Downloading a video from a m3u8 stream results in unsuable data

[qualia]

Hello. I recently tried downloading a video from a m3u8 stream; the output is unusable. Whenever I try any viewing software I get that something is corrupted. FFMPEG tells me this:

[hls @ 0x615c1b601bc0] Error when loading first segment URL.somestuff.ts
[in#0 @ 0x615c1b601900] Error opening input: Invalid data found when processing input
Error opening input file URL.m3u8.
Error opening input files: Invalid data found when processing input

Looking at some of the code of the site it seems like the stream has some DRM shenanigans going on. Is the reason I am getting these errors cause this stream is just encrypted and protected DRM data? If so, I have seen some stuff on here on how to approach that and will look into it... but before that, I just want to know if that is even the issue. Thanks!

[aqzs]

Probably DRM but could be another thing. Can't you send the video url ?

[qualia]

Probably DRM but could be another thing. Can't you send the video url ?

Unfortunately I cannot. Any other help or suggestions greatly appreciated!!

[qualia]

To add: when trying to download with yt-dlp it works and I get the correct size file but it’s still just raw data (and looks encrypted)

[2nHxWW6GkN1l916N3ayz8HQoi]

Do you get a pixelated green screen? If yes then it's DRM

[qualia]

Do you get a pixelated green screen? If yes then it's DRM

I don’t. That’s why I thought this was so weird. It is just straight up raw data. The magic byte isn’t even set.

[LZAA]

Url?

[larley]

Send the top half of a stream.m3u8 file.
HLS manifests always have a master.m3u8 (that contains all of the different video/audio/subtitle streams) and a stream.m3u8 which just contains one of the aforementioned streams in segments.
The thing is that they're not always just called 'stream.m3u8' and 'master.m3u8', but you'll see the master file being loaded first and looking quite differently.

Examples:
stream manifest:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-VERSION:6
## Generated with https://github.com/google/shaka-packager version v2.3.0-5bf8ad5-release
#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:5
#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE:VOD
#EXT-X-MAP:URI="v-0360p-0750k-libx264-init.mp4"
#EXTINF:4.000,
v-0360p-0750k-libx264-s1.mp4
#EXTINF:4.000,
v-0360p-0750k-libx264-s2.mp4
#EXTINF:4.000,
v-0360p-0750k-libx264-s3.mp4
...
#EXT-X-ENDLIST

master manifest:

#EXTM3U
## Generated with https://github.com/google/shaka-packager version v2.3.0-5bf8ad5-release

#EXT-X-MEDIA:TYPE=AUDIO,URI="playlist_a-eng-0128k-aac-2c.mp4.m3u8",GROUP-ID="default-audio-group",LANGUAGE="en",NAME="stream_0",AUTOSELECT=YES,CHANNELS="2"

#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=255636,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=212901,CODECS="avc1.42c01e,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=250x144,AUDIO="default-audio-group"
playlist_v-0144p-0100k-libx264.mp4.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=543932,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=467745,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=418x240,AUDIO="default-audio-group"
playlist_v-0240p-0400k-libx264.mp4.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=1599186,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=1347573,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=1002x576,AUDIO="default-audio-group"
playlist_v-0576p-1400k-libx264.mp4.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=2778640,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=2324339,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=1252x720,AUDIO="default-audio-group"
playlist_v-0720p-2500k-libx264.mp4.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=1184460,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=992577,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=834x480,AUDIO="default-audio-group"
playlist_v-0480p-1000k-libx264.mp4.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=909696,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=770778,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=626x360,AUDIO="default-audio-group"
playlist_v-0360p-0750k-libx264.mp4.m3u8