After updating LL 3.4 videos won't play & no sound (now upgrade to LL 3.8)

[JanetBiggar]

Not sure why this is happening as it has not (yet) happened on the other older computers. When I performed the LL updates for LL 3.4 on a Toshiba Satellite A-210 (RAM-2GB) the study videos that I have in various folders would not open or play.  I performed the update today, Jan. 10.

VLC would open for a quick second then close again. Also the start-up and shut down sounds were not audible.  If I recall correctly I did try You Tube and it did work, it was simply the downloaded study videos that did not. I went back to a restore point I made 3 days ago and the issue was the same, no video or sound, so I went back to the next restore point which was Oct. 24, 2017.  Both You Tube and downloaded videos work fine at that much earlier restore point.

So for now I have left it at the Oct restore point, BUT am wondering - do I simply NOT do any further updates or is there some info I can be getting, like a system report, at both this earlier restore point and then doing the updating process again and IF the sound and video loss is there again get a system report? and then ask for advice?

I have only realized now that perhaps I should not have deleted the 2 most recent restore points, however I did so as to not think these were good restore points in future.

[JanetBiggar]

So...rather interesting - I have had this same thing occur again with an older Toshiba Satellite A-100 (0.89 GB RAM; HD 55 GB).  After performing updates Jan 23 VLC will not open (does momentarily then closes) to play the videos I have downloaded, however when I go to YouTube these do play properly.

I am now in the process of locating an earlier restore point that will allow the downloaded videos to play properly with VLC.  Interestingly I thought I'd go back to the most recent restore point where these downloaded videos were not working, do another Update of LL and check for drivers, however at that most recent restore point I now find that my wifi doesn't connect whereas I recall it working after doing updates just yesterday when this VLC issue started...

Like the other machine if I can locate an adequate restore point where VLC and wifi work I think I will simply not perform any updates in the future.

If any one has any comments or suggestions I will welcome them.

[trinidad]

In any case you should probably upgrade to 3.6 and get the new kernel.

TC

[JanetBiggar]

Thanks for your idea Trinidad.

If I upgrade to LL 3.6 and have any issues will my restore points in LL 3.4 still exist whereby I can revert to the earlier restore point running LL 3.4 where everything was working?

J

[Moltke]

Maybe downloading LL 3.6 .iso file and try it from a usb stick before upgrading would be a safe approach, so you make sure that the issue isn't still present. Then, if everything works as you need it to, go to lite upgrade tool and let it do its job. Cause I'm not sure but I don't think LL 3.4 restore points will be available anymore once the system's upgraded to the new version, but I might be wrong.

Hope this helps! 

[trinidad]

The old auto-installed kernel from 3.4 will still be there if you use the upgrade path rather than new install. Several recent things could have caused VLC to not work for your recorded videos. Follow this upgrade path in this order >run sudo apt-get update in the terminal and exit  >use Lite updates to update 3.4 > use Lite upgrade to upgrade to 3.6  >use Lite updates to update 3.6. If VLC still does't work afterwards we'll track it down in 3.6. Seems counterintuitive to repair it in 3.4 given all the recent changes to Firefox.

TC

[JanetBiggar]

I have placed the two Toshibas with the VLC issue (upon updating, so went back to the earlier restore point where VLC was working) with two youth and thus have not explored the suggestions above.

Nonetheless, I did follow the steps Trinidad suggested on another laptop that had a few LL 3.4 restore points simply to see if the old LL 3.4 restore points remained.

I did the steps he suggested in the specified order and after LL 3.6 was loaded I checked back in system back and could see that the LL 3.4 restore points I had named were still present.

At some future point I may need to explore these steps with the problematic Toshibas, however since they are doing what they need to do I will wait until an issue arises  8).

[justme2]

I too seem to have problems with VLC after updates have taken place. Futile attempts were made playing around with various settings but then I discovered the 'Restore to defaults' button within settings. I don't know why, but each time, accepting the VLC default settings restored it to a working state.

Try it and see if it has any effect - it does for me. I hope it works for you too  If not, sorry I can't offer anything more.

[JanetBiggar]

Thanks for this option. When I get either one of them back for any updating or otherwise I will give it a go.

[JanetBiggar]

Well I am back  ;D - So I did a trade out with a youth that had one of the two Toshiba's that when LL3.4 was updated after initial install the videos playing via VLC would not open (when I click on them VLC briefly pops up then disappears and the video does not open or play).  You Tube videos play fine when I go to the internet.

Earlier Justme2 suggested the following which I hadn't had a chance to do before sending them out with youth:

I too seem to have problems with VLC after updates have taken place. Futile attempts were made playing around with various settings but then I discovered the 'Restore to defaults' button within settings. I don't know why, but each time, accepting the VLC default settings restored it to a working state.

Try it and see if it has any effect - it does for me. I hope it works for you too  If not, sorry I can't offer anything more.

So - I tried to find the 'Restore to defaults' button within settings, but cannot find such a button either in settings from menu or within VLC.  Justme2 might you be able to guide me as to where exactly I would find this?

Also believe I followed Trinidad's instructions with the exception that I did not do the initial step (in bold print, what I did was use the Lite Welcome and got updates for LL 3.4 then checked for drivers, rebooted and then upgraded to LL3.8
Here is what Trinidad said to do: Follow this upgrade path in this order >run sudo apt-get update in the terminal and exit >use Lite updates to update 3.4 > use Lite upgrade to upgrade to 3.6  >use Lite updates to update 3.6. If VLC still does't work afterwards we'll track it down in 3.6. Seems counterintuitive to repair it in 3.4 given all the recent changes to Firefox.

So since the issue of the downloaded videos not playing (VLC not opening up properly) where do I go and what do I do now?

If all else fails I can go back to my earlier restore point...