Mp4 file won't open and has no media info

[killercuddles]

I am desperately hoping someone can help me with this mp4 problem I'm having. I used OBS and recorded two mp4 videos. The second one is fine, but the first one would not open in any program. When I used MediaInfo, I actually only got the "general" info for the file, and nothing for the video or audio:

CompleteName : C:\Users\Yvonne\Videos\2016-11-19 20-21-37.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format_Profile : Base Media
CodecID/String : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
FileSize/String : 287 MiB

This is what MediaInfo shows me for the other mp4 file that's working:

General
Complete name : C:\Users\Yvonne\Videos\2016-11-19 21-18-43.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 392 MiB
Duration : 20 min 30 s
Overall bit rate : 2 674 kb/s
Writing application : Lavf57.41.100

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 20 min 30 s
Bit rate : 2 500 kb/s
Width : 1 092 pixels
Height : 614 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 30.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.124
Stream size : 367 MiB (93%)
Writing library : x264 core 148 r2721 72d53ab
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=1 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=2 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=4 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=10 / rc=cbr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2500 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=2500 / vbv_bufsize=2500 / nal_hrd=none / filler=1 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 20 min 30 s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 165 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate : 43.066 FPS (1024 spf)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 24.1 MiB (6%)
Title : simple_aac
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1

So there's clearly something wrong with the first file. Does anyone know if I can still salvage this file and how I can do so? Any help will be much appreciated. I'm super disappointed by this. This was my first time streaming so having this happen is very discouraging

[Jamaika]

The causes can be many. Add video to sendspace.com.

[redwudz]

Assuming you are using 'Open Broadcaster Software'

You might try looking at the video with a hex editor.
I use the one in Virtualdub, but there are other stand-alone hex editors.
If you see nothing but zeros, maybe no video exists.

Other members may have better suggestions.

And welcome to our forums.

[killercuddles]

Thanks for the replies, Jamaika and redwudz

Here is the file, if anyone is willing to take a crack at it:
https://www.sendspace.com/file/x3t58m

I am so very desperate to get it working. I am willing to pay lol

[Jamaika]

I'm sorry. The film is not beyond redemption. Probably you were downloaded from the internet and stopped the recording.
Information Info X264 is too small by opening the file.
I only know that the preset was veryfast, bitrate, maxrate, bufsize 2500 and threads 12. Unknown is the size or fps.

[raffriff42]

It was a screen recording using OBS, which probably crashed while recording.
Maybe what crashed was not OBS itself, but the game it was capturing.

The video might be recoverable with one of the tools listed here (dunno which - suggestions?)

For the future, add the custom muxer settings (*)
movflags=frag_keyframe min_frag_duration=4000000

which forces a new fragment every four seconds.

https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-all.html#mov_002c-mp4_002c-ismv

Normally, a MOV/MP4 file has all the metadata about all packets stored in one location (written at the end of the file...). A fragmented file consists of a number of fragments, where packets and metadata about these packets are stored together. Writing a fragmented file has the advantage that the file is decodable even if the writing is interrupted (while a normal MOV/MP4 is undecodable if it is not properly finished), and it requires less memory when writing very long files (since writing normal MOV/MP4 files stores info about every single packet in memory until the file is closed). The downside is that it is less compatible with other applications.

(*) EDIT explained in the PDF help guide (here), page 67.