Error when playing video podcast on Windows 10 (standalone and MS store)

[diggtrap]

Hello

I've been busy for a few months and some other months without a computer, so I was behind in my podcasts. I listened to all non-video ones and some music with no issues whatsoever, however when I moved to try and catch up with Distractible, my Spotify gave me an error, saying it could not play the content and I should try installing the latest version.

However, it had no update left for me to install, and nothing else gave me an error, only the video-podcast in question (I have not tried any other because the issue did not happen on web-browser). I followed the steps for a clean reinstall and also tried the Microsoft Store version to no avail.

[diggtrap]

Here's a screenshot of the error, and additionally a screenshot of an error over the ads banner at the bottom of the screen that started happening at the same time.

If I download the episode, only the audio is downloaded and not the video. It worked fine for most of the last year.

[diggtrap]

Just now I went through about 20 random video podcasts in the platform, and the only video podcast I have found that works is The Joe Rogan Experience. Not a single other video podcast I tried worked. No issues on web player.

[Eni]

Hey there @diggtrap,

Thanks for getting in touch about this and welcome to the Community! 

Just to confirm, are you using any VPNs? If so, we suggest that you turn it off as it can affect the app's performance.

On another note, we'd recommend clearing up your hosts file by following these steps. 

If the issue persists, could you give a different internet connection a go to see if that does the trick?

Let us know how it goes. 

[diggtrap]

Sorry for the late reply, been busy this week.

My hosts file is clean, no IP's added to it. I do not use any VPN or have any kind of connection modification in my router, only what was provided to me by my ISP.

Unfortunately I can't test on a different internet as its a wired connection to my desktop PC. I have no issues on watching video podcasts on the web version of Spotify, nor I have issues listening to any songs or audio-only podcasts on the Windows client. It is solely a problem with the video podcasts, as I pointed earlier, if I try to download a video-episode, it downloads audio only (I have looked through settings and there is no option for that either).

[Maria]

Hey @diggtrap,

Thanks for keeping us posted!

Just to check, does the same thing happen on any other devices that you use Spotify on? Are you able to play the podcasts, both audio and video, without downloading them there?

Also, do you notice any difference if you Switch off Enable hardware acceleration in the app settings on your computer?

If possible, you can also ask a friend or a family member to log into their own Spotify account on your PC, just to see if they experience the same issue. 

Let us know how you get on.

[diggtrap]

Sorry for the long time without replying, life has gotten in the way.

- Hardware Acceleration did not change anything;

- I can both watch and listen to video podcasts on my phone with no issues whatsoever;

- I made a new account and it also fails to load video podcasts specifically, just as my regular account does (in the same network as well);

I am at a loss because I'd rather use the app on my computer to watch these instead of the web browser, more importantly is that this wasn't happening months ago on the same computer. I'm not sure if it was a Windows update that caused this but I have checked everything and have changed nothing, no other app behaves this way or has any issue of similar vein.

I know I could just ignore and watch it on my phone, but it kinda would feel like I wasted our time trying to fix it up to this point.

[Maria]

Hey there @diggtrap,

Thanks for the reply!

To make sure we cover all bases, would you mind running your PC in Safe Mode with Networking to see if that does the trick? You can see how to run it in Safe Mode on this page.

We can also recommend that you check for any drivers on your PC that might need updating. 

Keep us posted!