SMPlayer refuse sometimes to play a video file, with additional file dragging

Support Software & Applications
1

Hi,
Since a few month im experience a strange behavior with SMPlayer, when i drag+drop one video file at a time into my player, sometimes i won’t get a picture from the player, instead only the sound will be played then.

I can press stop button and then the Player Window will be Frozen and this also triggers a freeze for the KDE Desktop for 5seconds, till the window recovers and KDE Desktop response then also again.

On another attempt to drop a file into the player it may works then again, as nothing happend… sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

And no error’s that i can see in journal logs.

System:
  Kernel: 6.12.34-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.1.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
    root=UUID=eb235aa7-d461-413d-800e-ea57385703fb rw sysrq_always_enabled=1
    retbleed=off resume=UUID=717b267e-7322-4bf9-a840-f1210d422d1a
    udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.3.5 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.15.0
    wm: kwin_x11 vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Gigabyte product: Z170X-UD3 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Gigabyte model: Z170X-UD3-CF v: x.x serial: <superuser required>
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI-[Legacy]: American Megatrends v: F23d
    date: 12/01/2017
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.57 GiB used: 4 GiB (25.7%)
  Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
  Array-1: capacity: 64 GiB slots: 4 modules: 2 EC: None
    max-module-size: 16 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: ChannelA-DIMM0 type: no module installed
  Device-2: ChannelA-DIMM1 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous size: 8 GiB
    speed: 2800 MT/s volts: note: check curr: 1 min: 1 max: 1 width (bits):
    data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: G.Skill part-no: F4-2800C16-8GRR
    serial: N/A
  Device-3: ChannelB-DIMM0 type: no module installed
  Device-4: ChannelB-DIMM1 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous size: 8 GiB
    speed: 2800 MT/s volts: note: check curr: 1 min: 1 max: 1 width (bits):
    data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: G.Skill part-no: F4-2800C16-8GRR
    serial: N/A
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-6700K bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake-S
    gen: core 6 level: v3 note: check built: 2015 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x5E (94) stepping: 3 microcode: 0xF0
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 4 cores: 4 threads: 8 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB
    desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 4500 min/max: 800/4700 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: performance cores: 1: 4500 2: 4500 3: 4500 4: 4500 5: 4500 6: 4500
    7: 4500 8: 4500 bogomips: 64026
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Vulnerable: No microcode
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
    vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Vulnerable
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
    STIBP: conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU102 [GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Rev. A] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: nvidia v: 575.64 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550-570.xx+
    status: current (as of 2025-04; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Turing code: TUxxx
    process: TSMC 12nm FF built: 2018-2022 pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 16
    link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s ports: active: none off: DP-3 empty: DP-1,
    DP-2, HDMI-A-1, Unknown-2 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1e07 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.18 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: nvidia gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1440 s-dpi: 122 s-size: 532x302mm (20.94x11.89")
    s-diag: 612mm (24.08")
  Monitor-1: DP-3 mapped: DP-4 note: disabled model: Dell S2417DG
    serial: <filter> built: 2018 res: N/A dpi: 123 gamma: 1.2
    size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 2560x1440 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2
    drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia
    inactive: wayland,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 575.64 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
    memory: 10.74 GiB
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.313 layers: 6 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA
    GeForce RTX 2080 Ti driver: nvidia v: 575.64 device-ID: 10de:1e07
    surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi
    wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: Gigabyte
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs bus-ID: 00:1f.3
    chip-ID: 8086:a170 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU102 High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:10f7 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Creative Labs CA0132 Sound Core3D [Sound Blaster Recon3D /
    Z-Series BlasterX AE-5 Plus] driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 0b:00.0 chip-ID: 1102:0012 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.34-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.5 status: off with: pipewire-media-session
    status: active tools: pw-cli
  Server-3: PulseAudio v: 17.0-43-g3e2bb status: active with:
    1: pulseaudio-alsa type: plugin 2: pulseaudio-jack type: module
    tools: pacat,pactl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: Gigabyte driver: e1000e v: kernel
    port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15b8 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 5.93 TiB used: 438.65 GiB (7.2%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Corsair model: MP600 PRO LPX
    size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: EIFM31.6 temp: 38.9 C
    scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 PRO 1TB
    size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2B6Q scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HDN724030ALE640
    size: 2.73 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: A5E0 scheme: GPT
  ID-4: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Samsung model: Portable SSD T5
    size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB
    rev: 3.1 spd: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    scheme: MBR
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 88.61 GiB size: 86.66 GiB (97.80%) used: 24.87 GiB (28.7%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 label: N/A
    uuid: eb235aa7-d461-413d-800e-ea57385703fb
  ID-2: /boot raw-size: 2.93 GiB size: 2.82 GiB (96.15%)
    used: 220.4 MiB (7.6%) fs: ext3 dev: /dev/sdc3 maj-min: 8:35 label: N/A
    uuid: cbfeca98-b99d-4383-9ded-fe66cd598006
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 332.03 GiB size: 325.75 GiB (98.11%)
    used: 17.81 GiB (5.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdc4 maj-min: 8:36 label: N/A
    uuid: ada4a6a2-bd0a-4652-b386-7c637bba7ee9
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 10 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 7.81 GiB used: 613.8 MiB (7.7%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/sdc2 maj-min: 8:34 label: N/A
    uuid: 717b267e-7322-4bf9-a840-f1210d422d1a
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 34.8 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 37 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 25%
Info:
  Processes: 318 Power: uptime: 3d 40m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.2 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,upowerd
    Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: 1632 pm: pacman pkgs: 1626 libs: 457 tools: pamac pm: flatpak
    pkgs: 6 Compilers: clang: 20.1.6 gcc: 15.1.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37
2

First, it would be useful to mention what’s installed… I see there’s a Flatpak and a Repository version.

Are your mirrors up to date? If so, run pacman -Syu and ensure your system is synchronised and updated.

If that’s done, then you can create and test with a new USER.

I’m going to test your bug:

  1. pamac-manager select smplayer - no dependencies (3.6 MB)
  2. Terminal - launch it:
❯ smplayer
This is SMPlayer v. 25.6.0 (revision 10369) running on Linux

Testing (drag 'n drop)

X264 test:

  • The Pink Phink.mkv
    MKV, 1 Video stream HEVC, 3 Audio, 1 menu stream - AAC 2 channel audio plus commentary by Filmmaker… plays fine - there is no response from the terminal and the video plays normally (1440×1080 24fps).

x265 HEVC

  • BBC.The.Magical.World.of.Moss.1080p.x265.AAC.MVGroup.org.mkv yields a similar result (1980×1080).

Repeated with various other video containers/formats - no issue here… I’m not sure where to go next; but you should definitely be confident about the actual files, also, that you’re playing (no information there… try using mediainfo).

3

Repo

It is, always… and it happening since the last 2-3 stable releases.

$ smplayer
This is SMPlayer v. 25.6.0 (revision 10369) running on Linux

It never showed a error in Terminal… very confusing.

Sometimes its hard to reproduced… I didnt restarted my PC, since yesterday and SMPlayer refused to play any video, i never had this before. I even i had to use VLC… and 20min later, i gave smplayer a chance it was working again.

I just throwed 15-20 video’s (X264 and x265) at the smplayer video… and everything was fine. But im pretty sure, this error will come back sooner or later.

Initial Video Stream
Resolution: 1280 x 720
Aspect ratio: 1.77778
Format: hevc
Bitrate: 0 kbps
Frames per second: 23.976025
Selected codec: hevc

In some situation it only happend, after the 5-7th video drop, that the smplayer refused to show a picture.

1 Like
4

Are you still using the flatpak nvidia driver?

If so, I’d try with the normal driver.

On a side note, many years ago I used to have issues with smplayer and vlc. When one broke the other got fixed, repeat ad infinitum. I switched to mpv and haven’t had any issues since.

That doesn’t look right, but I haven’t used mediainfo. :man_shrugging:

1 Like
5

Well the nvidia flatpak driver is used only for a single game, because that game is Flatpak. I haven’t played that Flatpak game, since i know the newest Nvidia Flatpak Version lead to a OS Freeze.

Smplayer is using the normal OS driver (im not even sure, if its possible at all to use a other GPU Driver?). I don’t have any special stuff going on, i try to keep my OS as stable as possible, i don’t like experimental stuff… that’s why im also use the LTS Kernel 6.12

I also switched to mpv in SMPlayer… you can use that player with differend Multimedia Engines: MPlayer>MPV>Other. I still love the modern UI from SMPlayer.

I just repeat this info again, playing a single video file with SMPlayer is doing still fine…

But when i playing different clips from my video library and drag+drop more video’s… it happen’s that the video player refused to play it in rare situation… but sometimes it happen with every 3-6 video drag+drop.

Sometimes it showes bitrate 0 kbps, variable bitrate i guess… I encoded all my serie’s with shotcut video encoding program and change it from x264 to x265, right now.

This source has other values:

Resolution: 1280 x 720
Aspect ratio: 1.77778
Format: hevc
Bitrate: 218 kbps
Frames per second: 23.976025
Selected codec: hevc

I saw in the last stable update, that Smplayer got updated… sadly with no cure. As i said already, i have that problem since a few month now and i do regularly my OS Updates.

And idk why that happen and if im alone with that problem.

6

You’re right - sometimes video or audio has issues such that they’ll still play, but there are obscure problems that will cause lockups or simple crashes.

Sometimes this happens to me when I start watching something that’s torrenting, and maybe got stuck at 99% for some reason.

I’m curious whether it’s really worth downloading TV Series as x264 and then re-encoding to x265 - we discussed this extensively in my UKTV tracker forum… even the cappers aren’t willing to do this before uploading files, because it’s just not worth the effort… indeed it would be more efficient to simply buy more storage when you run out.

I’ve done it before - Sonarr grabs an episode in x264, some 2GiB or whatever - often it’ll come out up to a full day earlier; then I see an x265 somewhere else…

So I’ll download the x265 (if it’s something I need to keep) and then when the x265 is out of 'hit ‘n run’ (usually 3 days) I’ll just wipe that.

7

In my opinion it is worth it… i can sometimes reduce the file size around 20-40% (depends on the pre-encoding) without to losing important quality and additional i can even improve the video with additional light video filtering, example’s are sharpening and reduce noise. The key is to know where the sweetspots are for all that filters… its a learning experience.