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I have good reasons to use Opera as my default browser (I find it lighter than Firefox Quantum and Chrome/Chromium, I like its speed-dial bookmarks, as well as other features and details).

Opera browser cannot play Youtube streaming videos .

enter image description here

Normal (non-live) youtube videos work fine.

I know Youtube doesn't involve flash, but in order to debug this in a larger context it may prove usefull to say that the same browsers that do not play live streams in Youtube (Opera and Chromium) are also affected by a problem where they cannot play (at least) some other (probably flash) internet video streams - while Google Chrome and Firefox are not affected by neither of these problems.

Help me debug this.

I am in elementary OS Loki up-to-date, Opera 52.0.2871.40.

I have also posted this question: How to tell if an internet video is flash or html5 .

Edit

Installing chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra for the purpose of playing Vimeo videos (as indicated here) solved for Chromium all the problems I had with both Opera and Chromium (not playing live streams and a lot of other non-live online video): but not for Opera.

Community
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    Just a note: It is not Flash-related as YouTube streams through HTML5 player. – Vlastimil Burián Apr 12 '18 at 10:40
  • @Vlastimil - please see my new edit. Non-live youtube works, which is html5 too. Some flash works (Dailymotion, including live), some doesn't (Vimeo, Tweeter video, live or not, and many others). –  Apr 12 '18 at 11:15
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    I have installed Loki in a VM + Opera in it. It plays even the live streams in my case. – Vlastimil Burián Apr 12 '18 at 11:23
  • @Vlastimil - I imagined something similar. How could I debug it though. Note that Chromium is also affected, while GChrome and Ff are not. –  Apr 12 '18 at 11:24
  • @Vlastimil - maybe you are interested in an update: solved for Chromium by installing `chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra` - but not for Opera. –  Apr 16 '18 at 09:52
  • I am interested, and I was looking at it too. You were faster, though ;) What does http://html5test.com/ say? In Video codecs section I mean? – Vlastimil Burián Apr 16 '18 at 09:54
  • @Vlastimil - on html5test.com in Chromium, all video codecs checked except first and third item. Same in Opera after solution in my answer. –  Apr 16 '18 at 10:49
  • the snap version of Opera use your own chromium-ffmpeg compilation – mtdb Aug 07 '18 at 16:00

4 Answers4

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The solution may vary depending on the operating system.

See the Chrome base version of Opera at opera://about/.

enter image description here

For version 65.0.3325.181, download the opera-ffmpeg-codecs package from ArchLinux repository:

wget http://ftp5.gwdg.de/pub/linux/archlinux/community/os/x86_64//opera-ffmpeg-codecs-65.0.3325.181-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

Extract it:

tar -xJf opera-ffmpeg-codecs-65.0.3325.181-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

For other versions - as Opera will be updated in time and the above may not work anymore - see here: https://repo.herecura.eu/herecura/x86_64/. (Or search the internet for something like opera-ffmpeg-codecs-xxxxxx where xxxxxx is the relevant Chrome base version.)

Create the following directory:

sudo mkdir /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opera/lib_extra/

Move the library to the right place:

sudo mv ./usr/lib/opera/lib_extra/libffmpeg.so /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opera/lib_extra/

Let me know if that helps or not.

Edit by cipricus:

This works. I am editing this a bit to make it more largely significant and add what I have found myself, then I'll mark it as solved and grant the bounty too.

This problem is to be put in the context of browser html5 support, more specifically support for h264 streams (which affected much more than Youtube live streams). To check html5 support, go to http://html5test.com/. h264 support seems to be lacking at the date of these posts in both Chromium and Opera but can be solved only separately. For Chromium:

sudo apt-get install chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra

The same package can be used for Opera by downloading the deb file from http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/c/chromium-browser/, extracting the libffmpeg.so and copying it as indicated.

The above was tested in Ubuntu-based systems.

In other systems Opera may have a different folder structure.

For Solus:

Based on this post.

Follow the Linux instructions at https://www.slimjet.com/en/libffmpeg.php You will want the x64 file. Download and extract it. Make a backup of /usr/lib64/opera/libffmpeg.so then, with administrator rights, copy the new libffmpeg.so file into /usr/lib64/opera, replacing the existing one.

You'll have to do this again after Opera updates.

Vlastimil Burián
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  • I have just fixed it with a similar solution that I will post as an answer. Can you tell me in what way they are different? –  Apr 16 '18 at 10:32
  • Let me know when you post it and I will try. I'll be be back in an hour. – Vlastimil Burián Apr 16 '18 at 10:34
  • https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/438062/32012 –  Apr 16 '18 at 10:42
  • Please tell me if what I say is dirty or otherwise unrecommended. I intend to see your answer edited if needed to include the best of all solutions and mark it as definitive +bounty. –  Apr 16 '18 at 10:52
  • It seems a `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opera/libffmpeg.so` is needed in any case on my system (Opea will not start with only `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opera/lib_extra/libffmpeg.so` - but it may work fine with both. I have already replaced the initial `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opera/libffmpeg.so` as per my answer, so there is no point in testing the latter unless I uninstall/reinstall Opera.) –  Apr 16 '18 at 10:59
  • I have been able to confirm your solution with opera-beta, by downloading the corresponding package 66.0.3359.81 for the more recent Chrome from https://repo.herecura.eu/herecura/x86_64/ –  Apr 16 '18 at 11:44
  • I guess your solution is better in that it may work after an update, which may replace the manually copied `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opera/libffmpeg.so`. That risk is present with your solution too, as the efficacy of the `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opera/lib_extra/libffmpeg.so` file is said to depend upon the version of the Chrome base (and **that too could change with the update, but hopefully less often**): downloading a newer corresponding version of the file `opera-ffmpeg-codecs` or `chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra` may be needed then anyway. Bounty grant needs at least 21 hours more. –  Apr 16 '18 at 12:06
  • @cipricus This we can only verify in time. Someday, it will just stop working and in that case, you already know, how to solve it. Cool team work. – Vlastimil Burián Apr 16 '18 at 12:12
  • I'm afraid this is more complicated: the initial solutions (mine and yours) work for ubuntu-based systems. In others (e.g.Solus) the Opera folder structure is different and the `libffmpeg.so` that worked for ubuntu doesn't work here. - I'll update this. –  Apr 20 '18 at 10:20
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See the main answer for updates and summing-up. This varies depending on the Linux system.

I have solved this in ubuntu-based systems (by following loosely what is said here) like so:

  1. Go to opera://about/ and look for the relevant Chromium version.

enter image description here

  1. Download from here the corresponding version of chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra

  2. Extract the archive.

enter image description here

  1. Copy the libffmpeg.so file (with the file manager as administrator or in terminal) to /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opera replacing the already existing file if needed.

(This is different from what the linked answer says. Location is different and no renaming of the file was done.)

Restarting Opera, live streaming in Youtube and other sites like Vimeo now are working ok.

This seems to have been a problem with h264 support in Opera, as part of html5 support. Such issues can be investigated by going to http://html5test.com.

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user32012's solution is still working with Ubuntu 20.04 and OSes based on 20.04 (e.g. Linux Mint 20.3) - although there is no specific version of chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra for 20.04, the version for 18.04.1 works just fine.

As of 26 March 2022, this is my Opera version:

My Opera version

And this is the version of chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra that works in Ubuntu 20.04, which can be downloaded here:

chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra_99.0.4844.51-0ubuntu0.18.04.1_amd64.deb
electricgears
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    Are you posting an answer to say that another answer works?  Don’t do that.  If you are presenting a new answer, please make that clearer.  And please don’t post images that are basically just text. – G-Man Says 'Reinstate Monica' Mar 26 '22 at 03:58
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(Work In Progress...)

Intro:

It is not Flash related. The error message mentions HTML5 which is and has been for many years the standard for Youtube and almost all major video streaming services.

Possible cause:

A missing library.

Possible solution:

sudo apt-get install chromium-codecs-ffmpeg
  • Installing `chromium-codecs-ffmpeg` doesn't fix it in Opera, nor in Chromium. –  Apr 16 '18 at 07:42
  • Maybe you have time for this too: [How to tell if an internet video is flash or html5](https://superuser.com/q/1314426/162573). –  Apr 16 '18 at 07:44
  • I have downsized the flash-related content of the question. –  Apr 16 '18 at 07:57
  • While installing `chromium-codecs-ffmpeg` was not enough, installing `chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra` **instead** (one package removes the other) for the purpose of playing Vimeo videos (as indicated [here](https://help.vimeo.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015677227-Troubleshoot-player-error-messages)) solved **for Chromium** all the problems I had with both Opera and Chromium (not playing live streams and a lot of other non-live online video): but **not for Opera**. –  Apr 16 '18 at 09:42
  • -1 | For this post should be deleted as it does not solve the issue at all. – Vlastimil Burián Apr 16 '18 at 12:13