[niconico] TypeError: POST data should be bytes or an iterable of bytes. It cannot be of type str.

[stovni3333]

Make sure you are using the latest version: run youtube-dl --version and ensure your version is 2018.08.28. If it's not, read this FAQ entry and update. Issues with outdated version will be rejected.

• I've verified and I assure that I'm running youtube-dl 2018.08.28

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• At least skimmed through the README, most notably the FAQ and BUGS sections
• Searched the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones
• Checked that provided video/audio/playlist URLs (if any) are alive and playable in a browser

What is the purpose of your issue?

• Bug report (encountered problems with youtube-dl)
• Site support request (request for adding support for a new site)
• Feature request (request for a new functionality)
• Question
• Other

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The following sections concretize particular purposed issues, you can erase any section (the contents between triple ---) not applicable to your issue

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If the purpose of this issue is a bug report, site support request or you are not completely sure provide the full verbose output as follows:

Add the -v flag to your command line you run youtube-dl with (youtube-dl -v <your command line>), copy the whole output and insert it here. It should look similar to one below (replace it with your log inserted between triple ```):

[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['-v', 'http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm33755147']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp932, fs mbcs, out cp932, pref cp932
[debug] youtube-dl version 2018.08.28
[debug] Python version 3.4.4 (CPython) - Windows-8.1-6.3.9600
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg N-81256-gd3426fb, ffprobe N-81256-gd3426fb
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[niconico] sm33755147: Downloading webpage
[niconico] sm33755147: Downloading JSON metadata for h264_200kbps_360p-aac_64kbps
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "__main__.py", line 19, in <module>
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\__init__.py", line 472, in main
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\__init__.py", line 462, in _real_main
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 2001, in download
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 792, in extract_info
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\extractor\common.py", line 502, in extract
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\extractor\niconico.py", line 343, in _real_extract
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\extractor\niconico.py", line 253, in _extract_format_for_quality
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\extractor\common.py", line 859, in _download_json
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\extractor\common.py", line 837, in _download_json_handle
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\extractor\common.py", line 627, in _download_webpage_handle
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\extractor\common.py", line 599, in _request_webpage
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\rg3\tmpc4srko6s\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 2211, in urlopen
  File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 462, in open
  File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 1113, in do_request_
TypeError: POST data should be bytes or an iterable of bytes. It cannot be of type str.

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Description of your issue, suggested solution and other information

Error occurs for certain niconico URLs. I haven't tested extensively but it seems to occur exclusively on (some) recent videos (~July 2018).

e.g. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm33642362 -- works
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm33755147 -- fails with above error

[Gorfiend]

I'm seeing the same issue. Some videos work, some don't (though both of the examples given fail for me).

I also noticed that running youtube-dl with python2 instead of python3 works for every video I've tried.