VLC crashing, jumping to next vid

[emmalfal]

I've been using VLC for years and never had many problems with it. Browsing the forums, I see various issues but not the particular one I'm experiencing. In short, I'll get halfway through a video when the program crashes and then skips to the next video. When it happens, I get the "removing a device" sound, the error messages flashes and then we're on to the next vid in the playlist. I'm using the latest version of Linux Mint and I did try a reboot of both the program and my machine. Same errors occurring. I tried to check the log but can't find one. The error message is as follows. Wondering if anyone else has experienced this:

Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'file:///media/mark/TOSHIBA%20EXT/TwoHalf/7If%20They%20Do%20Go%20Either%20Way%2C%20They%27re%20Probably%20Fake.avi'. Check the log for details.
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'file:///media/mark/TOSHIBA%20EXT/TwoHalf/34%20The%20salmon%20under%20my%20sweater.avi'. Check the log for details.

[SMG]

I tried to check the log but can't find one.

This Where is the VLC logfile for errors? indicates it is turned off by default, but you can turn it on. The original thread is four years old, so I do not know which of the options might apply to the version you have, so I am not posting the options.

General steps are:

• Set up logging.
• Set a logging level (verbosity).
• Set a logging location.
• Restart VLC for the changes to take effect.

However, I see a post at the bottom of that page that says messages will be in /var/log/syslog if nothing has been set up. Syslog, a text file you can read, contains a lot of information, so you will probably want to search on the phrase vlc.

[emmalfal]

Great stuff. I've set up logging, but I'll check that location for the syslog. Thanks for the info.

[zcot]

Copy one of the files you mentioned to the local disk and then play it. I mention that because the path appears to be to an external disk, so maybe there's some issue with that hardware, maybe there's a problem with that disk, I don't know. But copying either or both of those files locally as a test could indicate whether the problem is the file itself, and not the external connection.

vlc shouldn't have any problem with it being external, but maybe there's something else at play.

[emmalfal]

Good point. I have it on a removable drive. It's always worked before, but I'll try that fix just to rule stuff out. Good thought.

[emmalfal]

Copy one of the files you mentioned to the local disk and then play it. I mention that because the path appears to be to an external disk, so maybe there's some issue with that hardware, maybe there's a problem with that disk, I don't know. But copying either or both of those files locally as a test could indicate whether the problem is the file itself, and not the external connection.

vlc shouldn't have any problem with it being external, but maybe there's something else at play.

Well, now I've got weirder problems. I had reinstalled the program hoping that would help, but apparently I installed the non-flatpak version and that one can't even SEE my external drive. I've been dabbling with Celluloid just to put this whole business behind me, but the inability to jump to the next vid in the playlist drives me nuts. Ah, well. First world problems.

[SMG]

If you have a Timeshift snapshot of your system before you reinstalled, you could revert to that to return to the prior version of VLC. You would likely have to set up the logging again if you did not have a snapshot after you did that.

[Aztaroth]

Hello,
Would also be nice to know if you're using the 'normal' version of VLC (3.0.12) or the last flatpak version (3.0.16) and the 'usual sysinfo' to perform a better help :

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxxxz

[emmalfal]

Right now I have the normal version and it seems to be working. I was using the flatpak version when I had trouble. I may try reinstalling the flatpak to see if that solves it. That's what I meant to do, but accidentally installed the other.

[emmalfal]

Nope, I stand corrected. I'm still experiencing that problem with the non-flatbak version, too. Quick "installing media" sound and then the player skips to the next vid. Very strange.

[Aztaroth]

OK. Won't have sysinfos so just some guesses and you'll be on your own.

In VLC Menus / Tools / Preferences (or Settings - English's not my native language so I translate, but it's the last item of the menu) :
- Video tab : disable OpenGL in Output by selecting Xvideo (XCB). If that fix works, according to one of VLC's developers, it could be a misconfiguration of your video driver.
- if the files you're loading are mkv files, Input/Codecs tab, untick Precharge mkv files in the same directory. Maybe playing a video and precharging another asks too much bandwidth for an external drive.

Last (maybe stupid) thing : does Celluloid play the videos fine ?

[emmalfal]

That's great stuff. Appreciate it. I'll try those fixes at once. Celluloid plays the vids fine (so far, anyway.) They're .avi files.

I've switched to Xvideo (XCB) in the output section. Watching a vid now. I'll report back. Thanks again.

[emmalfal]

OK. Won't have sysinfos so just some guesses and you'll be on your own.

In VLC Menus / Tools / Preferences (or Settings - English's not my native language so I translate, but it's the last item of the menu) :
- Video tab : disable OpenGL in Output by selecting Xvideo (XCB). If that fix works, according to one of VLC's developers, it could be a misconfiguration of your video driver.
- if the files you're loading are mkv files, Input/Codecs tab, untick Precharge mkv files in the same directory. Maybe playing a video and precharging another asks too much bandwidth for an external drive.

Last (maybe stupid) thing : does Celluloid play the videos fine ?

Hey, it made it through a full video without stall. I don't think that's happened since the problem began. Would be swell if that fix did the trick. Appreciate it.

UPDATE: Ah, balls. Spoke too soon. Happened immediately on the second vid.

[emmalfal]

So, after reinstalling, rebooting and trying various fixes suggested in here, what seems to have worked is connecting my external drive to a different port, a black one instead of a blue one. So far, no stops and stalls. Weirdness. That slot has always worked in the past, but maybe it's gotten wonky.

[zcot]

Ahh, great work!

Sometimes those things are hard to figure out.

I'm guessing the log might've at least given a clue, not so much the vlc log because we already saw that message, and it played fine for a while then suddenly "can not find the media" so the logs probably didn't have too much of interest, but as SMG mentioned the syslog might've given a better clue.

My guess is that the kernel has changed handling in regard to usb3(the blue port) and your particular hardware.

[emmalfal]

Could be. Now that I think of it, I did get kernel update right before the problem started arising.

[ajgreeny]

Which kernel did you update to, and which series are you currently using, the 5.4, 5.8, or maybe even the 5.11?

There have been some difficulties with the 5.11 series in particular, so that could be the problem; I have never moved from the 5.4 series as I think newer id certainly not always better.

[emmalfal]

Looks like I'm using 5.4.86. I really pay no attention to those updates. When they come in, I let it do it's thing.

[ajgreeny]

Same kernel as I am using on both Mint and Xubuntu, and VLC is working faultlessly for me.

It might be worth renaming ~/.config/vlc in your home folder as ~/.config/vlc-backup to see if that removes the problem.

[emmalfal]

Same kernel as I am using on both Mint and Xubuntu, and VLC is working faultlessly for me.

It might be worth renaming ~/.config/vlc in your home folder as ~/.config/vlc-backup to see if that removes the problem.

Well, right now it's working great since I plugged it into that different post. I'll keep that fix in mind, though.