android video, hear sound but no video

Question

I have tried several different examples but I cannot get any video to show. I hear sound but no video. I thought maybe I just had a incorrect video format so I downloaded a fiat commercial in 3gp format and still no joy. I am using the Eclipse Java EE with android sdk and my app targets the 1.5 sdk (Api Level 3) without google api. Could someone please post a link to a video known to play in android or point out my problem with the code. I have tried all I could think of .. with/without prepare .. different layouts etc.

Here is my onCreate in activity

/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) 
{
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

this.setContentView(R.layout.video_test);
    SurfaceView v = (SurfaceView) findViewById(R.id.surface_video); 
    SurfaceHolder holder = v.getHolder(); 
 // Set the transparency 
    //getWindow().setFormat(PixelFormat.UNKNOWN); 


    // Set a size for the video screen 
    //holder.addCallback(this); 
    holder.setFixedSize(400,300); 


    MediaPlayer mp = MediaPlayer.create(this, R.raw.fiat); 
    mp.setDisplay(holder);
    //mp.setAudioStreamType(2); 
    try {
        //mp.prepare();
        mp.start();
    } catch (IllegalStateException e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated catch block
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

her is the layout in video_test.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> 
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" 
android:orientation="vertical" 
android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
android:layout_height="fill_parent" 
> 
<SurfaceView android:id="@+id/surface_video" 
android:layout_width="250px" 
android:layout_height="250px"> 
</SurfaceView> 
<LinearLayout 
android:orientation="horizontal" 
android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
android:padding="10dip" 
> 
</LinearLayout> 
</LinearLayout> 

> Blockquote

Answer 1

You class must implement SurfaceHolder.Callback and call methods setDisplay, prepare and etc only after you get in surfaceCreated. Also you may need to change type of surface holder to SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS. Like this:

import android.view.SurfaceHolder.Callback;

public class TestActivity extends Activity implements Callback {

// ...

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        // ...
        mSurfaceView = (SurfaceView)findViewById(R.id.yousurfaceview); 
        holder = mSurfaceView.getHolder();
        holder.addCallback(this);
        holder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS);
    }

@Override
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
    try {
        mp.setDisplay(holder);
        mp.setDataSource(somesource);
        mp.prepare();
        mp.start();
        // etc...
    } catch (IOException e) {
        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
        } catch (IllegalStateException e) {
    }

}

// ...
}

If you try it in OnCreate you got nothing as result, because Surface is not yet created...

Answer 2

If you are using the emulator, it may not work. The emulator lacks the hardware acceleration available in Android devices. For example, on a 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo, I sometimes can get a video to play back, but not always. On slower machines, video playback never works. On a 2.5GHz Core 2 Quad, I always get video playback. That being said, I usually test video playback on actual devices.

I am also uncertain if video playback works from raw resources. I strongly encourage you to try using a video from a file on the SD card first.

With respect to videos that definitely work, I know that "Documentaries and You" and "Music for our Grandchildren" from here work in their MP4 forms.