VLC 2.0.1 Q&A (updated)

Update: VLC 2.0.3 is out! Please make sure to get the latest version!

Following the previous Q&A post, here’s a new one about VLC 2.0.1. It should explain the most common problems.

As usual, feel free to add new questions to the comments since this a living document.

 

When doing snapshots, I get an error message about some encoder issue. What’s wrong?

Due to a bug in the underlying libavcodec library, saving snapshots in the JPEG format doesn’t work in this release (#6415). Saving as PNG works correctly. To change the file format, go to the “Video” category of VLC’s preferences (which you can find in the VLC menu).

This issue affects the binaries both on Mac OS X and MS Windows. It will be fixed in the 2.0.2 release through a codec update.

Make sure to restart VLC after changing this option!

 

VLC doesn’t open in fullscreen mode anymore on launch. Can I do something to solve this?

This issue will be fixed in VLC 2.0.2 (#6464). As a work-around, you can enable the native fullscreen mode of OS X Lion if you run this version of Mac OS X or get a nightly build.

This issue does only affect the Mac OS X platform.

Make sure to restart VLC after changing this option!

 

Some Asian subtitles are displayed as a thick white line instead of characters… What to do?

As a work-around, press command-1 after starting the video playback (#6427). This will slightly resize the window and will allow the text renderer to draw these characters correctly. Only a small number of subtitles included in MP4 container files is affected.

This issue does only affect the Mac OS X platform and will be fixed in VLC 2.0.2.

 

There are colored lines and stripes across the video when running VLC on MS Windows XP, but previous versions ran nicely. Is there a fix?

VLC 2.0 includes a new video output module on MS Windows, which is not compatible with a certain number of graphics card drivers on MS Windows XP (#6501, #6469). You can re-enable the previous output module in VLC’s preferences (Tools menu): in the “Video Settings”, you’ll find a switch for the “output module”, which you want to set to “DirectX”.

This issue does only affect the MS Windows platform and will be resolved in VLC 2.0.2.

Make sure to restart VLC after changing this option!

 

The playback control buttons don’t seem to work on my Mac. What to do?

On a small number of VLC installations on Mac OS X, the preferences corrupted during the upgrade to VLC 2 leading to the mentioned result. To fix this, go to the preferences dialog (VLC menu), click on “Show All”, select “Interface” -> “Main Interfaces” on the left hand side and disable “Mac OS X Interface” in the “Extra interface modules” list on the right.

This issue does only affect the Mac OS X platform and will be resolved in VLC 2.0.2.

Make sure to restart VLC after changing this option!

 

Can I follow the progress of VLC 2.0.2?

Sure. Have a look at our bug tracker.

 

My issue isn’t listed here. Can I report it somewhere?

Sure. Open a ticket in our bug tracker. Note that you don’t need to register to do so. Any OpenID account including your Google login will work.

Update: VLC 2.0.3 is out! Please make sure to get the latest version!

16 thoughts on “VLC 2.0.1 Q&A (updated)”

  1. MORE SANPSHOT TROUBLE

    feepk@videolan wrote:
    “Due to a bug in the underlying libavcodec library, saving snapshots in the JPEG format doesn’t work in this release (#6415). Saving as PNG works correctly. To change the file format, go to the “Video” category of VLC’s preferences (which you can find in the VLC menu).

    This issue affects the binaries both on Mac OS X and MS Windows. It will be fixed in the 2.0.2 release through a codec update.”

    i have been having this problem since 2.0.1. I tried the “cure” shown above, and found that my snapshots were already set to .png. I reset it to .jpg, restarted VLC and that didn’t work. Then I reset it to .png, restarted VLC, and snapshot still does not function. I get this message:

    Streaming / Transcoding failed:
    VLC could not open the encoder.

    This may be moot, since the proposed fix may correct this problem, too.

    Windows 7, Home premium 64-bit (runs 32-bit also).

    Thank you for the best video player out there!

  2. Thanks for the feedback. That’s really strange to hear, since saving snapshots in png was confirmed to be working on all major platforms.

    Anyway, we will release VLC 2.0.2 early this week, which will restore the jpg export for you!

  3. When trying to connect via HTTP from my web browser to the PC running VLC 2.0.1 i get an Error 403 message. I note that in the Interface menu there is no longer the usual “http” sub menu tree….is this a bug or are you aware of the bug / fix for http interface to work? I need to connect from my Dreambox to VLC server please.

  4. The new version I downloaded a couple of days ago and again today plays video just fine but NO AUDIO. I checked the mute indication and it’s off. I cycled it off/on but still no audio and the volumn is full up now (was half way).

    What could be wrong and better yet what is the fix?

    Thanks, CMG

  5. @ Chris: we introduced a new security policy in VLC 2.0, which limits the http interface to the local machine by default. There is information available on the wiki which lets you restore the previous behavior.

    @ George: that sounds strange. Did you reset VLC’s preferences already?

  6. Sorry for wasting your time. I uninstalled and re-installed and everything works as advertised. My appoligies.

  7. No I’m not sorry. The audio is gone again. What is going on here? It played one time fine and then the next time NO AUDIO! Baffeling.

    Help, please.

    CMG

  8. I checked the preferences and they look OK. I changed most of them to see if there was a hang-up and changed them back to previous settings but Still no sound.

  9. @ George: that’s really strange. Please create a post on http://forum.videolan.org since this seems to involve a more lengthy discussion. Especially make sure to mention your operating system and its version as detailed as possible as well as the eventual use of external speakers, etc.

    @ roger: your IP was probably detected as a spammer by our slightly rude filter. Please change your IP or disable your shared proxy and try again 🙂

  10. hey just downloaded the update and some of my vids have a light blue line down the middle or are completley tinted green any help?

  11. @ Joe: thanks for the feedback. I’ve updated the post to answer your question assuming that you run VLC on Windows XP.

  12. I have this problem too:
    Streaming / Transcoding failed:
    VLC could not open the encoder.

    when streaming to my android phone which used to work once 🙁

    Nik

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