[FFmpeg-user] ffmpeg retry failed segments

[Torsten Kaiser]

Looks like you download a known playlist from some unstable network 
connection.

To get a grasp on this: If you set the -xerror switch like

ffmpeg -y -xerror -i https://file.com/myfiles.m3u8 -c copy /tmp/test.mkv

what happens? Download should stop at the first buggy/missing segment of 
the playlist. Now repeat the download multiple times to see if the 
problem is random or not.

Missing segments could be a DRM problem or invalid/outdated entries in 
the playlist. If the download always misses the same segment it's most 
likely the segment entry is invalid.

Buggy segments are most likely either already buggy in the source or a 
network bottleneck. If the faults always occur on the same spot, then 
the source itself is most likely already buggy. Encountered this myself 
on legacy sources digitized from VHS tapes. Sometimes content is more 
important than quality.


On 26.09.23 22:36, Stein Rune Risa wrote:
> I am using ffmpeg to download some streaming to a mkv file. The stream
> parts comes in a m3u8 file.
>
> ffmpeg -y -i https://file.com/myfiles.m3u8 -c copy /tmp/test.mkv
>
> In some cases, there have been some issues downloading some of the
> segments, and the mkv files have parts where it freezes for some seconds
> before continuing. I am now forced to check the file manually (by watching)
> and then redownload if it has any issues.
>
> I guess this happens because ffmpeg temporarily is not able to download
> some of the segments referred to in the m3u8?
>
> Is there some way that I can force ffmpeg to retry failed segments? Or at
> least abort if it happens? I am kind of looking for a way to get rid of the
> manual checking of the content.
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