What is this #2038 error after uploading?
Last updated on March 11, 2010
While we try to keep any bugs out of the door, some issues are difficult to track down. The error #2038 is one of them. It is a generic error code that is being returned by our Flash webuploader, basically when something goes wrong.
Firefox tab switching
One cause is that, if you use Firefox and switch to another tab while uploading, the upload will always return an error #2038. So make sure not to switch to another tab while uploading videos in Firefox.
Other browsers (Safari, IE) don't have this issue.
Large files.
Another common cause of the #2038 error is that the file being uploaded is bigger than the amount of free memory on your PC. As an intermediate upload step, the file is loaded in memory. If this doesn't fit, the upload breaks with the #2038 error. Avoid this by having as little programs as possible open (no Final Cut, no Photoshop) and by not uploading files bigger than a few hundred megabytes.
Wrong API call
A third issue only occurs if you use our webuploader on your own site. Usually, the create call is then not correctly formatted, or the wrong API key/secret is used. You can debug this issue (read the error) by setting the additional flashvar debug=console. The webuploader will then fire updates to either the error console in Safari or Firebug in Firefox.
Workarounds
For people who only sparsely encounter this issue, a re-upload will usually work. If you encounter this issue more frequently though, you want to try one of the following workarounds:
- Use FTP Uploading to upload content from your desktop.
- use our Javascript Uploader to upload content from your site or CMS. It displays upload progress!
