Difficulty playing (decoding?) MP4 download

[Reading Bug]

I've downloaded an MP4 of a Youtube purchase and cannot get it to play in Windows Media Player, Quicktime or Real Player. It was downloaded with FlashGot, the program I installed in Firefox, and has appeared as four MP4 files, one of which begins with "▶_" in the file name.

I think I need to decode it somehow, but have never done so and am not sure how to begin (if that's the problem). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[davexnet]

Try installing something like mpc-hc or VLC.

[Reading Bug]

Thanks, I tried VLC but no luck.

I'm really hoping an editing program will open the file and allow me to write a fresh MP4. I'd like to avoid strings altogether, even if it results in a bit of loss if re-encoding is needed. Hopefully it wouldn't be.

[davexnet]

Youtube purchase? If VLC doesn't play, the files may be corrupted.
If this is a legit purchase, are they DRM protected?

Perhaps you should view the details in mediainfo view>text mode and see what you actually have.

[netmask56]

Try changing the name to something simple getting rid of "▶_" which might be causing problems?

[Reading Bug]

Netmask56: thanks but my download resulted in four files, only one of which has the ▶. None of them play.

Davexnet: thanks again. I looked at the details via mediainfo and came up with the following for each of the four files:

File 1:

General
Complete name : C:\Users\***.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 927 MiB
Duration : 55mn 57s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 2 317 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 06:42:28
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:44:51
gsst : 0
gstd : 3357280
gssd : B4A7DD7C8HH1402364399508739
gshh : r8---sn-a5m7zu7k.c.youtube.com

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : encv / avc1 / mp4a
Duration : 55mn 57s
Bit rate : 2 154 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 8 435 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Minimum frame rate : 20.000 fps
Maximum frame rate : 30.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.078
Stream size : 862 MiB (93%)
Encoded date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:44:51
Encryption : Encrypted

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 55mn 57s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 161 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 152 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 243 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 64.3 MiB (7%)
Title : IsoMedia File Produced by Google, 5-11-2011
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 06:42:44
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:44:51
Encryption : Encrypted

File 2:

General
Complete name : C:\Users\***.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 400 MiB
Duration : 55mn 57s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 1 000 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 06:43:08
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:43:57
gsst : 0
gstd : 3357280
gssd : B4A7DD7C8HH1402364399494635
gshh : r8---sn-a5m7zu7k.c.youtube.com

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : encv / avc1 / mp4a
Duration : 55mn 57s
Bit rate : 861 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 3 926 Kbps
Width : 854 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Minimum frame rate : 20.000 fps
Maximum frame rate : 30.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.070
Stream size : 344 MiB (86%)
Encoded date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:43:57
Encryption : Encrypted

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 55mn 57s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 137 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 128 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 215 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 54.7 MiB (14%)
Title : IsoMedia File Produced by Google, 5-11-2011
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 06:43:10
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:43:57
Encryption : Encrypted

File 3:

General
Complete name : C:\Users\***.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 262 MiB
Duration : 55mn 57s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 655 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 06:41:58
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:42:49
gsst : 0
gstd : 3357280
gssd : BADC239E1HH1380238804069320
gshh : r4---sn-q4f7dnl6.c.youtube.com

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : encv / avc1 / mp4a
Duration : 55mn 57s
Bit rate : 548 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 2 277 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 360 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Minimum frame rate : 20.000 fps
Maximum frame rate : 30.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.079
Stream size : 219 MiB (84%)
Encoded date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:42:49
Encryption : Encrypted

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 55mn 57s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 105 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 96.0 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 171 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 41.9 MiB (16%)
Title : IsoMedia File Produced by Google, 5-11-2011
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 06:41:59
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:42:49
Encryption : Encrypted

File 4:

General
Complete name : C:\Users\***.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 225 MiB
Duration : 49mn 1s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 642 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 06:41:58
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:42:49
gsst : 415400
gstd : 3357280
gssd : B4A7D0121HH1402364400552115
gshh : r4---sn-q4f7dns6.c.youtube.com

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : encv / avc1 / mp4a
Duration : 49mn 1s
Bit rate : 534 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 2 277 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 360 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Minimum frame rate : 20.000 fps
Maximum frame rate : 30.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.077
Stream size : 187 MiB (83%)
Encoded date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:42:49
Encryption : Encrypted

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 49mn 1s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 105 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 96.0 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 171 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 36.7 MiB (16%)
Title : IsoMedia File Produced by Google, 5-11-2011
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 06:41:59
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-14 06:42:49
Encryption : Encrypted

[davexnet]

These files, according to Mediainfo, are encrypted. Seems like some kind if Digital Rights Management is involved?

[Atticus Draco]

'

Codec ID : mp42

i believe this might be the stickler

since you have VLC,, why dont you use that to convert files?

[Reading Bug]

Davexnet: thanks. Is there any way to decrypt them?

Atticus Draco: thanks, but I had trouble doing anything with these files using VLC (perhaps the encryption circumvents any operation, even conversion?). If I should be able to do what you say, could you provide some guidance on how to convert with VLC? Or perhaps link to instructions that explain how? I had a hard time finding any myself.

[Atticus Draco]

'

I had a hard time finding any myself.

yeah,, the vlc web page,, really tuff to navigate over there and time consuming,, amirite?

menu item: "Media" (select)
--> 'Convert / Save' (select)
another box will open,, go at it,, it's pretty self explanatory after that

it shouldnt take long,, 'coz it's already a .mp4 file,,
what you'll be really doing is changing the header of the file to an acceptable codec heading
(as far as i can guess)

what i dont get is this:

gsst : 415400
gstd : 3357280
gssd : B4A7D0121HH1402364400552115
gshh : r4---sn-q4f7dns6.c.youtube.com