Video playback issue with Catalina

[croco_dile]

Hi, I am experiencing some strange sound problem on my 2018 MBP 13" TB running latest version of Catalina.

The problem is on occasions (frequent basis, once a day or more), on wake up from sleep, the mac would struggle to play videos, on youtube, via VLC etc.

On youtube, I would get the attached screen. On restarting the machine, everything is fine again, for a while, normally less than a day.

Is anyone else experiencing this? is there a fix?

Thanks in advance.

 

[MacGizmo]

Try the videos in Safari and/or Firefox. If they work fine, it may be your VLC install - delete and re-install VLC.

If the problem happens in the browser(s), then try logging in to the macOS in Safe mode and see if the issue persists. If it doesn't, then the problem is you have some setting or app installed that is causing the problem. If it does, then the problem is going to be infinitely more difficult to diagnose.

One final thing you can try is re-installing the latest Catalina update. It seems silly, but simply reinstalling the update can fix a lot of issues like this. Not a full install, just re-run the update you download from Apple.

 

[croco_dile]

Try the videos in Safari and/or Firefox. If they work fine, it may be your VLC install - delete and re-install VLC.

If the problem happens in the browser(s), then try logging in to the macOS in Safe mode and see if the issue persists. If it doesn't, then the problem is you have some setting or app installed that is causing the problem. If it does, then the problem is going to be infinitely more difficult to diagnose.

One final thing you can try is re-installing the latest Catalina update. It seems silly, but simply reinstalling the update can fix a lot of issues like this. Not a full install, just re-run the update you download from Apple.

Thanks for your response.

I believe the issue is broad and at the OS level. As I found that when the problem occurs I also get spinning beach ball when I try to select Apple menu items such as the sound menu icon. I did upgrade to 10.15.1 over night, and it didn't solve the problem.

The other thing is I have a LG 27UD88-W external monitor attached (via USB C) and this has had some compatibility issues in the past, such as on Mac wake up, the screen would not turn on. This problem itself seems to have been resolved in Catalina.

I have not detached the monitor and will use the mac without it to see if its in anyway related to the issue.

 

[croco_dile]

I have use the MBP without the external monitor for the past 2 days and the problem has not reoccured. So its pretty certain the issue I have been experiencing is related to the external monitor. I will do some research and see if this is a commonly reported problem and if there are any solutions.