VLC freezes with unnerving frequency

[ScottyK]

My install of 22.04 is an upgrade from 21.10 which is an upgrade from 20.04 LTS. That said, I've noticed the last 3-4 weeks that VLC will freeze during playback, but the audio will keep going. Then while the audio is still going, the program becomes non-responsive. I can't close it. I can't minimize it. Within the System Monitor/Application tab I can't close it out. I can't quit the application from there. The only thing that works is the Kill command. That will close it out. I restart VLC, and it works normally for a while, then does it again.

I have an Nvidia video card (GTX 1050 Ti) with driver set 510.73.05. I let whatever comes down the update channels. VLC is the package provides by Ubuntu. I see there is a higher version from the VLC website, but haven't grabbed that one yet. Nothing else is really different from a stock install. Any idea of what to check?

[rab0171610]

Does this happen with all media? What kind of hard drive is this media being played from? It could possibly be a read/write problem. You could try increasing the cache in VLC preferences to see if this has any effect.
Does the same problem occur with another player, such as SMplayer? or Just VLC?

You could try changing the video output in VLC settings to something other than the default (automatic), such as XV, vidpau or X11 to see if the problem persists.

You could try deleting the configuration files before running vlc and seeing if that has any effect:

rm -r ~/.config/vlc

You could also try running cvlc (cvlc will alow you to see ouput in the terminal, in my case vlc spawns and closes the terminal ouput) from the command line followed by your file name with the verbosity flags:

-v, --verbose=<integer> Verbosity (0,1,2)

example:

cvlc --verbose=2 file.avi

Read the ouput in the terminal to see if there are any clues as to what the program is doing when the error occurs.
You could also try a program like strace to see if you get any more info on what the program, in this case VLC, is doing when the freezing occurs:

sudo apt install strace

Running strace with vlc should be as follows:

strace cvlc myfile.avi

A simple tutorial was posted recently on strace, how it works, and how to read the output:
https://www.howtoforge.com/linux-strace-command/
If it works correctly, you may see output in the terminal after cvlc ouput that may help you figure out what is going on.
Good Luck!

[claydoh]

In addition to the above, do try installing an up to date version of VLC - this will be a Snap, as that is what VLC provides. This is good for testing, as it doesn't interfere with your existing install, and as it has all of its codecs etc built in, it can be used to help determine if it is something like a driver issue, or that VLC itself is `bad here.

I have been having issues with VLC off and on since 20.04 (more often *on*), on both AMD and Intel graphics, so I use MPV or Dragon as well. Freezing has been one common problem for me, as well as simply not closing.

[GreyGeek]

You can try one of several AppImages of VLC
https://github.com/cmatomic/VLCplaye...mage/releases/
An Internet search will reveal others.

[ScottyK]

Most of the files I watch are stored on an SSD. I'll load files from different drives and see what happens.
Just downloaded SMplayer, I'll see what happens there.
I'll also try the different outputs and see what happens.
Lots of good advice here!