Twitch videos not behaving properly`
Here's the thing: Twitch videos, by themselves, play properly. All the time. Every single time. The issue comes when you try to load them in the way most people do: with the accompanying chat in a standard type of link. Using Nintendo as an example, this link format is https://www.twitch.tv/nintendo
So what is the issue? Its complex. If I try to load a link belonging to a currently active stream, the chat loads, as does all the **** around it. However, the video window itself has nothing but a non-functioning play button smacked in the middle of it. It refuses to play. I am forced to load a link like http://player.twitch.tv/?channel=nintendo if I want to actually WATCH the stream. This puts things in two different tabs or windows, meaning I might miss something if I take a moment to chat with someone.
It gets more complex. When the stream ends and a host is done, the hosted stream appears in the original link. No problem. Happy viewing.
If I plan ahead and load a stream BEFORE a stream gets underway, then the video loads fine and everything's working in one tab. I can see chat and video together like I am used to. This is my only option of late, to load the window in advance and hope nothing bad happens making me reset my browser. But as with the above, it gets MORE complex; when a stream gets hosted at the end of the main stream, the hosted stream fails to load unlike the other scenario above; instead, the ended stream for the original streamer remains.
So clearly, stuff on Twitch is not loading properly in Firefox. And before anyone asks, it seems to be working fine in Edge. So this is a localized issue to Firefox. Flash should be up to date, though I don't think that's the issue. So is the browser, which I'm going to restart after posting this question. Any other ideas?
All Replies (5)
Twitch has had the HTML5 beta enabled for everybody since Sept 30. You can click on the gear icon on right bottom corner to see what it is set at.
Normally before the video part of player was still using the Flash Player Plugin while the controls and chat has been HTML5 for over a year now.
Not to say I have not had issues with the twitch player as the Flash Player 23 Beta builds for Linux did not load player fully (before the HTML5 for video change) as screen is black yet sound works.
That is useful information. I did not realie this was the HTML-5 beta. I have since opted out of it, for the time being, giving the reason that the video wouldn't start; while this is not 100% true (it starts in a separate window or otherwise on its own if I leave an inactive stream's window open, and even today one stream DID load correctly using HTML-5 next to the chat), the fact that I cannot routinely get the video to start with the stream is an issue that bothers me more than the black screen issue with Flash, which I have also come across (fixed with a quick reset of the window).
Now that I know it's there, I may opt back in to try it again at a later time. For now, knowing this is a huge problem for me on Firefox, I'll keep using Flash. Thanks for the tip.
So now apparently Flash player doesn't load at all. It shows loading, it just doesn't finish loading. So that's even worse.
Again, things work fine in Edge for the HTML-5 player, so Firefox is failing.
One thing I noticed today is the HTML5 video does not auto start when stream starts as the Flash Player did. I had to click on play for it to load and then had a ad the stream then loaded.
If I am watching Twitch I tend to use LiveStreamer and the Livestreamer Twitch gui to send streams to the MPV media player. This uses a lot less cpu especially if viewing on source. Downside is if I want chat I need to open chat in a popout.
It was actually possible to use the HTML5 for video for a good while by way of http://player.twitch.tv/?channel=channelnamehere&html5 but this was basically the player in a popout and with no chat.
James said
One thing I noticed today is the HTML5 video does not auto start when stream starts as the Flash Player did. I had to click on play for it to load and then had a ad the stream then loaded. If I am watching Twitch I tend to use LiveStreamer and the Livestreamer Twitch gui to send streams to the MPV media player. This uses a lot less cpu especially if viewing on source. Downside is if I want chat I need to open chat in a popout. It was actually possible to use the HTML5 for video for a good while by way of http://player.twitch.tv/?channel=channelnamehere&html5 but this was basically the player in a popout and with no chat.
I guess that's exactly what I'm finding. Even when I use a player link instead, the stream does not auto-play. The difference is I can't start the stream at all on the ones under the standard link (with chat) whereas I can click to play on the player versions.