Uploaded audio and video files cannot be downloaded or played.

[RogueKGB]

I tried to set it up and use it on Debian. After uploading image files, the web links generated can display the image file contents normally; however, after uploading audio and video files, the web links generated keep showing "loading" when opened.

I tried both starting it directly from the source code and setting it up with Docker, but neither could download them.
I once thought it was an ffmpeg encoding issue, but it clearly is not.

[mtlynch]

My guess is you're using a video format that's not web streamable. Try converting your files to WebM:

INPUT_FILE='your-video.mp4' # replace with your video file
ffmpeg -i "${INPUT_FILE}" \
  -c:v libvpx-vp9 -crf 30 -b:v 0 \
  -c:a libopus -b:a 128k \
  output-video.webm

Your screenshot also shows you have two servers fighting for port 4001, so that might be complicating things as well.

[RogueKGB]

My guess is you're using a video format that's not web streamable. Try converting your files to WebM:

INPUT_FILE='your-video.mp4' # replace with your video file
ffmpeg -i "${INPUT_FILE}"
-c:v libvpx-vp9 -crf 30 -b:v 0
-c:a libopus -b:a 128k
output-video.webm
Your screenshot also shows you have two servers fighting for port 4001, so that might be complicating things as well.

The files I uploaded are .mp4 and .mp3 formats. Why aren't they supported?
The other service on port 4001 is the Docker version; I forgot to shut it down when I was testing.

[mtlynch]

The files I uploaded are .mp4 and .mp3 formats. Why aren't they supported?

Web browsers can't play all mp4 files. It depends what video and audio encoding the video uses. The ffmpeg command I showed uses VP9 for video and opus for audio, which most modern browsers support. This is an issue of browser support, not of PicoShare support.

Also, just to clarify, this is software that I wrote and am offering for free. I'm happy to help people understand it, but I expect politeness and professionalism. Your response feels like it's drifting towards demanding/entitlement, and I'd like to make sure we're on the same page that you're asking for a favor, and I'm not obliged to offer it.

[RogueKGB]

The files I uploaded are .mp4 and .mp3 formats. Why aren't they supported?

Web browsers can't play all mp4 files. It depends what video and audio encoding the video uses. The ffmpeg command I showed uses VP9 for video and opus for audio, which most modern browsers support. This is an issue of browser support, not of PicoShare support.

Also, just to clarify, this is software that I wrote and am offering for free. I'm happy to help people understand it, but I expect politeness and professionalism. Your response feels like it's drifting towards demanding/entitlement, and I'd like to make sure we're on the same page that you're asking for a favor, and I'm not obliged to offer it.

Sorry, my English isn't very good, so the meaning expressed by translation software may not be very accurate.

Not being able to play video or audio files in the browser isn't actually a big problem. The biggest problem is that shared files can't be loaded on the web page, which makes them impossible to download.

Also, I'm using the Edge browser, and the shared files also can't be loaded on the web page.

[mtlynch]

Hmm, it still sounds to me like you're using formats that the browser can't play. I'm having trouble understanding what you mean when you say that it's not a problem that videos don't play in the browser but that it is a problem that they can't load on the web page.

What happens when you try converting the videos using the ffmpeg command I shared above?

#814 (comment)

If you right click in the browser and click "Save" for a video that doesn't play, what happens?

[RogueKGB]

2026-09-19.23-06-22.mp4

Videos I recorded on the Windows system on the PVE server.
The service is deployed on the Debian system on the PVE server using Docker.

[mtlynch]

I'm not sure why "Save video as" is grayed out when you right click.

Can you share your PicoShare server logs?

[RogueKGB]

I'm not sure why "Save video as" is grayed out when you right click.

Can you share your PicoShare server logs?

picoshare-picoshare-1-20260920145906.log

[mtlynch]

There are no issues in your logs, so I'm not sure what this issue could be. Can you try from Firefox or Edge to eliminate the possibility of it being a browser issue?

[RogueKGB]

There are no issues in your logs, so I'm not sure what this issue could be. Can you try from Firefox or Edge to eliminate the possibility of it being a browser issue?

I tried using the Min browser and Chrome, but the result was still the same. However, it opens in Firefox.
Is it because the relevant browser compatibility code hasn't been written?
Can you reproduce this issue on your end?

[mtlynch]

No, I'm unable to reproduce. I tried PicoShare on Chrome on Win7 and it played video successfully

big-buck-bunny-picoshare.mp4

I used this file:

https://archive.org/download/BigBuckBunny_328/BigBuckBunny_512kb.mp4

What happens when you try that exact file?

[RogueKGB]

No, I'm unable to reproduce. I tried PicoShare on Chrome on Win7 and it played video successfully

big-buck-bunny-picoshare.mp4
I used this file:

https://archive.org/download/BigBuckBunny_328/BigBuckBunny_512kb.mp4

What happens when you try that exact file?

I use Windows 11 and Windows 10.
Windows 7 is too old for me, and it’s no longer supported.
I’m tired of testing it; it’s too much of a hassle for me.