VLC no longer plays MP4 (H264)

[richardrosa]

Greetings All,

2 days ago, something got updated that is preventing VLC from playing MP4 videos (H264 codec). Prior to this update these same files played OK.
What is now happening, is the sound is OK, but the video screen is black. Running VLC from a command produces these messages when playing
an MP4:

h264 @ 0x7f45c961a240] hardware accelerator failed to decode picture
[00007f45a16b10f8] vdpau_chroma filter error: video surface export failure: VDP_STATUS_INVALID_Y_CB_CR_FORMAT
[VS] error (vdpVideoSurfaceGetBitsYCbCr): not implemented conversion VA FOURCC E -> VDP_YCBCR_FORMAT_YV12


Here is what I have done so far (with no success):

Reinstalled VLC (and all the associated packages).
Deleted the VLC configuration files
Turned off "Accelerated Video Output) in VLC Preferences
zypper dup --from (standard repos)
Reinstalled the video driver (NVIDIA/Bumblebee)

Short of a complete reinstall, is there anything additional I can try fix this?

I am running Suse 13.2 on a Lenovo W530 (with Nvidia Optimus video).

Thanx in advance.

Rich

Repository listing:

#  | Alias                           | Name                                           | Enabled | Refresh | Priority | Type   | URI                                                                                                     | Service
---+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------------+---------+---------+----------+--------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------
 1 | Acroread                        | Acroread                                       | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/lnt-sysadmin:/tools/openSUSE_13.2/                      |        
 2 | Bumblebee                       | Bumblebee                                      | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:/Bumblebee/openSUSE_13.2/                                 |        
 3 | Emulators                       | Emulators                                      | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators/openSUSE_13.2/                                      |        
 4 | Ham_Radio                       | Ham Radio                                      | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/hamradio/openSUSE_13.2/                                       |        
 5 | More_Radio_Stuff                | More Radio Stuff                               | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/wkazubski/openSUSE_13.2/                                |        
 6 | Packman Repository              | Packman Repository                             | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/packman/suse/openSUSE_13.2/                                                |        
 7 | Packman_Full                    | Packman Full                                   | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://packman.inode.at/suse/openSUSE_13.2                                                              |        
 8 | Pipelight                       | Pipelight                                      | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ecsos:/pipelight/openSUSE_13.2/                         |        
 9 | Printing                        | Printing                                       | Yes     | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Printing/openSUSE_13.2/                                       |        
10 | RealCrypt                       | RealCrypt                                      | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/magist3r:/bootdisk/openSUSE_13.1                        |        
11 | SDR_Stuff                       | SDR Stuff                                      | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/mnhauke:/sdr/openSUSE_13.2/                             |        
12 | Serial_Port_Stuff               | Serial Port Stuff                              | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/illuusio/openSUSE_13.2/                                 |        
13 | Server                          | Server                                         | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/server:/database/openSUSE_13.2                                |        
14 | Tools                           | Tools                                          | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/lnt-sysadmin:/tools/openSUSE_13.2                       |        
15 | Tools_1                         | Tools_1                                        | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/openSUSE:/Tools/openSUSE_13.2                                 |        
16 | VirtualBox                      | VirtualBox                                     | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/rpm/opensuse/12.3/                                            |        
17 | X11                             | X11                                            | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:/XOrg/openSUSE_13.2/                                      |        
18 | download.nvidia.com-opensuse    | nVidia Graphics Drivers                        | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/13.2/                                                               |        
19 | download.opensuse.org-Apps      | openSUSE BuildService - GNOME:Apps             | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/GNOME:/Apps/openSUSE_13.2/                                    |        
20 | download.opensuse.org-Education | openSUSE BuildService - Education              | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Education/openSUSE_13.2/                                      |        
21 | download.opensuse.org-Extra     | openSUSE BuildService - KDE:Extra              | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/Extra/openSUSE_13.2/                                     |        
22 | download.opensuse.org-KDE3      | openSUSE BuildService - KDE:KDE3               | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/KDE3/openSUSE_13.2/                                      |        
23 | download.opensuse.org-Wine      | openSUSE BuildService - Wine CVS Builds        | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators:/Wine/openSUSE_13.2/                                |        
24 | download.opensuse.org-games     | openSUSE BuildService - Games                  | Yes     | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/games/openSUSE_13.2/                                          |        
25 | download.opensuse.org-mozilla   | openSUSE BuildService - Mozilla                | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/mozilla/openSUSE_13.2/                                        |        
26 | download.opensuse.org-perl      | openSUSE BuildService - devel:languages:perl   | Yes     | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/languages:/perl/openSUSE_13.2/                         |        
27 | download.opensuse.org-python    | openSUSE BuildService - devel:languages:python | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/languages:/python/openSUSE_13.2/                       |        
28 | google-chrome                   | google-chrome                                  | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/rpm/stable/x86_64                                                     |        
29 | google-earth                    | google-earth                                   | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/rpm/stable/x86_64                                                      |        
30 | home:happenpappen               | home:happenpappen                              | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/happenpappen/openSUSE_Factory/                          |        
31 | libdvdcss repository            | libdvdcss repository                           | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://opensuse-guide.org/repo/13.2/                                                                    |        
32 | patrickmcdonogugh               | patrickmcdonogugh                              | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/patrickmcdonough/openSUSE_13.2/                         |        
33 | repo-debug                      | openSUSE-13.2-Debug                            | No      | No      |   99     | NONE   | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/distribution/13.2/repo/oss/                                          |        
34 | repo-debug-update               | openSUSE-13.2-Update-Debug                     | No      | No      |   99     | NONE   | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/update/13.2/                                                         |        
35 | repo-debug-update-non-oss       | openSUSE-13.2-Update-Debug-Non-Oss             | No      | No      |   99     | NONE   | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/update/13.2-non-oss/                                                 |        
36 | repo-non-oss                    | openSUSE-13.2-Non-Oss                          | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/13.2/repo/non-oss/                                            |        
37 | repo-oss                        | openSUSE-13.2-Oss                              | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/13.2/repo/oss/                                                |        
38 | repo-source                     | openSUSE-13.2-Source                           | No      | Yes     |   99     | NONE   | http://download.opensuse.org/source/distribution/13.2/repo/oss/                                         |        
39 | repo-update                     | openSUSE-13.2-Update                           | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/update/13.2/                                                               |        
40 | repo-update-non-oss             | openSUSE-13.2-Update-Non-Oss                   | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/update/13.2-non-oss/

[wolfi323]

2 days ago, something got updated that is preventing VLC from playing MP4 videos (H264 codec).

Well, VLC itself got updated to 2.2.0.

Prior to this update these same files played OK.
What is now happening, is the sound is OK, but the video screen is black. Running VLC from a command produces these messages when playing
an MP4:

h264 @ 0x7f45c961a240] hardware accelerator failed to decode picture
[00007f45a16b10f8] vdpau_chroma filter error: video surface export failure: VDP_STATUS_INVALID_Y_CB_CR_FORMAT
[VS] error (vdpVideoSurfaceGetBitsYCbCr): not implemented conversion VA FOURCC E -> VDP_YCBCR_FORMAT_YV12

Apparently you are using the VDPAU output device, i.e. hardware decoding on the graphics card, and your graphics card doesn't seem to be able to decode the video.
Try to select a different (than VDPAU) output device in VLC's "Video" settings. Then it should work, albeit without hw decoding.

I have absolutely no experience with hw decoding and Bumblebee, but are you running VLC on the intel or the nvidia chip (e.g. via optirun)?
Is nvidia-bumblebee installed and working?

Repository listing:

Wow. You enjoy collecting repos, right?

I don't see anything inherently wrong there, just one thing: you seem to be using the Xorg packages from X11org, right? Try to switch back all packages from that repo to the standard versions included in 13.2.
Maybe some update in there is the reason for your problems.

[richardrosa]

Well, VLC itself got updated to 2.2.0.


Apparently you are using the VDPAU output device, i.e. hardware decoding on the graphics card, and your graphics card doesn't seem to be able to decode the video.
Try to select a different (than VDPAU) output device in VLC's "Video" settings. Then it should work, albeit without hw decoding.

I have absolutely no experience with hw decoding and Bumblebee, but are you running VLC on the intel or the nvidia chip (e.g. via optirun)?
Is nvidia-bumblebee installed and working?

Ok, Changed Video-Output to XVideo (XCB) from Automatic, and it works! Not being a Video Guru, I'm not sure what I am loosing (or gaining) by using this setting, but it gets by the problem. I assume VLC has always been running on the Intel chip. I don't know why this update broke things, but now at least I know how to fix it.

Bumblebee IS working, but for some reason, I couldn't get VLC to start using primusrun/optirun. All the reinstalls that I did must of fixed this (never thought to try it again). Sure enough, MP4s play if I use optirun. Again, I'm not sure what has changed, but I now have two work-arounds.
Thanx!

Wow. You enjoy collecting repos, right?

I just have a lot of applications (mostly radio related) that are scattered among various repos. Either I get to collect repos, or collect RPMs

I don't see anything inherently wrong there, just one thing: you seem to be using the Xorg packages from X11org, right? Try to switch back all packages from that repo to the standard versions included in 13.2.
Maybe some update in there is the reason for your problems.

I did try this, with no change. The X11 repo is needed to use the Nvidia drivers for Bumblebee.



If I ever purchase another Laptop, I will make sure it does NOT have an NVIDIA video chip! This device has been a royal pain from day one...


Problem solved (for now). Thanx again for your assistance.

Rich

[wolfi323]

Ok, Changed Video-Output to XVideo (XCB) from Automatic, and it works! Not being a Video Guru, I'm not sure what I am loosing (or gaining) by using this setting, but it gets by the problem.

Well, the video is decoded by the CPU now instead of the graphics card. That means not more not less than playing back videos will be more CPU intensive now (of course only for videos that can be decoded by the GPU).

I assume VLC has always been running on the Intel chip. I don't know why this update broke things, but now at least I know how to fix it.

Maybe the new VLC version is doing things differently, that's why it suddenly broke.
Or as I said, maybe some update in the X11:Xorg repo caused your problem. Might even be a bug in the intel driver there.
That's what you can get when using bleeding-edge packages...

I did try this, with no change. The X11 repo is needed to use the Nvidia drivers for Bumblebee.

That's definitely not true. nvidia-bumblebee is in X11:Bumblebee (#2 in your list), not X11:Xorg (#17).
I was talking about the latter. And IMHO that's the most likely reason.

If I ever purchase another Laptop, I will make sure it does NOT have an NVIDIA video chip! This device has been a royal pain from day one...

Well, complain to nvidia for not supporting their own Optimus technology on Linux...

[tpe]

I have the same problem.
But I have just Intel GPU. I tried all video outputs, but I still have black screen.
I cannot find the previous vlc codecs in Packman, so, I need to know if someone else solved that problem.

[tpe]

Also, I see the following errors from CLI:

core demux error: corrupt module: /usr/lib64/vlc/plugins/access/liblibbluray_plugin.so

[gogalthorp]

maybe reinstall that library??

[tpe]

I found a work around:
Tools-->Preferences-->Input/Codes -->Hardware-accelerated decoding: VA-API video decoder via X11.

[wolfi323]

Also, I see the following errors from CLI:

core demux error: corrupt module: /usr/lib64/vlc/plugins/access/liblibbluray_plugin.so

Installing libbluray1 from Packman (_not_ from the standard repos, they only contain an older version which is now incompatible, thus causing this error message) should get rid of that error.
But this should not cause any problem (unless you want to play back Blueray disks of course...)

[mattm3a]

The VLC "upgrade" is locking up my machine, which makes it very hard to collect useful information. The workarounds suggested above for setting video output and the hardware acceleration do not improve the situation.

Looks like there is a problem with the VLC changes.