RAW=1 link no longer working for videos in Chrome

[mgravitt2]

Hi,

For MP4 videos, when I share links, I change the dl=0 at the end of the link to raw=1.  This no longer seems to work in Google Chrome as of the past few days. 

Was there something changed on your end to cause this issue?

Others I share links with have the same issues, so it is not specific to my device.

. 

Example:

DL=0 (original) link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rdna7jwuzev1eg2/Sunnyhill%20-%202021-03-15%20-%20Ray%20of%20Light%20-%20Th...

Changed to raw=1:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rdna7jwuzev1eg2/Sunnyhill%20-%202021-03-15%20-%20Ray%20of%20Light%20-%20Th...

Thanks!

Mike

[astridman]

We recently encountered an issue where images and video files share-link-hosted on Dropbox were no longer able to be loaded by Safari/Webkit browsers ...in the context of being used inside a simple HTML file while using the raw=1 switch in the URL. This affects both Desktop (Safari on Mac) and iOS devices (any browser on iOS, since all browsers on iOS are Webkit based).

We opened a support ticket and after much back and forth:

"Thanks for reporting this problem. Without you, other customers could have experienced this same issue. You’re helping us make Dropbox better for all our customers.

I relayed the details of your problem to our engineering team. From here, they’ll evaluate the problem and work toward a solution.

I can’t say exactly how long this will take, however, I’ll keep a close watch on the team’s progress and let you know as soon as I have an update."

I'm unsure if this response is ultimately boilerplate or they are actually working on the issue. It would appear it affects ALL iPhones and iPads. At least on desktop Mac, you have the choice to use another browser that does not have the issue.

We tested this on our Business account as well as personal accounts, across multiple devices, internet connections, and varied geo regions.

Has anybody else experienced this issue?

[ginkatyan]

Hello. I want to use video from Dropbox on my website, it works with "raw=1" on desktop version, but doesn't on mobile version

[Megan]

Hi @ginkatyan, let's see what we can find on this! 

Can you let me know the steps you follow when trying to open a shared link on mobile? 

Can you try a different browser on your mobile, provided this is how you open the link that way? 

Let me know the results! 

[Luc-FJ]

Hi there! We have the same issue here at our company. replacing dl=0 to raw=1 doesn't work anymore in all the browsers. How often does this problem occur? Hope it will be fixed again soon! @Megan 🙂

[Megan]

Hi @Luc-FJ, thanks for posting here today! 

You mentioned that this happens in specific browsers, right? What error are you getting when trying to open that URL? Does the normal dl=0 link work? What device are you using to access the links?

Keep me posted!

[Justin J.10]

I can confirm as of 4/25/2023 1:08PM EST raw=1 is not working on ALL current Chromium browsers. 

We have to move all of our content to an AWS bucket in the mean time to get around our media not playing back.

[Megan]

Hi @Justin J.10, thanks for reporting this! 

Does this happen only on Chromium browsers? Does it work on any different browsers? 

Keep me posted!

[Justin J.10]

Yup this is seems to be with all Windows and Linux browsers. Even a simple QT C++ app also can't render raw=1 content at the moment.

[Luc-FJ]

Hi there!

No, I said All the browsers :). Sure, I don't have all the browsers installed om my Macbook, but Brave, Firefox, Chrome and Safari all give the same error, a unplayable button. Yes, dl=0 did work reliable in the past.

Hope this helps!

[Hannah]

Hey @Luc-FJ and @Justin J.10, are you still having an issue with this?

If so, does clearing your browser's cache help at all?