ivory &mdash; @dirkhaun XXL https://blog.tinycities.net/dirkhaun/tag:ivory When 500 characters are not enough ... Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:16:44 +0000 Videos and GIFs stopped working https://blog.tinycities.net/dirkhaun/videos-and-gifs-stopped-working <![CDATA[A couple of days ago I noticed that videos and GIFs were no longer showing up in posts on my #Mastodon instance. Other images were fine, just not animated attachments to posts. I first noticed this in #Ivory, but quickly confirmed that they wouldn’t show up in a browser window either. A quick restart of the server didn’t fix the problem. Since I didn’t have the time to dig into it, I left it at that for a few more days. !--more-- ffmpeg gone missing Eventually, I got around to look into it. A web search brought me to an older issue on the Mastodon bugtracker. It’s for an older Mastodon release and has since been closed, so shouldn’t really affect my up-to-date instance. I was about to give the suggested “fix” a try when something rang in the back of my mind … Mastodon uses ffmpeg for videos and animated GIFs. I vaguely remembered - but couldn’t find it again, of course - something I’ve read a while ago about #Ubuntu randomly uninstalling ffmpeg for no obvious reason. Lo and behold, ffmpeg was no longer on the server. A quick apt install ffmpeg brought it back - and videos started showing up and playing again. For the record: The server is running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. #MastodonAdventures #RunningMastodon #ffmpeg]]> A couple of days ago I noticed that videos and GIFs were no longer showing up in posts on my #Mastodon instance. Other images were fine, just not animated attachments to posts. I first noticed this in #Ivory, but quickly confirmed that they wouldn’t show up in a browser window either.

A quick restart of the server didn’t fix the problem. Since I didn’t have the time to dig into it, I left it at that for a few more days.

ffmpeg gone missing

Eventually, I got around to look into it. A web search brought me to an older issue on the Mastodon bugtracker. It’s for an older Mastodon release and has since been closed, so shouldn’t really affect my up-to-date instance.

I was about to give the suggested “fix” a try when something rang in the back of my mind …

Mastodon uses ffmpeg for videos and animated GIFs. I vaguely remembered – but couldn’t find it again, of course – something I’ve read a while ago about #Ubuntu randomly uninstalling ffmpeg for no obvious reason.

Lo and behold, ffmpeg was no longer on the server. A quick apt install ffmpeg brought it back – and videos started showing up and playing again.

For the record: The server is running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

#MastodonAdventures #RunningMastodon #ffmpeg

]]> https://blog.tinycities.net/dirkhaun/videos-and-gifs-stopped-working Sat, 12 Aug 2023 15:08:33 +0000