VLsub error and does not start

[Deschain]

VLsub extension does not start in VLC 2.1.0 (Rincewind) 64bit edition under Windows 7

Here is the log of the error, hope it helps

qt4 debug: activating or triggering extension 'VLsub 0.9.10'
lua debug: Activating extension 'VLsub 0.9.10'
lua debug: [VLsub] Welcome
lua debug: [VLSub] Working directory: C:\Users\FakeName\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\extensions\userdata\vlsub
lua debug: [VLSub] Loading config file: C:\Users\FakeName\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\extensions\userdata\vlsub\vlsub_conf.xml
lua debug: [VLSub] Video URI: file:///D:/Dowloads/Complete.Legal.Content.mp4
lua warning: Error while running script C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\extensions\vlsub.lua, function activate(): ...\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\extensions\vlsub.lua:1184: attempt to index field 'net' (a nil value)
lua error: Could not activate extension!
lua debug: Deactivating 'VLsub 0.9.10'
lua debug: [VLsub] Bye bye!
lua debug: Extension thread end: 'VLsub 0.9.10'

[exebetche]

tl;dr:
The extension is not working with the Vlc version 2.1.x, use version 2.0.8 or 2.2 instead:
Windows 32
Windows 64
Other

Yes, Vlsub will not work with Vlc version 2.1.0 because the "net" module needed to download the subtitles was removed from this version. It should work again with version 2.1.1 (the vlc team agreed to re-enabled it). But I also need to modify the code of Vlsub because of other change in vlc lua runtime and I don't have much time to do it.
So, I'll do my best for Vlc 2.1.1 but for now I have no solution beside go back to Vlc 2.0.8.

Edit (18/12/13): The functions of the "net" module were not bring back on Vlc 2.1.1 nor 2.1.2. The jalon is now set to the 2.1.3 version as you can see on the bug report I filled:
https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/9495
The deadline to the 2.1.3 is set to 31/12 00:00. Wait & see.

Edit (25/03/14): Hurra, the vlc team finally revert the changes, it shall work again with Vlc 2.2:
videolan/vlc@fe30f8c

Edit 16/04/14: It seems they removed another key function, on Windows only this time. It should work on linux and mac though. This has no end, see ticket #8961.

[kim0]

Howdy folks, so VLC 2.1.1 is released, I hope the dev team had some time to update vlsub to support it. Thanks for a great piece of software

[davux]

Hi @exebetche, thanks for this nice plugin and for the explanations about the bug.

I just upgraded to VLC 2.1.1 and I confirm it's still not working, as you anticipated. The error seems to be the same as before, though. Here it goes, HTH:

qt4 debug: activating or triggering extension 'VLsub 0.9.10'
lua debug: Activating extension 'VLsub 0.9.10'
lua debug: [VLsub] Welcome
lua debug: [VLSub] Working directory: /home/eli/.local/share/vlc/lua/extensions/userdata/vlsub
lua debug: [VLSub] Loading config file: /home/eli/.local/share/vlc/lua/extensions/userdata/vlsub/vlsub_conf.xml
lua debug: [VLSub] Video URI: file:///home/eli/Videos/Soleil%20Vert.avi
lua warning: Error while running script /usr/lib/vlc/lua/extensions/VLSub.luac, function activate(): lua/extensions/VLSub.lua:1184: attempt to index field 'net' (a nil value)
lua error: Could not activate extension!
lua debug: Deactivating 'VLsub 0.9.10'
lua debug: [VLsub] Bye bye!
lua debug: Extension thread end: 'VLsub 0.9.10'

Did VLC authors really bring the 'net' module back? I don't see any mention of that in 2.1.1 changelog.

[exebetche]

Hi @davux,

Yes, first they bringed the 'net' module back but a few days before the 2.1.1 was released, a new commit removed every functions in it (so it is basically an empty shell for lua extensions now).
Here is the link to the ticket I opened for this problem:
https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/9495

They put a "jalon" the 2.1.2 release to fix this, scheduled in 10 days if I believe what I see on trac.

[milach]

seems obvious but I'll post anyway, for now, the workaround would be to uninstall vlc, download an older version of it http://www.oldapps.com/VLC_Player.php and then restore the vlsub.lua file.

I'll keep checking this thread to see when to update it again.

thanks

[Likeyn]

You can also get it from VideoLan's FTP archive. I switched back to 2.0.8 and it worked like a charm.

[malfroid]

it seems that the ticket at VLC gets postponed...

Work status: Not started

Changed 4 days ago by jb
Milestone changed from 2.1.3 to 2.1.x maintenance bugs

This means it will not be in 2.1.3 I guess?

[mariuz]

still not fixed in vlc 2.1.3 🔜

[elthommy]

I hope they will solve it soon. At this time the VLC team doesn't seem in an hurry :-(
5 months already >_<

[PeterFour]

Still nothing and Jalon changed to 2.1.x, huum..

[legluondunet]

Same issue in Linux with Ubuntu trusty 14.04 wich provide VLC Rincewind 2.1.2

[sylvestre]

FYI, I am thinking about asking for a removal of vlsub in Debian... It is taking too long.

[exebetche]

I think I'll make a standalone version then. No way to fix it as a vlc extension without a fix of the "api" from the vlc team.

[sylvestre]

No workaround can be implemented here? Is the vlc team aware of the impact? 6 months and plenty of duplicate?

[exebetche]

No there isn't, opensubtitle API works with xmlrpc so you need to make a http post to send request with custom header and the only function left to use internet with lua extension since vlc 2.1 is vlc.stream that allow you to retrieve data only.
Yes they are, see the link to the bug report in my first post.

[exebetche]

Phew... they finally revert the changes, it shall work again with Vlc 2.2:
videolan/vlc@fe30f8c

[elthommy]

Wow! That's a very good news :D
Hopefully this version of vlc will be released soon in my distrib :P

On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 4:36 AM, exebetche notifications@github.com wrote:

Phew... they finally revert the changes, it shall work again with Vlc 2.2:
videolan/vlc@fe30f8chttps://github.com/videolan/vlc/commit/fe30f8c0c3580a93d415004d0e56aa6de7cbbb24

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com//issues/28#issuecomment-38527795
.

[Likeyn]

Awesome. Very good news indeed

2014-03-25 4:36 GMT+01:00 exebetche notifications@github.com:

Phew... they finally revert the changes, it shall work again with Vlc 2.2:
videolan/vlc@fe30f8chttps://github.com/videolan/vlc/commit/fe30f8c0c3580a93d415004d0e56aa6de7cbbb24

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com//issues/28#issuecomment-38527795
.

[avlasic]

I tried to run vlsub on latest win nightlies, but there is a problem with net.poll on win ticket 8961 that also blocks it from working.

Error while running script C:\Users\...\vlc-2.2.0-git-20140328-0031\lua\extensions\vlsub.lua, function (null)(): ...vlc-2.2.0-git-20140328-0031\lua\extensions\vlsub.lua:1661: attempt to call field 'poll' (a nil value)

[exebetche]

@avlasic: Right, still not working on Windows. I reopened the ticket 9495 to ask if there is a workaround.

[catalin-hritcu]

Tried with VLC 2.2.0 (git version) on Arch Linux and it still doesn't work.
Error while running script /usr/lib/vlc/lua/extensions/VLSub.luac

[exebetche]

@catalin-hritcu, you have to use the last version of the script, not the one embed with Vlc.
Remove /usr/lib/vlc/lua/extensions/VLSub.luac and replace it with vlsub.lua.

[catalin-hritcu]

@exebetche This works indeed well with version 0.9.11 of VLSub. Thanks a lot.

[Dimas-sc]

No news on Windows?

[exebetche]

@Dimas-sc, last news was two months ago when the milestone of the ticket #8961 changed from "2.1.x maintenance bugs" to "Bugs paradize". So it seems less likely that they fix this "bug" now.
I quote bug because this is not a bug at all. The developer responsible for removing the net module (courmisch) claims it doesn't work but he can't provide any bug case and no one reported any problem with the network functions on windows. Then he refers to a 3 year ticket where an other Vlc dev says that the code should be simplified.
So I guess it's up to you, windows extension users, to speak up and ask for a solution. I think it's a shame to shut down the extensions using the net module just because one developer feels like removing perfectly working functions just because he thinks the code is not pretty.

[niyazpk]

It is indeed a shame that VLC dev team is taking no interest in making one of the most popular extensions work.

Meanwhile, is there a way patch the vlc files to somehow bring back the net module? This could be added to the extension installation instructions (or even provided as an installer). Thoughts?

[sergioschuler]

Oh boy, I am getting tired of VLC. It's been too long without VLSub.

[colthreepv]

Just use 2.0.8 :)

[gmahomarf]

It's coming back!

https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/8961#comment:25

http://git.videolan.org/?p=vlc.git;a=commit;h=a916d7be15713e577eacb88a18e6e6990e5213d2

[exebetche]

Indeed, if someone could compile Vlc master on Windows and confirm everything works that would be great.

[gmahomarf]

I'll get on that tonight and let you know, unless someone beats me to it.

EDIT: Tonight is about 5 hours from this comment.

[exebetche]

Amazing, thanks.

[gmahomarf]

After several painful hours, I managed to build the latest VLC and test the latest VLSub. As far as I can tell, it works:

http://imgur.com/a/Wu4YT

http://imgur.com/KG8yfEc

[exebetche]

Well done, so much harder than building it on linux. Thank you.

[gmahomarf]

Oh, I still built it on linux, but cross-compiled. A windows native build is suicide, at best. I'm glad this is finally working. Now we wait for the next nightly build

[exebetche]

In fact, the build bot seems to work, I don't know why the build isn't uploaded:
http://buildbot.videolan.org/builders/vlc-cont-win32-x86

[gmahomarf]

Hopefully they upload it soon. I don't trust my build. I'm pretty sure I messed up one or two 3rd-party libraries to force it to build.

[exebetche]

@gmahomarf and everyone, good news for windows users, the latest builds are available on http://nightlies.videolan.org:
Windows 32
Windows 64

I didn't test it thoroughly though, just a quick test with xp win32. But it seems to be pretty stable and work ok.

Edit: the script hasn't been updated yet, so you have to get the 0.9.12 version from here to get it to work properly.

[ghost]

Long lasting ticket coming to an happy resolution, at least :)
Now result is consumable by the uninitiated.

This is great news, thank you very much guys

[exebetche]

@eguun, yup, and we should be thankful to jb kempf for bringing the net module back to life. Let's hope it stays that way.

[elthommy]

Good news!! Finally :D

On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 5:27 PM, exebetche notifications@github.com wrote:

@eguun https://github.com/Eguun, yup, and we should be thankful to jb
kempf for bringing the net module back to life. Let's hope it stays that
way.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#28 (comment).

[exebetche]

Vlc 2.2 is out.

[MaximusMeridias]

I know this is an old thread, but just for the chance that someone still having trouble with vlsub not finishing the download stumbles across here. I just fixed this problem of vlsub not finishing subtitle downloads on my system.

In my case I switched from windows 7 to windows 10 (clean install, no upgrade). Problem occured on my NTFS datadisc holding my media (obviously not refreshed after windows install.)

Symptoms: VLsub would hash the file, find one or more results. When clicking the download button the progressbar appears 100% green, but the process never finishes. Latest version VLC 2.2.4 did not work for me, so tried 2.2.0. No dice either.

Allthough this was not actually the cause, but the hint on vlsubs' site is what lead me in the right direction: "Due to some bugs on Windows, if the path to your video contain non-english characters, the extension will not be able to save subtitles in this directory automatically".

The media in question was burried 4 folders deep in my collection. There were no non-english characters in the path however. I used a # though, in the top folder called "# Series". Thought that might be the cause, so I moved the mediafile to the root of my disc, and...

VOILA! Subs got downloaded!

After that I couldn't quite believe # would cause this kind of a problem, so I tried putting the mediafile in a new map with a # in the name: "# test" And again no problem (!). So the # cannot be the problem. Then I renamed the old "# Series" to "temp" and and "# test" to "# Series" and moved the entire collection from "temp" to the new "#Series" folder

-> Problem solved!

Seems the top-folder of the tree was somehow causing the problem. Maybe NTFS rights and/or user-id's not being equal or something. (Using same username as the old windows install) This goes to deep for me, but I did fix my problem this way. I spend half my evening on this shit, hope this helps someone else out, or if not, alert some developer of this malfunction. :)

[harishreddy-m]

Vlsub crashing with error
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/usr/share/vlc/lua/extensions’: Permission denied
Elementary OS loki
Vlc 2.2.2

[exebetche]

@harish-myaccount put the updated script in [[your home directory]]/.local/share/vlc/lua/extensions/ instead

[harishreddy-m]

Thanks for quick reply.
Copying the script worked fine.But gave two menu options
Download subtitles (one given by VLC by default...this didn't work)
VLSub(this is working fine)

[exebetche]

@harish-myaccount You have to remove the old one, I don't know your OS specifics but maybe this will do:
sudo rm /usr/lib/vlc/lua/extensions/VLSub.luac
or
sudo rm /usr/share/vlc/lua/extensions/VLSub.luac

[harishreddy-m]

yeah
sudo rm /usr/lib/vlc/lua/extensions/VLSub.luac
removed that menu option.
Thanks

Elementary OS - Loki is fork of ubuntu 16.04