unable to download video info webpage: HTTP Error 404: Not Found

[ghost]

youtube-dl -x --audio-format mp3 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN9FZ3ijwb1GESe-ESS6uydZuoQ0FtKU_

...
[youtube] AsIQ_kA77b4: Downloading webpage
[download] Destination: Ghost in the Shell (1995) Opening-AsIQ_kA77b4.m4a
[download] 100% of 2.93MiB in 00:00
[ffmpeg] Correcting container in "Ghost in the Shell (1995) Opening-AsIQ_kA77b4.m4a"
[ffmpeg] Destination: Ghost in the Shell (1995) Opening-AsIQ_kA77b4.mp3
Deleting original file Ghost in the Shell (1995) Opening-AsIQ_kA77b4.m4a (pass -k to keep)
[download] Downloading video 57 of 242
[youtube] DNPM95iuKKk: Downloading webpage
[youtube] DNPM95iuKKk: Refetching age-gated info webpage
WARNING: unable to download video info webpage: HTTP Error 404: Not Found
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/runpy.py", line 174, in _run_module_as_main
"main", fname, loader, pkg_name)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/runpy.py", line 72, in _run_code
exec code in run_globals
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/main.py", line 19, in
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/init.py", line 475, in main
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/init.py", line 465, in _real_main
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 2060, in download
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 799, in extract_info
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 806, in wrapper
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 838, in __extract_info
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 924, in process_ie_result
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 1058, in __process_playlist
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 806, in wrapper
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 1068, in __process_iterable_entry
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 879, in process_ie_result
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 799, in extract_info
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 806, in wrapper
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 827, in __extract_info
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py", line 534, in extract
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py", line 1502, in _real_extract
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/compat.py", line 2644, in compat_parse_qs
File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/compat.py", line 2614, in _parse_qsl
AttributeError: 'bool' object has no attribute 'split'
root@sparrow:/home/rene/Downloads/youtube/DBZ AMV GMV#

please let me know if, and how, i possibly should provide you with more details.

[dirkf]

-v ?

A hint as to which of the 242 items is being processed?

The crash is in code that is run only for Python 2.

I get

[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: [u'-v', u'-F', u'--ignore-config', u'https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN9FZ3ijwb1GESe-ESS6uydZuoQ0FtKU_']
[debug] Encodings: locale ASCII, fs ASCII, out ASCII, pref ASCII
[debug] youtube-dl version 2021.04.26
[debug] Python version 2.7.1 (CPython) - Linux-2.6.18-7.1-7405b0-smp-with-libc0
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 4.1, ffprobe 4.1
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[youtube:tab] PLN9FZ3ijwb1GESe-ESS6uydZuoQ0FtKU_: Downloading webpage
[download] Downloading playlist: DBZ AMV GMV XXG
[youtube:tab] Downloading page 1
[youtube:tab] Downloading page 2
[youtube:tab] playlist DBZ AMV GMV XXG: Downloading 242 videos
[download] Downloading video 1 of 242
[youtube] qlaki1uw0Hc: Downloading webpage
[youtube] qlaki1uw0Hc: Downloading player 24fb4fc5
[info] Available formats for qlaki1uw0Hc:
format code  extension  resolution note
249          webm       audio only tiny   55k , webm_dash container, opus @ 55k (48000Hz), 1.11MiB
250          webm       audio only tiny   72k , webm_dash container, opus @ 72k (48000Hz), 1.45MiB
140          m4a        audio only tiny  129k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@129k (44100Hz), 2.59MiB
251          webm       audio only tiny  143k , webm_dash container, opus @143k (48000Hz), 2.87MiB
160          mp4        256x144    144p   61k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d400c@  61k, 25fps, video only, 1.24MiB
394          mp4        256x144    144p   64k , mp4_dash container, av01.0.00M.08@  64k, 25fps, video only, 1.30MiB
278          webm       256x144    144p   85k , webm_dash container, vp9@  85k, 25fps, video only, 1.71MiB
133          mp4        426x240    240p  115k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d4015@ 115k, 25fps, video only, 2.32MiB
395          mp4        426x240    240p  127k , mp4_dash container, av01.0.00M.08@ 127k, 25fps, video only, 2.55MiB
242          webm       426x240    240p  139k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 139k, 25fps, video only, 2.79MiB
134          mp4        640x360    360p  215k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401e@ 215k, 25fps, video only, 4.31MiB
243          webm       640x360    360p  251k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 251k, 25fps, video only, 5.04MiB
396          mp4        640x360    360p  257k , mp4_dash container, av01.0.01M.08@ 257k, 25fps, video only, 5.16MiB
135          mp4        854x480    480p  303k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401e@ 303k, 25fps, video only, 6.07MiB
244          webm       854x480    480p  380k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 380k, 25fps, video only, 7.61MiB
397          mp4        854x480    480p  466k , mp4_dash container, av01.0.04M.08@ 466k, 25fps, video only, 9.35MiB
136          mp4        1280x720   720p  509k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401f@ 509k, 25fps, video only, 10.21MiB
247          webm       1280x720   720p  642k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 642k, 25fps, video only, 12.87MiB
398          mp4        1280x720   720p  873k , mp4_dash container, av01.0.05M.08@ 873k, 25fps, video only, 17.49MiB
399          mp4        1920x1080  1080p 1508k , mp4_dash container, av01.0.08M.08@1508k, 25fps, video only, 30.20MiB
248          webm       1920x1080  1080p 1708k , webm_dash container, vp9@1708k, 25fps, video only, 34.21MiB
137          mp4        1920x1080  1080p 1800k , mp4_dash container, avc1.640028@1800k, 25fps, video only, 36.05MiB
18           mp4        640x360    360p  495k , avc1.42001E, 25fps, mp4a.40.2 (44100Hz), 9.93MiB (best)
[download] Downloading video 2 of 242
[youtube] TN4yPTl-a3E: Downloading webpage
[info] Available formats for TN4yPTl-a3E:
...

[stilor]

Still a bug with 2021.06.06:

avn@aigle:~/Videos/YT$ youtube-dl --list-subs -v https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GLtk2cLRu4
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: [u'--list-subs', u'-v', u'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GLtk2cLRu4']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs UTF-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2021.06.06
[debug] Python version 2.7.18 (CPython) - Linux-5.8.0-55-generic-x86_64-with-Ubuntu-20.10-groovy
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 4.3.1, ffprobe 4.3.1
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[youtube] 5GLtk2cLRu4: Downloading webpage
[youtube] 5GLtk2cLRu4: Refetching age-gated info webpage
WARNING: unable to download video info webpage: HTTP Error 404: Not Found
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/runpy.py", line 174, in _run_module_as_main
    "__main__", fname, loader, pkg_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/runpy.py", line 72, in _run_code
    exec code in run_globals
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/__main__.py", line 19, in <module>
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/__init__.py", line 475, in main
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/__init__.py", line 465, in _real_main
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 2069, in download
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 808, in extract_info
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 815, in wrapper
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 836, in __extract_info
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py", line 534, in extract
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py", line 1503, in _real_extract
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/compat.py", line 2644, in compat_parse_qs
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/compat.py", line 2614, in _parse_qsl
AttributeError: 'bool' object has no attribute 'split'

As one may see, _download_webpage in common.py can indeed return a bool instead of a string (if res is False branch):

        if res is False:
            return res
        else:
            content, _ = res
            return content

Note that the "rebuttal" comment by @dirkf did not actually attempt to download an age-restricted page; no "Refetching age-gated info webpage" message in the log.

[stilor]

For those in need of a workaround: get a 'cookies.txt' extension, save the cookies file from the webpage after you log in, then pass that file via --cookies=... option.

[dirkf]

See issue #29333.