Android: cannot play mp4 video

Question

I'm trying to play mp4 videos streaming from a server using native VideoView, sadly I keep getting a "Cannot play video" error.

The weird thing is that the same video plays well on Froyo but will not play on HoneyComb. I tried the same video with MX Video Player (on HC) and it plays just fine.

Another major problem is that I cannot re-encode the videos, so I have to use the videos as they are.

• What is causing the error?
• How can I play the video?
• Should I find a way to include a codec library into my app?

Below are details from logcat:

E/MediaExtractor(  242): **********MediaExtractor::Create
D/DivXPlugin(  241): DivXPlugin::onInitialize : 75
D/DivXPlugin(  241): DivXPlugin::onSetOnInfoListener : 75
D/DivXPlugin(  241): DivXPlugin::onOpenDecryptSession: Enter : 75
E/DivXPlugin(  241): DivXPlugin::onOpenDecryptSession() Not a Divx File.
E/DrmManager(Native)(  241): DrmManager::openDecryptSession: no capable plug-in found
D/DivXPlugin(  241): DivXPlugin::onTerminate : 75
E/MediaExtractor(  242): ************Autodetected media content as 'video/mpeg4' with confidence 0.40
D/AwesomePlayer(  242): finishSetDataSource_l getDrmInfo
D/AwesomePlayer(  242): setDataSource_l
E/MPEG4Extractor(  242): ftyp chunk found
D/MPEG4Extractor(  242): kKeyAVCC found
E/MPEG4Extractor(  242): ERROR_MALFORMED because ret=-108
E/MPEG4Extractor(  242): return ERROR_UNSUPPORTED
E/MPEG4Extractor(  242): return ERROR_UNSUPPORTED
D/AwesomePlayer(  242): UNKNOWN_ERROR: no Video and no Audio
D/AwesomePlayer(  242): abortPrepare
D/AwesomePlayer(  242): notifyListener_l
E/MediaPlayer( 3906): error (1, -2147483648)
E/MediaPlayer( 3906): Error (1,-2147483648)
D/VideoView( 3906): Error: 1,-2147483648

And the specs of the video that cannot be played:

    General
    Format                           : MPEG-4
    Format profile                   : Base Media
    Codec ID                         : isom
    File size                        : 60.7 MiB
    Duration                         : 7mn 3s
    Overall bit rate mode            : Variable
    Overall bit rate                 : 1 201 Kbps
    Writing application              : Lavf52.37.0

    Video
    ID                               : 1
    Format                           : AVC
    Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile                   : [email protected]
    Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
    Format settings, ReFrames        : 4 frames
    Codec ID                         : avc1
    Codec ID/Info                    : Advanced Video Coding
    Duration                         : 7mn 3s
    Duration_FirstFrame              : 40ms
    Bit rate                         : 1 072 Kbps
    Width                            : 1 024 pixels
    Height                           : 576 pixels
    Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
    Frame rate mode                  : Constant
    Frame rate                       : 25.000 fps
    Color space                      : YUV
    Chroma subsampling               : 4:2:0
    Bit depth                        : 8 bits
    Scan type                        : Progressive
    Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.073
    Stream size                      : 54.2 MiB (89%)
    Writing library                  : x264 core 65 r0+1016 dbc5ef0
    Encoding settings                : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=16 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / keyint=125 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=1072 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.80 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.41 / pb_ratio=1.25 / aq=1:1.00
    Language                         : English

    Audio
    ID                               : 2
    Format                           : AAC
    Format/Info                      : Advanced Audio Codec
    Format profile                   : LC
    Codec ID                         : 40
    Duration                         : 7mn 3s
    Bit rate mode                    : Variable
    Bit rate                         : 122 Kbps
    Channel(s)                       : 2 channels
    Channel positions                : Front: L R
    Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
    Compression mode                 : Lossy
    Stream size                      : 6.18 MiB (10%)
    Language                         : English

Answer 1

The problem might be with the video encoding. Android FROYO and Gingerbread doesn't support H264 formats other than "Baseline" H264. So if your video is Mp4 & H264 encoded make sure its "AVC baseline" encoded. Use some tools like "Media info" in windows/Linux and check your video encoding.