Error when trying to use yt-dlp and mpv at the same time

[naoto89]

When I use this code, I can only download the stream.

%ytdlp% "%URL%" ^
  --hls-prefer-native ^
  --hls-use-mpegts ^
  --continue ^
  --no-part ^
  --no-cache-dir ^
  -v ^
  -o "%OUTPUT%"

When I use this code, yt-dlp pipe the stream to mpv but does not download any files.

%ytdlp% "%URL%" ^
  --hls-prefer-native ^
  --hls-use-mpegts ^
  --continue ^
  --no-part ^
  --no-cache-dir ^
  -v ^
  -o - | "%MPV%" -

But if I try to put the output with mpv (-o "%OUTPUT%" - | "%MPV%" -), I get this error

ERROR: Fixed output name but more than one file to download:

What did I do wrong? Also, How can I add mpv syntax like -geometry=854x480?

[naoto89]

Guys please help me, I can't solve this.

[johns0]

Thread moved to the video streaming downloading forum where you can get more help.

[lomero]

1. ask to AI. it's full all web. choose Gemini, duckgo, OpenAI, and many others
2. join to yt-dlp discord server and ask here https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r
3. search mpv forum and ask there (https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/mazda-mpv-17/)

[naoto89]

1. ask to AI. it's full all web. choose Gemini, duckgo, OpenAI, and many others
2. join to yt-dlp discord server and ask here https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r
3. search mpv forum and ask there (https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/mazda-mpv-17/)

I can't believe this. I've searched everywhere but haven't found anything. I haven't received an answer on yt-dlp's Discord either.

[stew]

-o "%OUTPUT%" - | "%MPV%" -

you can't save to file *and* write to stdout in order to pipe to mpv.

a tool like streamlink can do this natively.

streamlink -r file.ts --player mpv "URL" best

[naoto89]

-o "%OUTPUT%" - | "%MPV%" -

you can't save to file *and* write to stdout in order to pipe to mpv.

a tool like streamlink can do this natively.

streamlink -r file.ts --player mpv "URL" best

I would use Streamlink if it didn't depend on plugins to support some streams and the stream I want to download is only supported by yt-dlp.

[stew]

streamlink supports direct m3u8 links too if that helps you.

in some situations, you can play the file as it downloads when using yt-dlp, but is a two-step process and you have to let it write a bit of the file first.

[LZAA]

'more than one file to download'

URL?

[naoto89]

streamlink supports direct m3u8 links too if that helps you.

But the link I want to download does not end with a ".m3u8".

in some situations, you can play the file as it downloads when using yt-dlp, but is a two-step process and you have to let it write a bit of the file first.

I want to avoid that, I don't want to open files manually anymore. If in the same batch script I do yt-dlp download and pipe output to mpv I will have more control of what happens. If playback stops due to a source interruption before I stop the download, I'll know to take immediate action.

[G.T.X.R]

Then try something like this:

@echo off

set "URL=https://live03-col.msf.cdn.mediaset.net/live/ch-fu/fu-clr.isml/manifest_hd.mpd"

for /f %%a in ('powershell -Command "Get-Date -format yyyy.MM.dd#HH.mm.ss"') do set datetime=%%a

start "" yt-dlp --hls-prefer-native --hls-use-mpegts --continue --no-part --no-cache-dir %URL% -o "%datetime%.mp4"

timeout /t 9 /nobreak> nul

vlc "%datetime%.mp4"

exit

This is for windows, you can adapt it for unix systems.

[naoto89]

Then try something like this:

@echo off

set "URL=https://live03-col.msf.cdn.mediaset.net/live/ch-fu/fu-clr.isml/manifest_hd.mpd"

for /f %%a in ('powershell -Command "Get-Date -format yyyy.MM.dd#HH.mm.ss"') do set datetime=%%a

start "" yt-dlp --hls-prefer-native --hls-use-mpegts --continue --no-part --no-cache-dir %URL% -o "%datetime%.mp4"

timeout /t 9 /nobreak> nul

vlc "%datetime%.mp4"

exit

This is for windows, you can adapt it for unix systems.

In fact, I use Windows, but if I have to use PowerShell to achieve what I need, then I'm not going to do it. I already tried something similar but PowerShell wouldn't let me use the variables I set.

set URL=URL
set CSN=ChannelName
set CSR=VideoSize
set CSS=StreamType
set CDC=VideoCodec %CSR% AudioCodec kHz BitRate
set CSTCMD=%CSN% %CSS% (%CSR% 16:9)
set CSTMPV=%CSTCMD%
TITLE %CSTCMD% - ytdlp
COLOR 5F
set YY=%date:~-4%
set MM=%date:~-7,2%
set DD=%date:~-10,2%
set HH=%time:~0,2%
set MN=%time:~3,2%
set SC=%time:~6,2%
set FDT=[%YY%-%MM%-%DD% %HH%h-%MN%m-%SC%s]
set OUTPUT=%~d0\StreamRipping\youtube-dl\WEBdls/%CSN% (%CDC%) %FDT% (%CSR%).ts
set MPV=%~d0\StreamRipping\Players\MPV_x64\mpv.exe
set ytdlp=%~d0\StreamRipping\youtube-dl\bin\yt-dlp.exe

Everything is done in such a way that I only have to change 2 o 3 of variables that will be shown in CMD, mpv (if there is also a way to use its args as --geometry within the yt-dlp code) and the filename output. My code works fine, just need to add the player that opens when yt-dlp pipe the output.

[G.T.X.R]

This seems to work, tested on windows 7 and windows 10: " 1080p.España, Flooxer.cmd ".

@echo off& cd /D "%~dp0"& chcp 1252& cls

set "URL=https://fast-channels.atresmedia.com/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285.m3u8"

set "CSN=España, Flooxer"

set CSR=1920x1080

set CSS=HLS

set CDC=h264 aac 48kHz 134kbs

set CSTCMD=%CSN% %CSS% (%CSR% 16:9)

set CSTMPV=%CSTCMD%

TITLE %CSTCMD% - ytdlp

COLOR 5F

set YY=%date:~-4%
set MM=%date:~-7,2%
set DD=%date:~-10,2%
set HH=%time:~0,2%
set MN=%time:~3,2%
set SC=%time:~6,2%
set FDT=[%YY%-%MM%-%DD% %HH%h-%MN%m-%SC%s]

set OUTPUT=%~d0\StreamRipping\youtube-dl\WEBdls/%CSN% (%CDC%) %FDT% (%CSR%).ts

set MPV=%~d0\StreamRipping\Players\MPV_x64\mpv.exe

set ytdlp=%~d0\StreamRipping\youtube-dl\bin\yt-dlp.exe

start "%CSTCMD% - ytdlp" %ytdlp% --hls-prefer-native --hls-use-mpegts --continue --no-part --no-cache-dir %URL% -o "%OUTPUT%"

if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul

if exist "%OUTPUT%" start "" %MPV% "%OUTPUT%"

[Gromyko]

@naoto89
Verified that this works

Pipe yt-dlp output to vlc video player

yt-dlp "https://fast-channels.atresmedia.com/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285.m3u8"  -o - | vlc -

yt-dlp "https://fast-channels.atresmedia.com/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285.m3u8"  -o - | mpv -

@G.T.X.R
Ever consider using a for or while loop instead of that list of wait statements?

@naoto89

for /f %%a in ('powershell -Command "Get-Date -format yyyy.MM.dd#HH.mm.ss"') do set datetime=%%a

this code from @G.T.X.R does not mean that you have to change your code to powershell
It is a called a powershell cmdlet and is a great technique to save the date/time into a variable. You should study it (incorporating cmdlets into your windows batch scripts) and thank @G.T.X.R for pointing it out to you

This below is an excellent way to initialize variables in win batch scripts
for /f %%a in (' place_your_code_here ') do set "variable_name=%%a"


place_your_code_here <== this can include piping of sed, grep, awk or whatever

This is very powerful.

Also, when you use set, always try to add "" to the statement ... look at what G.T.X.R did
set "URL=https://live03-col.msf.cdn.mediaset.net/live/ch-fu/fu-clr.isml/manifest_hd.mpd"
It removes any spaces that windows batch adds to the end of the declaration

[G.T.X.R]

This is universal rec+play script, there are options inside - you can choose from >10 combinations:

set RX= ffmpeg¦streamlink¦N_m3u8DL-RE¦yt-dlp¦youtube-dl
set TX= MPV¦VLC

So you can use yt-dlp with VLC or yt-dlp with MPV or ffmpeg with VLC or streamlink (native too) with MPV etc. But first check or change path to executables on your system. * Not for contents with separate audio and video.

"_Universal.Rec-Play.Script_.cmd"

@echo off& cd /D "%~dp0"& chcp 1252& cls

::@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@::
::@@@ _ U n i v e r s a l . R e c - P l a y . S c r i p t _ @@@::
::@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@::

set "URL=https://fast-channels.atresmedia.com/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285.m3u8"

set "CSN=España, Flooxer"
set "CSR=1920x1080"
set "CSS=HLS"
set "CDC=h264 aac 48kHz 134kbs"
set "CSTCMD=%CSN% %CSS% (%CSR% 16:9)"
set "CSTMPV=%CSTCMD%"

for /f %%a in ('powershell -Command "Get-Date -format [yyyy-MM-dd#HH\h.mm\m.ss\s]"') do set "FDT=%%a"

set "MPV=%~d0\StreamRipping\Players\MPV_x64\mpv.exe"
set "VLC=%ProgramFiles%\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe"

set "ffmpeg=%ProgramFiles%\Streamlink\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.exe"
set "streamlink=%ProgramFiles%\Streamlink\bin\streamlink.exe"
set "N_m3u8DL-RE=%SystemDrive%\Tvtools\N_m3u8DL-RE.exe"
set "yt-dlp=%~d0\StreamRipping\youtube-dl\bin\yt-dlp.exe"
set "youtube-dl=%SystemDrive%\Tvtools\youtube-dl.exe"

rem  s t a r t   o p t i o n s :

rem ===ffmpeg¦streamlink¦N_m3u8DL-RE¦yt-dlp¦youtube-dl===
set "RX=%yt-dlp%"
rem =====================================================

rem ===streamlink native: true¦false=====================
set "NAT=false"
rem =====================================================

rem ===MPV¦VLC===========================================
set "TX=%VLC%"
rem =====================================================

rem  e n d   o p t i o n s

TITLE %CSTCMD% - %RX%
COLOR 5F

set "DIR=%~d0\StreamRipping\youtube-dl\WEBdls"
set "OUTPUT=%CSN% (%CDC%) %FDT% (%CSR%)"
set "EXT=ts"

if "%RX%"=="%ffmpeg%" (start "%CSTCMD% - %RX%" "%RX%" -i %URL% "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%")

if "%RX%"=="%streamlink%" ( if "%NAT%"=="true" (

start "%CSTCMD% - %RX%" "%RX%" -r "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%" --player "%TX%" %URL% best

) else if "%NAT%"=="false" (

start "%CSTCMD% - %RX%" "%RX%" %URL% best -o "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%" ) )

if "%RX%"=="%N_m3u8DL-RE%" (start "%CSTCMD% - %RX%" "%RX%" --live-real-time-merge --live-pipe-mux %URL% -sv best -sa best --save-dir "%DIR%" --save-name "%OUTPUT%" --tmp-dir "%temp%")

if "%RX%"=="%yt-dlp%" (start "%CSTCMD% - %RX%" "%RX%" %URL% --hls-prefer-native --hls-use-mpegts --continue --no-part --no-cache-dir -o "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%")

if "%RX%"=="%youtube-dl%" (start "%CSTCMD% - %RX%" "%RX%" %URL% --hls-prefer-native --hls-use-mpegts --continue --no-part --no-cache-dir -o "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%")

if "%RX%" == "%streamlink%" ( if "%NAT%" == "true" ( goto EOF ) )

if exist "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%" goto play

:wait
timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%" goto wait

:play
start "" "%TX%" "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%"

[naoto89]

This seems to work, tested on windows 7 and windows 10: " 1080p.España, Flooxer.cmd ".

It's a good code but there's some stuff I don't understand.

cd /D "%~dp0"

I always run my batch scripts inside subfolders on drives outside C:\, so in the .exe paths and output set in variables I use %~d0 instead the current drive letter to avoid change letters.

start "%CSTCMD% - ytdlp" %ytdlp%

I noticed that this runs yt-dlp in a new CMD window where the yt-dlp activity is displayed instead the first CMD window, which shouldn't happen and would just open extra CMD windows. Also, if the download is interrupted by a source interruption, the yt-dlp window will close while the first CMD window will remain open because it has a PAUSE>NUL to prevent that window closing automatically. I also noticed that if you don't put start "" before %ytdlp%, %MPV% won't run even if yt-dl is still downloading.

if NOT exist "%OUTPUT%" timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul

I guess it's to kill time before the mpv opens and loads the output.

Pipe yt-dlp output to vlc video player

yt-dlp "https://fast-channels.atresmedia.com/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285.m3u8"  -o - | vlc -

yt-dlp "https://fast-channels.atresmedia.com/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285.m3u8"  -o - | mpv -

It only pipes stdout, there is no path to the downloaded file which is what should be piped.

This is universal rec+play script, there are options inside - you can choose from >10 combinations:

This is even more amazing than the previous code, but I have a question about VLC. Is there a way to make VLC portable load its own custom settings instead of loading the settings saved in %AppData% of the local Windows user?

[djvu]

yt-dlp <URL> -o - | tee stream.mp4 | mpv -

[naoto89]

yt-dlp <URL> -o - | tee stream.mp4 | mpv -

What does "tee" do? That doesn't work for me either.

Something I didn't realize before is that if I put ' -o - "%OUTPUT%" | "%MPV%" - ' instead of ' -o "%OUTPUT%" - | "%MPV%" - ', yt-dlp opens and pipes stdout to mpv, but yt-dlp still doesn't download the stream even though it's set to output after stdout. For yt-dlp to not be able to do something that FFmpeg+FFplay can, it means there's a bug. This is some code I use in FFmpeg, and notice how the output comes before stdout, both outputs work together and there is not problem.

"%ffmpeg%" ^
  -thread_queue_size 4096 ^
  -i "%URL%" ^
  -c copy ^
  -reconnect true ^
  -reconnect_at_eof true ^
  -reconnect_on_network_error true ^
  -reconnect_on_http_error "4xx, 5xx" ^
  -reconnect_streamed true ^
  -reconnect_delay_max 4294 ^
  -multiple_requests true "%OUTPUT%" ^
  -f mpegts ^
  - | "%ffplay%" - ^
  -x 854 ^
  -y 480 ^
  -window_title "%CSTFFP%"

[djvu]

What does "tee" do? That doesn't work for me either.

tee is a linux coreutil that reads from stdin then writes to a file and stdout at the same time. I was told the windows equivalent Tee-Object (aliased to tee) should work the same way but I guess not? mb

[G.T.X.R]

° cd /D "%~dp0" at the start is useful in some circumstances, it is for confirm script position only, the rest (.exe paths and output) can use %~d0, that is not touched. Anyway you can skip this.

° %VLC% --config="%SystemDrive%\vlc2\vlcrc" for example allows to open vlc with an alternative config file which is located in the specified position. Also i try copy vlc.exe to another place, it works too with original config file. Add --config= for alternative config.

° My previous script, runs yt-dlp in a new CMD window because I couldn't find a way to do this all in one window. Only streamlink allows this by having native functionality.

But in this new script I used some tricks to reach all tasks in one window, unfortunately MPV is not compatible in most cases (maybe bug), only VLC can be used. Also, N_m3u8DL-RE not support redirecting, the script must open separate window for it.

_Universal.Rec-Play.Script.(Vers.0.2)_.cmd

@echo off& cd /D "%~dp0"& chcp 1252& cls

::@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@::
::@@@ _ U n i v e r s a l . R e c - P l a y . S c r i p t _ @@@::
::@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@vers 0.2@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@::

set "URL=https://fast-channels.atresmedia.com/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285/5c1285e47ed1a861f8125285.m3u8"

set "CSN=España, Flooxer"
set "CSR=1920x1080"
set "CSS=HLS"
set "CDC=h264 aac 48kHz 134kbs"
set "CSTCMD=%CSN% %CSS% (%CSR% 16:9)"
set "CSTMPV=%CSTCMD%"

for /f %%a in ('powershell -Command "Get-Date -format [yyyy-MM-dd#HH\h.mm\m.ss\s]"') do set "FDT=%%a"

set "VLC=%ProgramFiles%\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe"

set "ffmpeg=%SystemDrive%\Tvtools\ffmpeg.exe"
set "streamlink=%ProgramFiles%\Streamlink\bin\streamlink.exe"
set "N_m3u8DL-RE=%SystemDrive%\Tvtools\N_m3u8DL-RE.exe"
set "yt-dlp=%SystemDrive%\Tvtools\yt-dlp.exe"
set "youtube-dl=%SystemDrive%\Tvtools\youtube-dl.exe"

rem  s t a r t   o p t i o n s :

rem ==%ffmpeg%¦%streamlink%¦%N_m3u8DL-RE%¦%yt-dlp%¦%youtube-dl%==
set "RX=%yt-dlp%"
rem =============================================================

rem  e n d   o p t i o n s

TITLE %CSTCMD% - %RX%
COLOR 5F

set "DIR=%SystemDrive%\TV"
set "OUTPUT=%CSN% (%CDC%) %FDT% (%CSR%)"
set "EXT=ts"

echo.%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%> "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%"
timeout /t 2 /nobreak> nul

if "%RX%"=="%ffmpeg%" ("%RX%" -y -i %URL% "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%"| "%VLC%" --quiet --meta-title="%CSTCMD% - %RX%" -f --directx-volume=1.0 "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%")

if "%RX%"=="%streamlink%" ("%RX%" %URL% best --force -o "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%"| "%VLC%" --quiet --meta-title="%CSTCMD% - %RX%" -f --directx-volume=1.0 "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%")

if "%RX%"=="%N_m3u8DL-RE%" (
del /f /q "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%"

start "%CSTCMD% - %RX%" "%RX%" --live-real-time-merge --live-pipe-mux %URL% -sv best -sa best --save-dir "%DIR%" --save-name "%OUTPUT%" --tmp-dir "%temp%\RE"

if exist "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%" goto play

:wait
timeout /t 1 /nobreak> nul
if NOT exist "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%" goto wait

:play
start "" "%VLC%" --quiet --meta-title="%CSTCMD% - %RX%" -f --directx-volume=1.0 "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%"
)

if "%RX%"=="%yt-dlp%" ("%RX%" %URL% --hls-prefer-native --hls-use-mpegts --continue --no-part --no-cache-dir --force-overwrite -o "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%"| "%VLC%" --quiet --meta-title="%CSTCMD% - %RX%" -f --directx-volume=1.0 "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%")

if "%RX%"=="%youtube-dl%" ("%RX%" %URL% --hls-prefer-native --hls-use-mpegts --continue --no-part --no-cache-dir -o "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%"| "%VLC%" --quiet --meta-title="%CSTCMD% - %RX%" -f --directx-volume=1.0 "%DIR%\%OUTPUT%.%EXT%")

° Adjust path to executables.

[naoto89]

What does "tee" do? That doesn't work for me either.

tee is a linux coreutil that reads from stdin then writes to a file and stdout at the same time. I was told the windows equivalent Tee-Object (aliased to tee) should work the same way but I guess not? mb

Instead of using tee, ffmpeg can be used. Works just as expected, but one thing I noticed is that if I use ffmpeg and aria2c (as downloader) in the same yt-dlp script, aria2c is avoided and doesn't appear in the Windows Task Manager.

° %VLC% --config="%SystemDrive%\vlc2\vlcrc" for example allows to open vlc with an alternative config file which is located in the specified position. Also i try copy vlc.exe to another place, it works too with original config file. Add --config= for alternative config.

I don't have VLC installed on Windows, but I use a portable version that is on another drive and I copy the folder of that version to the paths I want. No matter how many copies I make of VLC and the paths, it will always load the info that is in "%APPDATA%\vlc\vlc-qt-interface.ini". Is it possible to change this within VLC GUI and instead use the same directory where vlc.exe is located so that it can load its own config from there? If I do that, I could avoid add --config= to the batch script. Or am I wrong?

[naoto89]

° My previous script, runs yt-dlp in a new CMD window because I couldn't find a way to do this all in one window. Only streamlink allows this by having native functionality.

But in this new script I used some tricks to reach all tasks in one window, unfortunately MPV is not compatible in most cases (maybe bug), only VLC can be used. Also, N_m3u8DL-RE not support redirecting, the script must open separate window for it.

After testing version 2, there's a playback issue. VLC opens but fails to load the video, unlike version 1.