Ubuntu – Aren’t file properties shown for MP4 files

file-propertiesgnomevideo

I am using ubuntu 12.04. I have a .mp4 video for which I want to change default media player to vlc.

When I try to go to properties by right clicking on that video.

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I get the following message. How to overcome this.

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Output of mediainfo filename.mp4

General
Complete name                            : Interview with MIT Physics Professor Walter Lewin.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42
File size                                : 10.7 MiB
Duration                                 : 3mn 41s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 407 Kbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 2008-10-16 15:15:29
Tagged date                              : UTC 2008-10-16 15:15:29
gsst                                     : 0
gstd                                     : 221656
gssd                                     : B4A7D0A24HH1345230487367165
gshh                                     : o-o---preferred---hkg05s03---v14---lscache4.c.youtube.com

Video
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Baseline@L1.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : No
Format settings, ReFrames                : 1 frame
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 3mn 41s
Bit rate                                 : 280 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 997 Kbps
Width                                    : 352 pixels
Height                                   : 288 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.222
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 fps
Standard                                 : PAL
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.092
Stream size                              : 7.37 MiB (69%)
Title                                    : (C) 2007 Google Inc. v08.13.2007.
Encoded date                             : UTC 2008-10-16 15:15:29
Tagged date                              : UTC 2008-10-16 15:15:29

Audio
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : LC
Codec ID                                 : 40
Duration                                 : 3mn 41s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 125 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 280 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 3.30 MiB (31%)
Title                                    : (C) 2007 Google Inc. v08.13.2007.
Encoded date                             : UTC 2008-10-16 15:15:29
Tagged date                              : UTC 2008-10-16 15:15:29

Best Answer

  • This is a confirmed bug in the Zeitgeist library which provides file info to Ubuntu Apps (including Nautilus) and seems to occur with MP4 files downloaded from Youtube, which are encoded with the Baseline level 1.1 profile. It does not happen with other MP4 files.
  • The file may play in VLC but that doesn't count since VLC internally includes all codecs.
  • There's no real fix for this until the bug itself is fixed.
  • To change the default player to VLC, simply do it from one of the other MP4 files which work, or follow the directions in this answer.
  • To display thumbnails for these videos, please follow the instructions in this answer.

Above steps effectively makes VLC default player and shows thumbnails properly for all videos (as shown below):

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