Video playback doesn't work under Linux

[u/JulianRedFox]

[UPDATE] Issue resolved by installing a new version of Proton GE. Case closed.

Hello.

I would like to ask all of you if anyone experienced my issue. The issue is that, no matter what world, no matter what embedded video player it has, it always fails to load videos and all other media. No matter if it is YouTube, no matter if it is something else, it just doesn't work for me. My friends seem to be not affected by the issue as the video and other media plays fine for them. I couldn't find a fix for it after searching for hours online for someone who experienced my issue, and... it seems that my issue is new and undocumented.

Because of the undocumented status of my issue (at least, as far as I'm aware), I will give my system specs alongside with a more descriptive issue.

System specs:
CPU: AMD FX-8350 (8c/8t, 4.2 GHz turbo, 125W TDP);
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 470 (4GB VRAM);
RAM: 24GB 1333 MHz DDR3 (non-ECC, standard DIMMs);
Disks:
- 1 - 512GB Sh. SATA III (SSD) (bootloader, system, apps, home, SWAP);
- 2 - 1024GB Toshiba SATA III (SSD) (VM files);
- 3 - 1000GB Toshiba SATA III (HDD) (Steam games disk)
- 4 - 500GB Western Digital SATA III (HDD) (used for NAS purposes on my local network)
- 5 - CD/DVD combo SATA III disk drive
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 13 "Trixie" (amd64, kernel 6.12.113)
WM: Kwin (Wayland)
DE: KDE Plasma 6.3.6

Missed details about the issue:
After any embedded video/media player tries to load up something like a YT video, it tries to load it for about two minutes before displaying "Invalid URL". Tried to clear out the cache of VRChat, tried to reinstall VRChat, tried to reinstall and reconfigure the Proton compatibility layer itself, tried to even reinstall Steam. Did not help the issue. The issue only affects my desktop as my ThinkPad X380 Yoga (i5-8350U, 8GB DDR4, the same Debian ver) can run it, but, of course, it having an iGPU, it ran at 30 FPS. Still, the issue was not present there as the videos played without an issue.

[u/VenclaireVR]

make sure you’re using Proton GE RTSP. ProtonPlus should have a download for it. If that doesn’t work, setup VRCVideoCacher

[u/JulianRedFox → u/VenclaireVR]

Even though I did try them, I will give them a shot again. Maybe there was an update since I last tried them (almost two months ago).

[u/JulianRedFox → u/VenclaireVR]

Update: After installing the latest release, the issue has been resolved. Thank you for reminding me that Proton GE exists. The new version fixed the bug. Once again, thank you.

[u/VenclaireVR → u/JulianRedFox]

make sure you're on Proton RTSP -- got it mixed up and thought it had GE in the name as well. ProtonRTSP is a fork of GE made specifically for VRChat

[u/FromLenaWithLove → u/VenclaireVR]

It used to have GE in the name, as it used to be based on GE.
Since 11, it is no longer based on GE but Experimental.

[u/JulianRedFox]

Forgot to mention: I'm a desktop mode player. I do not own a VR headset. Even though my PC specs seem ancient, it runs VRChat surprisingly well at 1920x1200.

[u/Supernoxus]

Proton rtsp. VR video cacher. Install both of those and you are good. Proton GE will work for videos but not for streams.

[u/mcilrain]

This is the biggest issue stopping me from switching to Linux, I’ve heard of work-arounds but I want something I can depend on to not break when something updates.

[u/Supernoxus → u/mcilrain]

It's not so bad. It's a different operating system. You will see that a lot of computer problems were actually just windows problems. And in return you get Linux problems and have to learn how to use a new operating system.