Plays in VLC but not in Kodi (RPi4)

I have some video files I downloaded and they seem fine in the windows environment. I DL in windows and try the files out by evoking VLC in windows. If they seem OK you scrape the files and scan them into KODI's library.

I am noticing a number of files that work well when they are tested with VLC won't work in KODI. When played in KODI it quickly brings up a black screen that disappears just as quickly. Whole seasons of TV shows don't work in Kodi.

I am not sure how to troubleshoot this problem. Is the file(s) broken and VLC does something to make them playable, but when used in KODI, KODI can't deal with the "error", so they seem unplayable? Is my down-loader suddenly not putting the rar's together properly after years of being dependable? Or is it actually something with Kodi that can't deal with a perfectly fine file?

Thanks for your troubleshooting ideas.

I appreciate your reply. But I do not think "old codec" is always the answer. Go look for the 60s Outer Limits HD. The file sizes are about 5g. Almost none of them work.

Re-encoding is an interesting idea, but costs way more time and $ than scraping and failing in Kodi.

I see the same non-function with a newer show Shipwreck Hunters Australia. The first episode works. The others don't. This is a very new show but exhibits the same quick shutdown when asking to play it.

I'm sure there are more examples in the library that I have not run across yet.

Is there a way to check Kodi compatibility without going through the trouble of scraping and moving to the library before finding out it is a fail? Is there a stand alone Kodi player outside of Kodi?

Playing a new file in VLC to test used to be all that was needed. Been building this library for 20 years.

A quick mention. The Outer limits files did not work on The Core (OSMC) video box either. It's not just the Pi!!!

I have not tested The Shipwreck files on the core.

Also, this complaint does NOT appear for my movies, just TV files, for what that is worth.

I have a busy schedule today. I'll do as suggested above re: the logs and check back later.

Quote from petediscrete

Not as busy a schedule as the guys here have answering your query. You were asked to supply logs and possibly a snippet of the offending video. Still no sign of either. Maybe when you get around to it

Debug logging has been turned on. But since none of my TV drives mount in KODI anymore, I cannot test the TV files in KODI on the Pi to get your logs. For the last while, only my movie drives show up. 7 drives, only 3 mount. So there is more than one challenge here.

Once, while trying to figure out the mounting issue, I plugged the same usb hub full of drives into a Vero 4K box (I got the name wrong earlier) and found the same issue-just a few mount. Plug it into windows, and everything is good. I saw all the drives mount on the Pi, in KODI (10.95.1), back when the installation was new. After a few days, this problem appeared. (mentioned in another thread)

Would the log file help you see why the drives aren't always mounting? It seems KODI does not like ANKER USB 3.0 hubs. I am willing to fulfill your request, if KODI changes its mind about mounting my drives.