# Why won't YouTube work for me?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 6, 2009, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512 "2009-08-06T06:08:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/1 "2009-08-06T06:08:33Z")

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Snivel. 😉

I try to upload a video to YouTube, it loads all the way and at the end it says it didn’t work because of an unspecified error. Real helpful that. I try to find someone at YouTube that will tell me what the issue is, doesn’t work.

Anyone here a YouTube uploader expert??

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**Author:** ![Floppy\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@Floppy\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floppy_Joe)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/2 "2009-08-06T17:00:50Z")

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No expert, but I have experienced that issue before. In my case, it was due to an outdated javascript plug-in with my browser. Work browser, that is. At home, where I have the latest and greatest, there was no issue.

YouTube provides two ways to upload vids. Somewhere below the “select a file” screen, there is a text link. Hmm, it appears to have changed since I last used it. Try the link “Try without the progress bar” and see if that works better for you.

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**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/3 "2009-08-08T02:53:54Z")

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> [@Floppy\_Joe](#):
>
> No expert, but I have experienced that issue before. In my case, it was due to an outdated javascript plug-in with my browser. Work browser, that is. At home, where I have the latest and greatest, there was no issue.
> 
> YouTube provides two ways to upload vids. Somewhere below the “select a file” screen, there is a text link. Hmm, it appears to have changed since I last used it. Try the link “Try without the progress bar” and see if that works better for you.

I tried the opposite and had the husband try to upload it at work. It said it worked, but then when he tried to play it, he got “unable to convert video file”. It is AVI, which I’ve seen others’ have on YouTube - any ideas there?

(I have screenshots I can link to if that helps)

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/4 "2009-08-08T03:37:11Z")

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> [@Floppy\_Joe](#):
>
> Try the link “Try without the progress bar” and see if that works better for you.

I agree with this, this always works for me, the other way can take a day to upload nothing.

Also check to to make sure your flash is up to date.

That said, try it from a different browser like Chrome or FireFox, if you’re using IE.

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**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/5 "2009-08-08T03:46:46Z")

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> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> I agree with this, this always works for me, the other way can take a day to upload nothing.

OK, I’ll do the without progress bar on Monday!

> [@](#):
>
> Also check to to make sure your flash is up to date.

At home, it is not. How does the husband check his at work? If his laptop is less than a year old, would it be ok?

> [@](#):
>
> That said, try it from a different browser like Chrome or FireFox, if you’re using IE.

Which brings up a different issue. I’m using Safari 2.0.4 and it is making me nuts. What is the best thing for me to have on a MacBook running 10.4.10?

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/6 "2009-08-08T03:55:58Z")

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I believe youtube videos are simply [streaming flash files](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube). Unload and reload or update your flash player codecs [via Adobe.](http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/)

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**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/7 "2009-08-08T06:41:54Z")

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if you are using an old browser, youtube says that is no longer supports IE6.

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**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/8 "2009-08-09T01:57:14Z")

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> [@chappachula](#):
>
> if you are using an old browser, youtube says that is no longer supports IE6.

I’m on Safari - guess I’ll check to see if they say anything about that.

I did try loading without progress bar - didn’t work. I updated my Flash - didn’t work. It just looks like it doesn’t like .avi, even tho I see other .avi videos on there!

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/9 "2009-08-09T03:47:11Z")

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Are you trying to upload something from work? If that is the case, the system admin at your company may be blocking you.

Does it not upload ANYTHING? Or is it certain files?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/10 "2009-08-09T04:16:06Z")

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> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> Are you trying to upload something from work? If that is the case, the system admin at your company may be blocking you.

No, I’m mostly trying to do it from home, from my MacBook. My husband did it once and it loaded, but when we tried to look at it, the error message said something about not being able to convert the file.

> [@](#):
>
> Does it not upload ANYTHING? Or is it certain files?

For me, it will not upload anything, but that anything is all from my one camera, so I guess it is also certain files! 🙂

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**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/11 "2009-08-09T05:05:42Z")

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> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> I tried the opposite and had the husband try to upload it at work. It said it worked, but then when he tried to play it, he got “unable to convert video file”. It is AVI, which I’ve seen others’ have on YouTube - any ideas there?

AVI is a container format—the video itself was encoded using something else, most commonly MPEG-4 (though if YouTube can’t decode it, it’s probably something else). It’s possible that whatever you encoded the video with is unsupported by YouTube.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/12 "2009-08-09T05:12:27Z")

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> [@BorgHunter](#):
>
> AVI is a container format—the video itself was encoded using something else, most commonly MPEG-4 (though if YouTube can’t decode it, it’s probably something else). It’s possible that whatever you encoded the video with is unsupported by YouTube.

Oh! Huh. I guess I need to convert it somehow, tho I don’t know what it is as the software that came with the camera doesn’t tell me, it just says AVI. Oh, and also “motionJPG”. That must be the coding. It also says “OpenDML, 320 x 240, 15.000 fps” - does that mean anything?

Guess I need to go find some converter software. Or get a real video camera… 😃

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/13 "2009-08-09T05:37:13Z")

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> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> Oh! Huh. I guess I need to convert it somehow, tho I don’t know what it is as the software that came with the camera doesn’t tell me, it just says AVI. Oh, and also “motionJPG”. That must be the coding. It also says “OpenDML, 320 x 240, 15.000 fps” - does that mean anything?
> 
> Guess I need to go find some converter software. Or get a real video camera… 😃

Motion JPEG is indeed the video encoding. It isn’t listed under YouTube’s list of [preferred video codecs](http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=132460&topic=16612&hl=en-US)—you could try re-encoding using MPEG-4. In fact, YouTube recommends [that very thing](http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=58141&ctx=sibling) for the error message you got. I don’t have any recommendations for a converter for you; perhaps another Doper can chime in there.

Video encoding is still a relatively new thing for consumers. Hopefully, in a couple years, we’ll standardize on a couple formats (like [MPEG-4/H.264](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC) and [Theora](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theora) for video, and ([MP3 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3)) and [Vorbis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis) for audio). In the meantime, the field remains pretty muddy, with a dizzying array of codecs just waiting to confuse an unsuspecting consumer. The [HTML5](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_5) video tag will, hopefully, clear things within the next year or two, even though it’s just [made things more confusing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg_controversy) for the time being.

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/14 "2009-08-09T06:37:24Z")

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I heartily recommend [eRightSoft Super](http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html). It can convert almost anything to almost anything, and it’s free, with no spyware, adware, or shit like that.

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**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/15 "2009-08-09T07:04:48Z")

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> [@Liberal](#):
>
> I heartily recommend [eRightSoft Super](http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html). It can convert almost anything to almost anything, and it’s free, with no spyware, adware, or shit like that.

I’ll download it overnite. Why would someone spend all that effort on something they give away?

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**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/16 "2009-08-09T07:08:00Z")

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> [@BorgHunter](#):
>
> Video encoding is still a relatively new thing for consumers. Hopefully, in a couple years, we’ll standardize on a couple formats (like [MPEG-4/H.264](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC) and [Theora](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theora) for video, and ([MP3 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3)) and [Vorbis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis) for audio). In the meantime, the field remains pretty muddy, with a dizzying array of codecs just waiting to confuse an unsuspecting consumer. The [HTML5](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_5) video tag will, hopefully, clear things within the next year or two, even though it’s just [made things more confusing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg_controversy) for the time being.

Oof. This is why I want YouTube to store my videos and I’ll just link to them! I have enough trouble keeping up with html changes as it is… :eek:

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/17 "2009-08-09T07:12:56Z")

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> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> I’ll download it overnite. Why would someone spend all that effort on something they give away?

Some of the best software out there is free. Open Office, for example. People contribute for different reasons.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/18 "2009-08-09T07:13:11Z")

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> [@Liberal](#):
>
> I heartily recommend [eRightSoft Super](http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html). It can convert almost anything to almost anything, and it’s free, with no spyware, adware, or shit like that.

Oh, poop. Mac isn’t supported…☹

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/19 "2009-08-09T07:15:18Z")

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Mac? What is this… “Mac”? 😉

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512/20 "2009-08-09T07:27:42Z")

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> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> I’ll download it overnite. Why would someone spend all that effort on something they give away?

Various reasons. Wikipedia, the Linux kernel, Firefox, and a wide variety of other [FOSS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open_source_software) are all just given away, source code and all, for ideological reasons. Various companies support FOSS for reasons relevant to their respective business models, but volunteers are equally essential to those various projects. It’s pretty cool, when you think about it.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-youtube-work-for-me/505512.md?page=2)