Youtube links dont work for me anymore across platforms

so youtube links dont work for me anymore across both PC and Quest. everyone else can see them but i cant, and its just youtube, everything else works. i read that its because ads are embedded into videos now but its giving me invalid URL errors for links that have worked in the past, i also herd its something to do with youtube blacklisting my local area because of suspicous activities. if theres a solution please help me, ive seen so many other posts go unawnsered here so i hope this reaches out to people.

2 Likes

Its likely region based in some way, for me youtube seems to work in VRChat in all four possible ways. Like a matrix one axis is UnityVideo and AVPro, and the other axis is quest and PC. Out of the four combination I have zero problems. In another thread someone can use unity for youtube, but avpro fails. So they can’t play a rythym game

rhythm game.

Youtube has been trying to kill off adblockers from accessing the site since oct 2023, I wonder if this is a more social driven way to reduce use of youtube in VRChat, if not everyone can watch a vid, might go do.something else.

Hmm, it could also be AV1 codec being more utilized, is it quest 2 or quest 3/3s?

quest 3s

ive tested for various video players, youtube links just do not work at all.

hey its me again, i just gathered a bunch of evidence to see if we can find the root of the problem here (im pasting this from my own comment on a reddit post about the same issue, heres the link: Reddit - Dive into anything )

hey so im having the same issue and heres what i gathered about this so maybe we can find the source of the problem

youtube links used to work for me (i copy my links from youtube itself on the quest browser) and currently all my friends dont have issues with youtube links.

every youtube link i put in brings back a invalid URL error when it shouldnt because these methods work and there should be no mistakes (various methods that all failed are: copying from youtube, copying from the share window, putting the URL through NextNex, loading a video from a built in VRC YT search)

various video players do not work and give back different errors, usually video player error (those ones being the unity and AVpro players)

youtube links dont work cross platform, i tried on my steam deck but that brings back the same issues and errors as it does on my quest.

logging into vrc via quest didnt work.

i know i dont have or use any VPNs aside from adnauseum but thats a ad blocker not a VPN.

the only thing i havent tried is restarting the router, and i dont think my IP got blocked because i still have acess to all my normal google accounts on my various devices, even my quest 3S and Steam Deck LCD.

and yes, i do have “allow untrusted URL’s” on.

i know im not alone either as one of my friends on vrc has the same issue exept certain channels do work for him.

hopefully, we can find the root of the problem with this large ass reply and plenty of evidence and maybe provide a fix to people suffering through “invalid URL” errors like me.

yt-dlp pretends to be a really old device that is not logged in to get around certain limits. Any other way you are accessing youtube is likely either newer or logged in. Likely both. Unless you’ve tried an Android phone old enough to drive a car, I think it’s worth changing IP address.

For nextnex, that service has been shut down for like a year or two, using it today it merely redirects to the YouTube link provided. Zero benefit to any testing.

One thing I’d try if I was experiencing your trouble is download a copy of yt-dlp (VRChats copy won’t download) and try downloading something. If a fresh copy of yt-dlp can download something then we know the streaming issue is very interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jczLRNVZrz8 is my suggestion

For some reason, nextnex works for me and lets me load youtube videos

do i have to do coding/modding on linux?

for me its just a program i run it from the “command prompt” program

From twitter/xitter/x https://x.com/ckptkb/status/1675661693731635200

1: i rather it work on quest since i dont have PCVR.

2: it seems nextnex doesnt work anymore. sad.

For the yt-dlp thing, just need like a regular personal computer, like windows 10/11 pc, a raspberry pi, steamdecks desktop mode etc. But no worries, it’s just more of a curiosity, trying to understand what still works.

its just youtube links that arent working. everything else works

How I can install that command?

they have installation instructions but I downloaded the exe and put it in like d:\junk and use it from there

can i install this on quest?

I think in an earlier post you mentioned having a steam deck, that’d be better place to run it. I’m suggesting running it not as a direct fix, but as a way of gathering a bit more information.

If you or anyone else similarly effected(can’t watch YouTube in VRChat) can use yt-dlp to download something, then it means that whatever is going on is more directly related to how VRChat client is playing videos.

1 Like

if thats it, then theese video players need to be updated.

youtube links worked for me suddenly for 2 days and now they dont work again.

i

hate

you

youtube.

1 Like