Playback error on crackle.com

[mycologycollege]

Crackle is free to use (free account creation too).

The videos work fine with Google Chrome.

Vivaldi (and FireFox) give:

Playback Failure
We're sorry, we are unable to play Unsolved Mysteries With Robert Stack S1:E1 right now. Please refresh or try again later.

[Pathduck]

@mycologycollege

Unsupported Region
Sorry, we are only streaming in the United States and its territories for now.

Oh well.

Please try the troubleshooting steps, including testing in a clean profile and disabling adblocking/extensions:
https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/troubleshoot/troubleshooting-issues/

[edwardp]

We're sorry, we are unable to play Unsolved Mysteries With Robert Stack S1:E1 right now. Please refresh or try again later.

Crackle is involved in the Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment bankruptcy (Chapter 7) in the U.S. I'm wondering if the service itself has shut down, yet the web site remains up. No matter what I selected, the same message as above (with different title) appeared. No account.

But, it doesn't explain the videos working with Chrome.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crackle_(service):

On July 10, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved a conversion of the bankruptcy to Chapter 7, which would signal a liquidation of the company's assets, and the cessation of its subsidiaries, including Crackle.[36] However, as of December 2024, Crackle's website is still operating.

EDIT: Just tested with Chromium, continuously displayed the 'spinner', video did not load.

[stpvid1]

just checked Crackle, signed in, and its still up and running movies for me, so it must still be in use for now.

[mycologycollege]

@stpvid1 said in Playback error on crackle.com:

just checked Crackle, signed in, and its still up and running movies for me, so it must still be in use for now.

which browser?

[stpvid1]

@mycologycollege I looked for my password to Crackle, it was on [Edge] only so when I clicked on the site it worked. (duh) Sorry for that, didn't realize what browser I was on. I tried the latest Vivaldi and Firefox on Linux to Crackle, doesn't work. Those 2 sites were always a problem in the past for streaming movies, haven't used them in awhile, usually I use TubiTv nowadays.

HTH

[mycologycollege]

@stpvid1 Was that on Windows?

[stpvid1]

@mycologycollege Edge on W11 worked ; and Vivaldi and Firefox on Linux didn't , trying crackle and fandango. I think its those websites are setup that way, they always had streaming problems in the past and seem to "just work" with Microsoft

[Pathduck]

• Always test in a clean profile
• Read the docs:
  https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/media/widevinecdm-eme-drm-netflix-amazon-spotify/
• Read about proprietary media on Linux:
  https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/media/html5-proprietary-media-on-linux/
• Use chrome://media-internals to get a player log that might reveal the reason for media playback failure
• Use the Developer Tools Media tab, gives the same info as media-internals, but per tab so easier to understand:
  https://developer.chrome.com/docs/devtools/media-panel
• Make sure the Widevine module is updated, in case of DRM content:
  chrome://components

[mycologycollege]

@Pathduck I'm afraid that is not the answer to make it work. I believe there are different levels of Widevine. L3 is needed. Vivaldi/Linux, as far as I know, can not offer it.

[Pathduck]

@mycologycollege Well, the logs should tell you that. Making assumptions on what fails without actually checking logs is pretty much pointless.

L3 is needed. Vivaldi/Linux, as far as I know, can not offer it.

I think you got it the wrong way around.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widevine#Architecture
https://www.da.vidbuchanan.co.uk/blog/netflix-on-asahi.html
https://linuxcommunity.io/t/drm-the-final-barrier-to-linux-desktop-adoption/3760

And we don't even know if it's Widevine or not yet unless looking at the logs.

[mycologycollege]

@Pathduck I got this mixed up with PeacockTV, another problem on Linux. This is what Crackle gave:

render_id: 1803
player_id: 0
created: 2025-01-22 22:54:25.238748 UTC
origin_url: https://www.crackle.com/
kFrameUrl: https://www.crackle.com/watch/6e95dc0d-c487-41d4-80e0-aac19b724103/follow-me/all-for-fun
kFrameTitle: Watch Follow Me S2:E1 - All for Fun online free - Crackle
url: blob:https://www.crackle.com/467d717a-a5b8-48de-890f-be985dd65e10
info: DecryptingVideoDecoder: no key for key ID 8501D165A2934477938416203E386ADE; will resume decoding after new usable key is available
kRendererName: RendererImpl
pipeline_state: kStopped
duration: 3002.666
kAudioTracks: [object Object]
kVideoTracks: [object Object]
kSetCdm: [object Object]
kIsCdmAttached: true
kIsAudioDecryptingDemuxerStream: true
kAudioDecoderName: FFmpegAudioDecoder
kIsPlatformAudioDecoder: false
debug: Video rendering in low delay mode.
seek_target: 0.066733
kIsVideoDecryptingDemuxerStream: false
kVideoDecoderName: DecryptingVideoDecoder
kIsPlatformVideoDecoder: false
event: kWebMediaPlayerDestroyed

[Pathduck]

@mycologycollege Doesn't really tell me much, expect it's a very short log so something clearly fails early on.

I get the "no key for key ID" also when testing DRM video, it's an "info" level message so not necessarily the error.

Can you play back the following demo DRM videos?
https://reference.dashif.org/dash.js/latest/samples/drm/widevine.html
https://bitmovin.com/demos/drm/
https://demo.castlabs.com/#/player/demo (choose Protected MPEG-DASH)

Here's how a log should look:
https://0x0.st/8Xip.txt

[mycologycollege]

@Pathduck Yes, the linked DRM demo videos play flawlessly.

[Pathduck]

@mycologycollege OK then we can exclude Widevine/DRM I guess.

Do you see any relevant errors in the Devtools console?
Do you see any blocked/failing requests in the Devtools network log?

[mycologycollege]

@Pathduck Aye, it took me a bit to try to figure out how to use Dev Tools. I may not quite have it right. I PM'ed you a link to 2 separate logs (zipped).

[Pathduck]

@mycologycollege They were yes/no questions

A screenshot or a simple copy+paste of relevant blocked requests would do. But I'll have a look.

EDIT: I see no errors in the network log.

You'll just have to wait for someone who:

• Is technical enough
• Is in the US
• Runs the same Linux distro and version as you

Also, did you complete all the troubleshooting steps I linked?

[stpvid1]

Even Pluto TV acts up with Vivaldi too. I tried it with Edge(W11) and had to allow 3rd party cookies so it shows video. Something weird with these free streaming services even on Windows, maybe they use I.E. for their servers!
Crackle runs on Edge too (Win11)
Pluto TV does run in Edge(W11) with cookies allowed, ad blocker off, maybe because Linux is open source it won't run on it?

[mycologycollege]

@stpvid1 nah, works fine on Linux + Google Chrome.

[edwardp]

@stpvid1 Pluto TV acts up on my TV, through the cable company's streaming box. Might not be a browser issue...