user14012: I have several videos which produce reading errors in ffmpeg, thus hindering me to play them in VLC (for example). Is there a way to either skip those problematic parts, or to fix them?
The exact error is:
[matroska,webm @ 0x3a13a20] Read error at pos. 11794050343 (0x2befaed27)
[NULL @ 0x3a18380] Unable to find a suitable output format for '2'
2: Invalid argument

generated by the command ffmpeg -v error -i "sample.mkv" -map 0:1 -f null - 2
The video itself has the following encoding (by mediainfo):
Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 2h 1mn
Bit rate                                 : 10.8 Mbps
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 040 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.85:1
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.227
Stream size                              : 8.95 GiB (81%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 59 r819M 0414d78
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=6 / me-prepass=0 / brdo=1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=12 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=6 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=4 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=10849 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=1.00 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=24000 / vbv_bufsize=9000 / ip_ratio=1.10 / pb_ratio=1.10 / aq=2:1.00
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                           : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : A_AC3
Duration                                 : 2h 1mn
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 555 MiB (5%)
Title                                    : eng
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : DTS
Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems
Mode                                     : 16
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : A_DTS
Duration                                 : 2h 1mn
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 1.28 GiB (12%)
Title                                    : ger
Language                                 : German
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Moving to another location does not fix the error.

user13978: I would determine if this is a corrupt file or a corrupt disk. A "read error" sounds like a bad disk to me. If that is the case you probably have bigger problems than reading that video file. I would suggest doing a complete backup of the disk. You can use dd_rescue (or ddrescue) for that purpose which doesn't stop on bad sectors but makes a copy of everything readable on the disk. Once you have got that done, you can take care of the video file on the backup disk.
http://www.garloff.de/kurt/linux/ddrescue/
https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/
If the disk is on the verge of failing, the worst you can do is continuing  to use it  since it may stop working completely anytime soon.

14012: <p>I have several videos which produce reading errors in ffmpeg, thus hindering me to play them in VLC (for example). Is there a way to either skip those problematic parts, or to fix them?<br>
The exact error is:</p>

<pre><code>[matroska,webm @ 0x3a13a20] Read error at pos. 11794050343 (0x2befaed27)
[NULL @ 0x3a18380] Unable to find a suitable output format for '2'
2: Invalid argument
</code></pre>

<p>generated by the command <code>ffmpeg -v error -i "sample.mkv" -map 0:1 -f null - 2</code></p>

<p>The video itself has the following encoding (by <code>mediainfo</code>):</p>

<pre><code>Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 2h 1mn
Bit rate                                 : 10.8 Mbps
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 040 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.85:1
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.227
Stream size                              : 8.95 GiB (81%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 59 r819M 0414d78
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=6 / me-prepass=0 / brdo=1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=12 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=6 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=4 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=10849 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=1.00 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=24000 / vbv_bufsize=9000 / ip_ratio=1.10 / pb_ratio=1.10 / aq=2:1.00
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                           : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : A_AC3
Duration                                 : 2h 1mn
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 555 MiB (5%)
Title                                    : eng
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : DTS
Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems
Mode                                     : 16
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : A_DTS
Duration                                 : 2h 1mn
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 1.28 GiB (12%)
Title                                    : ger
Language                                 : German
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No
</code></pre>

<p>Moving to another location does not fix the error.</p>
 13978: <p>I would determine if this is a corrupt file or a corrupt disk. A "read error" sounds like a bad disk to me. If that is the case you probably have bigger problems than reading that video file. I would suggest doing a complete backup of the disk. You can use dd_rescue (or ddrescue) for that purpose which doesn't stop on bad sectors but makes a copy of everything readable on the disk. Once you have got that done, you can take care of the video file on the backup disk.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.garloff.de/kurt/linux/ddrescue/" rel="nofollow">http://www.garloff.de/kurt/linux/ddrescue/</a>
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/" rel="nofollow">https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/</a></p>

<p>If the disk is on the verge of failing, the worst you can do is continuing  to use it  since it may stop working completely anytime soon.</p>
