include it in your next post.



After finishing this post I thought about another user that had similar problems and it ended up that he had several Viruses and Spyware on the system and it had been some time since the hard drive had been defraged. After fixing these things VLC worked.

[Guest]

1. What is the machine (GPU & CPU)?

I fail to see the relevance, but ok: K7 Sempron 2800+ and Radeon 9600 Pro

2. You mention XP SP2, has your video and audio card's drivers been updated since the SP2 update?

audio are latest, video is Catalyst 5.whatever, they stopped adding 9x00 improvements after that version anyway and they've never given me any problems.

3. Have you tried playing any of these files on another player?

Everything still works on Windows Media Player, it's only VLC borking on me.

4. You mentioned .avi which is a container. Do you know what is in the container (audio & video format)?

The first file I opened was xvid+mp3, but -no- file (0, none, nada) is playing in VLC, so it's rather irrelevant, once again.

5. You also mention storing an .avi file on your ipod and transferring it. I wasn't aware you could do this successfully??? A CD or DVD may be more appropriate.

Countless people have used iPods and similar to move gigabytes of information for years, they are just harddrives after all, maybe it's time for a clue.

On the surface it seems that something is missing or corrupted. You could also try doing a system scan using the "File Signature Verification Utility". It can be found through your "Start" menu, Accessories, System Tools, System Information, when the program opens select the "Tools" tab and select it then follow the on screen instructions.

And I get a fancy list of files not signed and a close button ...
If I shouldn't be, it's probably because of FlyakiteOSX that changes all the icons, but I've been running that for over a year, so that's not gonna be it.

Also in the "Tools" menu it may be worth running the DirectX Diagnostic utility and all the tests. Please note the version and include it in your next post.

All tests work out fine, DX 9.0c

After finishing this post I thought about another user that had similar problems and it ended up that he had several Viruses and Spyware on the system and it had been some time since the hard drive had been defraged. After fixing these things VLC worked.

The system is clean (yes I did actually scan (again)), and the drives are defragmented ~weekly.

A vital point I seem to have failed to convey sufficiently is that nothing has changed between 2 runs of VLC. I closed it, left the system unattended for a weekend, and opened it up again and it stopped working.
Nothing was installed, nothing was uninstalled.
And again: I'm getting absolutely nothing, not even the progressbar.

Any way to do some logging/debugging ? Anything I can look for ? ...

(I know I'm sounding very arrogant here but I'm getting increasingly frustrated with these totally unexplainable and erratic borkings, and this time not even a total clean reinstall is fixing it. Huray for WMP ...)

[DJ]

While YOU may not see relevance to my questions I assure you I have my reasons and while your answers in some cases are trite. I can only suggest the following:

1. Erase the preferences directory. C:\Documents and Settings\Owner (this is you)\Application Data\VLC Erase VLC, Application Data is a hidden directory so you will need to make it visible.

2. In version 0.8.4 the DirectX module was rebuilt to be more compatible with 9c and some users have needed to update their Video Drivers. If this is not possible for you due to the age of your video card it is suggested to revert to version 0.8.2

You are welcome to try the following suggestions but it will put more weight on your CPU.

1. Try shutting off the video acceleration inside VLC. Settings, Preferences, Video, untick the "Overlay video output" box and save. Now close VLC and restart. Then try to call a file, within VLC.

2. As a last resort, try opening VLC Settings, Preferences, Video, Output Modules and using the pull down to select "Windows GDI video output". Then save, restart VLC and try to call a file.

[Saribro]

While YOU may not see relevance to my questions I assure you I have my reasons and while your answers in some cases are trite. I can only suggest the following:

Well, start by READING MY POSTS !!

[quote^]1. Erase the preferences directory. C:\Documents and Settings\Owner (this is you)\Application Data\VLC Erase VLC, Application Data is a hidden directory so you will need to make it visible.[/quote]
I did that, it didn't help, read my posts.

2. In version 0.8.4 the DirectX module was rebuilt to be more compatible with 9c and some users have needed to update their Video Drivers. If this is not possible for you due to the age of your video card it is suggested to revert to version 0.8.2

0.8.4 was working for months, this was obvious from -reading my posts-.

1. Try shutting off the video acceleration inside VLC. Settings, Preferences, Video, untick the "Overlay video output" box and save. Now close VLC and restart. Then try to call a file, within VLC.

I already tried this, read my posts !

2. As a last resort, try opening VLC Settings, Preferences, Video, Output Modules and using the pull down to select "Windows GDI video output". Then save, restart VLC and try to call a file.

I already tried this, read my posts !

[DJ]

For starters: I'm on WinXP Pro SP2, the problem started with 0.8.4, after which I decided to uninstall VLC, delete de appdata folder, remove all entries on the HD/registry I could find, and reinstall 0.8.4a. To no avail.

To me your statement here indicates that you have NOT been able to get VLC to function.

Last Friday I watched some .avi, doesn't matter, closed down VLC, went home for the weekend. This Sunday I come back, plug in my ipod, copy a .avi I got from home, doubleclick it, VLC starts, and nothing happens.

Then miraculously it works! Perhaps it was an act of GOD! But then after transferring some files from your iPod it doesn't work again!

The play-arrow turned into the pause-button as if something was playing, but I'm not getting any video, no audio, no progressbar, no time elapsed in statusbar. The vlc-window (WxWidgets) does seem to be refreshing, or some kind of flickering is taking place. Sometimes when I close VLC after another fruitless attempt, the video window briefly (split second) pops up and disappears again.
I've tried disabling Overlay and using Windows GDI Output, but none had any effect (which doesn't suprise me, as nothing actually happened on the system because I was gone.)

Now you try some fixes that don't work. So I decided to start over again form the beginning as though it had never worked. But this just made you angry because you had already in your words done ALL these things. (Very doubtful) You expect that people here have crystal balls and can read your mind?

Perhaps it would be best if I let some one else comment here and leave you alone. You very definitely seem to know more about this than I do!

Plus the fact that you are NOT answering my questions. But instead passing them off in a trite manner saying that you don't see the relevance, but, it's your system that appears unstable and there is generally a reason for this as not everyone is experiencing your problems. In fact to the best of my knowledge there has been no one here that has experienced your problem without one of the above mentioned tests pointing to a resolve.

Kinda like you told me to get a clue when I asked about your iPod. Yes I was aware that this could be done on a Mac and initially people had problems. I have not followed this nor was I aware it could be done on a PC. Personally, I wouldn't do it in any event. I use a 100g Firewire drive to transfer files from my Sony to my computer for editing 720p. It fits in my shirt pocket an attaches directly to the Sony cam. This is certainly a more elegant solution than an iPod.

I had a German a couple of weeks ago that was just as indignant but I rode with him. In the end he discovered he was not following my instructions even though he thought he was and all of a sudden it worked. I don't claim to be God's gift to anything, I come here to be helpful when I can. But I really don't have time for the indignant people that get angry as though their problem is my fault.

[Guest]

To me your statement here indicates that you have NOT been able to get VLC to function.

The topic says: "no longer", which is a clear implication that it used to.

Then miraculously it works! Perhaps it was an act of GOD! But then after transferring some files from your iPod it doesn't work again!

Same comprehension problem on your part, up untill last weekend, it worked perfectly, after dozens of ipod transfers with several different filetypes. It's -now- that it isn't working, not in the past.

Now you try some fixes that don't work. So I decided to start over again form the beginning as though it had never worked. But this just made you angry because you had already in your words done ALL these things. (Very doubtful) You expect that people here have crystal balls and can read your mind?

I expect people to read my posts. If I say I tried those things, it means I -did indeed try them-, because I've seen these replies from you in other threads I came across when searching for threads about similar problems.
Off course, you can't know I already did a search, but that's irrelevant, because I said I tried those things.

Plus the fact that you are NOT answering my questions. But instead passing them off in a trite manner saying that you don't see the relevance, but, it's your system that appears unstable and there is generally a reason for this as not everyone is experiencing your problems. In fact to the best of my knowledge there has been no one here that has experienced your problem without one of the above mentioned tests pointing to a resolve.

List the questions you asked that I didn't answer ...
Just because you haven't encountered my situation doesn't mean it isn't actually plausible.

Kinda like you told me to get a clue when I asked about your iPod. Yes I was aware that this could be done on a Mac and initially people had problems. I have not followed this nor was I aware it could be done on a PC. Personally, I wouldn't do it in any event. I use a 100g Firewire drive to transfer files from my Sony to my computer for editing 720p. It fits in my shirt pocket an attaches directly to the Sony cam. This is certainly a more elegant solution than an iPod.

And an iPod is a USB2 hard drive (earlier models were even firewire aswell) that fits in my pocket, just because it doesn't say "hard drive" on the cover, doesn't mean it isn't.

I had a German a couple of weeks ago that was just as indignant but I rode with him. In the end he discovered he was not following my instructions even though he thought he was and all of a sudden it worked. I don't claim to be God's gift to anything, I come here to be helpful when I can. But I really don't have time for the indignant people that get angry as though their problem is my fault.

You come here to be replybot-1.0, you totally disregarded the content of my posts, dismissing my efforts as "doubtful that I have actually done them" and go about pasting what you have pasted in countless other threads.
I've even asked about potential logging systems in VLC that may provide helpful diagnostics, but you haven't even mentioned whether you are aware of such features or not, let alone point me to any. (I haven't been able to make much sense of the logging console interface and it's output myself).

Oh, and reverting to 0.8.2 didn't fix anything either, exactly the same symptoms, on all filetypes, after removing all previous VLC material (program files directory, %appdata% folder, without overlay, with windows GDI output, without spyware (as confirmed by ad-aware and spybot), without virusses (as confirmed by symantec security check), on a defragmented drive (redid those again yesterday, just for the heck of it)
Hey maybe it'll automagically fix itself while I'm at the bar tonight, meanwhile, I hope you upgrade to replybot-1.1, with post-reading features included.

[DJ]

I stopped trying after your third post for it was in that post that it was obvious to me that you could not be helped when everything was just shrugged off. You are convinced the problem is VLC and it can't be your system. After all the files do work in another player.

But out of shier conjecture. (consider it a challenge) Remove VLC with your add/remove programs. Erase the Preferences directory. Open regedit and delete all instances of VLC.EXE

This shouldn't be difficult for you as you have done all this before!

Then download the zip version of VLC and unzip it in the directory of your choosing. Open that directory and double click on the VLC application. The first time you run VLC it will create the Preferences files in the same directory as before with all the defaults. VLC uses the Windows interface to perform most all of its functions. If the interface is working VLC will work, If the interface is not working VLC will fail.

At this point you will have completely cleaned out everything and the new instance of VLC will be as though it never existed before this point in time.

[HyperHacker]

Well he has a point. You people didn't seem to be reading his posts... Let me break down how I interpretd them.

1) He watched a video with 0.8.4 and it worked fine.
2) A few days later, after having not used his computer, he copied a video off his iPod (yes, you can use most MP3 players as portable hard drives), and it didn't work.
3) He tried the same video he watched last time and others; none worked, but play fine in WMP. The video window appears for a split second when closing the program.
4) Disabling overlay and changing output modules didn't help.

I've had this happen before. Sometimes deleting the folder in Application Data helps, but once or twice I never got it working again (but ended up reinstalling Windows soon after anyway). Only two things really stand out to me:
First, the type of file does matter. A good example is that .mkv files won't play if there are a lot of other .mkv files in the same directory.
Second, defragging your HDD once a week is pretty excessive. Once every month or two should be fine.
Other than that, I dunno... VLC is pretty wonky sometimes. This would seem to be some sort of windowing bug, which wouldn't surprise me because VLC's windowing seems pretty hacky on Windows.

[DJ]

Thanks for the impartial view on this one. My biggest mistake here is trying to go through 30 or more of these a day and give reasonable answers. When you begin to get tired or in a hurry, I seldom look at the title or subject heading. I find that if you want to hide something the best way to do it is put it in the title and not in the body of the text.

Here, most people don't give good descriptive titles to their subject matter and I often find a much different issue than what was described going in.


As for this users problem, he is unique.

[Saribro]

Only two things really stand out to me:
First, the type of file does matter. A good example is that .mkv files won't play if there are a lot of other .mkv files in the same directory.

Interesting. I haven't actually had any .mkv myself, but out of curiosity: Has any explanation been found to that behaviour?

Second, defragging your HDD once a week is pretty excessive. Once every month or two should be fine.

Yes, I should've phrased that differently, I analyse the drives weekly, the data drives/partitions only occasionally require some maintanance, my OS-partition has been pretty stable lately, maybe a defrag every few weeks.

Other than that, I dunno... VLC is pretty wonky sometimes. This would seem to be some sort of windowing bug, which wouldn't surprise me because VLC's windowing seems pretty hacky on Windows.

Wonky is indeed the word, I've had different issues that got solved with %appdata% clearing, but this one is a whole new category.
In the meantime however, we've had a powerfailure in this part of the city, and on the subsequent restart of my PC, VLC miraculously works again, which, ironically, leaves me still frustrated, because now I can't figure out what was actually wrong, preventing me from avoiding/fixing it should it ever reoccur.
Oh well, now I've got time to look into that logging console, see if I can make sense of it for next time...

[DJ]

When was the last time you ran chkdsk /f ?

When was the last time you cleared all the caches on the machine?
The developers like to pick on the recent files list that most people don't know they have or how to clear it.

From what you are describing, I most certainly would call this an instability about a machine. Have you ever looked at the windows logs to see what the problem might be?

[MoJo]

My god, a noob to VLC here ... and it is true about this bug on having too many mkv files in one folder not being able to be played by VLC. I guess that needs to be posted clearer for everyone else as it was hard finding this useful tidbit.

Thanks

[batotman]

Mine has also started doing this. Seems after I changed some settings. I remember in preferences telling it to start in the WX widgets skin and always on top. (I think thats that name of the skin...lol). Reinstall and same thing.

[batotman]

Uninstalled, deleted preferences and cache. Works now!

[Saribro]

Huray for me, my original problem came back. And it's even wonkier than before. This time, VLC just stopped playing in the middle of a movie, after that, identical symptoms ...
Huray for me indeed.

[aibo]

umm.. where exactly can you find that preferences and cache folder? i looked through Documents and settings and it wasnt there

[DJ]

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner (this is you)\Application Data\VLC Erase the "VLC" directory.

You can also erase the "dvdcss" directory in the Application Data directory.

Application Data is a hidden directory so you will need to make it visible.

[Dhaiwon]

I'm currently having a similar or identical issue, i can not explicitly saying when this occured though. I done most of the stuff recommended that i understood how to do(not the kind of person that mess with settings in programs normally, i expect them to work on default, normally reinstalling is what works)

However, its not working, and i've reinstalled, installed and reinstalled a few times now, i have not yet been into the register, will do that in a moment. Just felt i should mention that i too have the problem(so that you can see that it might not be as rare you might think, seeing as a lot of ppl dont have the energy to fix things )

Also running XP SP2, radeon 9800 pro

[Dhaiwon]

Oki, did some messing around, and i am no longer able to uninstall vlc, i'm getting an error when i try... I does seem like it works atm though... Seeing to Sabriros experience, your likely to hear from me again In the meantime, i'll keep reading this.

[sameproblem]

I am having the same problem. I am running Windows OS. I am not especially computer savvy, so I can't give you a lot of information. My VLC player has been working fine and then suddenly it stopped working. It does exactly as described above. I don't know if it makes any difference, but I also have an Ipod. Maybe the Ipod (ITunes) software is causing a problem?

[sameproblem]

Btw, I have tried everything suggested here to no avail. I have uninstalled and reinstalled several times, no luck. I didn't make any changes to my computer between the time VLC worked and the time it stopped working except upgrading my Ipod software. (That's why I mentioned it.)

[sameproblem]

When I donwloaded IPod/ITunes software, it came with Quicktime Player. The file type associations for Quicktime needed to be unchecked for VLC to work. Try this and then reboot. Good luck.

[DJ]

VLC is a stand alone media player that uses its own libraries to decode media files. It does not uses Direct Show nor does it install any DDLs or other helper files on your system. The additions to your registry are purely to support the file extensions so that you can double or right click within a menu and have the file call the player. So there is nothing special about the install. VLC will run on a system normally without the install version, the .zip or 7z file can be downloaded from VLC's website (IE no Installer).

Should you experience a problem with uninstall (Purely a system problem as VLC uses system resources to accomplish this task) the VLC Directories may be deleted. These directories exist at the following locations: C:\Program Files\VideoLAN, C:\Documents and Settings\Owner (this is you)\Application Data\VLC Erase VLC and C:\Documents and Settings\Owner (this is you)\Application Data\dvdcss, Erase dvdcss. Application Data is a hidden directory so you will need to make it visible.

If you don't want to reinstall VLC the extensions changed in your registry should revert back to there former owners if for some reason this does not occur the registry may be edited with regedit and VLC.EXE may be searched and all instances removed. This would be a wise move even if you plan to reinstall VLC as it does not remember or show your former preferences for options during the Install process.
You can also use the Windows system or another Media player to take back the extensions.

Starting with VLC 0.8.4 the DirectX module was rebuilt, forcing many users to update their video and in some cases the sound card's drivers. This was recommend by Microsoft after SP2 or for those who had upgraded to DirectX 9c. It has also been recommended to be current with the DirectX runtime updates, these are not automatic and the most recent one was in Feb 06 and it will not change the version from 9c.

We are moving into an age of HD video of which VLC is fully capable starting with 480p through 1080p in a fairly wide variety of of formats and containers. Because of this fact many users are experiencing lockup problems. This is not a VLC problem, but instead the system can not handle the the demands in rendering the format. This is another reason for updating your devices. However if you have a slower CPU you may discover that you can only play 480p and not the others. Typically if you can play a DVD you should be able to play 480p (Yet, I am told there are a few exceptions).

There is also a problem that exists on the Internet in Peer to Peer type services. It seems that in many cases the files are miss-labeled, are in archive form and need a utility to dearchive them before they will play, are not media files at all or they are corrupted. Thus making it very difficult for any player to play these. Another simple fact as more and more people make these files they are not necessarily encoded properly and or named properly which unfortunately, gives many players problems.

VLC is very dependent on your system, for fonts, language and uses DirectX to render all types of media files. If there are instabilities about the system, there vary well be evidence of this within VLC. As Audio plus Video and some games can push the limits of our machines.

It is very common when a machine is to slow to handle the media the the CPU goes to 100% it frightens the user as the file has stopped and more often the user tries to close the player, but the system is still not responding, the Task Manager can be opened and VLC will still exist and the system will show that VLC is using all the resources. If you had pressed stop and not closed the player VLC will have released all of the calls to DirectX and it is the systems time to respond and give up the resources because the CPU being at 100% does not realize this and has not responded to it yet. Takes the same time to clear guys you are not helping it. Go have a cup of tea.

Some users believe the system is frozen and try to close it down and this also takes an extraordinary period of time, go have lunch. But this problem is also not VLC. However this is the time when the write back to disk for VLC occurs is when you close the player, if the CPU is 100% and the system is not responding and the player is closed and or the system is closed down, VLC's configuration file may be corrupted and need rebuilding. Once again this is not a VLC problem.

Many users have said, nothing has changed no software was added or taken away and VLC has stopped responding or won't play the file it did yesterday. Yet they have forgotten to mention trying to play the file that appears to have frozen the machine and closed the player or closed down Windows and in most cases clearing the defaults for the player clears the problem. If the file is truly corrupted clearing the defaults will not work and erasing the configuration directory will be necessary. VLC will rebuild this directory the first time it's opened, this is true for every version of VLC installed or not.