Media Not Found

Status: Current Last updated: 2026-03-30 13:40 EDT

This chapter covers issues with media playback – audio or video files not found, unsupported formats, and remote connection limitations.

@Media Header Missing

Symptom: Play at Cursor, Continuous Play, and Waveform View commands do nothing or show an error about missing media.

Fix: The .cha file must have an @Media: header that references the audio or video file:

@Media:	interview, audio

The value before the comma is the base filename (without extension). The value after the comma is the media type (audio or video). Add this header manually or use the Participant Editor to edit file metadata.

Media File Not Found

Symptom: The @Media: header is present, but the extension reports that the media file cannot be found.

The extension resolves media files by searching for a file whose base name matches the @Media value, in these locations:

1. Same directory as the .cha file
2. media/ subdirectory relative to the .cha file

For example, if the .cha file is at /data/resources/corpus/interview.cha and the header says @Media: interview, audio, the extension looks for:

• /data/resources/corpus/interview.mp3
• /data/resources/corpus/interview.wav
• /data/resources/corpus/interview.m4a
• /data/resources/corpus/interview.mp4
• /data/resources/corpus/media/interview.mp3
• (and so on for other supported extensions)

Fixes:

1. Ensure the media file exists in one of these locations
2. Ensure the base filename in @Media: matches the actual file (case-sensitive on macOS/Linux)
3. Check that the file extension is one the extension supports (see below)

Unsupported Format

The extension uses the browser’s built-in audio/video API (Web Audio API and HTML5 <audio>/<video> elements) for playback. Supported formats depend on the Electron/Chromium runtime bundled with VS Code:

If your media file is in an unsupported format, convert it to MP3 or WAV using a tool like ffmpeg:

ffmpeg -i recording.wma recording.mp3

No Audio on Remote Connection

Symptom: Media playback does not work when connected via VS Code Remote SSH or Remote Containers.

This is a known limitation. VS Code’s webview panels (which the media player uses) have limited media support over remote connections. The audio file must be accessible to the VS Code client, not just the remote server.

Workarounds:

• Copy the media file locally and open the .cha file locally
• Use VS Code’s port forwarding to make the media accessible (may not work for all formats)
• Use the desktop chatter app instead of the VS Code extension for remote media review

Waveform Not Rendering

Symptom: The waveform panel opens but shows a blank or error state.

The waveform is rendered using the Web Audio API, which must decode the entire audio file into memory. Issues can occur with:

• Very large files – audio files over 1 GB may exceed memory limits
• Unsupported codecs – the Web Audio API decoder may reject certain codec variants even if the <audio> element can play them
• Corrupted files – truncated or corrupted audio files will fail to decode

Fixes:

1. Try a smaller audio file to confirm the waveform feature works
2. Convert the file to WAV or MP3 format
3. Check the developer console (Help > Toggle Developer Tools) for specific decode errors

Playback and Timing Mismatch

Symptom: The highlighted utterance does not match what you hear, or segments seem offset.

This can happen when:

• Timing bullets are incorrect – the bullet values in the transcript do not match the actual audio timing. Use Review Mode to verify and correct.
• Variable bitrate encoding – some VBR-encoded files have seeking inaccuracies. Convert to constant bitrate (CBR) if precision is important.

Related Chapters

• Media Resolution – how the extension finds media files
• Waveform View – waveform rendering details
• Transcription Workflow – creating transcripts from audio
• Post-Alignment Review – reviewing timing accuracy