RAW=1 does not work for videos in Firefox

[cjscheller]

Hello,

I am attempting to share an MP4 video by removing `dl=0` from the share link and adding `raw=1` instead. I use this share link to load an HTML5 video element on a website. This works as expected on Chromium and Safari, but on Firefox I receive the error message "No video with supported format and MIME type found" and the video is unplayable (see photo).

This appears to be due to the fact that the Dropbox share links (both https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/sh/XXXX?raw=1 and

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/XXXX?raw=1) are returning a MIME/content type of "application/json" rather than the expected "video/mp4".

Any tips on how to return the correct content type or get the raw video working on Firefox?

 

Thanks

[Здравко]

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@cjscheller wrote:

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This appears to be due to the fact that the Dropbox share links (both https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/sh/XXXX?raw=1 and

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/XXXX?raw=1) are returning a MIME/content type of "application/json" rather than the expected "video/mp4".

...

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Hi @cjscheller,

Wow... Is there any browser that can play link to a folder as a video? 😜 Try with a real video link (no "/sh/", but "/s/").

Hope this gives direction.

[cjscheller]

I used those URLs as examples - I am not trying to load a folder but instead a video file.

Here is an example public video file that I am trying to host on a website: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2wosdax2v7ud8sg/AACmnpMe_qveJOvPuxMtj0L8a/DJI_0490.MP4

When I add `raw=1` to the query parameter, I am able to set that URL as the source of an HTML5 video element and play video in Safari and Chromium browsers. That same URL does not load video correctly in Firefox. 

Is there something else about the URL or query parameters that I am doing incorrectly?

Thanks

[Здравко · Accepted solution]

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@cjscheller wrote:

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Here is an example public video file that I am trying to host on a website: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2wosdax2v7ud8sg/AACmnpMe_qveJOvPuxMtj0L8a/DJI_0490.MP4

...

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The issue of playing this video is not related in any way to the link. The codec in use (MPEG-H HVEC H.265) is proprietary 😕! Firefox is free software and since this codec 👿 doesn't provide exception for free software it's not implemented in the browser. 😟 That's it.

Let's hope this might change at some point.

[cjscheller]

Ah ok that makes sense, thank you! I re-encoded the videos to H.264 with ffmpeg, re-uploaded to Dropbox, and the videos now play on all major browsers.

Thanks for the help!