Unable to extract Uploader ID

[Tenz14]

The downloads don't work now and instead we get the message saying "Unable to extract Uploader ID". Looked around to see if anyone else had this problem and saw that it was something to do with youtube implementing the @ channel name. Saw a lot of talk about it on the main ytdl but didn't see any here so just wanted to report it.

[section83]

I updated MacYTDL to deal with "Handle URLs" in version 1.23. It works well as far as I can tell.

YT-DLP was updated to version 2023.02.17 which addressed a number of issues including with YouTube. One of the fixes was:

[extractor/youtube] Fix uploader_id extraction by [bashonly](https://github.com/bashonly)

The downloads don't work now and instead we get the message saying "Unable to extract Uploader ID".

Can you describe a few things ?

• Which URLs are affected ?
• Is a log file saved ? If so, can you post a copy ?
• Can you post a copy of this file: [Your Mac]/Users/[Your Home/Library/Preferences/MacYTDL/simulate.txt
• Can you post a capture of the error ?

Thanks.

[Tenz14]

All the URLs don't work. I even tried URLs that I have downloaded before and they seem to not work as well.

Log
youtube-dl_log-the-error-download-Monday_February_27_2023_at_1_50_17_AM.txt

Screenshot

[section83]

Both of those videos are no longer available:

Can you provide more example URLs ?

Also, please turn on "Verbose logging". The resulting log file contains much more detail without which I can't diagnose the problem.

Thanks.

[Tenz14]

Sorry about that. Here is a more recent one.

youtube-dl_log-the-error-download-Tuesday_February_28_2023_at_2_19_04_PM.txt

[section83]

That video downloads normally:

I think it would be best if you updated YT-DLP. You are currently running version 2022.10.04. There have been a lot of bug fixes since then including for the "Unable to extract Uploader ID" issue.

To update YT-DLP:

• Open MacYTDL.
• Click on "Utilities".
• Tick the box next to "Check for yt-dlp update".
• Click on "Start"
• Enter your admin credentials when asked.

Thanks.

[Tenz14]

When I try to update, I get the message that it's updated to the most recent one.

[Tenz14]

Follow up: The problem turns out to be my chrome version. It wasn't up to date so it was messing with MacYTDL. I updated the chrome browser to the latest version and now it works. Thanks a lot for all the replies.

[Tenz14]

Can you check if this video works? This one doesn't work.

youtube-dl_log-the-error-download-Tuesday_February_28_2023_at_9_39_05_PM.txt

[section83]

When I try to update, I get the message that it's updated to the most recent one.

Sorry but, no. That is the function for updating MacYTDL. You need to update the YT-DLP Python script which is used by MacYTDL to download videos. Please follow the steps I suggested in my previous post.

Can you check if this video works? This one doesn't work.

Sorry, but there is not enough detail in that file for me to work with. Please turn on "Verbose logging":

• Open MacYTDL.
• Click on "Settings".
• Click on the tick box beside "Verbose logging".
• Click on "Save Settings".

Cheers.

[Tenz14]

Sorry, here is the verbose logging version.

youtube-dl_log-the-error-download-Tuesday_February_28_2023_at_10_51_30_PM.txt

[section83]

Sorry, here is the verbose logging version.

Great, thanks.

That video downloads normally for me:

Please try to update YT-DLP:

• Open MacYTDL.
• Click on "Utilities".
• Click in the tick box next to "Check for yt-dlp update".
• Click on "Start"
• Enter your admin credentials when asked.

Cheers.

[Tenz14]

Okay. So, I updated it and now I'm getting a pop up like this.

[section83]

Oh heck. There is a bug somewhere. It will be hard to find – I've just done another download of "Kelsang Shrestha - Tasbirma [Lyric Video]". Worked perfectly.

Did you see either of these dialogs?

Currently, I suspect the bug is in code which shows the second dialog. If you saw that dialog, then your download should have worked.

It will take me a some days to investigate further. If you can't get any downloads to work with MacYTDL, and you can't wait, you could look for alternative downloaders. I have found Downie to be good.

Many thanks for keeping in touch.

[Tenz14]

No, I didn't. The error shows up instantly after pressing the continue button in the main box.
Okay. I will try the other one but will also wait for your update.
Thanks a lot to you too for all the help.

[section83]

Can you do me a favour and email a copy of this file:

[Your Mac]/Users/[Your Home]/Library/Preferences/MacYTDL/MacYTDL.plist

My email address is in the "About" box accessible from the "Utilities" dialog.

Thanks.

[Tenz14]

Okay. I sent it.

[mmicha]

I have the same error

There was an error with the URL you entered:

'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwYBkdi4_g4'

The error message was: 

WARNING: [youtube] nsig extraction failed: You may experience throttling for some formats
n = nUn6b7nf7t2I30pMhZ ; player = https://www.youtube.com/s/player/cfa9e7cb/player_ias.vflset/en_US/base.js
ERROR: [youtube] dwYBkdi4_g4: Unable to extract uploader id; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using  yt-dlp -U

Quit, OK to return or Download to try anyway.

Error log
[youtube] dwYBkdi4_g4: Downloading webpage [youtube] dwYBkdi4_g4: Downloading android player API JSON [youtube] dwYBkdi4_g4: Downloading player cfa9e7cb WARNING: [youtube] nsig extraction failed: You may experience throttling for some formats n = ECEyDhdP8je6BbAaeS ; player = https://www.youtube.com/s/player/cfa9e7cb/player_ias.vflset/en_US/base.js ERROR: [youtube] dwYBkdi4_g4: Unable to extract uploader id; please report this issue on https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U

MacOS 12.6.5 (21G531)
MacYTDL 1.24.1

[section83]

mmicha, many thanks for posting.

This is a problem with YT-DLP. It seems to be intermittent. I did a number of downloads from YT this morning with no trouble. Please make sure you are using YT-DLP version 2023.03.04. Also, please turn on "Verbose logging" (in Settings). The detailed log file helps the YT-DLP developers.

If you get this warning dialog:

Just click on "Download". So far it has worked for me.

You can try updating YT-DLP to the latest nightly build using Terminal:

yt-dlp --update-to nightly

There might be a fix in the nightly build (although, I can't find one at present).

I've found that just trying to download again often works.

[section83]

UPDATE: It looks like a fix for YT-DLP has been implemented for the warning on "nsig". It is in the current nightly build.