recorded video is corrupted

[vinayhatyal]

Checked FAQ
Checked open Issues

Environment

OS: Windows 11
Scrcpy version: 2.5
Installation method: Windows release/ through choco
Device model: infix and mia2
Android version: Android 11

Describe the bug

I'm using this scrcpy to record the device screen in mp4 format, but without the floating window(--no-window), and terminating the scrcpy.exe by their PID(taskkill /PID ). if i do this, the recorded video is corrupted. instead if i close by clicking the close button or by killing the process by removing the --no-window flag then i can play the video.
This issue happens only in MS Windows and works fine in Linux.

But i want to record the video without the the window showing and if possible please provide gracefully closing option from cli

here is a code snippet how i used:

issue causing snippet=> exec(scrcpy --record=video.mp4 --max-fps 15 --max-size 480 --no-window, (error, _stdout) => {
console.log("recording....")
}

working snippet =>
issue causing snippet=> exec(scrcpy --record=video.mp4 --max-fps 15 --max-size 480 , (error, _stdout) => {
console.log("recording....")
}

and here is the code how i find PIDs and killing them =>

    function stopScrcpy() {
        const findPIDs = spawn('tasklist', ['/FI', 'IMAGENAME eq scrcpy.exe']);
        let output = '';
        let errorOutput = '';
        findPIDs.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
            output += data.toString();
        });
        findPIDs.stderr.on('data', (data) => {
            errorOutput += data.toString();
        });
        findPIDs.on('close', (code) => {
            if (code !== 0) {
                console.error(`Error finding PIDs: ${errorOutput}`);
                return;
            }
            const pids = output.match(/(\d+)\s+Console\s+\d+\s+[\d,]+ K/g)
                .map(match => match.split(/\s+/)[0]);
            if (pids.length === 0) {
                console.log('No scrcpy.exe processes found');
                return;
            }
            pids.forEach(pid => {
                const killProcess = spawn('taskkill', ['/PID', pid]);
                killProcess.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
                    console.log(`stdout for PID ${pid}: ${data}`);
                });
                killProcess.stderr.on('data', (data) => {
                    console.error(`stderr for PID ${pid}: ${data}`);
                });
                killProcess.on('close', (code) => {
                    if (code === 0) {
                        console.log(`PID ${pid} terminated successfully`);
                    } else {
                        console.log(`taskkill process for PID ${pid} exited with code ${code}`);
                    }
                });
                killProcess.on('error', (error) => {
                    console.error(`Error stopping PID ${pid}: ${error.message}`);
                });
            });
        });
        findPIDs.on('error', (error) => {
            console.error(`Error finding PIDs: ${error.message}`);
        });
  }

[rom1v]

i find PIDs and killing them

If you kill the process abruptly, the muxer will never have a chance to write the footer, so your mp4 will be corrupted. Although it would still be incorrect for Matroska files (mkv), the resulting files should still be playable).

You must send Ctrl+C on Windows instead to interrupt (and never close the cmd console by clicking the X, it would kill abruptly).

[tingfengwanxiao]

Can we save the currently recorded video when an exception occurs, such as exiting? That should solve the problem

[vinayhatyal]

Can we save the currently recorded video when an exception occurs, such as exiting? That should solve the problem

The problem lies in saving the video correctly. Currently, I can obtain a playable video only by manually closing the scrcpy application using the X button. However, if I hide the scrcpy window using the --no-window option, I have to terminate the scrcpy processes either by their PID or by using Ctrl+C, both of which result in a corrupted video.

[rom1v]

I hide the scrcpy window using the --no-window option, I have to terminate the scrcpy processes either by their PID or by using Ctrl+C, both of which result in a corrupted video.

Using Ctrl+C from the terminal should work correctly, without corrupting video.

If it does not (I cannot test currently), this is a bug. If so, please test v2.4 (before --no-window was added) to confirm.

[vinayhatyal]

I hide the scrcpy window using the --no-window option, I have to terminate the scrcpy processes either by their PID or by using Ctrl+C, both of which result in a corrupted video.

Using Ctrl+C from the terminal should work correctly, without corrupting video.

If it does not (I cannot test currently), this is a bug. If so, please test v2.4 (before --no-window was added) to confirm.

it seems there is issue with <cntrl+c> itself, here are the reference videos that could help analyze.

tested with version 2.5 : v2.5.webm
tested with version 2.4: v2.4.webm

You can observe there is no info saying recording complete if i terminate by clicking <cntr+c> in the console, but it showed if i close by clicking close button.

[rom1v]

Could you please test with scrcpy v2.0, which uses an older SDL version?

[vinayhatyal]

Could you please test with scrcpy v2.0, which uses an older SDL version?

i tried with version 2.0. but the results are same.

here are the logs, you can see first time i terminated with <cntrl+c> and second one i terminated with close button.

C:\Users\sanji\poc\Videos>scrcpy --record=video1_v2.mp4
scrcpy 2.0 <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>

• daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
• daemon started successfully
  C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\scrcpy\tools\scrcpy-win64-v2...1 file pushed, 0 skipped. 7.9 MB/s (52867 bytes in 0.006s)
  [server] INFO: Device: INFINIX MOBILITY LIMITED Infinix X682B (Android 10)
  [server] WARN: Audio disabled: it is not supported before Android 11
  INFO: Recording started to mp4 file: video1_v2.mp4
  INFO: Renderer: direct3d
  WARN: Demuxer 'audio': stream explicitly disabled by the device
  WARN: Audio stream recording disabled
  INFO: Initial texture: 720x1640

C:\Users\sanji\poc\Videos>scrcpy --record=video2_v2.mp4
scrcpy 2.0 <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>
C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\scrcpy\tools\scrcpy-win64-v2... file pushed, 0 skipped. 99.5 MB/s (52867 bytes in 0.001s)
[server] INFO: Device: INFINIX MOBILITY LIMITED Infinix X682B (Android 10)
[server] WARN: Audio disabled: it is not supported before Android 11
INFO: Recording started to mp4 file: video2_v2.mp4
INFO: Renderer: direct3d
WARN: Demuxer 'audio': stream explicitly disabled by the device
WARN: Audio stream recording disabled
INFO: Initial texture: 720x1640
INFO: Recording complete to mp4 file: video2_v2.mp4
WARN: Killing the server...

you can observer, if i do <cntrl+c> i'm not getting these "INFO: Recording complete to mp4 file: video2_v2.mp4
WARN: Killing the server..." s
o it leads to corrupted videos.

[rom1v]

OK, I can't explain why Ctrl+c does not work as expected on your machine. Scrcpy explicitly catches Ctrl+c on Windows:

scrcpy/app/src/scrcpy.c

Line 149 in bbfac9a

bool ok = SetConsoleCtrlHandler(windows_ctrl_handler, TRUE);

Maybe a cmd.exe configuration or something?

[vinayhatyal]

OK, I can't explain why Ctrl+c does not work as expected on your machine. Scrcpy explicitly catches Ctrl+c on Windows:

scrcpy/app/src/scrcpy.c

Line 149 in bbfac9a

bool ok = SetConsoleCtrlHandler(windows_ctrl_handler, TRUE);

Maybe a cmd.exe configuration or something?

Thank you @rom1v for your help and quick responses to my comments. I appreciate your time and support. I'll try to figure out the issue.

[Aefun-ayi]

好吧，我无法解释为什么 Ctrl+c 在你的机器上不能按预期工作。Scrcpy 在 Windows 上明确捕获了 Ctrl+c：

scrcpy/app/src/scrcpy.c

Line 149 in bbfac9a

bool ok = SetConsoleCtrlHandler(windows_ctrl_handler, TRUE);

也许是 cmd.exe 配置或者别的什么？

谢谢 @rom1v 感谢您的帮助和对我评论的快速回复。感谢您的时间和支持。我会尽力解决问题。

Hello, have you solved your problem? I have this problem now

[rom1v]

Interesting. I don't know why. I re-tested, for me it works as expected, I have Recording complete to mp4 file: file.mp4 at the end when I Ctrl+c.

[rom1v]

It you run

scrcpy -Vverbose --no-window --record=file.mp4

then Ctrl+c, what's the full output?

[vinayhatyal]

It you run

scrcpy -Vverbose --no-window --record=file.mp4

then Ctrl+c, what's the full output?

C:\Users\I5343\Pictures>scrcpy -Vverbose --no-window --record=file.mp4
scrcpy 2.5 <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>

• daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
• daemon started successfully
  INFO: ADB device found:
  INFO: --> (usb) 0611631124021085 device Infinix_X682B
  DEBUG: Device serial: 0611631124021085
  DEBUG: Using server (portable): C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\scrcpy\tools\scrcpy-server
  C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\scrcpy\tools\scrcpy-server: 1 file pushed, 0 skipped. 39.6 MB/s (69624 bytes in 0.002s)
  [server] INFO: Device: [INFINIX MOBILITY LIMITED] Infinix Infinix X682B (Android 10)
  [server] WARN: Audio disabled: it is not supported before Android 11
  [server] DEBUG: Audio encoder stopped
  DEBUG: Server connected
  DEBUG: Demuxer 'video': starting thread
  DEBUG: Demuxer 'audio': starting thread
  WARN: Demuxer 'audio': stream explicitly disabled by the device
  WARN: Audio stream recording disabled
  INFO: Recording started to mp4 file: file.mp4
  [server] DEBUG: Using video encoder: 'OMX.MTK.VIDEO.ENCODER.AVC'
  [server] DEBUG: Display: using SurfaceControl API
  DEBUG: Us

i have attached reference video also, with and without --no-window command
vid2.webm
vid1.webm

[rom1v]

Thank you. I guess this is the same with the Windows release (instead of the chocolatey package)?

Something probably intercepts Ctrl+c at the system level and kills the process. Any antivirus/firewall/something enabled?

[rom1v]

Is it powershell or cmd?

[vinayhatyal]

好吧，我无法解释为什么 Ctrl+c 在你的机器上不能按预期工作。Scrcpy 在 Windows 上明确捕获了 Ctrl+c：

scrcpy/app/src/scrcpy.c

Line 149 in bbfac9a

bool ok = SetConsoleCtrlHandler(windows_ctrl_handler, TRUE);

也许是 cmd.exe 配置或者别的什么？

谢谢 @rom1v 感谢您的帮助和对我评论的快速回复。感谢您的时间和支持。我会尽力解决问题。

Hello, have you solved your problem? I have this problem now

hello, i have a temporary solution for this, i tried killing process gracefully, it worked. I'm dropping the code below, this might be helpful.

code: "@echo off
setlocal
set SCRCPY_BINARY=scrcpy.exe
set OUTPUT_FILE=output.mp4
set PID_FILE=%TEMP%\scrcpy_record_%RANDOM%.pid
set LOG_FILE=%TEMP%\scrcpy_record_%RANDOM%.log
:CHECK_EXISTING_PROCESSES
rem Kill any existing scrcpy processes before starting
for /f "skip=1 tokens=2" %%a in ('tasklist /fi "imagename eq scrcpy.exe" /fo csv /nh') do (
echo %%a > %PID_FILE%
set PID=%%a
echo Killing process with PID: %%a
taskkill /PID %%a /F >nul 2>&1
timeout /T 2 /NOBREAK >nul
)
:START
if "%1"=="start" (
echo Starting recording...
start "" /B "%SCRCPY_BINARY%" --no-control --max-size 480 --record %OUTPUT_FILE% > %LOG_FILE% 2>&1
timeout /T 2 /NOBREAK >nul
for /f "skip=1 tokens=2" %%a in ('tasklist /fi "imagename eq scrcpy.exe" /fo csv /nh') do (
echo %%a > %PID_FILE%
set PID=%%a
)
if defined PID (
echo Recording started. PID: %PID%
) else (
echo Failed to start recording or capture PID.
)
exit /b 0
)
:STOP
if exist %PID_FILE% (
@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
:: Initialize a counter
set count=0
:: Loop through the tasklist output
for /f "tokens=2 delims=," %%i in ('tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq scrcpy.exe" /FO CSV /NH') do (
set /a count+=1
if !count! equ 2 (
:: Print the PID of the second process
echo Terminating process with PID: %%i
:: Kill the process
taskkill /PID %%i
:: Exit the script
exit /b
)
)
:: Inform if no second process was found
echo No second scrcpy.exe process found.
if exist %OUTPUT_FILE% (
echo Recording stopped. Check %OUTPUT_FILE% for the recording.
) else (
echo No output file found. Check %LOG_FILE% for errors.
)
) else (
echo No recording process found.
)
endlocal
exit /b 0"

1: save the file with .bat extension.
2: in cmd, cd C:\path\to\your\script.bat
3:if required, do this chmod +x script.bat
4: script.bat start/stop

reference video:
scriptvideo.webm

*Note: if you use "--no-window", recorded video will be corrupted.

[vinayhatyal]

Is it powershell or cmd?

cmd

[vinayhatyal]

Thank you. I guess this is the same with the Windows release (instead of the chocolatey package)?

Something probably intercepts Ctrl+c at the system level and kills the process. Any antivirus/firewall/something enabled?

yes, in both the ways i tried installing scrcpy, same results.

[rom1v]

cmd

What's your terminal?

When I run cmd.exe, it does not look like this at all.

Try with open_a_terminal_here.bat or Win+r, cmd.exe.

[vinayhatyal]

cmd

What's your terminal?

When I run cmd.exe, it does not look like this at all.

strange!, i use normal command prompt only (cmd)

[rom1v]

It looks like this:

[vinayhatyal]

cmd

What's your terminal?
When I run cmd.exe, it does not look like this at all.

strange!, i use normal command prompt only (cmd)

i tried this also 1: Win+r : cmd.exe. but there was no betterment.

[vinayhatyal]

It looks like this:

its only a UI difference(might be difference in OS version or laptop vendor),but in windows there will be only one command prompt and it work same for everyone right.

[rom1v]

Non only, this terminal is also "limited" (it cannot be resized for example), but above all it probably correctly sends Ctrl+c to the running process.

[vinayhatyal]

Non only, this terminal is also "limited" (it cannot be resized for example), but above all it probably correctly sends Ctrl+c to the running process.

vid.webm

[rom1v]

OK, I don't know Windows very well, but IMO the behavior of Ctrl+c is definitely handled differently in your "terminal" app (whichever it is).

EDIT: I guess your app is Windows Terminal: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9n0dx20hk701

[vinayhatyal]

OK, I don't know Windows very well, but IMO the behavior of Ctrl+c is definitely handled differently in your "terminal" app (whichever it is).

EDIT: I guess your app is Windows Terminal: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9n0dx20hk701

yes, but you can see in the above video, i tried opening a new cmd tab from windows terminal and ran the given command.
And, in any way cntrl+c generates an interrupt signal (SIGINT) which is sent to the foreground process. This signal is intended to terminate the process.

[rom1v]

If you manage to start the "old" cmd terminal (not just cmd.exe run in Windows Terminal) in some way and confirm that Ctrl+c works, it might be interesting to report the issue to https://github.com/microsoft/terminal

[vinayhatyal]

As Windows 11 is now widely used, it would be helpful if you could provide a way to start and stop 'scrcpy.exe' directly from the command line interface (CLI) without requiring additional steps. This would ease the process for users.
Thanks again for your time and assistance @rom1v.