Cannot import mp4 file because ffmpeg fails

Fotto · May 29, 2021, 11:04am

Hi, I Cannot import mp4 file because the ffmpeg fails.
I used to be able to do this no problems, and then… not.
I have tried many things to no avail, and now ask for help from those who know!

Error Message:
“[file name]” is an advanced audio coding file. Without opening the optional ffmpeg library, Audacity cannot open this type of file. Otherwise, convert it… etc.

The same thing happens for other mp4 files.

I have downloaded the FFmpeg files multiple times, locating them manually through edit-preferences-libraries.
No matter where the FFmpeg files are, the same message comes up.

I am using Windows 10 Home

I have updated to Audacity 3.0.2

mediainfo info:

Complete name : X:\HDD audio\bkp\tubers\Climate crisis\An Inconvenient Truth.mp4.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 294 MiB
IsTruncated : Yes

Audacity log (this one is opening the file from the folder using “open with”. I cant open it from Audacity either.)

20:42:32: Audacity 3.0.2
20:42:32: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries...
20:42:32: mLibAVFormatPath ('X:\HDD audio\bkp\btl\editing tracking\doc pack for editors\ffmpeg-win-2.2.2\avformat-55.dll') is not empty. Loading from it.
20:42:32: Looking up PATH environment variable...
20:42:32: PATH = 'C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Users\Scotty\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;'
20:42:32: Temporarily prepending ';X:\HDD audio\bkp\btl\editing tracking\doc pack for editors\ffmpeg-win-2.2.2' to PATH...
20:42:32: Checking for monolithic avformat from 'X:\HDD audio\bkp\btl\editing tracking\doc pack for editors\ffmpeg-win-2.2.2\avformat-55.dll'.
20:42:32: Error: Couldn't find symbol 'avutil_version' in a dynamic library (error 127: The specified procedure could not be found.)
20:42:32: Error: Couldn't find symbol 'avcodec_version' in a dynamic library (error 127: The specified procedure could not be found.)
20:42:32: avformat not monolithic
20:42:32: Loading avutil from 'avutil-52.dll'.
20:42:32: Loading avcodec from 'avcodec-55.dll'.
20:42:32: Loading avformat from 'X:\HDD audio\bkp\btl\editing tracking\doc pack for editors\ffmpeg-win-2.2.2\avformat-55.dll'.
20:42:32: Actual avutil path X:\HDD audio\bkp\btl\editing tracking\doc pack for editors\ffmpeg-win-2.2.2\avutil-52.dll
20:42:32: Actual avcodec path X:\HDD audio\bkp\btl\editing tracking\doc pack for editors\ffmpeg-win-2.2.2\avcodec-55.dll
20:42:32: Actual avformat path X:\HDD audio\bkp\btl\editing tracking\doc pack for editors\ffmpeg-win-2.2.2\avformat-55.dll
20:42:32: Importing symbols...
20:42:32: All symbols loaded successfully. Initializing the library.
20:42:32: Retrieving FFmpeg library version numbers:
20:42:32:    AVCodec version 0x373466 - 55.52.102 (built against 0x373466 - 55.52.102)
20:42:32:    AVFormat version 0x372164 - 55.33.100 (built against 0x372164 - 55.33.100)
20:42:32:    AVUtil version 0x344264 - 52.66.100 (built against 0x344264 - 52.66.100)
20:42:32: Returning PATH to previous setting: C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Users\Scotty\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;
20:42:32: FFmpeg libraries loaded successfully.
20:42:32: File name is C:\Users\Scotty\dwhelper\Dr. Christine Jones - Building New Topsoil Through The Liqui.mp4
20:42:32: Mime type is *
20:42:32: Opening with libav
20:42:32: Opening with legacyaup
20:42:32: Opening with libsndfile
20:42:32: Opening with liboggvorbis
20:42:32: Opening with libflac
20:42:32: Opening with libmad
20:42:32: Opening with lof
20:42:32: Error: Importer::Import: Opening failed.
20:56:20: File name is X:\HDD audio\bkp\tubers\soils and farming\Christine Jones\Dr. Christine Jones - Building New Topsoil Through The Liqui.mp4
20:56:20: Mime type is *
20:56:20: Opening with libav
20:56:20: Opening with legacyaup
20:56:20: Opening with libsndfile
20:56:20: Opening with liboggvorbis
20:56:20: Opening with libflac
20:56:20: Opening with libmad
20:56:20: Opening with lof
20:56:20: Error: Importer::Import: Opening failed.

Appreciate any help you can give!

kozikowski · May 29, 2021, 5:37pm

Without being any help at all, I noticed odd things about his job.

X:\HDD audio\bkp\tubers\Climate crisis\An Inconvenient Truth.mp4.mp4

– Where is "X:" ? Is that a cloud, file service, or network drive? Audacity doesn’t like those very much.

– The file designator is double (.mp4.mp4). First pass I’d say you have a damaged show file. Something in your system couldn’t figure out what the file was, and so guessed at it and doubled the extension.

“[file name]” is an advanced audio coding file.

It’s not good news when FileINFO and Audacity don’t agree with each other.

I think chances of playing this file are zero because there’s something wrong with it whether or not you have FFMpeg. FFMpeg is good, but it’s not bulletproof.

Koz

Fotto · June 10, 2021, 12:07pm

Thanks, Koz.

"X:" is a portable hard drive where I keep lots of audio. Its a toshiba 3TB drive. I have been working with audacity from hard drives for many years, and from this specific one for well over a year.
If I copy or download an mp4 to the C drive it still wont open.

Unfortunately I can’t open any mp4 files with Audacity now. Its not just this one with the double suffix.

Could you expand on what a “show file” and “FileINFO” do? It seems to be the only lead I have at the moment!

Thanks

_00 · June 10, 2021, 6:23pm

Does audacity support mp4?

_00 · June 10, 2021, 6:32pm

Yes, it supports, if ffmpeg is installed. I think it didn’t support before.

DVDdoug · June 10, 2021, 7:18pm

X:" is a portable hard drive where I keep lots of audio. Its a toshiba 3TB drive.

“Just for fun”, try copying the file to your main hard drive.

As-of 3.0.0, the new Audacity unified database project format doesn’t support FAT-formatted drives. There’s a (related?) bug when opening regular audio/video files from external thumb drives, etc.

I’m not really sure if it’s possible to format a 3TB drive as FAT-32 but since there have been issues with external drives, moving the file might be worth a try.

steve · June 10, 2021, 8:32pm

MP4 is a “container format”, that can contain audio in many different formats. To be able to read the contents of the MP4, the actual format of the audio data inside the MP4 must be a format that is supported by the version of FFmpeg being used.

This page can tell you about the format of your MP4: https://mediaarea.net/MediaInfoOnline
What does it say?