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External Player Won't Load


Natilus13
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Natilus13

Hello Emby community,

 

I'm really hoping someone out there can help shed some light on this for me. Try as I might I have not been able to get an external player, in my case VLC, working with Emby Theater on Windows.

 

Back when Emby was known as Media Browser, I was able to get VLC working fine. I've found some good posts on the forums and spoke with some kind people but have still not had any luck. I've copied my settings to match exactly with the settings in this post...

 

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/43054-considering-emby/?p=402646

 

5877ef7ace3d3_EmbyVLC1.png

No luck, Emby Theater still plays any video files.

 

I have also tried copying the settings from this post...

 

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/31284-external-player-support/page-6&do=findComment&comment=323052

 

5877efbd980aa_EmbyVLC2.png

 

Same issue, VLC is not loaded and Emby Theater still plays the video.

 

I've tried cutting back on the amount of arguments, and even using no arguments, but I have not been able to get VLC to play.

 

I am running Windows 10 and Emby Theater 2.5.35

 

I would greatly appreciate any help.

 

Thanks!

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Natilus13

try removing the file:///

Thanks Luke. I did that so that the last argument is now just {path}, I even tried using that as the only argument.

 

Still the same issue however.

 

Any other thoughts?

Edited by Natilus13
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Natilus13

try going back to the default arguments of {PATH}

 

Oops... I see there error I made :P

 

I tried this...

 

5877fc93362f8_path1.png

 

and this...

 

5877fca6e7411_path2.png

 

Still the same problem, Emby plays the file and VLC does not load.

Edited by Natilus13
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Natilus13

I just updated the path to VLC to be correct, and now Emby is just giving me a spinning wheel. I'll try testing more later tonight or tomorrow.

 

Funny how I wasn't seeing that mistake until I posted screen caps.

 

Thanks!  :D

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Natilus13

So I've fixed the error I had in the path to VLC and have tried using only the argument {PATH}

 

587904b078eed_path.png

 

But Emby Theater still plays the video and VLC does not launch.

 

I also want to give a shout out to @@funwithmedia as they were also trying to help with this and have posted a lot of great info on the forums.

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funwithmedia

What types of files are you trying to play? Everything I've done with VLC as an External Player for ET was for playing DVD VIDEO_TS folder rips, but it should work quite similarly with other video types.

 

I don't recall it working without the file:/// before {PATH} though.

 

My experience was that VLC would throw an error of some sort when I didn't have my command line stuff right, so if that is not happening that is curious. What version of VLC are you using? And though this is almost silly to ask, have you checked that VLC actually resides at the location you're using for Player Path? Another thought is to use something like Windows Task Manager to see if VLC is even getting launched briefly (and then exiting).

 

I'm sure we'll be able to get this sorted eventually, but it is rather curious what you're encountering thus far.

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Natilus13

The majority of my files are MKV format and I've tried using the argument {PATH} both with and without FILE:/// and the results were the same.

 

I'll try to do some more testing later today or this weekend and try your task manager idea to see if VLC is even being called. I can confirm that I do have the correct path for VLC.

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

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As a test I setup an external player pointing to vlc with {path} as the arguments, and it launched with no problems.

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funwithmedia

As a test I setup an external player pointing to vlc with {path} as the arguments, and it launched with no problems.

Good to know! It may be that the file:/// part is only needed for VIDEO_TS folders and/or only needed if using arguments (or perhaps certain arguments).

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Natilus13

Here is the most recent update.

 

I've discovered that if I uncheck the 3D tag under additional filters then VLC will try to load. I get an error though telling me that {path} cannot be found. I get a similar message if I try switching to file:///{path}

 

587b83cfed41e_VLCerror.png

 

If I turn the 3D filter back on and try and play a 3D video I get that same error message as well.

Edited by Natilus13
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Good day,

 

Just for testing, I enable external player (on latest emby theater for win) on win 10 64, I just put the vlc path and enable for all type video, then just his for the argument:

{path}

I test some bluray movies and it run without problem here.

 

I still think mpc-hc/be work better with theater (personal view).

 

My best

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Good day,

 

Just for testing, I enable external player (on latest emby theater for win) on win 10 64, I just put the vlc path and enable for all type video, then just his for the argument:

{path}

I test some bluray movies and it run without problem here.

 

I still think mpc-hc/be work better with theater (personal view).

 

My best

 

Same here, thank you.

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funwithmedia

Here is the most recent update.

 

I've discovered that if I uncheck the 3D tag under additional filters then VLC will try to load. I get an error though telling me that {path} cannot be found. I get a similar message if I try switching to file:///{path}

 

587b83cfed41e_VLCerror.png

 

If I turn the 3D filter back on and try and play a 3D video I get that same error message as well.

You've got something really wonky going on there... The {PATH} variable in ET is not getting translated into the actual file path, and then (perhaps because of that) what is getting passed to VLC is a Windows/system32 path. That's very weird, and I don't think that has anything to do with whether you use file:/// or not. I think something else is going on.

 

@@Luke / others, any thoughts on what might cause the {PATH} ET variable to not translate to the actual video path?

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funwithmedia

As a test, try it lowercase

Good catch. I can confirm that on my setup using uppercase {PATH} causes it to fail, whereas {path} (along with my various extra arguments) works fine.

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Natilus13

I had a chance to do a little testing. When I use {path} VLC launches. When I use {PATH} it does not.

 

I have a very slow remote connection so I will do some more testing later but I think we may have solved the issue. Once I am 100% certain everything is indeed working as intended then I will write up a quick step by step to help anyone else with setting VLC as an external player.

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funwithmedia

I had a chance to do a little testing. When I use {path} VLC launches. When I use {PATH} it does not.

 

I have a very slow remote connection so I will do some more testing later but I think we may have solved the issue. Once I am 100% certain everything is indeed working as intended then I will write up a quick step by step to help anyone else with setting VLC as an external player.

Great! Let me know if you need any help parsing out what the different arguments do -- some of them are definitely personal preference and what not. So we can maybe have a list of recommended arguments, and then a list of additional ones that some may or may not wish to use (eg, a list of hotkey args for those that want to make the hotkeys match the hotkey assignments used in Emby, for example).

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Natilus13

I have just tested this again with the various arguments turned on and everything is working. One key thing, I need to make certain that the additional 3D filter is turned off. I'm not quit sure what that filter does as my 3D video files launch just fine in VLC with it turned off.

 

I will try to get a write up together over the next week or so and post it.

 

Thanks again for all the help in getting this sorted. I am still hopeful that one day I will just be able to use the Emby apps. For now though, VLC does a much better job in down-mixing 5.1/7/1 to stereo and the picture quality is also better. I've been really impressed with just how much Emby has grown in the past few years. I wish I had some coding skills so that I could help out with further development :-)

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