Can't Play any Xvid files w/ VLC in OS X

[Danteism]

I'm having no success playing xvid encoded files with my:

iMac G5 / OS X 10.4.7
VLC version 0.8.4-test1

No problem with .avi files, only these occasional files without a file extension, which have been encoded with Xvid. (I've tried adding .avi, .xvid, and .divx extensions without any success)

I can get them open w/ VLC player, and it starts playing, but quits after the first minute or two displaying the following error:

"access_file: seeking too far"

Also, if I try using the controller to scan through the movie, the screen freezes, and the audio just continues playing from the time when I attempted to skip ahead.

I know for a fact the files are complete, and it's not just one file giving me trouble it's ALL Xvid encoded files (I've had this come up with no less than 5 different video files)
, and they all behave the same way. (screen freeze when scanning, or quitting with the seeking too far error)

I've also tried playback using QT and MPlayerOSX without success.

Any help would be immensely appreciated!

[bucho]

Try using the latest release version (8.5).

Here's a link to both the PPC and Intel builds:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html

-edit-
With a G5, you might want to install the 3ivx codec (http://www.3ivx.com/coral/3ivx_d4_451_osx.dmg) which will allow you to use Quicktime.

[Danteism]

Tried both and no luck...

Installed 3ivx and QT won't recognize the file, and playing with VLC 8.5 yields the exact same results... plays a few minutes and then quits with the "seeking too far" error.

[live4ever]

Where are the files from - or how did you encode them?

Sounds like they are corrupted.

[redwudz]

From that error, the files may also be buried too deep in the folder structure. If they are in a folder, that's in another folder, that's in ............ That can cause problems with any OS.

[Danteism]

They're not deep in the folder structure... same thing happens even if they are at the very top.

I didn't encode them myself, but the accompanying txt files clearly state that they are encoded in the Xvid format.

I've gotten them from different sources, but as I said earlier this happens with ALL Xvid encoded movies on my computer. Some I've downloaded from web pages, others have been given to me on disc, and others via ftp. No difference, same problem every time.

[bucho]

Any chance I could get my hands on one of the files (provided it doesn't break any copyrights or for other reasons is impossible).

Having said that, if VLC can't play them, then there's something very strange about those Xvids.

[Danteism]

Okay, figured out what the problem was...

It wasn't an issue with Xvid encoding specifically, but the way I was recompiling the split files.

I was using tools like MacHacha and Split and Concat since they had been divided for transfer. When I just unrar the first of the files (.001) it produced a working avi.

Thanks everyone for the help in trying to help figure this one out!