Android MediaCodec dequeOutputBuffer always returns -1

Question

I am using the new MediaCodec API on Jelly Bean to decode an h264 stream. Using the code snippets in the developer page , instantiated a decoder by name (taken from media_codec.xml), passed a surface and configured the codec.

The problem I am facing is, dequeOutputBuffer always returns -1.
Tried with a negative timeout to wait indefenitely, no luck with that.
Whenever I get a -1, refreshed the buffers using getOutputBuffers.

Please note that the same issue is seen when a custom app is used to parse the data from a media source and provide to decoder.

Any inputs on the above will be helpful

Can you please post your code. I would be happy to debug it further — itsmeagain, Feb 15 '13 at 17:00
Examples of mediacodec usage: http://bigflake.com/mediacodec/ — fadden, Oct 29 '13 at 14:56

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered May 17 '18 at 13:36

1

I had faced same problem. Incrementing presentationTimeUs parameter of queueInputBuffer() on each call solved the issue.

For example, codec.queueInputBuffer(inputBufferIndex, 0, data.size, time, 0) time += 66 //incrementing by 1 works too

answered May 17 '18 at 13:36

Al Mamun

944
9
27

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 15 '13 at 09:29

0

If anyone else is facing this problem (as I did today) while starting with MediaCodec make sure to release the output codecs after you're done with them:

mediaCodec.releaseOutputBuffer(index, render);

or else the codec will run out of available buffers pretty soon.

edited Oct 15 '13 at 09:29

Ademar

5,657
1
17
23

answered Oct 15 '13 at 08:56

lkjh

1

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 09 '15 at 16:13

0

It may be necessary to feed several input buffers before obtaining data in output buffer.

answered Apr 09 '15 at 16:13

ivan_onys

2,282
17
21

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 25 '15 at 07:46

-1 is INFO_TRY_AGAIN_LATER, meaning the output buffer queue is still being prepared and you just need to call dequeueOutputBuffer again.

Try using a work loop that calls dequeueOutputBuffer in a loop similar to ExoPlayer:

    while (drainOutputBuffer(positionUs, elapsedRealtimeUs)) {}
    if (feedInputBuffer(true)) {
      while (feedInputBuffer(false)) {}
    }

where drainOutputBuffer is a method that calls dequeueOutputBuffer.

Android MediaCodec dequeOutputBuffer always returns -1

4 Answers4