Checking video files

Checking video files created or modified with third-party tools

Third-party tools are available to create and modify FLV and F4V files, but some of the tools create files that do not comply with the FLV and F4V standards. Common problems include bad timestamps, invalid onMetaData messages, bad message headers, and corrupted audio and video. The FLVCheck tool can be used to analyze FLV and F4V files before they are deployed on the server. In addition, the tool can also add or update metadata to reflect file duration correctly. The tool verifies that metadata is readable, specifies an accurate duration, and checks that the file is seekable by the server. The tool supports unicode filenames.

Note:

The FLVCheck tool does not correct file content corruption. The tool does fix metadata by scanning the Duration and Can Seek To End metadata fields. The tool can then merge the server metadata with the data present in the file.

Checking other video files

Adobe Media Server supports playback and recording of H.264-encoded video and HE-AAC-encoded audio within an MPEG-4–based container format. A subset of the MPEG-4 standards are supported. All MP4 files and Adobe F4V files are part of the supported subset.

For MPEG-4–based container formats, use the FLVCheck tool to verify that the server can play back your files.

Note:

The FLVCheck tool does not correct corrupted H.264-encoded files or make any other fixes to MP4/F4V files.

Check a video file with the FLVCheck tool

The FLVCheck tool is a command line program; the executable is named flvcheck.

  1. Open your operating system’s command prompt and change directories to rootinstall/tools.

  2. Use the following syntax to run the FLVCheck tool:

     flvcheck [-option] <file ...>

    For example, to check two files:

     flvcheck -f abc.flv ../test/123.flv

    The following table describes the command line options available.

    Option

    Description

    -f [ --file ] file ...

    Specifies the path to the video file(s) being checked. Relative paths may be used. (Avoid using the “\\xd3 character; try the “/” character instead.)

    -v [--verbose]

    Sets the verbose flag.

    -V [ --version ]

    Prints version information.

    -n [ --nobanner ]

    Turns off header.

    -h [ --help ]

    Provides a description of options and an example.

    -d [ --duration ]

    Specifies the margin of error, in seconds, that FLVCheck reports. (The default is 2 seconds.)

    When validating metadata, the absolute difference between metadata_duration and actual_duration is calculated and compared against the margin specified in this command. If the margin is exceeded, the server logs a warning that the metadata duration is incorrect. If the margin has not been exceeded, nothing will be logged.

    To get the exact duration, specify -d 0.

    -q [ --quiet ]

    Specifies that only the status code, not the text output, be returned. The --help option overrides this option.

    -w [ --warnings]

    Display warnings.

    -W [--warnings_as_errors]

    Treat warnings as errors.

    -s [ --fixvideostall ]

    Fix a stall in video playback (FLV only).

    -u [ --usage ]

    Displays an example and information about command-line parameters.

    -m [ --fixmeta ]

    (FLV files only) If a metadata tag is corrupted, creates a new copy of the original FLV file in the same directory as the original, with corrected metadata. (If the file contains no errors, a backup file is not created.) Only the Duration and Can Seek To End metadata fields are corrected.

  3. If the FLVCheck tool finds no errors in the FLV file, the status code returned is 0. If there are one or more errors, a positive number indicating the total number of invalid files found is returned. If a return code of -1 is returned, an invalid command-line parameter was specified.

    Errors and warnings are logged in a log file (stdout).

  4. (FLV files only) If an error is returned from an FLV file due to a metadata error, you can use the tool to try to correct the problem. Try the following:

    1. Use the -m option to try to fix the metadata in the file:

       flvcheck -m <file> [-quiet] [-help]
    2. Use the -d option to change the duration field margin of error. The duration field in the metadata may be inaccurate by a few seconds. For example, flvcheck -f abc.flv -d 5 would allow the metadata duration to be inaccurate +/- 5 seconds.

      Other types of errors cannot be fixed using the FLVCheck tool. MP4/F4V files cannot be fixed using the FLVCheck tool.

FLVCheck errors

If an error is found, the error is logged to the stdout file in the following format: Date, Time, ErrorNumber, ErrorMessage, and FileName. The possible error numbers, types of errors, and messages are as follows.

Error numbers

Error type

Error messages

-2

General

Invalid file system path specified.

-3

General

File not found.

-4

General

Cannot open file.

-5

General

File read error.

Adobe Media Server cannot read the file, indicating that the encoding of part or all of the file is not compatible with the codecs that are supported.

-6

General

Cannot create corrected file.

This error occurs if you run the tool with the -m option set, but the tool cannot create a file with corrected metadata.

-7

FLV

Invalid FLV signature.

-8

FLV

Invalid FLV data offset.

-9

FLV

Invalid FLV message footer.

-10

FLV

Unrecognized message type.

-11

FLV

Found backward timestamp.

-12

FLV

Unparsable data message.

-13

MP4

File does not contain a movie box.

This error occurs if the MP4 file is empty.

-14

MP4

File does not contain any valid tracks.

This error could occur if the MP4 file contains audio or video encoded with unsupported codecs.

-15

MP4

Too many tracks. Maximum allowed is 64.

-16

MP4

Only one sample type allowed per track.

-17

MP4

Box is too large.

-18

MP4

Truncated box. The reported length of a box is longer than the remaining length of the file. The file may have been truncated, or the reported box length may be invalid.

-19

MP4

Duplicate box.

-20

MP4

Invalid box version.

-21

MP4

Invalid movie time scale.

-22

MP4

Invalid number of data entries in box.

-23

MP4

Invalid sample size.

-24

MP4

Invalid chapter time.

-25

MP4

Too many tag boxes. Max is 64.

-26

General

File appears to be FLV with wrong extension.

-27

MP4

Unsupported DRM scheme.

-28

MP4

Error reading MP4 tables.

-29

MP4

File contains unexpected movie fragments.

-30

MP4

File contains out-of-order movie fragments.

-32

RAW

Index or Contexts file missing or corrupted.

-33

RAW

Index File Version %x Not Supported. FMS Requires Version %x.

-34

RAW

Failed read in segment file %s. File missing or corrupted.

-35

RAW

Truncated message in segment file %s.

-36

RAW

Unrecognized message type in segment file %s.

-37

RAW

Invalid message footer in segment file %s.

-38

RAW

Segment file %s does not match index file.

FLVCheck warnings

Generally, warnings are informative and are not fatal errors; Adobe Media Server will ignore the error that caused the warning and continue to load and play back the video or audio file, but you may experience problems with playback. Warnings are logged to the stdout file in the following format: Date, Time, Warning Number, Warning Message, and File Name.

Warning number

Warning type

Message

-100

General

Metadata duration is missing or is incorrect.

-101

FLV

canSeekToEnd is false.

-102

MP4

Unrecognized box.

-103

MP4

Found incomplete track.

-104

MP4

Found duplicate video track. Ignoring...

-105

MP4

Found duplicate audio track. Ignoring...

-106

MP4

Found duplicate data track. Ignoring...

-107

MP4

Track has unsupported sample type.

Adobe Media Server ignores (will not play back) tracks that are encoded with unsupported codecs.

-108

MP4

Invalid video codec.

This warning indicates that a track has an invalid video codec. Adobe Media Server cannot play back the track.

-109

MP4

Invalid audio codec.

This warning indicates that a track has an invalid audio codec. Adobe Media Server cannot play back the track.

-110

FLV

Video may appear stalled due to lack of audio data.

-111

MP4

File has unsupported metadata format.

-112

MP4

Box has extraneous bytes at end.

-113

FLV

Video messages found but video flag not set.

-114

FLV

Audio messages found but audio flag not set.

-115

FLV

Video flag set but no video messages found.

-116

FLV

Audio flag set but no audio messages found.

-117

MP4

File is truncated. Will only be partially playable.

-118

MP4

Track contains unsupported edit list.

-119

FLV and RAW

Missing FLV metadata.

-120

MP4

Bad NellyMoser Frequency. Sample(s) skipped.

-121

MP4

Invalid Track Extends Box.

-122

MP4

Track contains unsupported sample flags.

-126

RAW

Found backward timestamp in segment file %s.

 Adobe

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