# AviSynth FAQ - Some common error messages

Table of contents

- AviSynth FAQ - Some common error messages
  - I got the message “LoadPlugin: unable to load “xxx (some plugin)” is not an AviSynth 1.0/AviSynth 2.0 plugin”?
  - When frameserving I got the following message: “Script error, there is no function named “xxx (some filter)”“?
  - I installed AviSynth and got the following error message: “Couldn’t locate decompressor for format ‘YV12’ (unknown).”?
  - When encoding I got the following error “ACM failed to suggest a compatible PCM format”?
  - When encoding I got the following error: “framesize xyz x 56 not supported”?
  - When frameserving I got the following message: “AVISource: couldn’t locate a decompressor for fourcc (…)”?
  - When frameserving I got the following message: “DirectShowSource: Could not open as video or audio / Video Returned: “DirectShowSource: the filter graph manager won’t talk to me”“?
  - I am trying to load a script that has a path name with a mix of japanese characters (someone’s name) and Ascii test. I got an import error and the path that is displayed has some strange characters (not the japanese characters)?
  - When frameserving I got the following message: “CAVIStreamSynth: System exception - Access Violation at 0x0, reading from 0x0”?
  - When frameserving I got a message similar to: “Avisynth open failure: Script error: Invalid arguments to function “xxx (some filter)” (I:Video.avs, line 5)”

## I got the message “LoadPlugin: unable to load “xxx (some plugin)” is not an AviSynth 1.0/AviSynth 2.0 plugin”?

You are using a plugin which is not compatiable with that version of AviSynth. As explained here, plugins compiled for AviSynth v2.5 are not compatible with AviSynth v1.0x/v2.0x and vice versa.

## When frameserving I got the following message: “Script error, there is no function named “xxx (some filter)”“?

You probably installed/registered a version of AviSynth which doesn’t contain that specific filter. Make sure that there are no other versions floating around on your hard disk (there’s a possibility that a version will be registered while it is not in your system directory). Make sure that the latest stable version is registered, see also this FAQ entry.

## I installed AviSynth and got the following error message: “Couldn’t locate decompressor for format ‘YV12’ (unknown).”?

Install a codec which supports YV12. DivX5 or one of the recent XviD builds of Koepi or Helix YUV codec or some other (ffvfw, ffdshow). If that still doesn’t work, modify your registry as explained in the next question.

## When encoding I got the following error “ACM failed to suggest a compatible PCM format”?

This error means that you are using AviSource to open your AVI file, but you don’t have an ACM codec to decode the audio stream. The most common problem is that your audio is an AC3 or a MP3 stream, but you don’t have the corresponding ACM codec installed. It can also happen that your audio is a “crippled” (that is, with an incorrect header) MP3 [1] [2] [3].

There are several solutions for this problem:

- Get the proper ACM codec. You can use GSpot to find out which audio stream you are dealing with. The needed ACM codecs can be found in the table here.
- Demux your audio with an application like AVI-Mux GUI or VirtualDub, and import your audio with a specific plugin. See also the loading clips FAQ.
- Use DirectShowSource to open the audio. Install ffdshow and enable the specific audio format in the “Audio Decoder Properties” tab. Create the following script:

    Vid = AviSource("Blah.avi", audio=false)
    Aud = DirectShowSource("Blah.avi", video=false)
    AudioDub(Vid, Aud)

## When encoding I got the following error: “framesize xyz x 56 not supported”?

This usually is an indicator of a script error, where the input is actually the error message being displayed. Here, xyz is the length of the error message text and 56 is the height (xyz will vary depending on the error message whilst the height will always be 56 pixels). Your encoder is seeing the error message as an RGB32 input source and hence the error. Opening the script with WMP or VirtualDub should display the error message. Fix the error in the script and retry to encode.

## When frameserving I got the following message: “AVISource: couldn’t locate a decompressor for fourcc (…)”?

Usually, this error message shows up if you don’t have the right VfW codec installed for decoding your video. Get Gspot to find out which codec you need. Get, for example, XviD for your MPEG-4 ASP clips and Cedocida codec for your DV clips. If you have problems finding the right one, ask around on the video forums.

But it can also show up if you call AviSource too many times. The dll for the decompression codec is loaded separately for every AviSource call. Eventually an OS-imposed limit is reached, the codec can’t be loaded and you get that error message. More discussion can be found in this thread. A good solution is to use a number of scripts (keeping each below the problematic limit of avi calls) and encode them separately, and join them afterwards in some application.

## When frameserving I got the following message: “DirectShowSource: Could not open as video or audio / Video Returned: “DirectShowSource: the filter graph manager won’t talk to me”“?

This is a common error that occurs when DirectShow isn’t able to deliver any format that is readable to AviSynth. Try creating a filter graph manually. See if you are able to construct a filter graph that delivers any output that AviSynth can open. If not, you might need to download additional DirectShow filters that can deliver correct material. If you can play the graph in GraphEdit, make sure to remove the video and audio renderers, before saving the graph and opening it in AviSynth. Some examples can be found in the importing media FAQ.

## I am trying to load a script that has a path name with a mix of japanese characters (someone’s name) and Ascii test. I got an import error and the path that is displayed has some strange characters (not the japanese characters)?

AviSynth has problems with non-ANSI chars on filenames. It only supports 8 bit character ANSI text. Some discussion about this: [4] and [5].

## When frameserving I got the following message: “CAVIStreamSynth: System exception - Access Violation at 0x0, reading from 0x0”?

Access Violation at 0x0, reading from 0x0 is usually caused by running out of memory (memory leak ???). It can be caused by a plugin which is leaking memory, but apparently it can also be caused by other things (codecs, applications ???) [1] [2]. Add SetMemoryMax(…) at the beginning of the script. If that doesn’t help, report the issue in the doom9 forums, and we will try to help finding the cause of it.

## When frameserving I got a message similar to: “Avisynth open failure: Script error: Invalid arguments to function “xxx (some filter)” (I:Video.avs, line 5)”

It means you are passing incorrect arguments (that is of the correct type) to your script, filter or plugin. For example:

    # passing a float (2.0), while Loop expects an int:
    Loop(clip, 2.0)

    # passing three clips to Overlay instead of two:
    AviSource("anime_raw.avi")
    karaoke = AviSource("karaoke.avi")
    Trim(0,999) + Trim(1000,1030).Overlay(last, karaoke, mask=sign.ShowAlpha()) + Trim(1031,0)
    # last should be omitted as argument to Overlay

    # implicit 'last' not defined
    v = AviSource("myvid.avi")
    Trim(100, 199)
    # need to use v.Trim(...) here

So make sure the passed arguments are of the correct type and read the corresponding documentation if necessary.

Main Page | General Info | Loading Clips | Loading Scripts | Common Error Messages | Processing Different Content | Dealing with YV12 | Processing with Virtualdub Plugins |

$Date: 2010/11/28 18:47:26 $