debian 13.1, yt-dlp 2025.10.14
I’m wondering is this a regular occurrence meaning google changed something in the code again which renders this application useless and I just have to wait till the yt-dlp developers release an update and it works again or if it’s something more serious.
error reads: ERROR: unable to download video data: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden
I also changed the MAC and username to get the same error message. Now I’m thinking about proxifying my computer, so each time I use yt-dlp it runs through tor, but I have no idea how to do it.
help appreciated.
Same on Tubular with a Mullvad VPN with DAITA and Multihop turned on.
They just released a new version that fixed this issue - at least for me
It’s a known issue. They are working on a fix, but it’s not ready yet. It will require an external JavaScript library though.
Are you using the nightly channel of yt-dlp? Because it’s highly recommended that you do. In the case of yt-dlp, nightly is pretty stable and dedicated to circumvent daily YouTube changes (YT is constantly fighting back).
Edit: check out their GitHub page, because there was also an announcement about a change in the JS engine, we’ll need to use a third-party engine. Not sure if they gave a specific ETA yet, but they usually give a heads-up a couple of months before such changes.
Edit 2: I also recommend using the binary version of yt-dlp and put it in .local/bin. You can drop ffmpeg and the JS engine there. I found it easier to deal with than apt or pip, because I’m on an outdated system (22.04) and packages keep lagging behind.
A lot of this has to do with youtube blocking IP addresses. When it happens to me I change IP and it works again.
How have you installed the yt-dlp app? Through apt or with pip? You can probably get faster updates if you use pip.
asking as a noob now, can I use this to set a static ip address on my computer?
I don’t even know the difference between router and computer.
How have you installed the yt-dlp app?
all I know is I update executing yt-dlp -U, not using apt sources
The article you linked is describing how to set a static internal IP address (i.e. the address your computer uses within your local network) whereas YouTube would be seeing your external IP address (which is typically assigned automatically by your ISP). I’m not sure what the parent comment is referring to with “changing” their address, but I would assume they’re probably using a VPN or something similar so that YouTube sees the address of the current VPN server instead.
You are correct about me using a vpn to change my IP… I probably should been more descriptive.
Side note, thanks for helping OP in my absence.
