Failing to retry download or try next format on "Did not get any data blocks" error

[dbr]

Checklist

• I'm reporting a broken site support issue
• I've verified that I'm running youtube-dl version 2019.11.05
• 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 bug reports including closed ones
• I've read bugs section in FAQ

Verbose log

$ youtube-dl --verbose -f 22/best 'http://youtube.com/watch?v=Msn9L0IXPgw'
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['--verbose', '-f', '22/best', 'http://youtube.com/watch?v=Msn9L0IXPgw']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.11.05
[debug] Python version 3.7.4 (CPython) - Darwin-18.7.0-x86_64-i386-64bit
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 4.0.2, ffprobe 4.0.2
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[youtube] Msn9L0IXPgw: Downloading webpage
[youtube] Msn9L0IXPgw: Downloading video info webpage
[youtube] {18} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] Msn9L0IXPgw: Downloading player https://www.youtube.com/yts/jsbin/player_ias-vflFlp-mq/en_US/base.js
[youtube] {22} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {43} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {313} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {271} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {137} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {248} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {136} signature length 100, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] Msn9L0IXPgw: Downloading player https://www.youtube.com/yts/jsbin/player_ias-vflFlp-mq/en_US/base.js
[youtube] {247} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {135} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {244} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {134} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {243} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {133} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {242} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {160} signature length 100, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {278} signature length 100, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {140} signature length 100, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {249} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {250} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[youtube] {251} signature length 104, html5 player vflFlp-mq
[debug] Invoking downloader on 'https://r5---sn-u2bpouxgoxu-5qal.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1573901343&ei=v3_PXbG2L9uN3LUPm9O44Ac&ip=124.168.216.76&id=o-AMX8d-vP-bCczOwjEQSlnuJLnzWnz6SWtK7KC449kC4f&itag=22&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-u2bpouxgoxu-5qal%2Csn-ntqe6n7r&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=4&pl=21&initcwndbps=1237500&mime=video%2Fmp4&ratebypass=yes&dur=235.241&lmt=1569437714851264&mt=1573879663&fvip=5&fexp=23842630&beids=9466585&c=WEB&txp=2316222&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cmime%2Cratebypass%2Cdur%2Clmt&lsparams=mm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpl%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=AHylml4wRAIgds4ItG2cSzxz3rBZ8XJbNIbSJwB4TrqTUlVJAEvzZisCIFjeNldL0kpo7BtoGtfgV1A428l-J1XxR_OlqlTYUkIF&sig=ALgxI2wwRgIhAKXV-eQbHZpt0mMcFLF3G3QUoJ4ihutHi9g9gOptjBRyAiEAr4McLw2mFeR1oU_-270t3HdxOafLf4JdJt8zp4VPkm0='
[download] Destination: Carlo Traversi... SENDING in RMNP-Msn9L0IXPgw.mp4
[download]   0.2% of 41.69MiB at 689.91KiB/s ETA 01:01[download] Got server HTTP error: Downloaded 88699 bytes, expected 43715037 bytes. Retrying (attempt 1 of 10)...


ERROR: Did not get any data blocks
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/bin/youtube-dl", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/__init__.py", line 474, in main
    _real_main(argv)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/__init__.py", line 464, in _real_main
    retcode = ydl.download(all_urls)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 2018, in download
    url, force_generic_extractor=self.params.get('force_generic_extractor', False))
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 807, in extract_info
    return self.process_ie_result(ie_result, download, extra_info)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 862, in process_ie_result
    return self.process_video_result(ie_result, download=download)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 1643, in process_video_result
    self.process_info(new_info)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 1925, in process_info
    success = dl(filename, info_dict)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 1864, in dl
    return fd.download(name, info)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/downloader/common.py", line 366, in download
    return self.real_download(filename, info_dict)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/downloader/http.py", line 342, in real_download
    return download()
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/downloader/http.py", line 312, in download
    self.report_error('Did not get any data blocks')
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/downloader/common.py", line 165, in report_error
    self.ydl.report_error(*args, **kargs)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 624, in report_error
    self.trouble(error_message, tb)
  File "/Users/dbr/code/venvs/ytdl/lib/python3.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 586, in trouble
    tb_data = traceback.format_list(traceback.extract_stack())

Description

I'm using youtube-dl to download videos as 720p mp4a (-f 22). As per issues like #17148 and #20296 this is apparently an issue with Youtube, and as of the last few months(?) I often get downloads failing with the Did not get any data blocks.

So as a solution to this I tried using the format fallback mechanism and specifying -f 22/best (as per the format section docs and this very old bug #650), so it'll prefer the mp4a then fallback to to the default format. However this doesn't work - youtube-dl stops after the first error occurs:

$ youtube-dl -f 22/best 'http://youtube.com/watch?v=Msn9L0IXPgw'
[...]
[download]   0.2% of 41.69MiB at 122.11KiB/s ETA 05:48[download] Got server HTTP error: Downloaded 88699 bytes, expected 43715037 bytes. Retrying (attempt 1 of 10)...


ERROR: Did not get any data blocks
$

Although it would be useful in my case, I'm not certain if it would be correct for the "no data blocks" error to try the next format (since I assume Youtube API claims the format does exist), however the output saying "Retrying (attempt 1 of 10)" but it immediately exiting definitely seems like a bug?

[redmaw]

This reproduces for me as well on 2/3 youtube links I tried. The two below fail with this error signature; the third failed with a different error.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ290qlAbbw&list=PLHTh1InhhwT6KhvViwRiTR7I5s09dLCSw&index=7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_yzLe-wnfk&list=PLHTh1InhhwT6KhvViwRiTR7I5s09dLCSw&index=46

 ./youtube-dl -v http://youtube.com/watch?v=Msn9L0IXPgw
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['-v', 'http://youtube.com/watch?v=Msn9L0IXPgw']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.11.22
[debug] Python version 3.7.5 (CPython) - Linux-5.3.11-300.fc31.x86_64-x86_64-with-fedora-31-Thirty_One
[debug] exe versions: none
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[youtube] Msn9L0IXPgw: Downloading webpage
[youtube] Msn9L0IXPgw: Downloading video info webpage
[youtube] {18} signature length 105, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] Msn9L0IXPgw: Downloading player https://www.youtube.com/yts/jsbin/player_ias-vflaU3CuL/en_US/base.js
[youtube] {22} signature length 105, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {43} signature length 105, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {313} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] Msn9L0IXPgw: Downloading player https://www.youtube.com/yts/jsbin/player_ias-vflaU3CuL/en_US/base.js
[youtube] {271} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {137} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {248} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {136} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {247} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {135} signature length 105, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {244} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {134} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {243} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {133} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {242} signature length 105, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {160} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {278} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {140} signature length 105, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {249} signature length 105, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {250} signature length 109, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[youtube] {251} signature length 105, html5 player vflaU3CuL
[debug] Default format spec: best/bestvideo+bestaudio
[debug] Invoking downloader on 'https://r5---sn-n4v7knls.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1574575995&ei=G8vZXazdA83DkgaBi4TgAQ&ip=71.197.126.65&id=o-ACUbHulhlAOJrAJFdpltfpwY_8zgfXRYtlvPUj8T4fVj&itag=22&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-n4v7knls%2Csn-n4v7snee&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=4&pl=18&initcwndbps=2135000&mime=video%2Fmp4&ratebypass=yes&dur=235.241&lmt=1569437714851264&mt=1574554274&fvip=5&fexp=23842630&c=WEB&txp=2316222&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cmime%2Cratebypass%2Cdur%2Clmt&lsparams=mm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpl%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=AHylml4wRQIhAOh0w7OmvU_F_nR0VlvCaI7pAnFk5Aed0En1Mrnn0KuFAiA-918d3AY_OVCmL9DHTQdMhqq9HE3kzC4PuDH1KNwoCg%3D%3D&sig=ALgxI2wwRAIgDEJIHKkwx8A066thywOGZTTaPqMRi9zR_NK7Uk8XhUACIGk2CpYj_KzNRhdtAadzEGa9U7bZahCbh4QthTcg3NQj'
[download] Destination: Carlo Traversi... SENDING in RMNP-Msn9L0IXPgw.mp4
[download]   0.2% of 41.69MiB at 405.94KiB/s ETA 01:44[download] Got server HTTP error: Downloaded 85837 bytes, expected 43715037 bytes. Retrying (attempt 1 of 10)...


ERROR: Did not get any data blocks
  File "/usr/lib64/python3.7/runpy.py", line 193, in _run_module_as_main
    "__main__", mod_spec)
  File "/usr/lib64/python3.7/runpy.py", line 85, in _run_code
    exec(code, run_globals)
  File "./youtube-dl/__main__.py", line 19, in <module>
    youtube_dl.main()
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/__init__.py", line 474, in main
    _real_main(argv)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/__init__.py", line 464, in _real_main
    retcode = ydl.download(all_urls)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 2018, in download
    url, force_generic_extractor=self.params.get('force_generic_extractor', False))
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 807, in extract_info
    return self.process_ie_result(ie_result, download, extra_info)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 862, in process_ie_result
    return self.process_video_result(ie_result, download=download)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 1643, in process_video_result
    self.process_info(new_info)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 1925, in process_info
    success = dl(filename, info_dict)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 1864, in dl
    return fd.download(name, info)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/downloader/common.py", line 366, in download
    return self.real_download(filename, info_dict)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/downloader/http.py", line 342, in real_download
    return download()
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/downloader/http.py", line 312, in download
    self.report_error('Did not get any data blocks')
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/downloader/common.py", line 165, in report_error
    self.ydl.report_error(*args, **kargs)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 624, in report_error
    self.trouble(error_message, tb)
  File "./youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 586, in trouble
    tb_data = traceback.format_list(traceback.extract_stack())

[paulcsiki]

Same with version 2019.11.22

[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['-o', 'D:/YouTube/%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s', 'https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV3rF--heRVs5Bz3iD4U5ldG4I3lwiNus', '--playlist-start', '98', '-v']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp1252, fs mbcs, out cp437, pref cp1252
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.11.22
[debug] Python version 3.4.4 (CPython) - Windows-10-10.0.18362
[debug] exe versions: none
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[youtube:playlist] PLV3rF--heRVs5Bz3iD4U5ldG4I3lwiNus: Downloading webpage
[download] Downloading playlist: Welcome to Factorio
[youtube:playlist] playlist Welcome to Factorio: Downloading 3 videos
[download] Downloading video 1 of 3
[youtube] 8weuztzPrzo: Downloading webpage
[youtube] 8weuztzPrzo: Downloading video info webpage
[debug] Default format spec: best/bestvideo+bestaudio
[debug] Invoking downloader on 'https://r4---sn-q0c7rn76.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1574614252&ei=i2DaXdbCO8H-xwKEqKyQBA&ip=2a02%3A8084%3A81a2%3A8180%3A3425%3Ad88f%3Aac71%3Affb7&id=o-AMmVS1q6IvoJZtUxu0-MOTAow9g0A6OsKONsp6REv7PU&itag=22&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&mm=31%2C26&mn=sn-q0c7rn76%2Csn-aigzrney&ms=au%2Conr&mv=m&mvi=3&pl=30&initcwndbps=2111250&mime=video%2Fmp4&ratebypass=yes&dur=1877.774&lmt=1559075438973067&mt=1574592549&fvip=6&fexp=23842630&c=WEB&txp=5535432&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cmime%2Cratebypass%2Cdur%2Clmt&sig=ALgxI2wwRQIgQ3IDDBu-Plrgdrou_uAGE3odQhZSwj9HlFO3TaHsKBQCIQCPRclst6nqgczIoc4LSm0QZQLta3GMmNWUlxw5m8gh3g%3D%3D&lsparams=mm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpl%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=AHylml4wRQIhAIxAXOF6S3LAADiQV5z5o3F4BsVH54g1IVWT4NAA1ONBAiBl2Fi7ZCTDXV4EXOK8O2F-iXxTmlpIL7yDUy3KV8YpNQ%3D%3D'
[download] Resuming download at byte 910231


ERROR: Did not get any data blocks
  File "__main__.py", line 19, in <module>
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\__init__.py", line 474, in main
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\__init__.py", line 464, in _real_main
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 2018, in download
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 807, in extract_info
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 1007, in process_ie_result
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 869, in process_ie_result
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 807, in extract_info
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 862, in process_ie_result
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 1643, in process_video_result
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 1925, in process_info
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 1864, in dl
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\downloader\common.py", line 366, in download
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\downloader\http.py", line 342, in real_download
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\downloader\http.py", line 312, in download
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\downloader\common.py", line 165, in report_error
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 624, in report_error
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpwnp2jh33\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 586, in trouble

[Ryder17z]

I can get the first entry in a playlist, but nothing after that.

2019.11.28 & 2019.8.2 both have the same issue

youtube-dl.exe https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA5s2n7tXFdsKMUqSfPbKxvk3XwnjCkVC -write-auto-sub -r 30M
[youtube:playlist] PLA5s2n7tXFdsKMUqSfPbKxvk3XwnjCkVC: Downloading webpage
[download] Downloading playlist: Speed Racer
[youtube:playlist] playlist Speed Racer: Downloading 30 videos
[download] Downloading video 1 of 30
[youtube] iGRjwYt08JM: Downloading webpage
[youtube] iGRjwYt08JM: Downloading video info webpage
[youtube] iGRjwYt08JM: Downloading MPD manifest
[download] The New Adventures of Speed Racer _ Episode 001 _ The Mach 5s First Trial-iGRjwYt08JM.mp4 has already been downloaded
[download] 100% of 202.35MiB
[download] Downloading video 2 of 30
[youtube] 9BTAlUvhdkI: Downloading webpage
[youtube] 9BTAlUvhdkI: Downloading video info webpage
[youtube] 9BTAlUvhdkI: Downloading MPD manifest
[download] Resuming download at byte 502620


ERROR: Did not get any data blocks

[Tinase-nau]

I found my first YT video (twqp9YjfMIw) ever that I'm experiencing the error with. Maybe YT-DL doesn't get some sizes correctly together while doing its sped up download thingy? Maybe YT is testing some sort of anti-ripping mechanism? Or maybe THAT specific format is simply corrupted on the server?
I tried to download the video with 2 other slow speed YT downloaders and they got the video without issues.
I did some testing with hints given by op. Namely with the -f and --list-formats.
YT-DL fails to get 'best'/22/1280x720. But it could download 43/640x360.
My slow downloader downloaded 1920x1080 and AAC audio and merged them.
Taking that as an example I then in YT-DL command line replaced "best" with "bestvideo+bestaudio/best". Noticed that README.md mentions this actually being the default parameter, BUT! ffmpeg has to be present for bestvideo+bestaudio part to trigger. I set all that up. Launched code and it downloaded both besties without issues and muxed them togerher via ffmpeg.

So, what I conclude from my little test:
YT-DL must by default tell user to have ffmpeg setup on system or warn user that otherwise YT-DL will default to parameter for format which YT is trying to abandon.
Or YT-DL should have fails safe mechanism to try for next format that's 2-in-1.
Or figure out what's actually causing this...

[Ryder17z]

Previous entry by me worked fine the next day, Apart from writing subtitles. I can't get that to work.

[Tinase-nau]

Previous entry by me worked fine the next day, Apart from writing subtitles. I can't get that to work.

Either there are no YT auto generated subs for the video. Or you used -write-auto-sub instead of --write-auto-sub

[Ryder17z]

Previous entry by me worked fine the next day, Apart from writing subtitles. I can't get that to work.

Either there are no YT auto generated subs for the video. Or you used -write-auto-sub instead of --write-auto-sub

the syntax is correct. but I still don't get subtitles for the playlist.
However, https://sourceforge.net/projects/google2srt/ - this tool did help me get the subtitles.