[youtube] "WARNING: unable to extract html5 player" on some videos

[FranciscoPombal]

Make sure you are using the latest version: run youtube-dl --version and ensure your version is 2018.12.09. 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 Issues with outdated version will be rejected.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 2018.12.09

Before submitting an issue make sure you have:

• 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)

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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 ```):

$ youtube-dl --verbose --no-call-home --list-formats --cookies cookies.txt "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktkjUjcZid0"
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: [u'--verbose', u'--no-call-home', u'--list-formats', u'--cookies', u'cookies.txt', u'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktkjUjcZid0']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs UTF-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2018.12.09
[debug] Python version 2.7.15rc1 (CPython) - Linux-4.15.0-36-generic-x86_64-with-Ubuntu-18.04-bionic
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 4.0.3-1, ffprobe 4.0.3-1
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[youtube] ktkjUjcZid0: Downloading webpage
[youtube] ktkjUjcZid0: Downloading video info webpage
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {22} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {18} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {313} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {271} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {137} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {248} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {136} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {247} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {135} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {244} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {134} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {243} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {133} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {242} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {160} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {278} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {140} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {171} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {249} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {250} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {251} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {256} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
[youtube] {258} signature length 40.40, html5 player None
[info] Available formats for ktkjUjcZid0:
format code  extension  resolution note
249          webm       audio only DASH audio   61k , opus @ 50k, 8.94MiB
250          webm       audio only DASH audio   78k , opus @ 70k, 11.61MiB
171          webm       audio only DASH audio  127k , vorbis@128k, 18.39MiB
140          m4a        audio only DASH audio  131k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@128k, 22.53MiB
251          webm       audio only DASH audio  151k , opus @160k, 22.80MiB
256          m4a        audio only DASH audio  196k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.5, 33.76MiB
258          m4a        audio only DASH audio  387k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2, 67.11MiB
278          webm       256x144    144p  102k , webm container, vp9, 24fps, video only, 14.70MiB
160          mp4        256x144    144p  148k , avc1.4d400c, 24fps, video only, 19.48MiB
242          webm       426x240    240p  224k , vp9, 24fps, video only, 25.11MiB
133          mp4        426x240    240p  283k , avc1.4d4015, 24fps, video only, 43.06MiB
243          webm       640x360    360p  342k , vp9, 24fps, video only, 46.60MiB
134          mp4        640x360    360p  671k , avc1.4d401e, 24fps, video only, 62.53MiB
244          webm       854x480    480p  700k , vp9, 24fps, video only, 96.06MiB
135          mp4        854x480    480p 1210k , avc1.4d401e, 24fps, video only, 127.04MiB
247          webm       1280x720   720p 1393k , vp9, 24fps, video only, 202.95MiB
136          mp4        1280x720   720p 2397k , avc1.4d401f, 24fps, video only, 245.77MiB
248          webm       1920x1080  1080p 2533k , vp9, 24fps, video only, 372.78MiB
137          mp4        1920x1080  1080p 4435k , avc1.640028, 24fps, video only, 466.40MiB
271          webm       2560x1440  1440p 6400k , vp9, 24fps, video only, 990.92MiB
313          webm       3840x2160  2160p 12900k , vp9, 24fps, video only, 1.96GiB
18           mp4        640x360    medium , avc1.42001E, mp4a.40.2@ 96k, 85.40MiB
22           mp4        1280x720   hd720 , avc1.64001F, mp4a.40.2@192k (best)

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Youtube Premium - WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; but download seems fine

First of all, I have seen that similar issues have been reported:
#17516
#18297

However, none of them mention Youtube Premium. So far, in addition to the example videos mentioned in those issue reports, I have only encountered this issue on Youtube Premium videos, be they freely available ones or behind a paywall.

The example video corresponding to the URL provided in the log is a free episode (the 1st one) from the 3rd season of Vsauce's series Mind Field.

As the log shows, I get several WARNING: unable to extract html5 player; messages.
The videos seem to download just fine though.

This issue also happens in other episodes, including those behind a paywall. If one needs access to the episodes behind the paywall, it is sufficient to create a Google account and start a 1-month free trial of Youtube Premium, or to do so with an existing Google account.
New Google accounts can be created easily without using/linking phone numbers.

[back-to]

The videos seem to download just fine though.

it only effects the logs when used with --verbose

https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/2511eee215c2a66020ae927c86face826f48ba8e/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py#L1814

the player_url path is not supported within youtube-dl, this regex needs an update

https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/2511eee215c2a66020ae927c86face826f48ba8e/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py#L1827

supported player_url

/yts/jsbin/player-vfluiJ5_w/en_US/base.js

not supported player_url (there might be more)

/yts/jsbin/player_ias_remote_ux-vfltTlFCE/en_US/base.js
/yts/jsbin/player_ias-vflsBa1u2/en_US/base.js

more urls

https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=is%3Aissue+player_ias

[FranciscoPombal]

@back-to
Thanks for the detailed reply.
What is the impact of players being different/unsupported?