Arlo Ultra - Can no longer watch camera recorded library videos on Microsoft Edge browser

[Mr_S]

I usually watch my library videos on the Microsoft Edge Browser on PC. I have the HEVC extensions. I have been doing this for about a year. This morning I'm no longer able to play videos the camera has recorded by motion or audio detection but I can play manually recorded videos no problem. Was working fine up to last night.

[Mr_S]

To add: The error message I get is: "This video is not able to play in your browser. Please download to view."

[StephenB]

Can you play them in Chrome using the same PC?

Have you double-checked that hardware acceleration is still enabled in the browser?

[Mr_S]

Hello. No, I cannot play them in Chrome using the same PC (I couldn't before either that's why I bought the HEVC apps and used Edge but I checked again anyway). And yes I have checked that hardware acceleration is still enabled in the browser (It is).

I can still play manually recorded videos (i.e if I look live and press record, I can play them back from the library and manually recorded videos from before this fault) but I can't play any videos the camera detects and records. Thank you.

[StephenB]

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@Mr_S wrote:

I can still play manually recorded videos (i.e if I look live and press record, I can play them back from the library and manually recorded videos from before this fault) but I can't play any videos the camera detects and records. Thank you.

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Note manual recordings are 1080p AVC - which will play in any browser.

Here is a different URL (not Arlo) with HEVC video that you can also use to double-check.

• https://bitmovin.com/demos/stream-test?format=hls&manifest=https://demo.unified-streaming.com/k8s/fe...

Did you try restarting the PC?

[Mr_S]

I have restarted the PC, many times. Still the same.

I have just tried that link and if I select "Use our Defaults" I can play the video with no problem on all 4 stream types and DRM types.

[StephenB]

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@Mr_S wrote:

I have just tried that link and if I select "Use our Defaults" I can play the video with no problem on all 4 stream types and DRM types.

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I think the defaults are AVC, so not a valid test.

Try just clicking "play".  If you are getting HEVC, then you'll see this text overlaid on the video in the beginning:

[Mr_S]

If I just click play. Nothing happens, it just buffers. So it looks like I can't play any HEVC videos, not just Arlo? Any idea why this might be so, I've been doing it with no problem for about a year. Same PC etc.

[StephenB]

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@Mr_S wrote:

If I just click play. Nothing happens, it just buffers. So it looks like I can't play any HEVC videos, not just Arlo? 

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Correct.

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@Mr_S wrote:

 Any idea why this might be so, I've been doing it with no problem for about a year. Same PC etc.

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A couple of other posters are complaining about this, not sure what's going on. 

• What version of Edge are you running?
• Also, what version of Windows?

Perhaps also try the same test with Chrome.

[Mr_S]

Same result with Chrome, just buffers.

Edge: Version 117.0.2045.36 (Official build) (64-bit)

Windows 10 Home Version 22H2

[StephenB]

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@Mr_S wrote:

Edge: Version 117.0.2045.36 (Official build) (64-bit)

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Same version that I am running, so that is not a factor.

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@Mr_S wrote:

Windows 10 Home Version 22H2

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This is different, I am running Windows 10 Enterprise. Did you update the video driver via windows update lately?

Also, are you using an AMD processor?  Or are you using Intel?  The PC I am testing with has an 11th generation Intel I5 processor.

This is puzzling, as I am not seeing widespread reports of this problem when I google.  And there are other companies using HEVC - particulary folks streaming 4K content.

[Mr_S]

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz 3.40 GHz

I've had no feature updates recently. There were quality updates on the 6th, 13th and 15th. My videos were working normally up until the 17th September.

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@Mr_S wrote:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz 3.40 GHz

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This is helpful.  You are using a 3rd generation processor (launched by Intel in 2012) , and Intel added HEVC support in the 7th generation (launched in 2017).  That explains why Chrome fails.  But it doesn't explain why Edge worked before.

Just a guess, but I am thinking that Edge might have included a software HEVC decoder - but the most recent update might have removed it.  Browser downloads (and memory footprints) gradually get bigger over time, and periodically the developers remove stuff they think is no longer needed to scale it back.

Do you happen to have a newer PC you can test with?

Alternatively, you could try installing a slightly older version of Edge. But this is rather tricky, as you also need to temporarily block auto-updates.  There some information on that here: 

• https://pureinfotech.com/rollback-previous-version-microsoft-edge

But not something I've ever needed to do.

[Mr_S]

I don't have a newer PC, I can test with unfortunately. I just tried to download and install an older version of Edge and it failed during installation. I'll have another look a bit later. I don't really know what I'm doing with it, so I'm not looking forward to it but I'd like to be able to access my videos without downloading them again. Thanks for all your help.

[Mr_S]

Thanks again for your help, StephenB.

[JehovasFitness]

I'm having same issue after years of the issue not being there.

[JehovasFitness]

same issue, i only ever use chrome

[fdj92592]

Arlo Pro 3 w/6 cameras, 3 of which are floodlight cameras.  Used to be able to use any of the 4 browsers on my system, now can't even use one of them.  (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Brave.)  Have had the system for many years, and think at one point I had to download a plugin to make it work.  When it quit working in Chrome, some mentioned I try Edge, which I did and it worked fine.  Now it quit working and something needs to be done by arlo to fix this problem.  

[StephenB]

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@fdj92592 wrote:

 Now it quit working and something needs to be done by arlo to fix this problem.  

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This is almost certainly on Microsoft, not Arlo.  You can test that by trying to watch this trailer on another site:

• https://bitmovin.com/demos/stream-test?format=hls&manifest=https://demo.unified-streaming.com/k8s/fe...

DON'T change the settings (or turn on "use our defaults").  Just click on the play icon in the video.

If it plays (almost certainly won't) you'll see a text string with hvc1 embedded in the video.

Please let me know the CPU chip you have in the PC you are using.  Right-clicking in "this pc" and selecting "properties" will tell you this info.

Here's the issue I've been seeing from other posters:

The HEVC extension used to enable HEVC playback for Edge even if the CPU didn't have HEVC hardware acceleration.  This used a software decoder.  Microsoft appears to have removed that functionality recently.  The videos play only if there is hardware acceleration.

But there have been a couple of cases where the issue was different - two posters had PCs with HEVC hardware, but couldn't play the videos.   Both found that reinstalling the video drivers for the PCs resolved the issue.

[Mr_S]

I'm now having the problem that I can't manually record a video using a web browser, now. I press the record button like normal but it does not appear in the library afterwards, like usual. Been happening for about 10 days - 2 weeks. The thumbnail also doesn't update. Previously if I looked live and then stopped, that live look would now be the thumbnail photo but now isn't, the thumbnail stays the same. There's also a little dip in sound after a few seconds of looking live.

[fdj92592]

Thanks for the reply and any help will be appreciated.

The CPU is an Intel Core i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz with 4 Cores and 8 Logical processors in a self built from scratch.  (I used to be smart before I turned 73!)

I also tried the trailer you posted, and all I got were 3 boxes in the middle of the screen.  I did then check the box you told me not to while doing the initial trial, and everything worked just great.

So . . . your turn!

And Thanks again.

Frank

[StephenB]

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@fdj92592 wrote:

The CPU is an Intel Core i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz with 4 Cores and 8 Logical processors in a self built from scratch.

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This is 3rd generation processor, so it has no HEVC hardware acceleration.

The plug-in that you recall must have been the HEVC Windows Extension from Microsoft.

As others have found, this used to engage a software decoder for HEVC video when hardware acceleration wasn't available.  But that seems to have changed with a recent update - not sure if that was a windows update or just a change to Edge.

[fdj92592]

Thanks for all your help.  Just seemed real strange as it worked fine with Google Chrome until it didn't.  Then I read somewhere to use Microsoft Edge and it worked fine there but just for a short while until they do the, "Automatic Updates that you can't seem to avoid!", and once again it didn't. 

I used to be a tech support person for a public utility in San Diego and I always kept anything from updating automatically 'cause back then it could really cause a lot of problems with different programs that individuals were using.  (In fact . . . still seems to be a problem because of all the things they change without your permission and there's nothing anyone can do about it.)

Thanks again for your help,

Frank