[DESKTOP] VLC media player stays stuck when you close a video

[Red Squirrel]

I have this issue where if I open a video, the first one works, but when I X out, any attempts at opening any other file fail, I just get nothing. I notice an icon in the system tray for VLC that stays stuck. I get a right click menu but it won't let me exit. If I do ps aux I can see it, and I can do a kill -9 on the process ID to kill it, then it lets me open another video again.

Anyone else getting this issue?

[phonic-otg]

I have a similar issue. Firstly when I did a fresh install of 20.04 on a new SSD sata drive (leaving my 18.04 on an M.2 SSD) I went to try playing a media (video) file from the file system of the 18.04 m.2 drive, it played in VLC through the new Elisa multimedia app. So I checked the file associations and made sure all video is played in VLC. After a reboot things seemed normal. Played more vids in VLC ok, except when using the arrow keys to skip through the audio would lag or sputter to catch up. I can open multiple instances of VLC and have them all play simultaneously with no issue. My issue is when I use the "X" to close/quit VLC the window closes but the Systray icon remains with access to a popup menu that wont respond to Quit either. I too have to go to Ksysguard and in the process tab send the KILL signal to have it close completely. I did notice that opening a file from Dolphin or from VLC the issue of an incomplete close/quit via the "X" is the same.
To get a CLEAN close/quit one has to either use the menu-bar Media>Quit or the shortcut key of CTRL+Q.
One has to ask what is the point of the three window bar icons Minimize/Restore/Close if they do not function well.

[wonder]

I have the same problem with VLC, and I have noticed that, once the vlc systray opens in and stays in systray, this we can no longer close it (except for the method discussed by you) while it is in systray, I have configured my desktop to automatically sleep after 20 minutes inactivity and turn off monitor after 10 minutes of inactivity, this does not happen if vlc is in systray.

[jlittle]

FWIW, I don't have this problem, either in a fresh install of 20.04, or an install release-upgraded from 19.10.

[Beerislife]

Same here in KDE Neon. Start a video and stop it to look at something else and VLC is lost in space! As has been said, I need to kill the hung process and restart. This doesn't happen every time though.

[wonder]

FWIW, I don't have this problem, either in a fresh install of 20.04, or an install release-upgraded from 19.10.

My install is a fresh install...
Regards!

[claydoh]

I know it is not a popular option, but it may be worth checking if a more up to date VLC might remedy this

VLC recommend and support their Snap version.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-ubuntu.html

At least it is fairly easy to test if it is version-specific or not.
Neon (18.04) is not old, at 3.0.8, while 20.04 is at 3.0.9. The current is 3.10, which is only a few days old.

[claydoh]

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...c/+bug/1847162

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...c/+bug/1819543

There are reports of this in other distros as well, so methinks it is likely a VLC bug.

[Tanker Bob]

I just installed the SNAP 3.10, and it seems to work OK. A longer test period will be needed to make a definitive statement.

[phonic-otg]

FYI, this mornings, 10/06/20, (or 06/10/20 for US) update fixed this issue for me.

[wonder]

FYI, this mornings, 10/06/20, (or 06/10/20 for US) update fixed this issue for me.

What update was resolved the issue?
A few minutes ago, I need start manually Discover for view updates (for me, automatic notifications for updates not work ) and this are my news updates:

[Bings]

I have this issue with 3.0.9.2 in the two distros I use. Snap and Flathub have 3.0.10, so like was said is probably fixed there. I myself switched to SMplayer and am happy with that. It has a breeze theme and fits well with KDE.

[Red Squirrel]

I had ended up switching to another player, but glad this issue was not just me!