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[Solved] Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:38 am
by kayeng
Hi guys.

It seems I'm averaging only 50+kb/s when downloading via youtube-dl in the terminal.

Is this normal? Can I do something about it?

Surfing the web seems to be ok. Only youtube-dl downloading seems slow.

Thank you.

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 10:00 am
by gm10
You are probably using an outdated version. What does

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youtube-dl --version
say?

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 10:19 am
by kayeng
2018.09.10

Time to update?

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 10:26 am
by kayeng
Updating via

sudo youtube-dl -U

doesn't seem to help. download still slow.

Maybe need to uninstall and do fresh install?

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 10:33 am
by gm10
No, that wouldn't make a difference. I was thinking you may have had a really old version because I remember there being an issue with youtube slowing the dash downloads down, but a workaround was implemented later.

I just tried and I can download full speed. Maybe just a temporary network thing in your area? Or are you using special parameters? I tried just now without any.

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:46 am
by trytip
use another youtube downloader. http://xdman.sourceforge.net/#downloads you'll need to get familiar with it's quirks but it's great once you have it integrated into your browser.

extract, open directory in Terminal and sudo ./install.sh you'll need the browser extension from tools>options>browser monitoring>
view settings and get the link to the addon page

once you have it installed and browser extension is on you have the option to download many videos

Image

people hate on XDM but i think it's a hidden gem

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:50 am
by gm10
trytip wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:46 am people hate on XDM but i think it's a hidden gem
But see, you only get 2 low res download options for your video, whereas youtube-dl can download the following for that same video in your screenshot, including the 1080p version:

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$ youtube-dl gV1sw4lfwFw -F
[youtube] gV1sw4lfwFw: Downloading webpage
[youtube] gV1sw4lfwFw: Downloading video info webpage
[info] Available formats for gV1sw4lfwFw:
format code  extension  resolution note
249          webm       audio only DASH audio   51k , opus @ 50k, 960.64KiB
250          webm       audio only DASH audio   67k , opus @ 70k, 1.24MiB
140          m4a        audio only DASH audio  128k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@128k, 2.48MiB
251          webm       audio only DASH audio  129k , opus @160k, 2.46MiB
171          webm       audio only DASH audio  131k , vorbis@128k, 2.49MiB
278          webm       256x144    144p  107k , webm container, vp9, 30fps, video only, 1.85MiB
160          mp4        256x144    144p  111k , avc1.4d400c, 30fps, video only, 2.08MiB
242          webm       426x240    240p  236k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 4.19MiB
133          mp4        426x240    240p  387k , avc1.4d4015, 30fps, video only, 5.48MiB
243          webm       640x360    360p  480k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 7.67MiB
134          mp4        640x360    360p  751k , avc1.4d401e, 30fps, video only, 11.84MiB
244          webm       854x480    480p  764k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 14.05MiB
135          mp4        854x480    480p 1213k , avc1.4d401f, 30fps, video only, 20.51MiB
247          webm       1280x720   720p 1532k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 27.53MiB
136          mp4        1280x720   720p 2330k , avc1.4d401f, 30fps, video only, 33.49MiB
248          webm       1920x1080  1080p 2710k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 48.62MiB
137          mp4        1920x1080  1080p 4360k , avc1.640028, 30fps, video only, 53.89MiB
17           3gp        176x144    small , mp4v.20.3, mp4a.40.2@ 24k, 1.57MiB
36           3gp        320x180    small , mp4v.20.3, mp4a.40.2, 4.53MiB
18           mp4        640x360    medium , avc1.42001E, mp4a.40.2@ 96k, 14.56MiB (best)
So if xdm is good enough for you that's great, but calling it a hidden gem may be a bit much. ;)

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:57 am
by trytip
@gm10
i only have two quality selections because i'm not watching in 1080. if i was watching in 1080 or 240 i would get those options too.

i used to not like XDM because it's so bloated and written in JAVA, but lately it's an ugly duckling that just works. it did take quite a while to learn all it's options like speed limiter and how to get rid of the category folders it creates in Downloads, but it was the same way with GetRight and IDM for windows

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 12:02 pm
by gm10
trytip wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:57 am @gm10
i only have two quality selections because i'm not watching in 1080. if i was watching in 1080 or 240 i would get those options too.

i used to not like XDM because it's so bloated and written in JAVA, but lately it's an ugly duckling that just works. it did take quite a while to learn all it's options like speed limiter and how to get rid of the category folders it creates in Downloads, but it was the same way with GetRight and IDM for windows
Ah weird, but fair enough. If you want you can take a look at uGet, not bloated, also supports Youtube. I never tried its browser plugin since clipboard integration is enough for me so I don't know how that compares.

I prefer youtube-dl for advanced stuff though like downloading including subtitles, download audio-only, automatic format conversion, etc. It just gives you so much control.

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 12:04 pm
by phd21
Hi kayeng,

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

1.) There is a PPA for installing and keeping YouTube-DL and its related desktop application YouTube-DLG updated.

To install these using the PPA method, open a console terminal, type in, or copy & paste, each line below one by one: Click "Select All" above command, right click the highlighted command, select Copy (or Ctrl+Insert), click in the console terminal window, and right click paste (or Shift+Insert or Ctrl+Shift+v), repeat for each command.

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8

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sudo apt-get update

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sudo apt-get install youtube-dl youtube-dlg
2.) "4K Video Downloader" works really well too.

4K Download | Free and useful applications for PC, macOS and Linux
- download the Linux deb file, and double-click it to install it.
https://www.4kdownload.com/


3.) FYI: If you have not changed your local ISP's default DNS server IP addresses, I highly recommend that you do, then restart your computer. This provides anonymity and security and prevents your ISP from slowing down (throttling) certain activities or preventing access to certain websites. This can be done easily through your computer desktop Network Manager or within your hardware router's setup. You can use OpenDNS servers or other DNS provider servers like CloudFlare, dns.watch, opennic, etc...

Setup Guide | OpenDNS
- Click computer workstations and latops for desktop configuration and then Linux Mint...
https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/

Hope this helps ...

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 12:23 pm
by trytip
uget and the browser integrator is a fail in almost every browser. seems every chrome update breaks it and it's now broken and can't find the browser plugin. i see XDMAN is also now having issues with some links since chrome updated again.

i know about all the -dl options i also used it for a long time. it sucks that you think your system works the way you think it does but when you go and try using an application you haven't used in a while and it doesn't work you have no idea what to fix first.

i don't do much video downloads, so for me xdm is plenty enough. haven't used firefox in years so i wouldn't know now if downloads get handled better now or worse.

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:03 am
by kayeng
Thanks for the suggestions guys, but before I try any of them, I guess I should give more details.

It seems that I only (?) experience the 50kbps download limit when I choose the low-resolution (small size) option. But when I download the "best" (large file), it can download fast.

Also, same result with vimeo, so I guess it's not a youtube issue.

Thank you.

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:15 am
by gm10
kayeng wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:03 am It seems that I only (?) experience the 50kbps download limit when I choose the low-resolution (small size) option. But when I download the "best" (large file), it can download fast.

Also, same result with vimeo, so I guess it's not a youtube issue.

Thank you.
Possibly getting throttled by them - would make sense given the format - at least I can reproduce.

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:33 am
by Flemur

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$ youtube-dl gV1sw4lfwFw -F
...
251          webm       audio only DASH audio  129k , opus @160k, 2.46MiB
...
18           mp4        640x360    medium , avc1.42001E, mp4a.40.2@ 96k, 14.56MiB (best)
One thing to note: youtube-dl will (should?) download the "(best)" one by default, but the webm audio-only version #251, if available, almost always has a better frequency response than the "(best)" version. (checked with audition).

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:46 am
by gm10
Flemur wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:33 am

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$ youtube-dl gV1sw4lfwFw -F
...
251          webm       audio only DASH audio  129k , opus @160k, 2.46MiB
...
18           mp4        640x360    medium , avc1.42001E, mp4a.40.2@ 96k, 14.56MiB (best)
One thing to note: youtube-dl will (should?) download the "(best)" one by default, but the webm audio-only version #251, if available, almost always has a better frequency response than the "(best)" version. (checked with audition).
I agree that Opus is the superior audio format even at the same bitrate, but you are comparing it to an audio/video format here (and not the one youtube-dl would download if no parameters are passed). But I'm confused, how is this relevant to the thread?

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:59 am
by Flemur
gm10 wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:46 am I agree that Opus is the superior audio format even at the same bitrate, but you are comparing it to an audio/video format here (and not the one youtube-dl would download if no parameters are passed). But I'm confused, how is this relevant to the thread?
The example was a music video, and if the OP is after audio and not the video, he can get better sound from a 2.6MB webm file than from the 59MB mkv/mp4 file which is downloaded by default; downloading 1/20th as much is nice if "youtube-dl too slow".

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:04 am
by gm10
Flemur wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:59 am
gm10 wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:46 am I agree that Opus is the superior audio format even at the same bitrate, but you are comparing it to an audio/video format here (and not the one youtube-dl would download if no parameters are passed). But I'm confused, how is this relevant to the thread?
The example was a music video, and if the OP is after audio and not the video, he can get better sound from a 2.6MB webm file than from the 59MB mkv/mp4 file which is downloaded by default; downloading 1/20th as much is nice if "youtube-dl too slow".
Oh ok, fair point, well spotted, I hadn't paid attention to what kind of video it was (edit: actually never mind, that wasn't OP's video you are referencing). So in case audio-only is wanted you'd do either:

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youtube-dl gV1sw4lfwFw -x -f bestaudio
or

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youtube-dl gV1sw4lfwFw -x -f 251
The first one will download the largest audio-only file, which is usually the .ogg file, whereas the second one is what both you and I recommend, the .opus file. No download speed throttling on either of those.

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:08 pm
by all41
Try using

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youtube-dl -F 'url'
to show the resolution options.
4k or full hd 1920x1080 will take a lot longer than standard hd 1280x720
You can specify which you prefer

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:12 am
by kayeng
So, nothing can be done about being throttled?

Re: Downloading via youtube-dl too slow?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:38 am
by gm10
Probably not, I don't know, low resolution downloads aren't exactly my area of interest. You might be able to get around it by using a download manager and enabling multiple concurrent connections, although I just tried in uGet and that didn't seem to work there. In case of doubt ask the youtube-dl guys, they'll know best.