Android - Load video from private folder of app
android, android-videoview, audiovideoplayback
Solution
Why do I get those errors which according to what I have found online are errors that are related with problematic encoding of the video file ?
Because the media playback engine runs in its own process, and it does not have rights to read your file.
What is the best things to use in my case, a VideoView or a surfaceView ?
A `VideoView` contains a `SurfaceView`. Whether you use `VideoView` or a combination of MediaPlayer and `SurfaceView` is up to you.
Which is the ideal method to load a video from the application's private folder and be able to play it?
Either create a `ContentProvider` that can serve up your local file and use the provider `Uri` instead of the `Uri` to a local file, or create the local file using `openFileOutput()` and `MODE_WORLD_READABLE`.
Problem
I have a problem that I have been trying to find a solution for a long time. My situation is as follows: I have an app that downloads zipped videos and unzips them at the application's private folder and more specifically at a subfolder. For example at /data/data/my.app.package.name.here/files/assets/assets-955. Inside this folder the video is unzipped. The unzipping process is completed successfully since I can pull and view the video without problems when running the app on the emulator. I then have another activity that is accessing this folder, finds the video file and tries to open it. At this point I get an error that "Sorry, this video cannot be played" with the following error stack: ``` 01-30 17:36:17.770: D/ContentDemoActivity(6757): File: /data/data/xxxx/files/assets/assets-955/bank_2.mp4 01-30 17:36:17.830: I/MediaPlayer(6757): prepareAsync called in state 4 01-30 17:36:17.830: E/MediaPlayer(6757): error (1, -2147483648) 01-30 17:36:17.860: E/MediaPlayer(6757): Error (1,-2147483648) 01-30 17:36:17.860: D/VideoView(6757): Error: 1,-2147483648 01-30 17:36:19.370: E/MediaPlayer(6757): stop called in state 0 01-30 17:36:19.370: E/MediaPlayer(6757): error (-38, 0) 01-30 17:36:19.370: W/MediaPlayer(6757): mediaplayer went away with unhandled events ``` The code with which I am trying to play the video is pretty basic: ``` mView = (VideoView) findViewById(R.id.videoView); mMediaPlayer = new MediaPlayer(); mView.requestFocus(); mHolder = mView.getHolder(); Log.d(tag, "Populating content. Assets path: " + mAssetsPath); File f = new File(mAssetsPath); File[] files = f.listFiles(); Log.d(tag, "File: " + files[0].toString()); mView.setVideoURI(Uri.parse(files[0].toString())); mView.setMediaController(new MediaController(this)); ``` and the layout of the activity has a plain VideoView, nothing fancy there. The strangest thing is that for testing purposes I used the same video, this time loading it from the "raw" folder and it runs smoothly without problem. In that case though I had to load it with: ``` Uri video = Uri.parse("android.resource://" + getPackageName() + "/" + R.raw.bank_2); mVideoView.setVideoURI(video); mVideoView.start(); ``` I would do the same with the downloaded videos but there doesn't seem to be any function at the API that will allow me to load a video Uri from the application's private folder. I have found various solutions by using file descriptors, listeners for the videoView, flags indicating MODE_WORLD_READABLE, pre-calculation of the dimensions of the videoView, etc but none of them had positive results. In a nutshell, my questions are: - Why do I get those errors which according to what I have found online are errors that are related with problematic encoding of the video file ? - What is the best things to use in my case, a VideoView or a surfaceView ? - Which is the ideal method to load a video from the application's private folder and be able to play it? Thanks. EDIT After CommonsWare suggestion, I went with the following implementation: ``` File f = new File(mAssetsPath); File[] files = f.listFiles(); Log.d(tag, "File: " + files[0].toString()); URI uri = URI.create("file://" + (files[0].toString())); File file = new File(uri); try { Log.d(tag, "1"); ParcelFileDescriptor parcel = ParcelFileDescriptor.open(file, ParcelFileDescriptor.MODE_READ_WRITE); Log.d(tag, "2"); mMediaPlayer.setDataSource(parcel.getFileDescriptor()); Log.d(tag, "3"); mMediaPlayer.start(); Log.d(tag, "4"); } catch (FileNotFoundException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } catch (IllegalStateException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } Log.d(tag, "5"); ``` Unfortunately, this time I get the following errors: ``` 01-31 12:40:11.480: D/ContentDemoActivity(15896): File: /data/data/com.houseofradon.meb/files/assets/assets-955/bank_2.mp4 01-31 12:40:11.480: D/ContentDemoActivity(15896): 1 01-31 12:40:11.480: D/ContentDemoActivity(15896): 2 01-31 12:40:11.500: D/ContentDemoActivity(15896): 3 01-31 12:40:11.500: E/MediaPlayer(15896): start called in state 2 01-31 12:40:11.500: E/MediaPlayer(15896): error (-38, 0) 01-31 12:40:11.500: D/ContentDemoActivity(15896): 4 01-31 12:40:11.500: D/ContentDemoActivity(15896): 5 01-31 12:40:11.530: E/MediaPlayer(15896): Error (-38,0) ``` So, something happens when the media player starts. Error code -38 doesn't seem to mean anything specific as I found here. Any idea what I am missing ??? EDIT #2 I now use a mediaPlayer and a SurfaceView to do the whole process along with a surfaceHolder listener. Here is the code: ``` mMediaPlayer = new MediaPlayer(); mSurfaceView = (SurfaceView) findViewById(R.id.surface); mHolder = mSurfaceView.getHolder(); mHolder.addCallback(this); public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width, int height) { Log.d(tag, "surfaceChanged"); try { mMediaPlayer.setDisplay(mHolder); Log.d(tag, "7"); mMediaPlayer.start(); Log.d(tag, "8"); } catch (IllegalStateException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } Log.d(tag, "9"); } public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) { Log.d(tag, "surfaceCreated"); File f = new File(mAssetsPath); File[] files = f.listFiles(); Log.d(tag, "File: " + files[0].toString()); URI uri = URI.create("file://" + (files[0].toString())); File file = new File(uri); try { Log.d(tag, "1"); ParcelFileDescriptor parcel = ParcelFileDescriptor.open(file, ParcelFileDescriptor.MODE_READ_WRITE); Log.d(tag, "2"); mMediaPlayer.setDataSource(parcel.getFileDescriptor()); Log.d(tag, "3"); mMediaPlayer.setVolume(100, 100); Log.d(tag, "4"); mMediaPlayer.prepare(); Log.d(tag, "5"); } catch (FileNotFoundException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } catch (IllegalStateException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } Log.d(tag, "6"); } ``` I can listen to the audio of the video but the picture is just a plain black color. I also get an error almost at the end of the video playback that says: ``` 01-31 14:26:01.300: W/AudioSystem(17165): AudioFlinger server died! 01-31 14:26:01.300: W/IMediaDeathNotifier(17165): media server died 01-31 14:26:01.300: E/MediaPlayer(17165): error (100, 0) 01-31 14:26:01.300: E/MediaPlayer(17165): Error (100,0) ``` I am using an actual device, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Any ideas ?