Copy URL Button Problems...

[PeterGriffin]

-- Google Chrome (latest)

Has anyelse noticed that the Copy URL button is incredible frustrating to use!?
Sometimes it works as expected, I click copy url, paste it where I want and it works.

The majority of the time however, I find myself having to click the "Copy Url" button about 15 times and switch between open applications or some other random task before it ACTUALLY copies the video url! Doesn't seem to be site related as it happens across multiple.  When I click the VDH icon/button, it correctly lists the video filename and thumbnail, so it's found the video, and the download button will also work first time everytime.... it's just Copy URL that seems to be partially broken

[jcv...@gmail.com]

Hi,

Sorry I did not manage to reproduce the problem. Can you share a URL of a video with this issue?

jerome

[Wild Willy]

Somebody else reported this problem not too long ago:

https://groups.google.com/g/video-downloadhelper-q-and-a/c/PDWIYBDokek

Of course, that is a drive-by problem report. What I found at the time (and I've just
confirmed it) is that the Copy URL menu entry on the secondary VDH menu is not offered on
YouTube. This may be true on other sites as well. The original poster, both in this
thread & in the drive-by thread, failed to say what video was giving the problem. I have
found that on sites other than YouTube, the Copy URL menu entry is there. So, like I
said in that other thread, it appears to be dependent on the web site you're looking at.
Try it on YouTube, Jérôme. What do you see there?

[jcv...@gmail.com]

Works with youtube/firefox for me.

Not on Chrome of course.

jerome

[Wild Willy]

This was the first video on the YouTube home page. I didn't search for any particular
content on YouTube. I just picked the first thing on there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-jv_Be7MHc

As you can see in the first 2 images, there is no Copy URL entry on the secondary VDH
menu.

Then I picked something on another web site:

https://www.medici.tv/en/concerts/charles-dutoit-kodaly-prokofiev-stravinsky-alexander-malofeev/

I did have to reload the page once to make VDH populate its menu, but I DID NOT log on
there. You don't need to be a member of that web site to duplicate the result I am
showing.

The second pair of images shows the same 2 VDH menus as on YouTube. I think you can see
there is a difference on this second web site.

This is on Windows 7 64-bit, Firefox 103.0.1 64-bit, licensed VDH 7.6.3a5 beta, CoApp
1.6.3.

[Wild Willy]

Oh yeah. Forgot to mention. The Copy URL entry on the secondary menu on the Medici page
did in fact copy the URL to my system clipboard. And I'll paste it here just to prove
I'm not making that up:

https://sdn-global-streaming-cache-3qsdn.akamaized.net/9378/files/22/07/31/6078403/9378-mF7T46KHjZ9dzGp-drm-aes.ism/9378-mF7T46KHjZ9dzGp-drm-aes-audio=319999-video=4994000.m3u8?vbegin=0&vend=180

[PeterGriffin]

Next time I'm downloading videos, and it happens, I'll make a note of the url / video page and post here

[Wild Willy]

I see there's been a message deleted here.  I am going to speculate this is because the Google bots censored your post because you did not remove the stealth quoted material before you posted.  You need to discipline yourself to always delete the stealth quoted material before you post.  That applies to EVERY post you make in ANY thread in this forum, not just here.  To learn how to do that, take a look over here:

https://groups.google.com/g/video-downloadhelper-q-and-a/c/BzPLK2YyL-s

Do a string search on "stealth quote" in there.  You'll get a reference that contains a link to another thread where I posted images of what you have to do.  It's a tedious although quick manual step you have to go through before you post.  Let's see if you can get your post to appear if you remove the stealth quoted material before you post.

[mjs]

It works on other sites from what I see but not YouTube, even in linux which I'm running from a usb drive.

Isn't Jerome on linux in saying it works ? If so why would I not see it but Jerome does.

[jcv...@gmail.com]

I just checked with the link provided by Willy : https://www.medici.tv/en/concerts/charles-dutoit-kodaly-prokofiev-stravinsky-alexander-malofeev/

I get a "Copy URL" entry but not the same url...

https://sdn-global-streaming-cache.3qsdn.com/9378/files/22/08/04/6108829/9378-VPrg9bvJFWph2kt-drm-aes.ism/9378-VPrg9bvJFWph2kt-drm-aes-audio=320000-video=1951000.m3u8

jerome

[mjs]

Jerome didn't you say it worked on YouTube further up in the discussion. Would you try again to see what it does.

[Maximillium]

Re:

I get a "Copy URL" entry but not the same url...
https://sdn-global-streaming-cache.3qsdn.com/9378/files/22/08/04/6108829/9378-VPrg9bvJFWph2kt-drm-aes.ism/9378-VPrg9bvJFWph2kt-drm-aes-audio=320000-video=1951000.m3u8

Pretty sure I see "drm" in that URL...?

to Video

[Wild Willy]

I just checked this again. When you visit this page:

https://www.medici.tv/en/concerts/charles-dutoit-kodaly-prokofiev-stravinsky-alexander-malofeev/

The VDH menu shows a handful of variants. If you select the Copy URL function for the
first variant (1920x1080) you get this URL:

https://sdn-global-streaming-cache-3qsdn-medici.akamaized.net/9378/files/22/08/04/6108829/9378-VPrg9bvJFWph2kt-drm-aes.ism/9378-VPrg9bvJFWph2kt-drm-aes-audio=320000-video=4971000.m3u8

That is plainly a manifest URL. The URL ends in .m3u8. And yes, Max, the URL happens to
contain the characters DRM. The item in fact is not protected by DRM. You can check
this yourself. VDH will download it so it can't be behind DRM protection. It's a trick,
Don't fall for it. I ran ffprobe on the manifest & found that the duration of the item
is only 2 minutes & 43 seconds. It's the teaser for the full concert.

Now, I did all of that without signing in. After I sign in, I get this:

https://sdn-global-streaming-cache-3qsdn-medici.akamaized.net/9378/files/22/07/31/6078901/9378-Kvc3gbDTWLGMxZN-drm-aes.ism/9378-Kvc3gbDTWLGMxZN-drm-aes-audio=320000-video=5000000.m3u8

A lot of that URL matches the one I got without signing in. But it is a different URL.
You have to be diligent to see that. According to ffprobe, this one is for the actual
concert which lasts 1:52:19, nearly 2 hours. Once again, this is for the 1920x1080
variant.

It is interesting that this VDH function appears to copy the URL of the video's manifest,
not the URL of the video itself. I don't know that I would say this is a bug. The
manifest is what you really need to get the video so it's as good as the URL for the
video. For an HLS stream, I don't think there is a single URL for the video.. There are
just URLs for the individual chunks. Those aren't really useful to any user.. Maybe on
non-HLS content (and probably non-DASH as well), the function gets the URL of the MP4
(MKV, WEBM, etc.). I think with a little documentation, we can transform this bug into a
feature.

On the other hand, the real issue our original poster reported is that the Copy URL
function is available on some web sites but not on others. Clearly, I see it on Medici
TV, as do you guys. But, YouTube is one site where I don't see the Copy URL function. I
am on Windows 7 64-bit, Firefox 103.0.2 64-bit, licensed VDH 7.6.3a6 beta, CoApp 1.6.3.
Maybe the operating system influences your results.

As an aside, I am pleased to note that both mjs & Max have removed the stealth quoted
material from their posts. I actually noticed mjs started doing that a few weeks ago.
Now if we can just get Jérôme to start doing that . . .

[jcv...@gmail.com]

Hi mjs,

I'm a bit confused, I don't remember why I posted this answer...

I don't get Copy URL on Youtube which is logical, this entry only appears when there is a link to a complete media, which is very rare these days, especially on big platforms like YT.

For an entry you can look at the details, if there is a "url" field, there will be a "Copy URL".

jerome

[Wild Willy]

Very rare? I don't know about that. I think YouTube is the exception, not the other way
around. I think most sites are doing HLS these days. A fair number are doing DASH. The
rarity is the site that offers no manifest but it does offer the MP4 (MKV, WEBM)
directly. In all those cases, a "complete media" (to use your term) is most assuredly
available in the form of a manifest or a simple media file. YouTube is the exception.

But you have given the clear explanation that finally explains what's going on. YouTube
is the weird site on which you can't find either a manifest or a media file. Evidently,
it is not the only site like that, but I put forward the hypothesis that most sites are
not like this.

Meanwhile, about that stealth quoting thing . . .