Playing AVI file with XviD codec crashes my VLC and doesn't play on quick time

Question

I got a video file with an avi extension, and this is its technical description:

 VIDEO: 1300 kbps XviD               
 RESOLUTiON: 720x304                           
 AUDIO: 256 CBR AC-3        
 NOTES: Converted to XviD.
 AAC to AC3.

When I play it on itunes It gives me this error:

Clicking on the tell me more button I go to this link which states:

QuickTime Player plays Motion JPEG-based AVIs created by many digital cameras. Other forms of AVI media may require third-party software for playback.

But it gives no further detail about this third-party software.

Playing this video file on my VLC.. it crashes with this crash log:

Process:         VLC [8312]
Path:            /Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC
Identifier:      org.videolan.vlc
Version:         2.1.5 (2.1.5)
Code Type:       X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process:  launchd [249]
Responsible:     VLC [8312]
User ID:         501

Date/Time:       2014-12-30 07:30:32.794 +0200
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)
Report Version:  11
Anonymous UUID:  BCE1BC39-7395-D7B0-6C33-652DF5D2E585


Crashed Thread:  18

Exception Type:  EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x0000000000000000

VM Regions Near 0:
--> 
    __TEXT                 0000000100000000-0000000100003000 [   12K] r-x/rwx SM=COW  /Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC

Thread 0:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x00007fff86366746 __psynch_mutexwait + 10
1   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x00007fff90154779 _pthread_mutex_lock + 372
2   com.apple.opengl                0x00007fff86ebeb1d CGLSetSurface + 58
3   com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f54444f -[NSOpenGLContext setView:] + 954
4   com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f809999 -[NSOpenGLView lockFocusIfCanDraw] + 166
5   com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f3a183f -[NSView lockFocus] + 37
6   com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f3a55b5 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayAllDirtyWithLockFocus:visRect:] + 1016
7   com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f3a5ca0 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayAllDirtyWithLockFocus:visRect:] + 2787
8   com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f3a3706 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 841
9   com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f3a4bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
10  com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f3a4bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
11  com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f3a2eb1 -[NSThemeFrame _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 314
12  com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f39fe9f -[NSView _displayRectIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:] + 2828
13  com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f37f2da -[NSView displayIfNeeded] + 1680
14  com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f3e474e _handleWindowNeedsDisplayOrLayoutOrUpdateConstraints + 884
15  com.apple.AppKit                0x00007fff8f9ba061 __83-[NSWindow _postWindowNeedsDisplayOrLayoutOrUpdateConstraintsUnlessPostingDisabled]_block_invoke1331 + 46
16  com.apple.CoreFoundation        0x00007fff8b172d67 __CFRUNLOOP_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_AN_OBSERVER_CALLBACK_FUNCTION__ + 23
17  com.apple.CoreFoundation        0x00007fff8b172cd7 __CFRunLoopDoObservers + 391
18  com.apple.CoreFoundation        0x00007fff8b1643b8 __CFRunLoopRun + 776
19  com.apple.CoreFoundation        0x00007fff8b163e75 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 309

I also downloaded the divx installer for mac. when I click on it, it opens for a sec then disappears (I got osx mavericks).

Also I copied the same video file into my nexus 5 Android 5 device and it played just fine on the VLC app there.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

The problem had nothing to do with VLC or Xvid.. it was a problem with finder (I should have gotten a hint when I couldn't even install Xvid.. I finally found out there was something wrong with finder when I tried to install sublime text 2 and i got the same bogus behavior)

this problem is common with osx mavericks.. and the solution is to go to ~/Library/Preferences/ and delete com.apple.finder and com.apple.doc (the second one may or may not exist, but that's the instructions i got anyways).. then rebooting your computer..

after that everything works fine.