iPhone "This movie could not be played." problem

Hey I am having the same problem. Did you find out how to fix it??? Just curious.

I'm having the same issue. Video files that played OK before I updated to V2.0 no longer play. Done all the usual things - reset etc. But they still won't play on my iPhone (original). Strange thing is though the same files play in itunes, with no additional codecs loaded. Any suggestions?

I'm having the same problem on my 3G iPhone. I bought two episodes of a TV show, which I played a portion of each once on the iPhone with no issue and now they won't play and I get the "This movie could not be played" error. They work fine within iTunes.

Here is my problem:
I have .m4v files converted from EyeTV 3.0 on my iPhone. Before iPhone 2.0, I would convert files using EyeTV's iPod default export ("for iPod (Best), 640x480) and they played fine on the iPhone. Those same files created before iPhone 2.0 still played fine after I upgraded the iPhone. However, any new files created with the default export would not play under iPhone 2.0, with the message, "This movie could not be played." (The files would still play in iTunes and on Apple TV.)

So I exported them at a lesser resolution, using EyeTV's "for iPhone" setting, 480x360. That worked for a day. But today when I converted a TV show at that lower resolution, I got the same error message on the iPhone as before, "This movie could not be played." (The file still plays in iTunes.) Right now, I'm converting at even a lower resolution (320x240) to see if that works.

Thanks, PittsDriver.

In fact, I know exactly how long a complete nuke and restore of my phone will take because I just did one yesterday in an attempt to stop my new 2.0 iPhone apps from crashing. It doesn't take all that long, but collectively having to do it each day I have 2.0 may get to be a bother. (The apps, incidentally, kept crashing after the restore—but I did get them working again.)

Just to update the story, I tried converting the file with lesser resolution and it didn't work. I also tried converting the file to play it over EyeTV's WiFi feature on the phone and that didn't work, either. (Though files I had converted before iPhone 2.0 for WiFi access still worked fine.) Next, I'm going to try converting them via another method, then I will reset the iPhone, and then I will restore it. Again.

Updating again:

I converted the file using Elgato's Turbo.264 software at 480x320. This produces a .mp4 file instead of a .m4v file that is produced when you export the file directly from EyeTV 3.0, for what it's worth. This file was able to play on the iPhone. Not ideal, but it works for today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Or later this afternoon?

start with re-authorizing the computer. i couldn;t play vidoes or use apps until i did this. still useless that they don;t tell you this or do it automatically when you upgrade. bad apple.

Darren,
I'm not sure reauthorizing is going to do it for me. I am able to play purchased iTunes videos on the iPhone. It's only certain EyeTV-created videos that were converted after I downloaded iPhone 2.0 that don't work. Elgato's (EyeTV's maker) message board shows other people are having problems with EyeTV-created video on their iPhone since the 2.0 update.

I don't know why but things are working for me again.

I just exported a file using EyeTV 3.0's for iPod Best export (640x480) and it is working just fine on my iPhone with 2.0 firmware. I am no longer getting the message "This movie could not be played."

I really don't know what is different today. Maybe it was that one last restart of the iPhone and computer? Maybe it was deleting the crashing free apps from my iPhone? I don't know.

But things are fine now. I'll post again if things go awry.

I don't know why but things are working for me again.

I just exported a file using EyeTV 3.0's for iPod Best export (640x480) and it is working just fine on my iPhone with 2.0 firmware. I am no longer getting the message "This movie could not be played."

I really don't know what is different today. Maybe it was that one last restart of the iPhone and computer? Maybe it was deleting the crashing free apps from my iPhone? I don't know.

But things are fine now. I'll post again if things go awry.

This happened to me today after installing the fifteenth and sixteenth new apps (I installed the new Iphone software on Sunday). A TV episode I'd purchased from Itunes and was halfway through on the Iphone stopped working, and when I checked, the other TV episodes all had the same problem thought they worked on my macbook. Oddly, video podcasts were fine.

I fixed it by holding down the power and home buttons until the "slide to power off" message appeared, then powered off. On restart, the videos worked again.

Hope it keeps working, as I hate calling customer support.

I rent it a movie this afternoon moved the movie into my iphone but everytime i try to play the movie the phone will freeze so i finaly call the apple told me to restore the phone now the movie its gone and i never got to see it what can i do about it