bug fixed: File Framework prevents FlashVideo nodes from displaying properly

UPDATED STATUS: Solution found. Bug fixed. Case closed. See below for details on how I resolved the issue. (2008-12-08 03:49:20)

STATUS: Bug identified. Partial solution and workaround found. Case still open. (2008-12-17 05:10:40)

VERSIONS AFFECTED: File Framework 6.x-1.0-alpha2 and FlashVideo 6.x-1.4-rc1, 6.x-1.4-rc2, or 6.x-1.4

SYMPTOMS: After you update FlashVideo to 6.x-1.4-rc1 or later, the flash media player (Player.swf by default) stops displaying in all your existing FlashVideo nodes. A "Video currently not available" image like the one below replaces the flash media player container.

The same also happens when you create new nodes via FlashVideo by manual video file attachment upload or the module's batch video import feature. Simply put -- videos stop displaying when they're supposed to.

CAUSE: You have File Framework 6.x-1.0-alpha2 (or possibly another File Framework versions) installed which is somehow conflicting with the newer FlashVideo code. This is what caused the symptoms in my current Drupal setup.

RESOLUTION:

Option #1: Recreate all your FlashVideo nodes with version 6.x-1.4 and make sure Flowplayer is installed properly on File Framework (your Status Report should indicate whether it's detected and installed correctly).

Here's a method I used after many trial-and-errors to do this more efficiently:

1. DO NOT delete the video nodes just yet or else you would have to reupload all your video files again which takes a long time.
2. Move all your FLV video files from your Flash Video output directory to the batch import directory
3. OPTIONAL: If you are a perfectionist like me and want squeaky clean MySQL tables, I would now go into my Drupal database, open up the "file" table, browse for all the files assocated with all fields from the old FlashVideo nodes (i.e. usually FLV and images), and delete them. For some reason, these database entries do not get deleted when you delete the node or remove an the image from a CCK Image field (based on my experience).
4. Assuming you have the latest FlashVideo installed and settings configured properly, run cron to batch import all your existing FLV videos and create new video nodes. These new nodes should now show the imported video files as attachments with a number appended to their file names (this happens to be the file's ID number recorded in your MySQL file table).
   
5. Edit each new video node to your satisfaction. Consider copying and pasting field content from your old field to this new one.
6. Delete the old video nodes. If the old video nodes were created with the batch import feature of FlashVideo version 6.x-beta-6 or earlier, you may be given an error and unable to delete the node because "no file was uploaded" (this is due to a bug in older FlashVideo versions; imported videos do not show up as an attachment). A easy workaround to this is to manually upload a really small FLV file when editing the node. Then you should be able to delete the node!
   
7. Enjoy all your new nodes which should now be compatible with both the latest FlashVideo and File Framework!

Option #2 (Workaround): Uncheck the "Attachments" module under the "File Management" category in the modules page (../admin/build/modules). Newly created FlashVideo-powered video nodes should now work properly. Existing video nodes that were originally created with FlashVideo versions 6.x-1.4-beta-6 or earlier may still not work though (they did not work for me).

Option #3 (Workaround): Downgrade FlashVideo to 6.x-1.4-beta6 or earlier as a temporary workaround until bugs in the File Framework or FlashVideo module are fixed by their maintainers (which suggests that beta-6 or earlier versions of FlashVideo have no code conflicts with File Framework). All existing and new videos should work.

Currently, I am still searching for...

1. A solution to make video nodes created with pre-FlashVideo 1.4-rc1 work with the latest 1.4 final version without having to recreate all the nodes. I gave up. I had to manually recreate all my video nodes with the latest module version.
   
2. A solution to make FlashVideo 1.4 compatible with File Framework. Nodes created with FlashVideo 1.4 is actually compatible with File Framework only when Flowplayer is installed correctly (for me, I still got the above error image when Flowplayer was not installed correctly). To see if Flowplayer is installed properly, your Status Report should show no errors. Make sure the Flowplayer version number is inputted correctly in your File Framework Attachment settings.

Suggestions and contributions are appreciated!

FURTHER DISCUSSION: See the FlashVideo Issue #341128 and File Framework Issues #344274 forum threads.

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