vlc fails to properly open a webstream referenced by an .asx file

[dolgushev]

vlc fails to open a stream via the attached .asx file

Steps to reproduce:

 - download the asx file
 - start vlc with 'vlc foo.asx'

Expected result:
 - the stream should just show

Experienced result:
 - vlc just hangs and does nothing

Workaround:
 - lookup the url in the asx file manually
 - start vlc with the looked up url: vlc http://video.rfn.ru/vesti_24

original report follows:

Binary package hint: vlc

When I'm starting .asx (stream) file in vlc player the laptop is buzzing completely. I can it to switch off only by power button. The bug is quite new, appears after update, in earlier versions (earlier than Linux 2.6.18) I didn't have it.
It was happen also today, 26.10.
My information:
PC: Toshiba satellite-a110
From terminal:
maxim@maxim-laptop:~$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 8.04.1
Release: 8.04
maxim@maxim-laptop:~$ apt-cache policy vlc
vlc:
  Установлен: 0.8.6.release.e+x264svn20071224+faad2.6.1-0ubuntu3.2
  Кандидат: 0.8.6.release.e+x264svn20071224+faad2.6.1-0ubuntu3.2
  Таблица версий:
 *** 0.8.6.release.e+x264svn20071224+faad2.6.1-0ubuntu3.2 0
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com hardy-security/multiverse Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     0.8.6.release.e+x264svn20071224+faad2.6.1-0ubuntu3 0
        500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/multiverse Packages
maxim@maxim-laptop:~$

[dolgushev (dmax)]

In attachment is the report about my PC created by Sysinfo.

[Magnus S (magnuss)]

Hi, i just tried this on 0.9.4-1ubuntu3, which is the version in Intrepid. Couldn't reproduce, vlc played the stream without complaining. I did this with a link i found on googe: http://cache.yacast.fr/V4/europe1/europe1.asx.

@ dolgushev: Are you still having this issue? Which version of ubuntu and vlc are you using now?

//magnus

[dolgushev (dmax)]

Hi, I still have the problem, the version of vlc 0.8.6.release.e+x264svn20071224+faad2.6.1-0ubuntu3.2, all information about the operating system is in report file. The stream file I use also now in attachment.

[Magnus S (magnuss)]

Ok...

Totem could open the playlist, and play the stream. It contains two .gif images and the stream itself. Of course, vlc should be able to handle this. I opened the playlist with my vlc (intrepid version), but it didn't play (didn't crash, though).
The actual link to the stream is: mmsh://video.rfn.ru/vesti_24?MSWMExt=.asf (got it from totem). Vlc could play that, when entered directly as a stream.
Right-clicking on the link in my previous post and "save link as" also created a .asx playlist. But this one played in vlc.

Soo, it seems like this is isolated to the playlist attached by you dolgushev, right?
Please test the "yacast" link above, both as a link and as a playlist, and see if it plays for you.

Attaching verbose ouput from vlc, when opening the playlist from dolgushev.

//magnus

[dolgushev (dmax)]

The problem seems to be fixed. Thank you.
But the way to fix is cumbersome for usual user, because, for example, in windowsmediaplayer and winamp it never appears.
Anyway thank you very much.

[Magnus S (magnuss)]

This is still a bug though, because even if you feed it with weird links, playlists or expensive whiskey, vlc should not crash.
Now it crashes when opening your attached playlist, but other apps (totem) does not crash. Copy->paste the link is a workaround, but not a bugfix :)

//magnus

[Magnus S (magnuss)]

Just tried to backtrace vlc - but no backtrace was generated.

[Hew (hew)]

There have been a large number of bugfixes with the latest VLC release, 1.0.0~rc2-1ubuntu1. Can you reproduce your issue with this latest version? You can test this in Ubuntu Karmic, or Ubuntu Jaunty with the MOTU Media PPA at https://launchpad.net/~motumedia/+archive/ppa . Thanks in advance.

[dolgushev (dmax)]

Hi!

Unfortunately I still have the problems with vlc under ubuntu 9.04. The file which I try to open with vlc is in the attachment.

Best regards,
Maxim.

> Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:09:04 +0000
> From: <email address hidden>
> To: <email address hidden>
> Subject: [Bug 289394] Re: vlc buzzing a pc by starting .asx stream
>
> There have been a large number of bugfixes with the latest VLC release,
> 1.0.0~rc2-1ubuntu1. Can you reproduce your issue with this latest
> version? You can test this in Ubuntu Karmic, or Ubuntu Jaunty with the
> MOTU Media PPA at https://launchpad.net/~motumedia/+archive/ppa . Thanks
> in advance.
>
> ** Changed in: vlc (Ubuntu)
> Status: Confirmed => Incomplete
>
> --
> vlc buzzing a pc by starting .asx stream
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/289394
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

_________________________________________________________________
Часто мучаетесь, вспоминая нужный адрес? Internet Explorer 8 помнит адреса за вас.
http://www.microsoft.ru/ie8

[Reinhard Tartler (siretart)]

dolgushev <email address hidden> writes:

> Unfortunately I still have the problems with vlc under ubuntu 9.04. The
> file which I try to open with vlc is in the attachment.

Unfortunately that doesn't proove anything. The file that you attached
just links to a stream provider "http://video.rfn.ru/vesti_24" that
happens to be offline.

just open the file in gedit or any other text editor.

--
Gruesse/greetings,
Reinhard Tartler, KeyID 945348A4

[Reinhard Tartler (siretart)]

Oh, it seems I'm wrong and that host just doesn't respond to pings. In my tests, directly opening the stream succeeds:

vlc http://video.rfn.ru/vesti_24

opening via the asx file doesn't. Seems to be a bug in the asx parser. This bug should be upstreamed then.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont (rdenis)]

Where is this ASX file coming from? What proves the file is not simply malformatted? (I grant that the VLC ASX parser is horrible and broken though)

[madbiologist (me-again)]

@Remi - I don't know whether the ASX file is malformatted or not, however according to comment #5 Totem can handle it. So I guess Totem's ASX parser is not as broken as VLC's :)

[rusivi2 (rusivi2-deactivatedaccount)]

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!