Subsonic Forum

Hey folks, I've got a weird problem here. I read that the quality of the video stream can be improved by using h264. So I installed x264 and libx264-85, and changed the mpg > flv transcode from

ffmpeg -ss %o -i %s -async 1 -b %bk -s %wx%h -ar 44100 -ac 2 -v 0 -f flv -
to
ffmpeg -ss %o -i %s -async 1 -b %bk -s %wx%h -ar 44100 -ac 2 -v 0 -f flv -vcodec libx264 -

It gave an error beginning with "Video not found or access denied: /stream?pathUtf8Hex=..." but it did not record it in the log.

Hurrumph, said I, and I removed the change. Same error.
Delete and re-enter the transcode. Same error.
Restart Subsonic. Same error.
Reinstall Subsonic. Same error.

I have gone from hurrumph to grrrr! I'm using Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. Does anyone know how to resolve this? Thanks.

Well, the problem is partly solved. First, it only effects h264 encoded files. (I find it curious that it worked until I edited one of the transcodes, but would not work again even with the transcode set back to its original value.) Second, based on the number of results returned by a Google search for "Video not found or access denied", it happens a lot.

The fix is made by removing ffmpeg, x264 and libx264 from the computer, and then recompiling them locally with x264 properly enabled. I found this thread with instructions about how to Install FFmpeg and x264 on Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04. I did only the mandatory steps 1, 2, 3 and 7. The newly compiled ffmpeg is in my home directory, so I dropped a new link that points to the right place in the Subsonic transcode folder.

Voila! That resolved the problem when streaming videos on the server, which is a step in the right direction, but not when streaming them to a remote client. I'm guessing the reason is remote requests don't have permission to access ffmpeg in my home directory, when it used to be in /usr/bin/.

My Ubuntu skills are weak, so I have no idea how to make ffmpeg build in /usr/bin/, which is probably the correct way to solve the problem. I could also give the necessary permissions to others to access the ffmpeg folder in my home directory, but I'm not clear on what permission to give to what group or others. Any Ubuntu pros out there with the skills to unravel this?

In the continuing saga...

I had a light bulb moment and realized I could login as root and repeat the above in /usr/bin/. So I did. Sadly, the situation remains the same - I can view h264 encoded videos on the server but not from a remote client.

Help!

I am getting this same issue with some of my friends. They are not able to view videos. Getting the access denied. I logged remotely on to their system, logged in as me and was able to stream the video. Logged out and back in as them, same thing. Access denied. I shared the link to them, it works fine. Is there certain permissions they need to have on the file shares? Anyone run into this?

I'm having this exact same problem. Its strange that you can play it on the local box but not remotely given that you are using the same ffmpeg. There must be some directory/file we need to find and change the permission of.