"This video is not available" on some youtube videos

[triplesixman]

Checklist

• I'm reporting a broken site
• I've verified that I'm running yt-dlp version 2021.10.10. (update instructions)
• I've checked that all provided URLs are alive and playable in a browser
• I've checked that all URLs and arguments with special characters are properly quoted or escaped
• I've searched the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones. DO NOT post duplicates
• I've read the guidelines for opening an issue
• I've read about sharing account credentials and I'm willing to share it if required

Region

No response

Description

I notice that when I use yt-dlp with the function "--extractor-args youtube:player_client=android " (obliged to use it, otherwise the download never finishes because of the youtube limitation and my internet connection), some videos do not download correctly, example with this one : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Y1kmvS05o

I have encountered this problem rarely but it is systematic for some videos.
NB: I have activated the lazyextractors.

Verbose log

root@server:~/test# yt-dlp -Uv --extractor-args youtube:player_client=android https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Y1kmvS05o
[debug] Command-line config: ['-Uv', '--extractor-args', 'youtube:player_client=android', 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Y1kmvS05o']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out utf-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] yt-dlp version 2021.10.10 (source)
[debug] Lazy loading extractors enabled
[debug] Plugins: ['SamplePluginPP']
[debug] Git HEAD: 8063de510
[debug] Python version 3.9.7 (CPython 64bit) - Linux-4.9.0-16-amd64-x86_64-with-glibc2.24
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 4.1.2, ffprobe 4.1.2, phantomjs 2.1.1
[debug] Optional libraries: sqlite
[debug] ANSI escape support: stdout = True, stderr = True
[debug] Proxy map: {}
yt-dlp is up to date (2021.10.10)
[debug] [youtube] Extracting URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Y1kmvS05o
[youtube] g_Y1kmvS05o: Downloading webpage
[youtube] g_Y1kmvS05o: Downloading android player API JSON
ERROR: [youtube] g_Y1kmvS05o: This video is not available
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py", line 589, in extract
    ie_result = self._real_extract(url)
  File "/opt/yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py", line 2853, in _real_extract
    self.raise_no_formats(reason, expected=True)
  File "/opt/yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py", line 1085, in raise_no_formats
    raise ExtractorError(msg, expected=expected, video_id=video_id)
yt_dlp.utils.ExtractorError: This video is not available
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py", line 589, in extract
    ie_result = self._real_extract(url)
  File "/opt/yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py", line 2853, in _real_extract
    self.raise_no_formats(reason, expected=True)
  File "/opt/yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py", line 1085, in raise_no_formats
    raise ExtractorError(msg, expected=expected, video_id=video_id)
yt_dlp.utils.ExtractorError: This video is not available

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/yt-dlp/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py", line 1263, in wrapper
    return func(self, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/opt/yt-dlp/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py", line 1288, in __extract_info
    ie_result = ie.extract(url)
  File "/opt/yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py", line 605, in extract
    raise ExtractorError(
yt_dlp.utils.ExtractorError: [youtube] g_Y1kmvS05o: This video is not available

[MinePlayersPE]

Can confirm that this doesn't work on the YouTube app, so not sure what can be done (especially since using clients seperately isn't completely officially recommended either)

[triplesixman]

Can confirm that this doesn't work on the YouTube app, so not sure what can be done (especially since using clients seperately isn't completely officially recommended either)

Indeed, I did the test on my browser and it worked, I did not think it could be different on the youtube mobile app. So it's a problem on the youtube side.

As mentioned, without the "android" value you know like me that it is now difficult to download youtube videos from the limitations.

Thanks for the answer.

[coletdjnz]

Yeah don't use --extractor-args youtube:player_client=android - it is not needed anymore and there are reasons why we have the web client as a fallback (like this).

I also checked the other clients we have but it looks like this video is not available on any other client but web? Unfortunately one of those edge cases where you might experience the throttling issue :/

[triplesixman]

Yeah don't use --extractor-args youtube:player_client=android - it is not needed anymore and there are reasons why we have the web client as a fallback (like this).

I also checked the other clients we have but it looks like this video is not available on any other client but web? Unfortunately one of those edge cases where you might experience the throttling issue :/

Just to be sure, it is no longer necessary to use "--extractor-args" because by default yt-dlp already uses the android client, and if it does not work it uses the web client?

[coletdjnz]

--extractor-args

Just to be sure, it is no longer necessary to fill in the "--extractor-args" because by default yt-dlp already uses the android client, and if it does not work it uses the web client?

Yep. Default is --extractor-args youtube:player_client=android,web

[triplesixman]

Thank you for your answers.