Problem playing some episodes using VLC

melubcookies · Post by **melubcookies** » Jun 19th, '09, 18:50

Hi! I've been watching Shining Inheritance recently and I just downloaded episodes 7 and 8 from aja-aja. However, when I went to watch the videos, they would not play. I was using VLC on my Macbook with OSX to try and play the ental versions of the drama. The funny thing is, when I play the other episodes, they work.
this is what the error log? says:

I really hope someone can help me figure this out because I tried to search for a solution on google, but nothing really helped. thanks!!

Kakijun · Post by **Kakijun** » Jun 19th, '09, 19:41

I'm just guessing but maybe those files aren't complete. I.E. they're not completely downloaded.
Also try downloading the latest version of VLC player.
Good luck

melubcookies · Post by **melubcookies** » Jun 19th, '09, 23:21

thanks for the reply but I've redownloaded more than once because I though the files might be incomplete or corrupted. I also tried downloading it from a different source and I had the same problem. Also, the first thing that I tried in order to fix it was download the latest version of VLC (Version 0.9.9a)

Also, I forgot to mention in my first post that I tried to play the files on parallels, and they worked absolutely fine.

sungie · Post by **sungie** » Jun 19th, '09, 23:59

Try checking the files with GSpot. It'll tell if there is a codec problem or if the file is corrupted.

Edit:
looking at the log file, it seems the file is nicely corrupted (see all "PTS is out of range" warnings).

melubcookies · Post by **melubcookies** » Jun 20th, '09, 00:42

but gspot doesn't work with macs?
and it seems really weird that it would be corrupted because it works fine when I play it on parallels using media player classic. thanks though!

groink · Post by **groink** » Jun 20th, '09, 00:47

As far as the Internet is concerned, I have no idea what aja-aja is. It sounds like it is a DDL site. Is anyone else there reporting success or failures with this video? If the files in question are ripped (doesn't have to be uploaded) by the same person, it may be the fault of the ripper. As sungie pointed out, those log files shows flaws in the file, and the flaws could have come from either the ripper himself, or the download process.

Many Windows-based players are robust enough to cut through these errors, and the person watching will never know there was ever a problem. Maybe the Macintosh versions are not as robust, and it is that platform that are catching these ripping anomalies.

--- groink

sungie · Post by **sungie** » Jun 20th, '09, 01:59

MPC is able to play corrupted files pretty well from my experience.

I don't know any program for Mac, that would show the same info as GSpot. In other forums someone recommended VideoSpec, but since I don't have Mac I dunno if it shows info about corrupted file.

Anyways, I went and downloaded episode 7 (Ental) from Aja-Aja [yes, it's a website for DDLs], opened it in GSpot and got following info:

So yes, the file is corrupted, but I had no problems playing it in MPC or BSPlayer.

This is likely a problem with Ental file and not uploading. But it looks like there is HAN versions (찬란한 유산.E07.KOR.090516.HDTV.XViD-HAN.avi or something that sort) of both 7 & 8 out. You may wanna check them.

melubcookies · Post by **melubcookies** » Jun 20th, '09, 02:02

thanks so much everyone! I will try and download a different version and also try asking around to see if anyone else is having problems with the files! thanks!

groink · Post by **groink** » Jun 20th, '09, 06:16

You know, although the problem has been (somewhat) solved, it does bring up one big HUGE problem with DDL. And I'll give a theory as to how the files became damaged. When they were originally distributed, assuming via BitTorrent, one person was stuck at 90-something percent. He probably stopped the torrent, played what he already had, and it worked for him.

Next, he took his incomplete and damaged file, and started sharing it with others outside of BitTorrent. One of these recipients probably uploaded the file to DDL.

That's the problem with DDL. Unless the file was uploaded to DLL by the original fansubbing group, there is a chance that the file is not 100-percent. This is why P2P is a more effective source of verified file sharing. Its protocols has these built-in hash checks to validate the file's completeness.

Here's what I'd like for fansubbers to do in all their distributions, either:

1. Include a hash number in the filename of the file.
or
2. What I did was include a separate MD5 checksum file in my distributions.

This way, it allows the file to be checked beyond the means of P2P. Jem started this, and even today you can obtain MD5 checksums of all his files from his web site. I just wish other fansubbers would start doing one or the other.

--- groink

peacht · Post by **peacht** » Jun 20th, '09, 06:27

You could try mplayer or movist (which has the best sub support for macs) to see if either of them will play the files. I find that some files giving a problem on one player will play fine on another.

melubcookies · Post by **melubcookies** » Jun 22nd, '09, 03:03

I tried the files with mplayer and they worked! So that's great, but I think the files are corrupted. I just emailed the staff of aja-aja and I got a reply saying that whatever problem I was having was my fault and that I need to fix it myself because nobody else has said they were having problems with the files. I will just download the Han versions and hope they work. I also found a torrent on soompi for them and will try and download them to see if they work. I would have used bitorrent in the first place but d-addicts doesn't have the torrents past episode 6. Thanks everyone for their help & replies!!

sweetanna · Post by **sweetanna** » Jul 27th, '09, 15:40

Dear melubcookies,

This has happened to me before with the Terroir episodes from aja-aja.
I also contacted them and one of the staff was kind enough to even try reuploading the files I had a problem with. After re-downloading I still found that the file was incomplete (I am also on a mac). So the problem is not the downloading process, but as groink said, the file is incomplete to begin with.

Using torrents to finish up the file should've worked for you. That's what I ended up doing as well. This method is just fine if you can find the appropriate torrent, but finding the torrents isn't always possible. Since some of the latest K dramas aren't even on D-addicts yet, one must traverse the internet in search.

Just this past week I got a whole bunch of files from aja-aja and some of the files had the same problem. I will write the aja-aja staff again just to alert them to this situation.

It seems aja-aja is swiftly becoming the go-to site for K dramas. I think they're fabulous, but this is a kink in the delivery system that just needs to be worked out.

Cheers,
sweetanna

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Problem playing some episodes using VLC

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