video upload failed 401 how to debug

Is there a debugging function I can use to figure out my video upload problems? My video upload failed and nothing shows up in error logs.

On my site, custom template and default UNI template with minimal files modifications:

One mp4 file uploads fine.

Different mp4 file result in ‘video upload failed’

wmv file uploads fine.

flv file uploads fine.

3 mb mov file uploads fine.

61 mb mov file result in video upload failed’.

Randomly get upload error 401 (does 401 mean authorization required?)

Clean install of site:

Video of wmv, mp4 and flv uploads fine.

61 mb (same file as above) uploads fine.

It would be appreciated if I could be pointed in the right direction of where to start looking into.

check your php.ini file for the setting of mysql.allow_persistent.  If it is set to on, turn it off and see if it makes a different.

You may need to restart Apache if using php as an Apache mod; if using php-fpm, restart php-fpm.

Tried that and same result. My clean site isn't having this problem which is why I need some kind of error log to (debugging?) start looking somewhere.

A few key points. On your real site, you have issues - and you stated that you have made minimal changes. On your fresh install, there are no problems. So, hopefully you made notes of what changes that you made as it may be one of those that is your culprit. Even if you made a change that you think has nothing to do with the issue at hand, it can still be. Since Dolphin has a way of using functions and coding that is used throughout the site, it can be hard to really tell what will affect what.

Are these two sites on the same server with the same php.ini settings?

You also need to tell us the config for the server, webserver, php, how php is running, fastcgi, etc.

You seem to indicate a size problem, so you need to check file size uploads settings, max number of files upload, even the websever settings can affect uploads.  I am mainly a Nginx/php-fpm person but some of the same things apply.

Yes, compare all the settings in your admin panel between the two sites as well, as well as checking the Host Tools settings between the two and do a php.ini info check using the Host Tools for each site, one site may have a php.ini file hiding somewhere that is overriding things.

Thanks for the tips, I really don't look forward to reinstalling everything as I've purchased few mods from the market :) Ultimately, if everything else fails, then I need to document every changes and test uploading every time I install something or make a few modifications. I'm just afraid when I make a lot of changes and install a quite few more mods in the future with many members and I find something not working then... I gotta train myself on problem solving when the need arises. 

It's on same server, same site (I guess I should have said different folder instead of sites) but different folders that are password protected for site.com/test is a new install and site.com/clone is a clone of current site. site.com is not password protected which is why I asked if error 401 reported by flash uploader was indeed the code for 401 authorization required. I suspected maybe it was that so I turned off password protect and still get same issue. 

The new install site does not present problems so it was most likely not that issue. It's already set for upload_max_filesize = 314572800 

A clone of a site, if  you did a copy of the site and maintained permissions and ownership, should work exactly the same as the site you clone it from.  How did you clone the site?  I don't trust control panel (cPanel for example) file managers for moving and cloning sites; I drop to a shell prompt and do it manually.

The clone and production site poses same problem as described above. Unmodified site does not have this issue.

More tests:

Fromphone.mp4 (50 mb uploaded from samsung galaxy phone and PC) = success

Uploaded icestorm.mp4 (9 mb  edited video and smaller compression with windows movie maker and upload from PC = fail

iceapple.mp4 (12 mb edited video and compressed with windows movie maker and upload from PC) = fail

sample_iTunes.mov (4 mb sample downloaded from apple site and uploaded from PC) = fail

clipcanvas.mov (61 mb sample video from web and uploaded from PC) = fail

1st webcam mp4 (5 mb recorded from webcam in windows movie maker and uploaded from PC) = success

Wildlife.wmv (25 mb download sample from web and uploaded from PC) = success

Record Video from ipad upload = success

As you can see, it’s so random and its difficult to track down the culprit. That’s why I was hoping for some kind of debugging to pinpoint.

It would be appreciated if I could be pointed in the right direction of where to start looking into.

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but check your Modules >Flash Apps > Video Player > Settings and see if the 'Use H264 codec' is checked on your real site. I believe by default it is checked, so it should be on your test site. This 'may' be a codec issue.

If it is on your test site but not your real site, try enabling it and re-upload the videos.  There really isn't anything in common about the issues like 'only certain file extensions' or ' only certain sizes', etc.

Do you have any 3rd party modules regarding videos on your real site? Do you get this error immediately, or after it has tried to process?

bbb_sunflower_1080p_30fps_normal.mp4 (263 mb sample video from web uploaded to PC). 

h264 is checked on for all. Once fully uploaded, dialog box pops up, "video upload failed (Video error)". 

My unmodified site install does not have that problem. No video related module changes. Just premium events and groups

Sigh... I might have to re-install everything and document each edits and custom module installs. But let me do few more tests. 

Problem solved. It was a shot in the dark. 

I decided to upload all files from fresh install to /flash/modules/videos and that solved what took me many hours of troubleshooting. I don't like the fact that nothing appears in error log or available debugging tools. It was purely a gamble to see if I upload files from dolphin script to /flash/modules/videos when in fact I have modified nothing in those directories. I hope I never have to face this again. Was there any other troubleshooting options I could have done? In case this should happen again. 

BUT I am very happy that I do not have to reinstall everything again! 

I never asked if you got this error with both Flash and Regular uploaders :)

Yeah, it was happening with both regular and flash uploaders. All is ok :)