Previewer shows "ffmpeg" exited with error code 234 for .m4a files and yazi can't open/play any audio files.

[sunbearc22]

What system are you running Yazi on?

Linux X11

What terminal are you running Yazi in?

wezterm 20251005-110037-db5d7437

yazi --debug output

$ yazi --debug

Yazi
    Version: 25.9.15 (554cb52 2025-10-06)
    Debug  : false
    Triple : x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (linux-x86_64)
    Rustc  : 1.90.0 (1159e78c 2025-09-14)

Ya
    Version: 25.9.15 (554cb52 2025-10-06)

Emulator
    TERM                : Some("xterm-256color")
    TERM_PROGRAM        : Some("WezTerm")
    TERM_PROGRAM_VERSION: Some("20251005-110037-db5d7437")
    Brand.from_env      : Some(WezTerm)
    Emulator.detect     : Emulator { kind: Left(WezTerm), light: false, csi_16t: (10, 30), force_16t: false }

Adapter
    Adapter.matches    : Iip
    Dimension.available: Dimension { rows: 33, columns: 193, width: 1930, height: 990 }

Desktop
    XDG_SESSION_TYPE           : Some("x11")
    WAYLAND_DISPLAY            : None
    DISPLAY                    : Some(":1")
    SWAYSOCK                   : None
    HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE: None
    WAYFIRE_SOCKET             : None

SSH
    shared.in_ssh_connection: false

WSL
    WSL: false

Variables
    SHELL              : Some("/bin/bash")
    EDITOR             : Some("nvim")
    VISUAL             : None
    YAZI_FILE_ONE      : None
    YAZI_CONFIG_HOME   : None
    YAZI_ZOXIDE_OPTS   : None
    FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS   : None
    FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND: None

Text Opener
    default     : Some(OpenerRule { run: "${EDITOR:-vi} \"$@\"", block: true, orphan: false, desc: "$EDITOR", for: None, spread: true })
    block-create: Some(OpenerRule { run: "${EDITOR:-vi} \"$@\"", block: true, orphan: false, desc: "$EDITOR", for: None, spread: true })
    block-rename: Some(OpenerRule { run: "${EDITOR:-vi} \"$@\"", block: true, orphan: false, desc: "$EDITOR", for: None, spread: true })

Multiplexers
    TMUX               : false
    tmux version       : 3.4
    tmux build flags   : enable-sixel=Unknown
    ZELLIJ_SESSION_NAME: None
    Zellij version     : No such file or directory (os error 2)

Dependencies
    file          : 5.45
    ueberzugpp    : 2.9.7
    ffmpeg/ffprobe: 6.1.1-3 / 6.1.1-3
    pdftoppm      : 24.02.0
    magick        : No such file or directory (os error 2)
    fzf           : 0.65.2
    fd/fdfind     : No such file or directory (os error 2) / 9.0.0
    rg            : 14.1.1
    chafa         : 1.14.0
    zoxide        : 0.9.8
    7zz/7z        : No such file or directory (os error 2) / 23.01
    resvg         : No such file or directory (os error 2)
    jq            : 1.7

Clipboard
    wl-copy/paste: No such file or directory (os error 2) / No such file or directory (os error 2)
    xclip        : 0.13
    xsel         : No such file or directory (os error 2)

Routine
    `file -bL --mime-type`: text/plain


See https://yazi-rs.github.io/docs/plugins/overview#debugging on how to enable logging or debug runtime errors.

Describe the question

When the highlight in the middle column is on an audio .m4a ext file, the right preview shows this message:

"ffmpeg" exited with error code 234

Why is it doing that? In the case of .ogg files, the previewer is able to show the File type Classification.

Also, I can't open/play any of the audio files directly from yazi and I can't figure out why?

$ xdg-mime query default audio/m4a
org.gnome.Rhythmbox3.desktop
$ xdg-mime query default audio/ogg
org.gnome.Rhythmbox3.desktop

I can use xdg-open to play any of these file types from the bash terminal and it uses org.gnome.Rhythmbox3.desktop to play them.

The opener and open defaults are used in the ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml :

[opener]
edit = [
	{ run = '${EDITOR:-vi} "$@"', desc = "$EDITOR", block = true, for = "unix" },
	{ run = 'code %*',    orphan = true, desc = "code",           for = "windows" },
	{ run = 'code -w %*', block = true,  desc = "code (block)",   for = "windows" },
]
open = [
	{ run = 'xdg-open "$1"',                desc = "Open", for = "linux" },
	{ run = 'open "$@"',                    desc = "Open", for = "macos" },
	{ run = 'start "" "%1"', orphan = true, desc = "Open", for = "windows" },
	{ run = 'termux-open "$1"',             desc = "Open", for = "android" },
]
reveal = [
	{ run = 'xdg-open "$(dirname "$1")"',           desc = "Reveal", for = "linux" },
	{ run = 'open -R "$1"',                         desc = "Reveal", for = "macos" },
	{ run = 'explorer /select,"%1"', orphan = true, desc = "Reveal", for = "windows" },
	{ run = 'termux-open "$(dirname "$1")"',        desc = "Reveal", for = "android" },
	{ run = '''clear; exiftool "$1"; echo "Press enter to exit"; read _''', block = true, desc = "Show EXIF", for = "unix" },
]
extract = [
	{ run = 'ya pub extract --list "$@"', desc = "Extract here", for = "unix" },
	{ run = 'ya pub extract --list %*',   desc = "Extract here", for = "windows" },
]
play = [
	{ run = 'mpv --force-window "$@"', orphan = true, for = "unix" },
	{ run = 'mpv --force-window %*', orphan = true, for = "windows" },
	{ run = '''mediainfo "$1"; echo "Press enter to exit"; read _''', block = true, desc = "Show media info", for = "unix" },
]

[open]
rules = [
	# Folder
	{ name = "*/", use = [ "edit", "open", "reveal" ] },
	# Text
	{ mime = "text/*", use = [ "edit", "reveal" ] },
	# Image
	{ mime = "image/*", use = [ "open", "reveal" ] },
	# Media
	{ mime = "{audio,video}/*", use = [ "play", "reveal" ] },
	# Archive
	{ mime = "application/{zip,rar,7z*,tar,gzip,xz,zstd,bzip*,lzma,compress,archive,cpio,arj,xar,ms-cab*}", use = [ "extract", "reveal" ] },
	# JSON
	{ mime = "application/{json,ndjson}", use = [ "edit", "reveal" ] },
	{ mime = "*/javascript", use = [ "edit", "reveal" ] },
	# Empty file
	{ mime = "inode/empty", use = [ "edit", "reveal" ] },
	# Fallback
	{ name = "*", use = [ "open", "reveal" ] },
]

Anything else?

No response

Checklist

• I have read all the documentation
• I have searched the existing discussions/issues

[sunbearc22]

I found out why I could not play the audio files. That is because of

play = [
	{ run = 'mpv --force-window "$@"', orphan = true, for = "unix" },
	{ run = 'mpv --force-window %*', orphan = true, for = "windows" },
	{ run = '''mediainfo "$1"; echo "Press enter to exit"; read _''', block = true, desc = "Show media info", for = "unix" },
]

mpv is the only program defined to play audio and video files, and it was not installed.

To resolve this issue, I have:

1. added rhythmbox and vlc into ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml.
2. learnt to used Shift+O to open a popup menu to choose the correct app to open audio and video files.
3. split the open rules for audio and video files so that yazi can automatically play audio files using rhythmbox and play video files using vlc without having to use Shift+O.

[open]
rules = [
	# Media
	{ mime = "audio/*", use = [ "play_audio", "reveal" ] },
	{ mime = "video/*", use = [ "play_video", "reveal" ] },
]

[opener]
play_audio = [
	{ run = 'rhythmbox "$@"', orphan = true, for = "unix" },
	{ run = 'vlc "$@"', orphan = true, for = "unix" },
	{ run = 'mpv --force-window "$@"', orphan = true, for = "unix" },
	{ run = '''mediainfo "$1"; echo "Press enter to exit"; read _''', block = true, desc = "Show media info", for = "unix" },
]
play_video = [
	{ run = 'vlc "$@"', orphan = true, for = "unix" },
	{ run = 'mpv --force-window "$@"', orphan = true, for = "unix" },
	{ run = '''mediainfo "$1"; echo "Press enter to exit"; read _''', block = true, desc = "Show media info", for = "unix" },
]

---

So, how do I resolve the "ffmpeg" exited with error code 234 issue for .m4a files in the previewer?

$ eza /usr/share/mime/audio/
aac.xml     amr.xml      flac.xml        mp2.xml   ogg.xml      vnd.audible.aax.xml   vnd.dts.xml           webm.xml     x-aiff.xml    x-dff.xml       x-gsm.xml         x-m4b.xml       x-minipsf.xml  x-mpegurl.xml  x-musepack.xml         x-psf.xml     x-s3m.xml        x-speex.xml  x-tta.xml         x-wavpack-correction.xml  x-xm.xml
ac3.xml     annodex.xml  midi.xml        mp4.xml   prs.sid.xml  vnd.audible.aaxc.xml  vnd.rn-realaudio.xml  x-adpcm.xml  x-amzxml.xml  x-dsf.xml       x-iriver-pla.xml  x-m4r.xml       x-mo3.xml      x-ms-asx.xml   x-opus+ogg.xml         x-psflib.xml  x-scpls.xml      x-stm.xml    x-voc.xml         x-wavpack.xml             x-xmf.xml
amr-wb.xml  basic.xml    mobile-xmf.xml  mpeg.xml  usac.xml     vnd.dts.hd.xml        vnd.wave.xml          x-aifc.xml   x-ape.xml     x-flac+ogg.xml  x-it.xml          x-matroska.xml  x-mod.xml      x-ms-wma.xml   x-pn-audibleaudio.xml  x-riff.xml    x-speex+ogg.xml  x-tak.xml    x-vorbis+ogg.xml  x-xi.xml
$ cat /usr/share/mime/audio/mp4.xml | grep .m4a
  <alias type="audio/x-m4a"/>
  <alias type="audio/m4a"/>
  <glob pattern="*.m4a"/>

It seems that a m4a file is an alias of mp4 and so ffmpeg is triggered. This is how much I have learnt abt this issue and am kind of stuck... 😣.. anyone can help me out?

[sunbearc22]

After more testing , I realized my "bright idea" of having separate open rules for audio and video mines did not work. This is because .m4a files are regarded as video files and yazi will always use the play_video apps to open .m4a and this means vlc will always be used as it is the first on the list. I have tried adding rhythmbox into the play_video group and have it play .m4a files but this also means that all other video formats cannot be automatically played as rhythmbox can't play them, i.e. no videos can be played until I use Shift+O to manually resolve the issue. Back to square one....

How do other Yazi users address this issue?

It would be great if yazi have a fall-back play system, i.e. it will try to use the next app to play the media file when the previous app fails to play it. Any help on this issue is much appreciated.

[sxyazi]

Your first issue should already be fixed in the latest nightly (#2959), since Yazi now uses the user's system default as the opener for audio/video files:

yazi/yazi-config/preset/yazi-default.toml

Lines 37 to 44 in e067a70

	play = [
	{ run = "xdg-open %s1", desc = "Play", for = "linux" },
	{ run = "open %s", desc = "Play", for = "macos" },
	{ run = 'start "" %s1', orphan = true, desc = "Play", for = "windows" },
	{ run = "termux-open %s1", desc = "Play", for = "android" },
	{ run = "mediainfo %s1; echo 'Press enter to exit'; read _", block = true, desc = "Show media info", for = "unix" },
	{ run = "mediainfo %s1 & pause", block = true, desc = "Show media info", for = "windows" },
	]

yazi/yazi-config/preset/yazi-default.toml

Lines 74 to 75 in e067a70

	# Media
	{ mime = "{audio,video}/*", use = [ "play", "reveal" ] },

just to ensure that rhythmbox and vlc are your system defaults and there's no other config in your yazi.toml overriding the default

---

As for your second issue, I can't seem to reproduce it - it works just fine for me with Yazi 25.9.15 (e067a70 2025-10-15):

Also, don't use xdg-mime query to check one file's mimetype, since that's not what the command Yazi uses, use the spot command (Tab key by default) to spot the mimetype

[sunbearc22]

Thank you for informing me about the updated nightly version. I have installed it and Yazi now plays media files using system default apps. That's the best approach. Like to thank you all for making it possible. ❤️ :

As to the Previewer issue, here is picture show of a .m4a file with the issue:

and here is a picture showing a .m4a file without the issue:

Both audio files can be played using system the default media player. However, their appearance in the Yazi previewer are different.

[sxyazi]

What's the mimetype of the problematic file? Can you upload it for me to test?