Help downloading a master.m3u8 from HSL correctly

[VinzOP]

Hi there,
I'm trying to download a video that is free to watch using the .m3u8 that I found in Dev Tools from a website. I've installed youtube-dl, ffmpeg, and few other options.

After some reading I thought that ffmpeg was the better option since many others didn't do the job.

I've tried this two codes:

ffmpeg -protocol_whitelist file,http,https,tcp,tls -allowed_extensions ALL -i file.m3u8 -bsf:a aac_adtstoasc -c copy file.mp4

ffmpeg -i file.m3u8 -bsf:a aac_adtstoasc -vcodec copy -c copy -crf 50 file.mp4

Both actually works, but even if I found the master.m3u8 these only downloads the audio file and not the video.

This is part of what i'm getting:

[hls @ 0x1557052c0] Could not find codec parameters for stream 0 (Video: h264 ([27][0][0][0] / 0x001B), none): unspecified size
Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' (0) and 'probesize' (5000000) options
Input #0, hls, from 'https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/index-f3-v1-a1.m3u8':
Duration: 00:13:20.63, start: 0.101000, bitrate: 0 kb/s
Program 0
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 0
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 ([27][0][0][0] / 0x001B), none, 90k tbr, 90k tbn
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 0
Stream #0:1: Audio: aac (LC) ([15][0][0][0] / 0x000F), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 0
Stream #0:2: Data: timed_id3 (ID3 / 0x20334449)
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 0
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:1 -> #0:0 (copy)
Output #0, mp4, to 'file2.mp4':
Metadata:
encoder : Lavf61.1.100
Stream #0:0: Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 0

I don't really understand what is wrong, since I read that those code lines should work.

Thank you for you help!

[lomero]

why you can use ffmpeg? this tool is wonderful tool, but well not the best for download

and without video link or m3u8 link our support is very limited. so share video/m3u8 link

[aqzs]

I don't really understand what is wrong, since I read that those code lines should work.

Hey, I suggest you using hlsdl or streamlink or N_m3u8DL-RE for downloading m3u8 files.

[VinzOP]

why you can use ffmpeg? this tool is wonderful tool, but well not the best for download

and without video link or m3u8 link our support is very limited. so share video/m3u8 link

Thanks for your answer.

I am actually trying to use ffmpeg. I work from MacOS latest version and have an Apple Silicon M1 computer.
If you read the message that i'm getting from ffmpeg console after extraction, you'll notice:

Could not find codec parameters for stream 0 (Video: h264 ([27][0][0][0] / 0x001B), none): unspecified size
Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' (0) and 'probesize' (5000000) options

Maybe an idea what could this be, or what can I do otherwise?

Anyways, these are the links that you ask for:

Web site link
master.m3u8 link

As for the mentioned tools, I will definitely try them. Thanks aqzs!

[LZAA]

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"

[VinzOP]

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ -i "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"

Tried this one and it didn't work. I got:

ERROR: [generic] Unable to download webpage: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed: unable to get local issuer certificate (_ssl.c:1000) (caused by CertificateVerifyError('[SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed: unable to get local issuer certificate (_ssl.c:1000)')); please report this issue on https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U
vinzmac@Vincents-MacBook-Pro ~ %

I will try streamlink.

[LZAA]

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ --no-check-certificate "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"

[aqzs]

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ --no-check-certificate "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"

It doesn't change anything, it's a macos certificate error.. I read a lot of post and didn't found a working solution..

[LZAA]

Windows OS:

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"
[generic] Extracting URL: https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,15...et/master.m3u8
[generic] master: Downloading webpage
ERROR: [generic] Unable to download webpage: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed: unable to get local issuer certificate (_ssl.c:1108) (caused by CertificateVerifyError('[SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed: unable to get local issuer certificate (_ssl.c:1108)')); please report this issue on https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ --no-check-certificate "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"
[generic] Extracting URL: https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,15...et/master.m3u8
[generic] master: Downloading webpage
[generic] master: Downloading m3u8 information
[generic] master: Checking m3u8 live status
[info] master: Downloading 1 format(s): 3540
[hlsnative] Downloading m3u8 manifest
WARNING: Live HLS streams are not supported by the native downloader. If this is a livestream, please add "--downloader ffmpeg --hls-use-mpegts" to your command
[hlsnative] Total fragments: 133
[download] Destination: master [master].mp4
[download] 1.4% of ~ 233.86MiB at 814.57KiB/s ETA 11:05 (frag 3/133)
...

[VinzOP]

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ --no-check-certificate "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"
[generic] Extracting URL: https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,15...et/master.m3u8

Thanks man! This actually worked. It succesfully dowloaded the video, but in the end it gave the next error message:

[hlsnative] Downloading m3u8 manifest
WARNING: Live HLS streams are not supported by the native downloader. If this is a livestream, please add "--downloader ffmpeg --hls-use-mpegts" to your command
[hlsnative] Total fragments: 133
[download] Destination: master [master].mp4
[download] 100% of 348.82MiB in 00:02:34 at 2.25MiB/s
[FixupM3u8] Fixing MPEG-TS in MP4 container of "master [master].mp4"
ERROR: Postprocessing: Conversion failed!

Anyways, I can see the video, it's OK, but it seems to be weirdly converted as when I play it it slows the video player. I tried to add this command "--downloader ffmpeg --hls-use-mpegts", but if I run it the download considers only audio not video.

Any idea how to resolve this? Thanks!

[LZAA]

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ --no-check-certificate --fixup never "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"

[keep_it_breezy]

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ --no-check-certificate --fixup never "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"

+1 this works absolutely fine.

[VinzOP]

yt-dlp --referer https://player.instantvideocloud.net/ --no-check-certificate --fixup never "https://vodingesta1083.cdnmedia.tv/video/retina/lacacherasinsub383ace2d-aff8_H,1000,1500,2200,.MP4.urlset/master.m3u8"

Thank you! It worked well.

[VinzOP]

Another question, is there a possibility to include the download of additional subtitle tracks that are not directly embedded in the master.m3u8??
Maybe a code line that includes the download.

Thanks!

[keep_it_breezy]

Another question, is there a possibility to include the download of additional subtitle tracks that are not directly embedded in the master.m3u8??
Maybe a code line that includes the download.

Thanks!

If they aren't embedded, you'd actually have to find them in the page. Sometimes, you'll be fortunate and they'll be a .vtt, or a .srt file which is directly found in the network tools. You can then just download it as normal.

If that's not the case, you oftentimes have to get a bit creative.

[VinzOP]

Hi guys, thanks for your help, I've found some .vtt in Dev Tools, and worked like a charm!

But, I have found another problem now... I'm trying to download the following video, and successfully downloaded the video without problem.
The thing is that the subtitles tracks are not that easy to fetch... The master.m3u8 doesn't directly contain both of the available tracks (english and chinese). So, I've found a webvtt text file in Dev Tools, but it's segmented in various parts. I'm trying to download the english version without knowing which is it using ffmpeg with some code found surfing this forum, but this has been unsuccessful so far.

Any help for this? Thanks a lot!

[aqzs]

Hi guys, thanks for your help, I've found some .vtt in Dev Tools, and worked like a charm!

But, I have found another problem now... I'm trying to download the following video, and successfully downloaded the video without problem.
The thing is that the subtitles tracks are not that easy to fetch... The master.m3u8 doesn't directly contain both of the available tracks (english and chinese). So, I've found a webvtt text file in Dev Tools, but it's segmented in various parts. I'm trying to download the english version without knowing which is it using ffmpeg with some code found surfing this forum, but this has been unsuccessful so far.

Any help for this? Thanks a lot!

I suggest you using N_m3u8DL-RE, it handles the processing part.

[Attachment 79436 - Click to enlarge]
You can add parameters such as :

--select-audio all

Or use regular expression to download only 'en'.

Select audio streams by regular expressions. ref --select-video

Examples: 
# select all
-sa all
# select best eng audio
-sa lang=en:for=best
# select best 2, and language is ja or en
-sa lang="ja|en":for=best2

N_m3u8DL-RE "https://manifest.prod.boltdns.net/manifest/v1/hls/v4/clear/6282251407001/5cca14a9-2f57-4273-b73d-dae265908d70/6s/master.m3u8?fastly_token=TOKEN" -sv best -sa lang=en -ss lang=en

[VinzOP]

Thanks @aqzs . Sorry for this, but I'm not very experienced with this kind of tools... how can I install N_m3u8DL-RE? I normally use homebrew for the other tools that I use, but this one is more... cryptic?. I've found the latest mac os version here but I can't install it correctly.

Tried it to find the way to do it online, but I haven't found the "for the dummies" explanation.

[keep_it_breezy]

Thanks @aqzs . Sorry for this, but I'm not very experienced with this kind of tools... how can I install N_m3u8DL-RE? I normally use homebrew for the other tools that I use, but this one is more... cryptic?. I've found the latest mac os version here but I can't install it correctly.

Tried it to find the way to do it online, but I haven't found the "for the dummies" explanation.

https://github.com/nilaoda/N_m3u8DL-RE/releases/tag/v0.2.0-beta
Dowload this and add it to your path

[VinzOP]

Thanks @aqzs . Sorry for this, but I'm not very experienced with this kind of tools... how can I install N_m3u8DL-RE? I normally use homebrew for the other tools that I use, but this one is more... cryptic?. I've found the latest mac os version here but I can't install it correctly.

Tried it to find the way to do it online, but I haven't found the "for the dummies" explanation.

https://github.com/nilaoda/N_m3u8DL-RE/releases/tag/v0.2.0-beta
Dowload this and add it to your path

Is there a code line to do it after the download of the .tar.gz file, or should I uncompress it and manually place it in that path? As I never manually placed anything in my path, I don't know where to find it.

[aqzs]

Is there a code line to do it after the download of the .tar.gz file, or should I uncompress it and manually place it in that path? As I never manually placed anything in my path, I don't know where to find it.

Download that if you are on M chip : https://github.com/nilaoda/N_m3u8DL-RE/releases/download/v0.2.0-beta/N_m3u8DL-RE_Beta_...0230628.tar.gz else that : https://github.com/nilaoda/N_m3u8DL-RE/releases/download/v0.2.0-beta/N_m3u8DL-RE_Beta_...0230628.tar.gz.

Then unzip and place it in a folder that will never move. Copy the path of the file. In your terminal run :

nano ~/.zshrc

And add :

alias N_m3u8DL-RE="PATH"

(ctrl + x then y then enter to exit)

Then :

source ~/.zshrc

You should be able to run N_m3u8DL-RE now.

[VinzOP]

Thanks again @aqzs.
Followed the instructions, one by one. I think it worked.

I tried to run the HTLM code that you posted this morning, but i'm having this error:

N_m3u8DL-RE "https://manifest.prod.boltdns.net/manifest/v1/hls/v4/clear/6282251407001/5cca14a9-2f57-4273-b73d-dae265908d70/6s/master.m3u8?fastly_token=TOKEN" -sv best -sa lang=en -ss lang=en
zsh: permission denied: /Users/mymac/Applications/N_m3u8DL-RE_Beta_osx-arm64/N_m3u8DL-RE

[keep_it_breezy]

Thanks again @aqzs.
Followed the instructions, one by one. I think it worked.

I tried to run the HTLM code that you posted this morning, but i'm having this error:

N_m3u8DL-RE "https://manifest.prod.boltdns.net/manifest/v1/hls/v4/clear/6282251407001/5cca14a9-2f57-4273-b73d-dae265908d70/6s/master.m3u8?fastly_token=TOKEN" -sv best -sa lang=en -ss lang=en
zsh: permission denied: /Users/mymac/Applications/N_m3u8DL-RE_Beta_osx-arm64/N_m3u8DL-RE

chmod +x /Users/mymac/Applications/N_m3u8DL-RE_Beta_osx-arm64/N_m3u8DL-RE

[VinzOP]

Done!

Still having some errors:

19:14:21.590 INFO : N_m3u8DL-RE (Beta version) 20230628
19:14:21.601 INFO : Loading URL: https://manifest.prod.boltdns.net/manifest/v1/hls/v4/clear/6282251407001/5cca14a9-2f57-4273-b73d-dae265908d70/6s/master.m3u8?fastly_token=TOKEN
19:14:21.667 ERROR: One or more errors occurred. (Response status code does not indicate success: 403 (Forbidden).)

[keep_it_breezy]

Done!

Still having some errors:

19:14:21.590 INFO : N_m3u8DL-RE (Beta version) 20230628
19:14:21.601 INFO : Loading URL: https://manifest.prod.boltdns.net/manifest/v1/hls/v4/clear/6282251407001/5cca14a9-2f57-4273-b73d-dae265908d70/6s/master.m3u8?fastly_token=TOKEN
19:14:21.667 ERROR: One or more errors occurred. (Response status code does not indicate success: 403 (Forbidden).)

No offense, but at this point, I suggest you google what that error code means and why it might be occuring.
No point in just being spoonfed all answers step by step.

[VinzOP]

Done!

Still having some errors:

19:14:21.590 INFO : N_m3u8DL-RE (Beta version) 20230628
19:14:21.601 INFO : Loading URL: https://manifest.prod.boltdns.net/manifest/v1/hls/v4/clear/6282251407001/5cca14a9-2f57-4273-b73d-dae265908d70/6s/master.m3u8?fastly_token=TOKEN
19:14:21.667 ERROR: One or more errors occurred. (Response status code does not indicate success: 403 (Forbidden).)

No offense, but at this point, I suggest you google what that error code means and why it might be occuring.
No point in just being spoonfed all answers step by step.

Sorry, I didn't know if the install was successful, but I figured it out now. I had to copy the original url from the master.m3u8.
If it's interesting for someone, I've found this info that visits this challenging steps for a non expert, concerning N_m3u8DL-RE with Mac OS:
https://github.com/nilaoda/N_m3u8DL-RE/issues/324

Cheers.

[keep_it_breezy]

Done!

Still having some errors:

19:14:21.590 INFO : N_m3u8DL-RE (Beta version) 20230628
19:14:21.601 INFO : Loading URL: https://manifest.prod.boltdns.net/manifest/v1/hls/v4/clear/6282251407001/5cca14a9-2f57-4273-b73d-dae265908d70/6s/master.m3u8?fastly_token=TOKEN
19:14:21.667 ERROR: One or more errors occurred. (Response status code does not indicate success: 403 (Forbidden).)

No offense, but at this point, I suggest you google what that error code means and why it might be occuring.
No point in just being spoonfed all answers step by step.

Sorry, I didn't know if the install was successful, but I figured it out now. I had to copy the original url from the master.m3u8.
If it's interesting for someone, I've found this info that visits this challenging steps for a non expert, concerning N_m3u8DL-RE with Mac OS:
https://github.com/nilaoda/N_m3u8DL-RE/issues/324

Cheers.

No need to be sorry, I didn't mean to come across as harsh

But think about it now - you've researched, found resources, learned probably quite a lot, and got set up! That will benefit you greatly as opposed to people just telling you what to type into your terminal