Video playback freezes

No, i shut down my usual profile and made sure that the new profile was the only one running.

I find it weird an extension from another, closed, user profile is running in a newly created user profile.

Have you checked whether disabling Brave Shields completely while in YouTube via the Brave Shields icon in the address bar make any difference?

Yes, i also find it odd. But just to be clear on what closing a profile means, i closed my usual profile window, so that only the new window with the new profile was open. Did i miss or get something wrong?

I didn’t think of disabling shields on YouTube because playback was fine before July (and maybe partway into it) with Shields Up. Still, that sounds like a good idea so i tried it: the result was the same ie video on YouTube freezing.

No, you did everything correctly.

Are you experiencing the same issue on other browsers while using the same extensions?

I haven’t really used other browsers since moving to Brave.

But i’ll give 2 or 3 browsers a try and report back.

That would be great. Testing in Google Chrome might be just enough, however you could also test in Microsoft Edge since it’s another Chromium-based browser.

I forgot to ask you to check flags. Could you open brave://flags and take a screenshot?

I did the testing before i saw your post, but i think the results still might be useful.

I used 3 browsers: Safari, Chrome and Maxthon. I didn’t test for hours, but i used them for up to around 20 minutes.

Safari ran ok most of the time, although it paused on occasion and did freeze once—but not like Brave. With Safari i hit refresh and video started playing again right away. I didn’t need to go through several intermediate stages like with Brave ie refresh, get Page Unresponsive message, Exit the page, get the Snap Message then reload.

Chrome behaved like Brave, except it didn’t seem to freeze as much. I’m not sure this would carry through over a longer period, but that’s certainly how it seemed for the time i ran it.

Then i tried Maxthon and had no problems at all. This is pretty much like how Brave run until last month.

With the flags, i disovered there are a lot of them, so i’m just going to add a screenshot of the first page. Let me know if you’d like to see the others or specific ones. I wasn’t even aware of this page, so haven’t changed any settings here (i don’t know if changes i might make elsewhere affect them).

First of all, thank you for taking your time and testing in other browsers, that definitely helps me in my attempts to help you.

Makes me think the issue isn’t related to Brave itself. Is that extension Honey an extension you can uninstall for a specific period of time? I mean, do you lose any data or anything by uninstalling it? I sincerely hate the fact it kept running in a brand new user profile when it wasn’t even installed in that user profile.

Thanks Rethanis.

I will test again with a new profile to make sure i didn’t make any errors, and if the same thing happens i’ll look into Honey and see about uninstalling.

I will report back, probably tomorrow.

Sure. Let me know if you find/notice anything.

Alright, i created a new profile again, checked no extensions appeared on the Extensions list, closed my normal profile and started up the Task Manager.

Sure enough, there was Honey again. So that at least confirms what i said originally.

However i was a little concerned about deleting Honey altogether, so just disabled it. I checked the Task Manager again, and Honey no longer appeared on it.

However after i got some way into my first YouTube video it froze again.

A clean user profile in Google Chrome has the same behavior more or less, right?

Yes, more or less. It didn’t freeze the first time until an ad was about to play. The second time it coincided with a Chrome error. The third time, though, was just like ‘usual.’

(I meant to edit my last post rather than delete it.)

If the unusual behavior persists in another web browser, we can conclude the issue isn’t Brave-specific.

I’m repeating myself, but I don’t think Honey’s behavior is normal, I would look into it if I were you.

If you can give up on extensions for a specific period of time, uninstall Honey and disable the rest of them, after which you could test YouTube’s behavior in a clear user profile. I believe both Google Chrome and Brave are not responsible for YouTube’s behavior, the issue is either related to an extension (ehm, Honey) or something else outside the browsers.

I’m just replying here just because I had face similar issue in past. This was when I was watching anime on some websites and sometimes it freezes.

The reason was the ads ( brave was disabling ads that time and the website still keep insisting on showing ads to me. It sounds funny but after disabling brave shield it worked.

I believe this isn’t the issue here I’m sure but I thought of share my experience.

Thanks!

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Thanks for your replies Rethanis and Adison.

Even though i still have the same internet provider, i now think it may be a problem there. Something appears to have changed. I’m still not sure, but will investigate further.

I apologise for what may have been false alarm.

Even so, i will keep Honey in mind, although i think i’d been using it for some time before the problem began.

Regarding browsers, as i mentioned earlier, the problem wasn’t the same with other browsers: Safari performed better, but still froze once during the test period, although it was much easier to return to playback, given Chrome and Brave have a number of intermediate steps.

I had no real issues when i used Maxthon browser during my first test, but i decided to use it for video today, and had a freeze and some odd behaviour eg video playback suddenly going into silent fast forward. I also tried Prime Video, and that stalled as well, though i’d never had problems with it before (the last time i watched video on Prime i think was June).

In any case, i will look into this problem further, and report back if i find out what’s going on before this thread gets locked.

@Ricon

No need to apologize, I was happy to help with whatever I could. Let us know if you find anything that could be related to your issue, and wish you the best of luck in finding out the cause of that behavior! :+1:

Ricon,

Takes some study, but you may find that study worth the time:

Developer Tools > Network

Mac OS keyboard: Command+Option+I (“Option” aka “Alt” key)
Windows OS keyboard: Control+Alt+I (Shift+F8 or F12 key may work, too, according to old info online)

On the first occasion of your using Developer Tools, its window may appear as the bottom half of your Brave Browser page’s window.

Depending upon the size of your computer display, that might be OK for you. But, you may want the Developer Tools window to appear otherwise, and you may choose other locations, as follows.

Over in the upper right area of the Developer Tools window, you should find a vertical 3-dot icon.

Mac 3-dot icon on the right:
Mac_3-dot_customize_devTools_icon

Windows 3-dot icon on the right:

When you hover your mouse arrow tip over that 3-dot icon, you might get a small description: “Customize and Control DevTools”

Click on that vertical 3-dot icon. You will get a pop-up window showing how the Console window may be displayed on your computer.

Screen Shot 2021-07-22 at 2.30.23 PM

The 4 locations are (left to right):

  • Undock into separate window
  • Dock to left
  • Dock to bottom
  • Dock to right

Next, along the top of the Developer Tools window, you will see a main toolbar of various, general categories of the tools:

Elements - Console - Sources - Network - Performance - Memory - etc . . .

At the very right end of that, you see an “X” — that, if you click on it, the Developer Tools window will close. And note, here, that the Developer Tools window you view, is associated with the webpage you are also currently viewing. If you close that current webpage, then its associated Developer Tools window will also close.

Now, select Network

A bit further down, in the Developer Tools window, is a section called a drawer. In the following [Mac] screenshot, you see the Console drawer. There is a 3-dot menu icon to the left of “Console” and a closing “X” off to the right.

If you click on that “X” then the Console drawer will close. But for exercise, let’s say you want that back:

Click on the 3-dot icon at the upper right of the Developer Tools window — the same 3-dot icon that you clicked on, in order to select the location for the Developer Tools window.

Scroll down to and select “Show console drawer” (you may also simply click on your keyboard Esc key).

Thus, you may easily view (keyboard Esc key), but also close (big “X”), the Console drawer.

For the moment, close the Console drawer. Select your webpage (I am viewing your recent reply):

Video playback freezes - #23 by Ricon

And reload that webpage.

Look at the Developer Tools > Network window result - scroll to the top of that list.

You will see in chronological order/sequence, almost everything that Brave Browser (including extensions/plug-ins) downloaded in order to render the webpage.

And, you will see what failed, or stalled, or was blocked . . . and what might have stumped or frozen the rendering process.

Here is an example, a [Mac] screenshot showing a few items that failed - because I blocked something:

The failed (RED) items, are dependent upon data/info from fonts.googleapis.com (fonts that I blocked, for this occasion).

So a wee bit of rendering was frustrated, but Brave Browser forged ahead, using substitute fonts.

YOUR specific interest, re “Video playback freezes”, might reward you by your monitoring this Developer Tools > Network window, and see what may be revealed, when your video playback does freeze (or seems to freeze).

Developer Tools is loaded with a lot of choices, switches, and tooling. Do not fret. Just make a start, if interested, and you will gain some ground with time.

For more (and probably better) guidance, you might visit:

How to Use Web Browser Developer Tools

(March 24, 2020)

This Lifewire article has several good illustrations.

https://www.lifewire.com/web-browser-developer-tools-3988965


August 14, 2021 EDIT / UPDATE

Chrome Developers [website] > Documentation > Chrome DevTools > Network > Network Features Reference (April 13, 2015 article by Kayce Basques):

Thank you for the comprehensive information 289wk.

I followed up with my internet provider, and they told me that network maintenance in my area began last month, will continue this month, and may continue beyond that.

They acknowledged the problem and offered to reduce my bill for the next 3 months.

The only place i experienced issues until recently was on video, and then only every now and then. Now it’s happening on some sites with a lot of interactive material as well, along with more frequent interruptions in video.

Even so, i will investigate the material you provided, as that may provide further insight and be helpful in future.

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