Syncplay and VLC on Ubuntu causes syncplay.lua error

[nlieb]

Hello,

When starting synplay I get this error:

VLC has reported that the syncplay.lua interface script has not been installed. Please refer to https://syncplay.pl/LUA/ for instructions.

This seems to be an old issue but this is with syncplay 1.6.4 and VLC 3.0.8 (both installed via snap) on Ubuntu 18.04. Thank you

[Et0h]

I've had others report issues with VLC and Syncplay on Ubuntu recently, so seems like something might have changed either with VLC, Ubuntu or Snap which is causing an issue. See also #302. If anyone can figure it out please let us know!

[bobismijnnaam]

Hey everyone,

If I start VLC myself it seems it can find the file, as it is present in my extensions window. When I open the extensions window in VLC opened by syncplay, the extension is not there, so it seems something prevented it from loading.

Maybe the args that are specified by syncplay when vlc is started constrain it too much? I think that happens in the following file/line:

syncplay/syncplay/players/vlc.py

Line 411 in a9172f9

playerController.SLAVE_ARGS.append(

Two humble ideas, as a complete outsider:

1. Maybe the module path arg in slave_args can be left out and vlc can figure it out on its own? (I am probably misunderstanding how vlc.py works though...)
2. The hardcoded path /usr/lib/vlc/lua/intf/ does not exist on my pc (ubuntu 18.04) (that is: the folder /usr/lib/vlc does not exist). Instead, vlc is located at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/, which also contains an extension I installed. Should this path be included as well? Or, maybe syncplay can prefer to use the vlcIntfUserPath? Since the intf folder in my local extension dir does exist.

In any case, thanks for developing syncplay. Maybe in a few days I'll be able to help some more.

[Et0h]

Can someone with the issue please try to remove the

[Et0h]

In line with the suggestion from @bobismijnnaam I have now now made commit ff6a6ad which deletes the line playerController.SLAVE_ARGS.append('--data-path={}'.format(playerController.vlcDataPath)) from VLC.py which I think was redundant in any case. Can someone please try the GIT HEAD version of Syncplay and let me know if it fixes VLC on Ubuntu.

[bobismijnnaam]

Works for me! Ubuntu 18.04, python 3.5, and installed the dependencies in the requirements.txt files. Have not tested with multiple viewers, will do so tomorrow.

[aboode95]

I think there is a issue with Ubuntu 20.04 being a x64 system with no preinstalled 32bit libraries?

I had snap installed vlc. Then I tried syncplay as appimage. And then from snap-store. Both didn't work. And when I tried compiling syncplay from source, installing the requirement.txt, I couldn't install pip3 install pypiwin32==223. Went ahead and built syncplay anyway with python 2.7. Ran syncplay and it gave the same "syncplay.lua" error.

[aboode95]

okay so I uninstalled the snap-vlc. And installed apt-vlc with sudo apt install vlc. Syncplay v1.6.5 is working with the apt-vlc (VLC v3.0.9.2)

[aboode95]

Tested out again with Syncplay v1.6.5 and snap-vlc (VLC v3.0.10). It didn't work. same error "syncplay.lua". Going back to apt-vlc (VLC v3.0.9.2)

[albertosottile]

I think there is a issue with Ubuntu 20.04 being a x64 system with no preinstalled 32bit libraries?

snapd should automatically install the core snap with these libraries.

Ran syncplay and it gave the same "syncplay.lua" error.

Once again, I am unable to reproduce. Here there is what I did, step by step

• Start with a fresh Ubuntu 20.04 VM
• sudo apt update
• sudo apt upgrade
• sudo snap install vlc
• Open VLC for the first time from the Applications menu, then close it (this should not be necessary but, just in case...)
• sudo snap install syncplay --classic
• Open Syncplay from the Applications menu
• Confirm that Syncplay picks the right player path in the Config dialog (/snap/bin/vlc)
• Store configuration and run Syncplay
• Syncplay runs fine with VLC

@aboode95 Did you try Syncplay from snap? Could you try following these steps? Thanks for your help.

(Incidentally, I found out that the application icons are broken in the snap install on 20.04, we should investigate that -> @daniel-123 perhaps desktop files do not work anymore with this version?)

[aboode95]

@albertosottile I am happy to help! And it's really nothing. Indeed I should be thanking you!

So, I decided to do a fresh install of Ubuntu 20.04 and then follow your steps. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I still got the syncplay.lua error. Both vlc and syncplay was installed using snap. And I did open vlc before installing syncplay.

Though I should mention that I had a power outage in my area and my computer shut down when I was installing vlc. When electricity came back, I had to run snap changes and sudo snap abort 3 because I was getting error snap vlc has “install-snap” change in progress. After aborting, I was able to install vlc and continue to follow your steps.

I should also mention that I have a minimal installation of Ubuntu 20.04. Could they be causing the issue?

[aboode95]

I also tried with syncplay from snap with apt-vlc (sudo apt install vlc). It didn't work.
the versions were: Snap v1.6.4 and vlc v3.0.9.2

I then tried vlc v3.0.9.2 (apt install) with syncplay-appimage (synplay v.1.6.4a). This worked.

[albertosottile]

@aboode95

I should also mention that I have a minimal installation of Ubuntu 20.04. Could they be causing the issue?

I ran exactly the same steps described before but on a "Minimal Installation" of Ubuntu 20.04, I am still unable to reproduce.

[aneesahmedpro]

In line with the suggestion from @bobismijnnaam I have now now made commit ff6a6ad which deletes the line playerController.SLAVE_ARGS.append('--data-path={}'.format(playerController.vlcDataPath)) from VLC.py which I think was redundant in any case. Can someone please try the GIT HEAD version of Syncplay and let me know if it fixes VLC on Ubuntu.

I just downloaded the snap with snap download syncplay, unpacked it, removed the line according to commit ff6a6ad, packed into a new snap, and installed it. Still didn't work. My VLC (v3.0.8) is from apt.

[aneesahmedpro]

In line with the suggestion from @bobismijnnaam I have now now made commit ff6a6ad which deletes the line playerController.SLAVE_ARGS.append('--data-path={}'.format(playerController.vlcDataPath)) from VLC.py which I think was redundant in any case. Can someone please try the GIT HEAD version of Syncplay and let me know if it fixes VLC on Ubuntu.

I just downloaded the snap with snap download syncplay, unpacked it, removed the line according to commit ff6a6ad, packed into a new snap, and installed it. Still didn't work. My VLC (v3.0.8) is from apt.

I just downloaded the source code corresponding to the commit ff6a6ad, and compiled the project. It works. (Ubuntu 18.04.4). Yay 😄

Does this mean the problem lies in the snap technology? (I wouldn't be surprised 😑)

[Et0h]

AFAIK this is resolved in latest version so closing. Let me know if the issue recurs.

[yerbestpal]

AFAIK this is resolved in latest version so closing. Let me know if the issue recurs.

It has definitely not been resolved in my experience using the latest stable build from the Snap Store.