YouTube App Can No Longer Play Videos

[jpsonabip]

I'm wondering if anyone else has been able to get YouTube video playback to work on the X-Series recently. I've tried the most recent versions of the firmware (1.10 and 1.11), to no avail. Selecting nearly any video results in the error "Cannot play; file format is not supported".

I attempted to contact Sony Support on two occasions, and both times their response was that the chosen YouTube videos must be compatible with the Walkman's video formats (as defined on page 173 of the user manual) in order to play. In other words, a non-answer. What is the point of an app for playing YouTube videos when it doesn't actually support playing YouTube videos?

-- JP

[CrowdAds]

[jpsonabip]

Originally Posted by jpsonabip

I'm wondering if anyone else has been able to get YouTube video playback to work on the X-Series recently. ... Selecting nearly any video results in the error "Cannot play; file format is not supported".

Further to my original post, I've been trying to find a pattern regarding which videos work and which don't. As far as I can tell, any recently posted videos on YouTube simply won't play. Older videos (pre-2011) seem to still work. I guess YouTube might have recently changed their video encodings so that newer videos simply are no longer compatible with the X-Series.

-- JP

[sid32]

Try to convert the videos with winff or avideuimx, both are free and have presets for you all ready to go..

[mskate]

If I understand this post correctly, the internal YouTube app on the X provides a list of related content. But when selecting one on the list only results in a 'format not supported' message. Wondering if others are experiencing the same issue.

Is this the result of Google changing the codec to WebM? See the attached link: http://gizmodo.com/5793944/youtube-c...-codec-to-webm

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. The YouTube integration si one of the nicest features on the X. Thoughts?

[jpsonabip]

Originally Posted by mskate

If I understand this post correctly, the internal YouTube app on the X provides a list of related content. But when selecting one on the list only results in a 'format not supported' message. Wondering if others are experiencing the same issue.

Is this the result of Google changing the codec to WebM? See the attached link: http://gizmodo.com/5793944/youtube-c...-codec-to-webm

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. The YouTube integration si one of the nicest features on the X. Thoughts?

Yes, what you have described is precisely the problem I've run into. I doubt it has to do with WebM. Your desktop computer would then require a WebM browser plug-in to play YouTube videos, too. Yet YouTube still works on Apple's Safari web browser, and I guarantee that there is no WebM video plug-in available for that!

I suspect there might have been a change in format (e.g. perhaps the resolution of video) served by default by YouTube that overwhelms the Walkman X. Unfortunately, I haven't found any way to communicate with Sony and get a clear answer as to what's going on here. I realize that, being a product that was discontinued at the end of 2010, Sony may no longer wish to support updating the firmware to fix the problem (despite the fact that some late purchasers may still be under warranty).

-- JP

[mskate]

Good points. I continue to experience the same frustration. My X1051 is just outside of a year old. For something sold at retail so recently, Sony should release a patch that allows the YouTube vids to play on the X. Or at minimum a reasonable explanation for why this embedded YouTube functionality simply won't work.

FWIW I'll continue to lobby Sony to release a firmware update. By phone, the engineer I talked to (3rd level support) indicated that a letter would be the best approach. So write them I will. And hopefully other X owners will do the same.

Let me know please if you make any further progress on the issue - thanks.

[jpsonabip]

Originally Posted by mskate

Good points. I continue to experience the same frustration. My X1051 is just outside of a year old. For something sold at retail so recently, Sony should release a patch that allows the YouTube vids to play on the X. Or at minimum a reasonable explanation for why this embedded YouTube functionality simply won't work.

FWIW I'll continue to lobby Sony to release a firmware update. By phone, the engineer I talked to (3rd level support) indicated that a letter would be the best approach. So write them I will. And hopefully other X owners will do the same.

I was completely stonewalled by the support person I talked to by e-mail. Her response was repeatedly, "read the specifications in the Walkman manual; the YouTube video you are trying to play simply is outside the specifications of the device."

If you have an address I can write a letter of complaint to, I'd appreciate if you'd pass it along. (There's another very annoying bug in how songs are alphabetically sorted that I might like to convey, too.)

-- JP

[mskate]

Sorry to hear that the customer service rep was of little help. I was advised that a US Mail letter would be the best option. The address to send a letter (for Sony US products) = Sony Corporation of America, 550 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022.

I think it's all very straightforward, right? Sony should release a firmware update that allows these vids to play. Especially since they are embedded within the player and that this is a relatively new product.

Perhaps if we make enough noise between us...good things will happen.