Strange Behavior of Android VideoView - "Can't Play Video"

Question

In my application,showing video from sdcard folder or new taken video from Video intent in a VideoView in different Activity by passing file path of the video selected.

Now the problem is, I have tested this app in my 2 devices LG Optimus Black and LG Optimus Me and it works like charm not problem no force close.

Now when i test this app in Samsung Fascinate 2.1 the video view shows the message "Can't Play Video" no matter i select existing video or take new one.

Remember the app is working fine with the above 2 devices.

In the ShowVideo activity i have button to upload the video, when i got the message "Can't Play Video" i been able to take video from the same path and upload it and can check that video at server side but video view didn't played that video.

So, the Video Path of the SDCard is not the problem thats for sure.

also the Video are of .3gp or .mp4 format only so the format is also supported by android

.

My Questions Are :

1)When the message "Can't Play Video" occurs? 2)What are the Solution for that? and 3) What could be possible mistakes in my application?

here is the logcat output while i got that message but don't see any error/exception in that.

I/ActivityManager( 2227): Starting activity: Intent { cmp=com.zoodigapp.zoodig/com.zoodigapp.media.ShowVideo (has extras) }
V/SettingsProvider( 2227): system <- value=1.0 name=font_scale
V/SettingsProvider( 2227): property: sys.settings_system_version=26
V/SettingsProvider( 2227): notifying: content://settings/system/font_scale
D/HardwareService( 2227): Brightness NATIVE setBacklightBrightness running. light: 2bightness ==> 30  mode:  1
D/NetworkLocationProvider( 2227): onDataConnectionStateChanged 6
D/MobileDataStateTracker( 2227): default Received state= CONNECTING, old= CONNECTING, reason= (unspecified), apnTypeList= *
D/AGPSManagerService( 2227): state: CONNECTING apnName: Verizon reason: null
D/dalvikvm( 3326): GC freed 2472 objects / 140504 bytes in 73ms
I/File    ( 3326): /sdcard/DCIM/Camera/video-2011-10-17-10-40-54.mp4
V/MediaStore( 3326): We probably run out of space, so create the thumbnail in memory.
I/MediaPlayerService( 2182): Use PV_PLAYER for url:/sdcard/DCIM/Camera/video-2011-10-17-10-40-54.mp4
E/MetadataDriver( 2182): MetadataDriver::setDataSource url file type is isAudiofile(0)
D/        ( 2182): SISO TEST registering PVMFRecognizerPluginFactory
D/        ( 2182): SISO TEST registering PVMFRecognizerPluginFactory success
E/MetadataDriver( 2182): isCommandSuccessful: Command id(0 and expected 0) and status (-17 and expected 1), data corruption (false) at state (4).
E/MetadataDriver( 2182): isCommandSuccessful: Command id(1 and expected 1) and status (-14 and expected 1), data corruption (false) at state (5).
E/MetadataDriver( 2182): captureFrame :  time = 0
E/MetadataDriver( 2182): captureFrame :  inputWidth = 0, inputHeight =0, bAspectratio=0, bResize=0
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadsQueue.getAllPending: elapsed msec=449
I/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadManager.uploadPendingItems: Found 1 items in queue.
I/Selected( 3326): =============Second
D/MediaUploader( 2492): isGphotosSynced: FALSE -- starting gphotos update refresh for -5709461173740324808
W/IInputConnectionWrapper( 3505): showStatusIcon on inactive InputConnection
I/copybit ( 2227): [createPP] fimc version : 50
I/MediaPlayerService( 2182): Use PV_PLAYER for url:/DCIM/Camera/video-2011-10-17-10-40-54.mp4
D/        ( 2182): SISO TEST registering PVMFRecognizerPluginFactory
D/        ( 2182): SISO TEST registering PVMFRecognizerPluginFactory success
D/        ( 2182): SISO TEST PVOMA1FFRecognizerFactory::CreateRecognizerPlugin()
D/        ( 2182): SISO TEST PVOMA1FFRecognizerFactory::CreateRecognizerPlugin() plugin found
D/        ( 2182): SISO TEST PVOMA1FFRecognizerFactory::DestroyRecognizerPlugin()
E/OsclDirectFileIO( 2182): [LargeFileSupport] OsclDirectFileIO::OpenFileOrSharedFd Error = -1
W/MediaPlayer( 3326): info/warning (1, 26)
E/PlayerDriver( 2182): Command PLAYER_SET_DATA_SOURCE completed with an error or info -4
E/MediaPlayer( 3326): SISO TEST MEDIA_ERROR
E/MediaPlayer( 3326): error (-4, -4)
W/PlayerDriver( 2182): PVMFInfoErrorHandlingComplete
V/MediaProvider( 2349): stopThumbWorkerSuspendTimer
V/MediaProvider( 2349): Resuming ThumbWorker
W/MediaProvider( 2349): Have message but no request?
I/System.out( 2647): interface name: null
I/MediaPlayer( 3326): Info (1,26)
E/MediaPlayer( 3326): Error (-4,-4)
D/VideoView( 3326): Error: -4,-4
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadManager.uploadPendingItems: Waiting for GPhotos sync
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadsQueue.getAllPending: elapsed msec=5
I/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadManager.uploadPendingItems: Found 1 items in queue.
I/POWER_OFF_TEST( 2227): mBatteryLevel = 38   mBatteryDecimalPoint = 1
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadsAsyncQueryHandler.notifiyDatabaseChangeListeners
D/MediaUploader( 2492): isGphotosSynced: FALSE -- update is in progress for -5709461173740324808
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadManager.uploadPendingItems: Waiting for GPhotos sync
D/MediaUploader( 2492): updateQueueState: RUNNING
I/GooglePlusOne( 2492): Starting new CAMERA_SYNC_CREATED request 1
I/ActivityManager( 2227): Displayed activity com.zoodigapp.zoodig/com.zoodigapp.media.ShowVideo: 1251 ms (total 1251 ms)
V/InputDevice( 2227): ID[0]=0 Dn (0=>1)
V/WindowManager( 2227): Dsptch >Window{47a67278 com.zoodigapp.zoodig/com.zoodigapp.media.ShowVideo paused=false}
D/dalvikvm( 2227): GC freed 4009 objects / 210024 bytes in 155ms
V/InputDevice( 2227): ID[0]=0 Up (1=>0)
V/WindowManager( 2227): Dsptch >Window{47a67278 com.zoodigapp.zoodig/com.zoodigapp.media.ShowVideo paused=false}
W/InputManagerService( 2227): Window already focused, ignoring focus gain of: com.android.internal.view.IInputMethodClient$Stub$Proxy@47d89250
D/dalvikvm( 2492): GC freed 11952 objects / 682568 bytes in 171ms
D/dalvikvm( 2647): GC freed 7435 objects / 656456 bytes in 26ms
D/dalvikvm( 2647): GC freed 3079 objects / 498304 bytes in 60ms
I/System.out( 2647): interface name: null
I/GooglePlusOne( 2492): CAMERA_SYNC_CREATED request 1 completed with code=200
D/MediaUploader( 2492): onGphotosChange: sawError=false; errs=0; retry=Wed Dec 31 17:00:00 America/Boise 1969; expiry=Mon Oct 17 10:56:20 America/Boise 2011
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadsQueue.getAllPending: elapsed msec=17
I/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadManager.uploadPendingItems: Found 1 items in queue.
D/MediaUploader( 2492): isGphotosSynced: TRUE for -5709461173740324808
D/MediaUploader( 2492): existsInGphotos: false info=name=video-2011-10-17-10-40-54.mp4 fileUri=content://media/external/video/media/37 fileSize=2477915;
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadManager.uploadPendingItems: starting upload...
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadManager.upload: info=name=video-2011-10-17-10-40-54.mp4 fileUri=content://media/external/video/media/37 fileSize=2477915
I/NetworkStat( 2678): Network type: MOBILE
I/NetworkStat( 2678): -------- mobile data network is NOT available as of now
D/NotificationService( 2227): enqueueNotification :: notification.defaults = 0, Notification.DEFAULT_SOUND = 1, notification.sound = null
D/dalvikvm( 2492): GC freed 4032 objects / 238248 bytes in 49ms
I/dalvikvm-heap( 2492): Grow heap (frag case) to 6.708MB for 524304-byte allocation
D/dalvikvm( 2492): GC freed 291 objects / 13392 bytes in 58ms
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadsAsyncQueryHandler.notifiyDatabaseChangeListeners
D/MediaUploader( 2492): GlsAuthorizer.getAuthToken: authTokenType=lh2; [email protected];
D/MediaUploader( 2492): executeWithAuthRetry: starting httpClient.execute #1
D/dalvikvm( 2870): GC freed 555 objects / 24144 bytes in 269ms
I/System.out( 2492): interface name: null
V/InputDevice( 2227): ID[0]=0 Dn (0=>1)
V/WindowManager( 2227): Dsptch >Window{47cf6308 com.zoodigapp.zoodig/com.zoodigapp.media.ShowVideo paused=false}
V/InputDevice( 2227): ID[0]=0 Up (1=>0)
V/WindowManager( 2227): Dsptch >Window{47cf6308 com.zoodigapp.zoodig/com.zoodigapp.media.ShowVideo paused=false}
D/dalvikvm( 2647): GC freed 7301 objects / 659064 bytes in 78ms
I/System.out( 2647): interface name: null
I/System.out( 2647): interface name: null
I/System.out( 2647): interface name: null
D/dalvikvm( 2647): GC freed 2654 objects / 324016 bytes in 149ms
I/System.out( 2647): interface name: null
D/MediaUploader( 2492): getStatusCode: status=HTTP/1.1 200 OK
D/MediaUploader( 2492): getStatusCode: status=HTTP/1.1 200 OK
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UPLOAD_START: uploadUrl=https://picasaweb.google.com/data/upload/resumable/media/create-session/feed/api/user/default/albumid/camera-sync?xmlerrors=1&upload_id=AEnB2Uqe2bdvyx5p31Ta-sS4ytggj07_6-uiKG_hCOc6sT1u8eqhvr-8oZdUT1uPHxuAxXphUiJXyq-i_8YaJlT2YLholp__Sw
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadManager.onProgress
V/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadManager.progressUpdate: guid=1351689615505998240; bytes=0
D/dalvikvm( 2647): GC freed 920 objects / 202544 bytes in 53ms
D/dalvikvm( 2492): GC freed 7362 objects / 498448 bytes in 73ms
D/MediaUploader( 2492): UploadsAsyncQueryHandler.notifiyDatabaseChangeListeners
D/dalvikvm( 2492): GC freed 658 objects / 129232 bytes in 42ms
I/dalvikvm-heap( 2492): Grow heap (frag case) to 7.250MB for 262160-byte allocation
D/dalvikvm( 2492): GC freed 0 objects / 0 bytes in 41ms
D/dalvikvm( 2492): GC freed 92 objects / 135128 bytes in 30ms
I/dalvikvm-heap( 2492): Grow heap (frag case) to 7.621MB for 524304-byte allocation
D/dalvikvm( 2492): GC freed 0 objects / 0 bytes in 44ms
D/MediaUploader( 2492): executeWithAuthRetry: starting httpClient.execute #1
D/dalvikvm( 2647): GC freed 576 objects / 53240 bytes in 182ms
V/InputDevice( 2227): ID[0]=0 Dn (0=>1)
V/WindowManager( 2227): Dsptch >Window{47cf6308 com.zoodigapp.zoodig/com.zoodigapp.media.ShowVideo paused=false}
V/InputDevice( 2227): ID[0]=0 Up (1=>0)
V/WindowManager( 2227): Dsptch >Window{47cf6308 com.zoodigapp.zoodig/com.zoodigapp.media.ShowVideo paused=false}
I/ActivityManager( 2227): Starting activity: Intent { cmp=com.zoodigapp.zoodig/.WriteMessage (has extras) }

If you find anything not described well please comment below.

Additional details (moved from comments):

• They are merely of 1 minutes and the last one I tested and failed on Samsung that was of only 20 seconds. and sizes are mostly in MB not more than 20 MB right now.
• The video is taken from the same device and immediately after taking that video I try to show in my activity same way other already stored video are also fine...actually after uploading that video I can see that video and can download also

Answer 1

1)When the message "Can't Play Video" occurs?

Android usually gives out this message, when it is not able to play the media content. The reasons for this to happen can be anything like

• Unsupported file format
• Unsupported codecs
• Erroneous content

to mention a few.

2)What are the Solution for that?

Unless you have your own Media Framework in your app, there is no solution from the application level

3) What could be possible mistakes in my application?

Very unlikely the mistake is in your application. If you read the logs, you will see that the error seems to originate from the DataSource of opencore (Which version of android are you running anyway? It is still using Opencore instead of StageFright). It is recognizing it as a large file (> 2GB) and hence giving out the error "E/OsclDirectFileIO( 2182): [LargeFileSupport] OsclDirectFileIO::OpenFileOrSharedFd Error = -1"

The other thing to note is certain phones have better multimedia capability than the other phones, since OEM's can themselves improve the multimedia capability. So there is no written guarantee that all files can be played on all devices, even though it conforms to the supported formats, codecs mentioned by Android.

Answer 2

Its all about format problem, Some phone record the video in mp4 format and some in 3gp format, but in almost all phones the default mediaplayer support 3gp format. So the solution is you need to convert it into 3gp at the time of playing. This thing is difficult to handle in android, So at server end you can do it easily and hence whatever the format of the video is being uploaded you can download it in one format .3gp and it will work fine.

Answer 3

Make sure that your video is in MP4 format , but if still does not play or shows same error then fault is not with the code. Fault is in the video resolution. just check height and width of you video and match it with you video view component. There are lot of free video compressors Online available. So just compress your video and test it.

It will work. Cheers!!!

Answer 4

I kept getting the same "Can't Play Video" message while trying to play video from the phone itself. First I didn't input good path to a file but there was anther interesting issue.

1. I've type path from the root, example /videoFileName.mp4 and I should have type it with sdcard in between like /sdcard/videoFileName.mp4

2. My Sony Ercisson Xperia Arc was connected as a usb mass device storage at the same time I was running my app through adb, so internal sd card was unmounted and file could not be found. I've discovered this when I tryed same code on Samsung Galaxy S which behaves differently when connected.