Protected files don't work in Chrome

This is related to my previous post here.

So, to sum up what I and many users are seeing when trying to view files protected withing a VIDEO tag:

1) many (though now all) video files simply will not play in chrome
2) ditto for safari
3) ditto for ipad users

The error message is always “html5: Video file not found”
We’ve tried Jason’s suggestion of using special key authentication and it did not resolve the issue.

Here is a sample of that code if you’re wondering how it was implemented:

<source type="video/mp4" src="http://www.semantica-portuguese.com/wp-content/plugins/s2member-files/access-s2member-ccap-series1/lesson-01-wi-fi-high.mp4&s2member_file_download_key="><source type="video/webm" src="http://www.semantica-portuguese.com/wp-content/plugins/s2member-files/access-s2member-ccap-series1/lesson-01.webm&s2member_file_download_key=">

All of our files work perfectly when unprotected. The server is configured correctly for these video content types. ***Note that after receiving the error, if you wait long enough, the AUDIO of the file actually plays (!).

Is there anything else worth trying?

I suspect this is a file size issue that is exceeding memory limits allocated to PHP scripts. Videos are normally best served through s2Member’s Amazon S3 and/or Cloudfront integration, particularly if you are experiencing trouble when serving them locally. Is that a correct assumption? It appears from your links that you are storing these files inside /s2member-files/ locally within your WP installation?

If so, you can check with your hosting company and also look at your PHP error log for anything that indicates a timeout or a memory limit being reached. This could explain the problems you’re having.

The /s2member-files/ directory works great for most files, but streaming audio/video (particularlly if the files are larger); I would put on Amazon and serve them from there; using s2Member of course to protect them.

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Another possibility is content encoding. You mention it’s a browser-specific issue? Not happening in Firefox? If so, I would take a look in Firebug and see what headers your server is sending back. Also, be sure that you have the s2Member snippet in your .htaccess file to prevent GZIP compression during delivery of these files.

See: Video » s2Member® File Downloads (GZIP Conflicts?)
See also: Dashboard -› s2Member® -› Download Options -› Preventing GZIP Conflicts

If you can post a functional link, we may also be able to assist you in testing this out that way. The link above would be perfect, if the Download Key were actually in the URL and gave us access to test it out.