YouTube under Windows XP - Downloaders, players and browser support

[AstroSkipper]

On 6/19/2026 at 12:36 PM, panda_zzz said:

@AstroSkipper I think I'll spend the weekend doing a thorough debugging session on Windows XP because I initially tested the extension on Windows 7. Unfortunately, I can't completely avoid using BAT files, but I'll try to optimize the process.

And what’s the situation on the Windows XP front? 

[AstroSkipper]

Development progress insights: The youtube.lua script by AstroSkipper

I have completely reworked my youtube.lua script. Now, the title of the video stream and an English subtitle is shown in VLC if available and selected by the user. Settings of both are done in the VLC settings which is then read by my script. The complete script has been optimised for best performance under Windows XP on my old, weak P4 machine. And no JavaScript challenges, of course. Here is a short GIF file:



On a computer with multi-processor technology and modern RAM, this runs at lightning starting speed, of course, compared to my single-processor computer with SD-RAM from 2000 and a stream starting time of 30 seconds. You probably won’t even see the flashing CMD window anymore or at most one nano-flash. In the process of developing, I’ve managed to reduce the number of flashing CMD windows from four to one..  In any case, VLC and YouTube are working perfectly together again, even on Windows XP. 

Edited Sunday at 11:59 AM by AstroSkipper

[panda_zzz]

On 6/24/2026 at 9:39 PM, AstroSkipper said:

And what’s the situation on the Windows XP front? 

I rewrote part of the functionality and replaced the automatic recommendations with manual ones that can be activated by clicking a button

youtube_search.lua

 

Edited Sunday at 06:54 PM by panda_zzz

[AstroSkipper]

3 hours ago, panda_zzz said:

I rewrote part of the functionality and replaced the automatic recommendations with manual ones that can be activated by clicking a button

youtube_search.lua 60.54 kB · 1 download

 

Thanks! But your youtube_search.lua doesn't work under Windows XP. Entering in the subtitle form "en", the script freezes. Leaving it empty, VLC freezes. And the subtitle toggle button is broken. Sorry to say but the script, as a VLC extension, is unusable as is, at least under Windows XP. BTW, my youtube.lua script is controlled by VLC. It reads and respects the VLC settings done by the user.

Edited Sunday at 10:10 PM by AstroSkipper

[VistaLover]

My own test results under Vista SP2 32-bit, Core2 Duo of 2008 era; VLC-3.0.24b1 (32-bit) "portable";
entering "Adele" as the search term and clicking the "Search" button, a cmd prompt window flickers for a fraction of a sec, then 10 search results finally appear, while at the same time I get a small pop-up window (with a rolling progress bar) informing me that the extension is NOT responsive and asks me whether I want to terminate it now: 

If I click "Yes" (Ναι), the pop-up disappears and I'm left with just the 10 search results; if I then click the "Load Rec" button, the search GUI hangs (Not Responding) and when trying to close the Search Window, the OS informs me that VLC is not responding and (practically) all I can do is just close it...

If I don't click the "Load Rec" button but click any of the 10 search result buttons, again I soon get a GUI hang, which leads to full app hang, too ...

In a nutshell, some improvement over the previous iteration of the script, but still not the desired/expected behaviour  ...

[AstroSkipper]

@panda_zzz Whenever I provide something I’ve programmed myself, I’ve tested it thoroughly. So I don’t understand what you’re doing here.  Apart from that, your script – which was already complex – has grown by another 50% and become even more complex. My general advice: less is often more.  If you’re wondering what’s so bad about complexity, the answer is quite simple: it makes the code prone to errors. And that, in turn, makes it much harder to fix things quickly and easily. You’re using far too many variables, and the code is no longer easy to follow. That aside, your script ignores the subtitle settings in VLC. The trick is to communicate with VLC and query specific internal VLC variables. Another important thing. You should always test your own toggle buttons to ensure they work properly. And if you still think that a temporary batch file is the only solution, then I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. You can definitely manage without one. Furthermore, your script, if it ever does work, will most likely run into YouTube’s JS wall and have to solve JS challenges. However, I don’t see any integration of an external JavaScript module such as QuickJS inside your script. Personally, I avoid any conflicts with YouTube’s JS wall, as it significantly delays the start of the stream. Anyway! That’s just my assessment, of course. 

Edited yesterday at 08:22 AM by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[AstroSkipper]

Development progress insights: The ytsearch.lua script by AstroSkipper

One week ago, I have created completely from scratch my own YouTube Search script I named ytsearch.lua. I followed exactly what I stated here:

On 6/19/2026 at 1:08 PM, AstroSkipper said:

Just an idea. You could also modify the youtube_search.lua script so that it only performs the YouTube search, but when a link is clicked, it passes it on to VLC, which then plays the YouTube link using the perfectly functioning youtube.lua script. That would streamline the script and make use of existing code. In such a case, there would be no need to reinvent the wheel.  ...

I did what I said. Only searching for YouTube videos and when clicking on it, the rest is up to my already existing youtube.lua script. It runs fine here under Windows XP. @panda_zzz My ytsearch.lua script is very slim, it has only one-sixth the file size of your youtube_search.lua script. And no temporary batch files, and no JS challenges here, of course. Here's a short clip:



You just need to focus on the essentials, and then things will work out much better. Brevity is the soul of wit, especially when it comes to coding. 

Edited 22 hours ago by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[panda_zzz]

23 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

Thanks! But your youtube_search.lua doesn't work under Windows XP. Entering in the subtitle form "en", the script freezes. Leaving it empty, VLC freezes. And the subtitle toggle button is broken. Sorry to say but the script, as a VLC extension, is unusable as is, at least under Windows XP. BTW, my youtube.lua script is controlled by VLC. It reads and respects the VLC settings done by the user.

It would be helpful to get a detailed log of exactly what's happening in your player.
“C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe” --verbose=3 --file-logging --logfile=“C:\path\to\your\vlc-log.txt”


 

11 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

I did what I said. Only searching for YouTube videos and when clicking on it, the rest is up to my already existing youtube.lua script. It runs fine here under Windows XP. @panda_zzz My ytsearch.lua script is very slim, it has only one-sixth the file size of your youtube_search.lua script. And no temporary batch files, and no JS challenges here, of course. Here's a short clip:

The video is certainly interesting, but the source code is even more interesting for direct comparison and testing.

 

[AstroSkipper]

11 hours ago, panda_zzz said:

The video is certainly interesting, but the source code is even more interesting for direct comparison and testing

I understand that perfectly. But you’ve already been given the code for my youtube.lua script. The ytsearch.lua script is still under development (the title of my post was, after all, "Development progress insights"), and I generally don’t make source code available at this stage. And it’s not yet clear whether I’ll be publishing any code at all at the moment. But that’s a different matter and has nothing to do with you. I will comment on this at a later time. Besides, the code wouldn’t be of any use to you anyway, as our two scripts are completely different. You’ve almost managed to populate the link list (unfortunately, the script still freezes when doing so), and passing the link to VLC fails then completely. You want to control a lot of things in the script that I don’t consider sensible and which I see as potentially triggering JS challenges, and the VLC settings – for subtitles, for example – are completely ignored in the process. You need to decide what your script is actually supposed to do and work through it bit by bit. Whenever one function is working reliably, implement the next one. Under no circumstances should you try to do everything at once. When I’m back at my computer, I’ll try to generate the log you’ve requested. 

Edited 2 hours ago by AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

@panda_zzz Here is a screenshot including the log before freezing:

[AstroSkipper]

@panda_zzz Your script contains errors in several places and is therefore unstable. If I clear your variable `sub_lang`, i.e. set it to
local sub_lang = "ru" zu local sub_lang = "", then I managed to play a video from the list. But it’s not exactly stable. At some point, everything freezes up anyway. Here is a more detailed log:

-- logger module started --
main debug: VLC media player - 3.0.8 Vetinari
main debug: Copyright © 1996-2019 the VideoLAN team
main debug: revision 3.0.8-0-gf350b6b5a7
main debug: configured with ../extras/package/win32/../../../configure  '--enable-update-check' '--enable-lua' '--enable-faad' '--enable-flac' '--enable-theora' '--enable-avcodec' '--enable-merge-ffmpeg' '--enable-dca' '--enable-mpc' '--enable-libass' '--enable-schroedinger' '--enable-realrtsp' '--enable-live555' '--enable-dvdread' '--enable-shout' '--enable-goom' '--enable-caca' '--enable-qt' '--enable-skins2' '--enable-sse' '--enable-mmx' '--enable-libcddb' '--enable-zvbi' '--disable-telx' '--enable-nls' '--host=i686-w64-mingw32' '--with-breakpad=https://win.crashes.videolan.org' 'host_alias=i686-w64-mingw32' 'PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR=/home/jenkins/workspace/vlc-release/windows/vlc-release-win32-x86/contrib/i686-w64-mingw32/lib/pkgconfig'
main debug: using multimedia timers as clock source
main debug:  min period: 1 ms, max period: 1000000 ms
main debug: searching plug-in modules
main debug: loading plugins cache file c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\plugins.dat
main warning: cannot read c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\plugins.dat: No such file or directory
main debug: recursively browsing `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins'
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\access\liblibbluray_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\audio_output\libmmdevice_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\audio_output\libwasapi_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\codec\libd3d11va_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\codec\libdav1d_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\codec\libx265_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\d3d11\libdirect3d11_filters_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\video_output\libdirect3d11_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main debug: plug-ins loaded: 482 modules
main debug: opening config file (c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\vlcrc)
main debug: looking for logger module matching "any": 2 candidates
file debug: opening logfile `C:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\Log.txt'
main debug: using logger module "file"
main debug: translation test: code is "de"
main debug: looking for keystore module matching "memory": 3 candidates
main debug: using keystore module "memory"
main debug: CPU has capabilities MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 FPU 
main debug: Creating an input for 'Medienbibliothek'
main debug: Input is a meta file: disabling unneeded options
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB
main debug: using timeshift path: C:\DOKUME~1\Skipper\LOKALE~1\Temp
main debug: `file/directory:///c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf' gives access `file' demux `directory' path `/c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf'
main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='directory' location='/c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf' file='c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\ml.xspf'
main debug: looking for access_demux module matching "file": 14 candidates
main debug: no access_demux modules matched
main debug: creating access: file:///c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf
main debug:  (path: c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\ml.xspf)
main debug: looking for access module matching "file": 26 candidates
main debug: using access module "filesystem"
main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "prefetch,cache_read": 24 candidates
cache_read debug: Using stream method for AStream*
cache_read debug: starting pre-buffering
cache_read debug: received first data after 1 ms
cache_read debug: pre-buffering done 307 bytes in 0s - 299 KiB/s
main debug: using stream_filter module "cache_read"
main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "any": 24 candidates
playlist debug: using XSPF playlist reader
main debug: using stream_filter module "playlist"
main debug: stream filter added to 04d650d8
main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "any": 24 candidates
main debug: no stream_filter modules matched
main debug: looking for stream_directory module matching "any": 1 candidates
main debug: no stream_directory modules matched
main debug: attachment of directory-extractor failed for file:///c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf
main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "record": 24 candidates
main debug: using stream_filter module "record"
main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='directory' location='/c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf' file='c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\ml.xspf'
main debug: looking for demux module matching "directory": 54 candidates
main debug: using demux module "directory"
main debug: looking for meta reader module matching "any": 2 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\lua\meta\reader
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\reader
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\reader\filename.luac
main debug: no meta reader modules matched
main debug: `file/directory:///c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf' successfully opened
main debug: looking for xml reader module matching "any": 1 candidates
main debug: using xml reader module "xml"
main debug: EOF reached
main debug: removing module "directory"
main debug: removing module "record"
main debug: removing module "playlist"
main debug: removing module "cache_read"
main debug: removing module "filesystem"
main debug: creating audio output
main debug: looking for audio output module matching "directsound": 5 candidates
directsound debug: found 2 devices
main debug: using audio output module "directsound"
main debug: keeping audio output
main debug: looking for interface module matching "hotkeys,none": 16 candidates
main debug: using interface module "hotkeys"
main debug: looking for interface module matching "globalhotkeys,none": 16 candidates
main debug: using interface module "win32"
main: VLC wird mit dem Standard-Interface ausgeführt. Benutzen Sie 'cvlc', um VLC ohne Interface zu verwenden.
main debug: looking for interface module matching "any": 16 candidates
main debug: looking for extension module matching "any": 1 candidates
lua debug: Opening Lua Extension module
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\lua\extensions
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\VLSub.luac
lua debug: Scanning Lua script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\VLSub.luac
lua debug: Script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\VLSub.luac has the following capability flags: 0x5
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua
lua debug: Scanning Lua script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua
lua debug: Script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua has the following capability flags: 0x10
main debug: using extension module "lua"
main debug: using interface module "qt"
main: playlist is empty
main debug: nothing to play
qt debug: activating or triggering extension 'YouTube Search'
lua debug: Activating extension 'YouTube Search'
lua: [yt-ext] VLC_IS_22=true (vlc.object present=true)
lua: [yt-ext] platform=windows  ytdlp="c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\yt-dlp.exe"
lua debug: Creating dialog 'YouTube Search (yt-dlp)'
qt debug: Creating a new dialog: 'YouTube Search (yt-dlp)'
lua debug: Clicking 'c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua': 'Search'
lua: [yt-ext] lock acquired
lua: [yt-ext] cmd: "c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\yt-dlp.exe" "ytsearch10:Adele" -J --flat-playlist --no-warnings --encoding utf-8
lua: [yt-ext] bat cmd: "c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\yt-dlp.exe" "ytsearch10:Adele" -J --flat-playlist --no-warnings --encoding utf-8
lua: [yt-ext] bat path: C:\DOKUME~1\Skipper\LOKALE~1\Temp\vlc_yt_run.bat
lua: [yt-ext] out path: C:\DOKUME~1\Skipper\LOKALE~1\Temp\vlc_yt_out.txt
lua: [yt-ext] output len: 11780
lua: [yt-ext] raw (300): {"id": "Adele", "title": "Adele", "_type": "playlist", "entries": [{"_type": "url", "ie_key": "Youtube", "id": "hLQl3WQQoQ0", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQl3WQQoQ0", "title": "Adele - Someone Like You (Official Music Video)", "description": "Listen to \"Easy On Me\" here: http://Adele.
lua: [yt-ext] lock released
lua debug: Clicking 'c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua': '1. Adele - Someone Like You (Of~'
lua: [yt-ext] VLC 2.2.x: re-trigger check url=hLQl3WQQoQ0 last=
lua: [yt-ext] VLC 2.2.x: dialog hidden before play (result)
lua: [yt-ext] lock acquired
lua: [yt-ext] format: bestvideo[height<=480][vcodec^=avc1]/bestvideo[height<=480]/bestvideo | audio: bestaudio[acodec^=mp4a]/bestaudio
lua: [yt-ext] play_item cmd: "c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\yt-dlp.exe" -f "bestvideo[height<=480][vcodec^=avc1]+bestaudio[acodec^=mp4a]/bestaudio/bestvideo[height<=480]+bestaudio[acodec^=mp4a]/bestaudio/bestvideo+bestaudio[acodec^=mp4a]/bestaudio/bestvideo+bestaudio/best" -g --no-warnings "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQl3WQQoQ0"
lua: [yt-ext] play bat: C:\DOKUME~1\Skipper\LOKALE~1\Temp\vlc_yt_play.bat
lua: [yt-ext] play out: C:\DOKUME~1\Skipper\LOKALE~1\Temp\vlc_yt_play.txt
lua: [yt-ext] launching bat
lua: [yt-ext] bat done, reading: C:\DOKUME~1\Skipper\LOKALE~1\Temp\vlc_yt_play.txt
lua: [yt-ext] play output len: 2300
lua: [yt-ext] urls found: 2
lua: [yt-ext] VLC 2.2.x: stored pending_play for IM re-trigger
lua: [yt-ext] lock released
lua: [yt-ext] VLC 2.2.x: stored last_played_url=hLQl3WQQoQ0
lua debug: Clicking 'c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua': '1. Adele - Someone Like You (Of~'
lua: [yt-ext] VLC 2.2.x: re-trigger check url=hLQl3WQQoQ0 last=hLQl3WQQoQ0
lua: [yt-ext] VLC 2.2.x: IM re-trigger - starting playback
lua debug: Path: https://rr3---sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1782800838&ei=Zg1DarHDFO3kxN8P54Ks4A0&ip=84.44.253.62&id=o-AOvaj374ZiPq9q1tsLN0IBXL43cxk6Lm0IB2MvvRxI-4&itag=135&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&xpc=EgVo2aDSNQ%3D%3D&cps=987&met=1782779238%2C&mh=U9&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6%2Csn-aj4g55-5v&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=3&pcm2cms=yes&pl=19&rms=au%2Cau&initcwndbps=3086250&bui=ARmQxEWKBxbJDsivObLODDuOZ8d2p0NjLrD6NMNHaP-0fbtxo62-xBCKSy20eFZuscSyr2sv7bczmPAq&spc=SQ-umhMaGB9D7Rg6v4gXVwz633QojOtpO3hjQnhajYVk&vprv=1&svpuc=1&mime=video%2Fmp4&rqh=1&gir=yes&clen=5861292&dur=284.920&lmt=1771943497940121&mt=1782778879&fvip=3&keepalive=yes&fexp=51565116%2C51565681%2C52017146&c=ANDROID_VR&txp=5535534&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cxpc%2Cbui%2Cspc%2Cvprv%2Csvpuc%2Cmime%2Crqh%2Cgir%2Cclen%2Cdur%2Clmt&sig=AHEqNM4wRgIhAP9LViVlGpd5B0ditrsmRZCn88ZBr64o9mo-AnNivWZ0AiEAgAKg7mCvb_b1hKC7fdC_xgWVRDBPZ2WJpRgpJXwO5xw%3D&lsparams=cps%2Cmet%2Cmh%2Cmm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpcm2cms%2Cpl%2Crms%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=APaTxxMwRQIgYWt1vhUgi5CSY69SHcJgzv6Lflvwuy1t0Xl1510o0AACIQCJ5csuU1-0HqtUpqOQ1qCB7RKyqERg4aS2atP4fPJ1Ug%3D%3D
lua debug: Name: Adele - Someone Like You (Official Music Video)
lua debug: Option: :input-slave=https://rr3---sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1782800838&ei=Zg1DarHDFO3kxN8P54Ks4A0&ip=84.44.253.62&id=o-AOvaj374ZiPq9q1tsLN0IBXL43cxk6Lm0IB2MvvRxI-4&itag=140&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&xpc=EgVo2aDSNQ%3D%3D&cps=987&met=1782779238%2C&mh=U9&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6%2Csn-aj4g55-5v&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=3&pcm2cms=yes&pl=19&rms=au%2Cau&initcwndbps=3086250&bui=ARmQxEWKBxbJDsivObLODDuOZ8d2p0NjLrD6NMNHaP-0fbtxo62-xBCKSy20eFZuscSyr2sv7bczmPAq&spc=SQ-umhMaGB9D7Rg6v4gXVwz633QojOtpO3hjQnhajYVk&vprv=1&svpuc=1&mime=audio%2Fmp4&rqh=1&gir=yes&clen=4612867&dur=284.978&lmt=1771910257043072&mt=1782778879&fvip=3&keepalive=yes&fexp=51565116%2C51565681%2C52017146&c=ANDROID_VR&txp=5532534&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cxpc%2Cbui%2Cspc%2Cvprv%2Csvpuc%2Cmime%2Crqh%2Cgir%2Cclen%2Cdur%2Clmt&sig=AHEqNM4wRQIhAMVSZRMFvINhA53lN5nm-0Nngfkpwl-eR_AK3TudHNJhAiALOJ-Cim2JmcMqNNwgNYD2S8h02XzLwtfY4Gtz7VOCAw%3D%3D&lsparams=cps%2Cmet%2Cmh%2Cmm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpcm2cms%2Cpl%2Crms%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=APaTxxMwRQIgYWt1vhUgi5CSY69SHcJgzv6Lflvwuy1t0Xl1510o0AACIQCJ5csuU1-0HqtUpqOQ1qCB7RKyqERg4aS2atP4fPJ1Ug%3D%3D
main debug: processing request item: null, node: Wiedergabeliste, skip: 0
main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Wiedergabeliste
main debug: rebuild done - 1 items, index -1
main debug: starting playback of new item
main debug: resyncing on Adele - Someone Like You (Official Music Video)
main debug: Adele - Someone Like You (Official Music Video) is at 0
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for 'Adele - Someone Like You (Official Music Video)'
main debug: requesting art for new input thread
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB
main debug: using timeshift path: C:\DOKUME~1\Skipper\LOKALE~1\Temp
main debug: `https://rr3---sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1782800838&ei=Zg1DarHDFO3kxN8P54Ks4A0&ip=84.44.253.62&id=o-AOvaj374ZiPq9q1tsLN0IBXL43cxk6Lm0IB2MvvRxI-4&itag=135&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&xpc=EgVo2aDSNQ%3D%3D&cps=987&met=1782779238%2C&mh=U9&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6%2Csn-aj4g55-5v&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=3&pcm2cms=yes&pl=19&rms=au%2Cau&initcwndbps=3086250&bui=ARmQxEWKBxbJDsivObLODDuOZ8d2p0NjLrD6NMNHaP-0fbtxo62-xBCKSy20eFZuscSyr2sv7bczmPAq&spc=SQ-umhMaGB9D7Rg6v4gXVwz633QojOtpO3hjQnhajYVk&vprv=1&svpuc=1&mime=video%2Fmp4&rqh=1&gir=yes&clen=5861292&dur=284.920&lmt=1771943497940121&mt=1782778879&fvip=3&keepalive=yes&fexp=51565116%2C51565681%2C52017146&c=ANDROID_VR&txp=5535534&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cxpc%2Cbui%2Cspc%2Cvprv%2Csvpuc%2Cmime%2Crqh%2Cgir%2Cclen%2Cdur%2Clmt&sig=AHEqNM4wRgIhAP9LViVlGpd5B0ditrsmRZCn88ZBr64o9mo-AnNivWZ0AiEAgAKg7mCvb_b1hKC7fdC_xgWVRDBPZ2WJpRgpJXwO5xw%3D&lsparams=cps%2Cmet%2Cmh%2Cmm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpcm2cms%2Cpl%2Crms%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=APaTxxMwRQIgYWt1vhUgi5CSY69SHcJgzv6Lflvwuy1t0Xl1510o0AACIQCJ5csuU1-0HqtUpqOQ1qCB7RKyqERg4aS2atP4fPJ1Ug%3D%3D' gives access `https' demux `any' path `rr3---sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1782800838&ei=Zg1DarHDFO3kxN8P54Ks4A0&ip=84.44.253.62&id=o-AOvaj374ZiPq9q1tsLN0IBXL43cxk6Lm0IB2MvvRxI-4&itag=135&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&xpc=EgVo2aDSNQ%3D%3D&cps=987&met=1782779238%2C&mh=U9&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6%2Csn-aj4g55-5v&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=3&pcm2cms=yes&pl=19&rms=au%2Cau&initcwndbps=3086250&bui=ARmQxEWKBxbJDsivObLODDuOZ8d2p0NjLrD6NMNHaP-0fbtxo62-xBCKSy20eFZuscSyr2sv7bczmPAq&spc=SQ-umhMaGB9D7Rg6v4gXVwz633QojOtpO3hjQnhajYVk&vprv=1&svpuc=1&mime=video%2Fmp4&rqh=1&gir=yes&clen=5861292&dur=284.920&lmt=1771943497940121&mt=1782778879&fvip=3&keepalive=yes&fexp=51565116%2C51565681%2C52017146&c=ANDROID_VR&txp=5535534&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cxpc%2Cbui%2Cspc%2Cvprv%2Csvpuc%2Cmime%2Crqh%2Cgir%2Cclen%2Cdur%2Clmt&sig=AHEqNM4wRgIhAP9LViVlGpd5B0ditrsmRZCn88ZBr64o9mo-AnNivWZ0AiEAgAKg7mCvb_b1hKC7fdC_xgWVRDBPZ2WJpRgpJXwO5xw%3D&lsparams=cps%2Cmet%2Cmh%2Cmm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpcm2cms%2Cpl%2Crms%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=APaTxxMwRQIgYWt1vhUgi5CSY69SHcJgzv6Lflvwuy1t0Xl1510o0AACIQCJ5csuU1-0HqtUpqOQ1qCB7RKyqERg4aS2atP4fPJ1Ug%3D%3D'
main debug: creating demux: access='https' demux='any' location='rr3---sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1782800838&ei=Zg1DarHDFO3kxN8P54Ks4A0&ip=84.44.253.62&id=o-AOvaj374ZiPq9q1tsLN0IBXL43cxk6Lm0IB2MvvRxI-4&itag=135&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&xpc=EgVo2aDSNQ%3D%3D&cps=987&met=1782779238%2C&mh=U9&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6%2Csn-aj4g55-5v&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=3&pcm2cms=yes&pl=19&rms=au%2Cau&initcwndbps=3086250&bui=ARmQxEWKBxbJDsivObLODDuOZ8d2p0NjLrD6NMNHaP-0fbtxo62-xBCKSy20eFZuscSyr2sv7bczmPAq&spc=SQ-umhMaGB9D7Rg6v4gXVwz633QojOtpO3hjQnhajYVk&vprv=1&svpuc=1&mime=video%2Fmp4&rqh=1&gir=yes&clen=5861292&dur=284.920&lmt=1771943497940121&mt=1782778879&fvip=3&keepalive=yes&fexp=51565116%2C51565681%2C52017146&c=ANDROID_VR&txp=5535534&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cxpc%2Cbui%2Cspc%2Cvprv%2Csvpuc%2Cmime%2Crqh%2Cgir%2Cclen%2Cdur%2Clmt&sig=AHEqNM4wRgIhAP9LViVlGpd5B0ditrsmRZCn88ZBr64o9mo-AnNivWZ0AiEAgAKg7mCvb_b1hKC7fdC_xgWVRDBPZ2WJpRgpJXwO5xw%3D&lsparams=cps%2Cmet%2Cmh%2Cmm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpcm2cms%2Cpl%2Crms%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=APaTxxMwRQIgYWt1vhUgi5CSY69SHcJgzv6Lflvwuy1t0Xl1510o0AACIQCJ5csuU1-0HqtUpqOQ1qCB7RKyqERg4aS2atP4fPJ1Ug%3D%3D' file='\\rr3---sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6.googlevideo.com\videoplayback'
main debug: looking for access_demux module matching "https": 14 candidates
main debug: no access_demux modules matched
main debug: creating access: https://rr3---sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1782800838&ei=Zg1DarHDFO3kxN8P54Ks4A0&ip=84.44.253.62&id=o-AOvaj374ZiPq9q1tsLN0IBXL43cxk6Lm0IB2MvvRxI-4&itag=135&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&xpc=EgVo2aDSNQ%3D%3D&cps=987&met=1782779238%2C&mh=U9&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6%2Csn-aj4g55-5v&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=3&pcm2cms=yes&pl=19&rms=au%2Cau&initcwndbps=3086250&bui=ARmQxEWKBxbJDsivObLODDuOZ8d2p0NjLrD6NMNHaP-0fbtxo62-xBCKSy20eFZuscSyr2sv7bczmPAq&spc=SQ-umhMaGB9D7Rg6v4gXVwz633QojOtpO3hjQnhajYVk&vprv=1&svpuc=1&mime=video%2Fmp4&rqh=1&gir=yes&clen=5861292&dur=284.920&lmt=1771943497940121&mt=1782778879&fvip=3&keepalive=yes&fexp=51565116%2C51565681%2C52017146&c=ANDROID_VR&txp=5535534&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cxpc%2Cbui%2Cspc%2Cvprv%2Csvpuc%2Cmime%2Crqh%2Cgir%2Cclen%2Cdur%2Clmt&sig=AHEqNM4wRgIhAP9LViVlGpd5B0ditrsmRZCn88ZBr64o9mo-AnNivWZ0AiEAgAKg7mCvb_b1hKC7fdC_xgWVRDBPZ2WJpRgpJXwO5xw%3D&lsparams=cps%2Cmet%2Cmh%2Cmm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpcm2cms%2Cpl%2Crms%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=APaTxxMwRQIgYWt1vhUgi5CSY69SHcJgzv6Lflvwuy1t0Xl1510o0AACIQCJ5csuU1-0HqtUpqOQ1qCB7RKyqERg4aS2atP4fPJ1Ug%3D%3D
main debug:  (path: \\rr3---sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6.googlevideo.com\videoplayback)
main debug: looking for access module matching "https": 26 candidates
main debug: looking for tls client module matching "any": 1 candidates
gnutls debug: using GnuTLS version 3.5.19
gnutls debug: loaded 623 trusted CAs from system
main debug: using tls client module "gnutls"
main debug: resolving rr3---sn-oxujvavbox-jbo6.googlevideo.com ...
qt debug: IM: Setting an input
main debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\lua\meta\fetcher
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\fetcher
main debug: no meta fetcher modules matched
main debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\lua\meta\art
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\art
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\art\00_musicbrainz.luac
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\art\00_musicbrainz.luac
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\art\01_googleimage.luac
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\art\01_googleimage.luac
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\art\02_frenchtv.luac
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) c:\Po

Your subtitle button is totally defective. When choosing ON with subtitle "en", it immediately fails and crashes. Here is the corresponding log:
 

-- logger module started --
main debug: VLC media player - 3.0.8 Vetinari
main debug: Copyright © 1996-2019 the VideoLAN team
main debug: revision 3.0.8-0-gf350b6b5a7
main debug: configured with ../extras/package/win32/../../../configure  '--enable-update-check' '--enable-lua' '--enable-faad' '--enable-flac' '--enable-theora' '--enable-avcodec' '--enable-merge-ffmpeg' '--enable-dca' '--enable-mpc' '--enable-libass' '--enable-schroedinger' '--enable-realrtsp' '--enable-live555' '--enable-dvdread' '--enable-shout' '--enable-goom' '--enable-caca' '--enable-qt' '--enable-skins2' '--enable-sse' '--enable-mmx' '--enable-libcddb' '--enable-zvbi' '--disable-telx' '--enable-nls' '--host=i686-w64-mingw32' '--with-breakpad=https://win.crashes.videolan.org' 'host_alias=i686-w64-mingw32' 'PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR=/home/jenkins/workspace/vlc-release/windows/vlc-release-win32-x86/contrib/i686-w64-mingw32/lib/pkgconfig'
main debug: using multimedia timers as clock source
main debug:  min period: 1 ms, max period: 1000000 ms
main debug: searching plug-in modules
main debug: loading plugins cache file c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\plugins.dat
main warning: cannot read c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\plugins.dat: No such file or directory
main debug: recursively browsing `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins'
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\access\liblibbluray_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\audio_output\libmmdevice_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\audio_output\libwasapi_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\codec\libd3d11va_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\codec\libdav1d_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\codec\libx265_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\d3d11\libdirect3d11_filters_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main warning: cannot load module `c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\plugins\video_output\libdirect3d11_plugin.dll' (Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden. (error 127))
main debug: plug-ins loaded: 482 modules
main debug: opening config file (c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\vlcrc)
main debug: looking for logger module matching "any": 2 candidates
file debug: opening logfile `C:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\Log.txt'
main debug: using logger module "file"
main debug: translation test: code is "de"
main debug: looking for keystore module matching "memory": 3 candidates
main debug: using keystore module "memory"
main debug: CPU has capabilities MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 FPU 
main debug: Creating an input for 'Medienbibliothek'
main debug: Input is a meta file: disabling unneeded options
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB
main debug: using timeshift path: C:\DOKUME~1\Skipper\LOKALE~1\Temp
main debug: `file/directory:///c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf' gives access `file' demux `directory' path `/c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf'
main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='directory' location='/c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf' file='c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\ml.xspf'
main debug: looking for access_demux module matching "file": 14 candidates
main debug: no access_demux modules matched
main debug: creating access: file:///c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf
main debug:  (path: c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\ml.xspf)
main debug: looking for access module matching "file": 26 candidates
main debug: using access module "filesystem"
main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "prefetch,cache_read": 24 candidates
cache_read debug: Using stream method for AStream*
cache_read debug: starting pre-buffering
cache_read debug: received first data after 0 ms
cache_read debug: pre-buffering done 307 bytes in 0s - 299804 KiB/s
main debug: using stream_filter module "cache_read"
main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "any": 24 candidates
playlist debug: using XSPF playlist reader
main debug: using stream_filter module "playlist"
main debug: stream filter added to 04d650d8
main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "any": 24 candidates
main debug: no stream_filter modules matched
main debug: looking for stream_directory module matching "any": 1 candidates
main debug: no stream_directory modules matched
main debug: attachment of directory-extractor failed for file:///c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf
main debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "record": 24 candidates
main debug: using stream_filter module "record"
main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='directory' location='/c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf' file='c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\ml.xspf'
main debug: looking for demux module matching "directory": 54 candidates
main debug: using demux module "directory"
main debug: looking for meta reader module matching "any": 2 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\lua\meta\reader
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\reader
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\meta\reader\filename.luac
main debug: no meta reader modules matched
main debug: `file/directory:///c:/Portable/VLC-3.0.8/portable/ml.xspf' successfully opened
main debug: looking for xml reader module matching "any": 1 candidates
main debug: using xml reader module "xml"
main debug: EOF reached
main debug: removing module "directory"
main debug: removing module "record"
main debug: removing module "playlist"
main debug: removing module "cache_read"
main debug: removing module "filesystem"
main debug: creating audio output
main debug: looking for audio output module matching "directsound": 5 candidates
directsound debug: found 2 devices
main debug: using audio output module "directsound"
main debug: keeping audio output
main debug: looking for interface module matching "hotkeys,none": 16 candidates
main debug: using interface module "hotkeys"
main debug: looking for interface module matching "globalhotkeys,none": 16 candidates
main debug: using interface module "win32"
main: VLC wird mit dem Standard-Interface ausgeführt. Benutzen Sie 'cvlc', um VLC ohne Interface zu verwenden.
main debug: looking for interface module matching "any": 16 candidates
main debug: looking for extension module matching "any": 1 candidates
lua debug: Opening Lua Extension module
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\portable\lua\extensions
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\VLSub.luac
lua debug: Scanning Lua script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\VLSub.luac
lua debug: Script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\VLSub.luac has the following capability flags: 0x5
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua
lua debug: Scanning Lua script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua
lua debug: Script c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua has the following capability flags: 0x10
main debug: using extension module "lua"
main debug: using interface module "qt"
main: playlist is empty
main debug: nothing to play
qt debug: activating or triggering extension 'YouTube Search'
lua debug: Activating extension 'YouTube Search'
lua: [yt-ext] VLC_IS_22=true (vlc.object present=true)
lua: [yt-ext] platform=windows  ytdlp="c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\yt-dlp.exe"
lua debug: Creating dialog 'YouTube Search (yt-dlp)'
qt debug: Creating a new dialog: 'YouTube Search (yt-dlp)'
lua debug: Clicking 'c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\youtube_search.lua': 'Sub: OFF'
lua debug: Clicking 'c:\Portable\VLC-3.0.8\lua\extensions\you

 

Edited 1 hour ago by AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

@panda_zzz I ran a quick analysis of your script using my AI, and it came to similar conclusions:

1. Thread blocking: No asynchronous processing; VLC waits rigidly for console files.
2. API misuse: Inappropriate use of w_sub_lang:get_text() in the critical playback path.
3. Fragile file operations: Over-reliance on temporary .bat and .txt files in the Windows Temp directory without adequate access checks (race conditions).

[AstroSkipper]

@panda_zzz Be honest? Your script – or rather, your VLC extension `youtube_search.lua` – is AI-generated, isn’t it? There are too many clues in the code pointing to that. In my opinion, the script is messed up with fixes and overloaded. No human programmer would incorporate so many control and blocking variables: play_guard, play_busy, play_busy_time, pending_play_id, pending_play_url, pending_play_22 und last_played_url. That’s probably also the reason why your script has suddenly increased in length by 50%. I think you need to recreate it from scratch and keep it as minimalist as possible. 

Edited just now by AstroSkipper