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MP4 Videos stop playing / audio only

S

santaranger

Lurker
I have a very annoying problem, which is rather hard to explain in a few words, and so I haven't found anything similar on the net to help me.
I basically can not watch mp4 movies on my X10 mini (2.1) reliably. The movie starts by playing just fine, but after a while (often less than a minute) the video just randomly stops. This happens with every player I've tried, on any movie, streamed or from my sdcard.

After I exit the player any movie I try to watch afterwards will display the first frame only. I can seek inside the movie and can hear the audio perfectly, but i only get the first 1-2 video frames after a seek (if any). I have to restart my phone to be able to watch movies again (until it stops again).
The built-in YouTube App seems unaffected by this and works perfectly.

I understand that all video players have to use some built-in android media player back-end and my guess is that this back-end gets unrecoverably stuck at some point.
I'd like to know if there is a way to either restart the media player backend without having to restart the phone or to omit it's use entirely. (I haven't heard of a true standalone player so far)

Or maybe there is another solution?
 
We need more details about the video, I'm guessing the video itself is the problem. All you said was it was an mp4, that doesnt help at all. We need to know codec, resolution, bitrate, encoding settings, etc.
 
MediaInfo of some sample movies:
klick:
General
Format : MPEG-4
Format_Profile : Base Media
CodecID : isom
FileSize/String : 15.5 MiB
Duration/String : 8mn 58s
OverallBitRate/String : 241 Kbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-11-22 21:01:14
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-11-22 21:01:14

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : No
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 3 frames
CodecID : avc1
CodecID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration/String : 8mn 57s
BitRate/String : 220 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 428 Kbps
Width/String : 320 pixels
Height/String : 240 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 4:3
FrameRate_Mode/String : Constant
FrameRate/String : 25.000 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.115
StreamSize/String : 14.1 MiB (91%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 104
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=0 / keyint=125 / keyint_min=12 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=220 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-11-22 21:01:14
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-11-22 21:01:14

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format_Profile : HE-AAC / LC
CodecID : 40
Duration/String : 8mn 58s
BitRate_Mode/String : Variable
BitRate/String : 20.0 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 21.4 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 1 channel
ChannelPositions : Front: C
SamplingRate/String : 22.05 KHz / 11.025 KHz
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 1.28 MiB (8%)
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-11-22 21:01:14
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-11-22 21:01:14

General
Format : MPEG-4
Format_Profile : Base Media
CodecID : isom
FileSize/String : 35.6 MiB
Duration/String : 20mn 39s
OverallBitRate/String : 241 Kbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-05 20:12:24
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-06-05 20:12:24

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : No
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 3 frames
CodecID : avc1
CodecID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration/String : 20mn 39s
BitRate/String : 220 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 624 Kbps
Width/String : 428 pixels
Height/String : 240 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 16:9
FrameRate_Mode/String : Constant
FrameRate/String : 25.000 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.086
StreamSize/String : 32.5 MiB (91%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 93
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / wpredp=0 / keyint=90 / keyint_min=9 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=220 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-05 20:12:24
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-06-05 20:12:25

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format_Profile : HE-AAC / LC
CodecID : 40
Duration/String : 20mn 38s
BitRate_Mode/String : Variable
BitRate/String : 20.0 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 22.4 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 1 channel
ChannelPositions : Front: C
SamplingRate/String : 22.05 KHz / 11.025 KHz
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 2.95 MiB (8%)
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-05 20:12:25
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-06-05 20:12:25

General
Format : MPEG-4
Format_Profile : Base Media
CodecID : isom
FileSize/String : 7.00 MiB
Duration/String : 4mn 3s
OverallBitRate/String : 241 Kbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-08 15:20:29
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-06-08 15:20:29

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : No
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 3 frames
CodecID : avc1
CodecID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration/String : 4mn 2s
BitRate/String : 220 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 680 Kbps
Width/String : 320 pixels
Height/String : 240 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 4:3
FrameRate_Mode/String : Constant
FrameRate/String : 29.970 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.096
StreamSize/String : 6.38 MiB (91%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 93
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / wpredp=0 / keyint=90 / keyint_min=9 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=220 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-08 15:20:29
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-06-08 15:20:29

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format_Profile : HE-AAC / LC
CodecID : 40
Duration/String : 4mn 3s
BitRate_Mode/String : Variable
BitRate/String : 19.8 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 22.7 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 1 channel
ChannelPositions : Front: C
SamplingRate/String : 22.05 KHz / 11.025 KHz
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 587 KiB (8%)
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-08 15:20:29
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-06-08 15:20:29

General
Format : MPEG-4
Format_Profile : Base Media
CodecID : isom
FileSize/String : 21.5 MiB
Duration/String : 12mn 27s
OverallBitRate/String : 241 Kbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-09 05:21:19
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-06-09 05:21:19

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : No
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 3 frames
CodecID : avc1
CodecID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration/String : 12mn 27s
BitRate/String : 220 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 539 Kbps
Width/String : 428 pixels
Height/String : 240 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 16:9
FrameRate_Mode/String : Constant
FrameRate/String : 25.000 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.086
StreamSize/String : 19.6 MiB (91%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 93
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / wpredp=0 / keyint=90 / keyint_min=9 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=220 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-09 05:21:19
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-06-09 05:21:20

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format_Profile : HE-AAC / LC
CodecID : 40
Duration/String : 12mn 27s
BitRate_Mode/String : Variable
BitRate/String : 20.0 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 21.9 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 1 channel
ChannelPositions : Front: C
SamplingRate/String : 22.05 KHz / 11.025 KHz
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 1.78 MiB (8%)
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-09 05:21:20
Tagged_Date : UTC 2010-06-09 05:21:20

General
Format : MPEG-4
Format_Profile : Base Media
CodecID : isom
FileSize/String : 12.4 MiB
Duration/String : 7mn 9s
OverallBitRate/String : 242 Kbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-25 18:50:49
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-25 18:50:49

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : No
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 3 frames
CodecID : avc1
CodecID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration/String : 7mn 9s
BitRate/String : 220 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 424 Kbps
Width/String : 424 pixels
Height/String : 240 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 16:9
FrameRate_Mode/String : Constant
FrameRate/String : 25.000 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.086
StreamSize/String : 11.3 MiB (91%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 112 r1867M 22bfd31
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=0 / keyint=125 / keyint_min=12 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=220 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-25 18:50:49
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-25 18:50:49

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format_Profile : HE-AAC / LC
CodecID : 40
Duration/String : 7mn 9s
BitRate_Mode/String : Variable
BitRate/String : 20.0 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 21.8 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 1 channel
ChannelPositions : Front: C
SamplingRate/String : 22.05 KHz / 11.025 KHz
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 1.02 MiB (8%)
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-25 18:50:49
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-25 18:50:49

General
Format : MPEG-4
Format_Profile : Base Media
CodecID : isom
FileSize/String : 3.03 MiB
Duration/String : 1mn 45s
OverallBitRate/String : 241 Kbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 17:36:26
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 17:36:26

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : No
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 3 frames
CodecID : avc1
CodecID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration/String : 1mn 45s
BitRate/String : 220 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 497 Kbps
Width/String : 320 pixels
Height/String : 240 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 4:3
FrameRate_Mode/String : Constant
FrameRate/String : 25.000 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.115
StreamSize/String : 2.76 MiB (91%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 112 r1867M 22bfd31
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=0 / keyint=125 / keyint_min=12 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=220 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 17:36:26
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 17:36:26

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format_Profile : HE-AAC / LC
CodecID : 40
Duration/String : 1mn 45s
BitRate_Mode/String : Variable
BitRate/String : 20.0 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 21.1 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 1 channel
ChannelPositions : Front: C
SamplingRate/String : 22.05 KHz / 11.025 KHz
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 257 KiB (8%)
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 17:36:26
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 17:36:26

General
Format : MPEG-4
Format_Profile : Base Media
CodecID : isom
FileSize/String : 8.37 MiB
Duration/String : 4mn 51s
OverallBitRate/String : 241 Kbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 21:37:27
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 21:37:27

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : No
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 3 frames
CodecID : avc1
CodecID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration/String : 4mn 51s
BitRate/String : 220 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 740 Kbps
Width/String : 320 pixels
Height/String : 240 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 4:3
FrameRate_Mode/String : Constant
FrameRate/String : 29.970 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.096
StreamSize/String : 7.64 MiB (91%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 112 r1867M 22bfd31
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=0 / keyint=149 / keyint_min=14 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=220 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 21:37:27
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 21:37:27

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format_Profile : HE-AAC / LC
CodecID : 40
Duration/String : 4mn 51s
BitRate_Mode/String : Variable
BitRate/String : 19.6 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 22.1 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 1 channel
ChannelPositions : Front: C
SamplingRate/String : 22.05 KHz / 11.025 KHz
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 699 KiB (8%)
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 21:37:27
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-26 21:37:27

General
Format : MPEG-4
Format_Profile : Base Media
CodecID : isom
FileSize/String : 4.61 MiB
Duration/String : 2mn 40s
OverallBitRate/String : 241 Kbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-27 18:54:30
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-27 18:54:30

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : No
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 3 frames
CodecID : avc1
CodecID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration/String : 2mn 40s
BitRate/String : 220 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 432 Kbps
Width/String : 320 pixels
Height/String : 240 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 4:3
FrameRate_Mode/String : Constant
FrameRate/String : 30.000 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.095
StreamSize/String : 4.22 MiB (91%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 112 r1867M 22bfd31
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=0 / keyint=150 / keyint_min=15 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=220 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-27 18:54:30
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-27 18:54:30

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format_Profile : HE-AAC / LC
CodecID : 40
Duration/String : 2mn 40s
BitRate_Mode/String : Variable
BitRate/String : 19.1 Kbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 22.4 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 1 channel
ChannelPositions : Front: C
SamplingRate/String : 22.05 KHz / 11.025 KHz
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 374 KiB (8%)
Encoded_Date : UTC 2011-04-27 18:54:30
Tagged_Date : UTC 2011-04-27 18:54:30

As a side note, all freshly downloaded video files would be simply gone after the required phone restart. While the video bug happens with direct streaming as well, this problem could still be related if there is some weird caching problem.
 
Hmm, everything with the videos seems fine. They are all h264 baseline with cabac disabled, this is exactly what android needs. Perhaps your card is bad?
 
I think the videos are a bit too heavy for X10 mini. Particularly, the H264 Baseline L3.0 with 3 ref frames should require quite some calculations from CPU.

The advice here is to re-convert videos with more basic settings. The Handbrake Guide in my signature should produce such videos.
 
I narrowed it down to a player/codec crash. I've been watching .3gp movies and had a similar crash (though after a much longer time period). I force quit the player app, restarted it and continued watching .3gp movies with no obvious problems.

However after a while I noticed my phone getting warmer and warmer. I launched a monitoring app and saw I had constant 100% cpu load and no idea how to fix it but by restarting the phone. Remember this is the same workaround as for the non-working .mp4 movies.

So I'm guessing there IS something constantly crashing/looping within my media API which causes heavy cpu load. I further think the ramaining CPU time is sufficient for .3gp playback but not for the more sophisticated mp4 movies, which leads to the playback problems described in my OP.

The question remaining is how to stop these crashes from happening. Meanwhile I'm quite sure the video files are not responsible. I think this may have started after the 2.1 update.
 
It doesn't really matter if the video files are 3GP or MP4 - these are simply containers and can contain simply or complex video material.

It may be a good idea to backup your data and factory reset the phone. This could stop whatever is crashing the phone. Then monitor the video playback using a good video player like MoboPlayer. The videos should be all simple encoded.
 
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