[reddit] JSONDecodeError: Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0)

[erikschul]

[reddit] JSONDecodeError: Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0)

[bashonly]

I can't reproduce the issue:

$ yt-dlp -F https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1c4kv8f/how_musicians_and_labels_use_streaming_farms_to/
[Reddit] Extracting URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1c4kv8f/how_musicians_and_labels_use_streaming_farms_to/
[Reddit] 1c4kv8f: Downloading JSON metadata
[Reddit] 1c4kv8f: Downloading m3u8 information
[Reddit] 1c4kv8f: Downloading MPD manifest
[info] Available formats for stxevfbrymuc1:
ID            EXT RESOLUTION FPS │    FILESIZE   TBR PROTO │ VCODEC        VBR ACODEC      ABR ASR MORE INFO
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
hls-5-audio_0 mp4 audio only     │                   m3u8  │ audio only        unknown             audio 0
hls-6-audio_0 mp4 audio only     │                   m3u8  │ audio only        unknown             audio 0
dash-6        m4a audio only     │ ~1001.10KiB   68k https │ audio only        mp4a.40.2   68k 48k DASH audio, m4a_dash
dash-7        m4a audio only     │ ~   1.92MiB  133k https │ audio only        mp4a.40.2  133k 48k DASH audio, m4a_dash
dash-1        mp4 220x392        │ ~   3.53MiB  245k https │ avc1.4d401e  245k video only          DASH video, mp4_dash
hls-198       mp4 220x392     30 │ ~   2.86MiB  198k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401E  198k video only
hls-261       mp4 220x392     30 │ ~   3.77MiB  262k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401E  262k video only
dash-2        mp4 270x480        │ ~   6.22MiB  431k https │ avc1.4d401e  431k video only          DASH video, mp4_dash
hls-272       mp4 270x480     30 │ ~   3.94MiB  273k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401E  273k video only
hls-336       mp4 270x480     30 │ ~   4.85MiB  336k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401E  336k video only
dash-3        mp4 360x640        │ ~  11.64MiB  807k https │ avc1.4d401e  807k video only          DASH video, mp4_dash
hls-417       mp4 360x640     30 │ ~   6.02MiB  417k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401E  417k video only
hls-480       mp4 360x640     30 │ ~   6.93MiB  481k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401E  481k video only
dash-4        mp4 480x854        │ ~  17.96MiB 1245k https │ avc1.4d401f 1245k video only          DASH video, mp4_dash
hls-615       mp4 480x854     30 │ ~   8.88MiB  615k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401F  615k video only
hls-678       mp4 480x854     30 │ ~   9.79MiB  679k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401F  679k video only
dash-5        mp4 720x1280       │ ~  33.59MiB 2328k https │ avc1.4d401f 2328k video only          DASH video, mp4_dash
fallback      mp4 720x1280       │ ≈  34.62MiB 2400k https │ h264        2400k video only          DASH video, mp4_dash
hls-994       mp4 720x1280    30 │ ~  14.34MiB  994k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401F  994k video only
hls-1057      mp4 720x1280    30 │ ~  15.26MiB 1058k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401F 1058k video only

It's possible that reddit has blocked your IP. Are you using a data center IP (VPN / VPS / cloud host / etc)?

[suminhthanh]

I have the same error with TikTok videos

[erikschul]

@bashonly I think you're right, it's an IP ban issue.

1. Would it be possible to make a better error message, e.g. "WARNING: This error often occurs when the IP address is banned."
2. Is it possible to login with a reddit user? The IP address is only banned for anonymous users.

[bashonly]

Is it possible to login with a reddit user? The IP address is only banned for anonymous users.

the reddit extractor supports cookies and -u/-p login, but I'm not sure if it would help

[erikschul]

@bashonly

Thanks!

I solved it using Chrome developer tools -> Network -> click on request -> Copy -> Copy as cURL.

yt-dlp \
  --add-headers 'cookie: edgebucket=....; csv=2; loid=...' \
  https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1c4kv8f/how_musicians_and_labels_use_streaming_farms_to/

[erikschul]

And yes, using -u '...' -p '...' returned 403 Blocked.