I reinstalled mpv-git, this time opening SMPlayer (with or without any video) takes 30 seconds. I uninstalled MPV and SMPlayer and re-installed first mpv-git and then SMPlayer, still same (additional) problem.
SMPlayer log file contains this.
[12:41:02:123] PlayerID::Player: player_bin: "/usr/bin/mpv" filename: "mpv"
[12:41:02:123] PlayerID::Player: player_bin: "/usr/bin/mpv" filename: "mpv"
[12:41:02:123] DeviceInfo::mpvAudioDevices
[12:41:32:154] WARNING: QProcess: Destroyed while process ("/usr/bin/mpv") is still running.
[12:41:32:156] GlobalShortcuts::GlobalShortcuts
[12:41:32:156] GlobalShortcuts::setEnabled: false
[12:41:32:156] Chromecast::loadSettings
Notice the 30-second delay before
WARNING: QProcess: Destroyed while process ("/usr/bin/mpv") is still running.
After merging the pacnew files, here's the garuda-update output
:: Synchronizing package databases...
core is up to date
extra is up to date
community 6.6 MiB 1323 KiB/s 00:05 [------------------------------------] 100%
multilib is up to date
chaotic-aur is up to date
--> Refreshing mirrorlists using reflector, please be patient..
[2022-03-31 13:31:49] WARNING: failed to rate http(s) download (https://mirrors.neusoft.edu.cn/archlinux/community/os/x86_64/community.db): Download timed out after 5 second(s).
[2022-03-31 13:31:57] WARNING: failed to rate http(s) download (https://asia.mirror.pkgbuild.com/community/os/x86_64/community.db): Download timed out after 5 second(s).
[2022-03-31 13:32:08] WARNING: failed to rate http(s) download (https://archlinux.mailtunnel.eu/community/os/x86_64/community.db): Download timed out after 5 second(s).
################################################################################
################# Arch Linux mirrorlist generated by Reflector #################
################################################################################
# With: reflector --latest 5 --age 2 --fastest 5 --protocol https --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
# When: 2022-03-31 18:32:08 UTC
# From: https://archlinux.org/mirrors/status/json/
# Retrieved: 2022-03-31 18:27:31 UTC
# Last Check: 2022-03-31 18:22:38 UTC
Server = https://america.mirror.pkgbuild.com/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirror.telepoint.bg/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirrors.neusoft.edu.cn/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://asia.mirror.pkgbuild.com/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://archlinux.mailtunnel.eu/$repo/os/$arch
:: Synchronizing package databases...
core 155.1 KiB 420 KiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
extra 1715.1 KiB 2.21 MiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
community 6.6 MiB 4.38 MiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
multilib 168.9 KiB 413 KiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
chaotic-aur 1645.1 KiB 1339 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
spawn pacman -Su
:: Starting full system upgrade...
warning: libcpufeatures-git: local (0.7.0+.r269.d20220308.8a494eb-1) is newer than chaotic-aur (0.7.0+8.r277.d20220315.188d0d3-1)
warning: lxc-git: local (4.0.0.r2198.g30ebf0964-1) is newer than chaotic-aur (lxc.4.0.0.2207-1)
there is nothing to do
Parsing man pages and writing completions to /home/hanuman/.local/share/fish/generated_completions/
9036 / 9036 : zramctl.8.gz
Checking for plugin updates
Nothing to install / update
System updated! 🐧
Oh this is interesting.... mpv-git no longer exists (how did I just reinstall it then?) and mpv-full-git is now in chaotir-AUR
With mpv-full-git, SMPlayer now starts without the 30-second delay, but still no video.
Sorry but I haven't read through the entire thread. If no one has suggested it yet, create a new user account to see if the issue repeats itself there.
that's my thread. The devs have no idea. Flatpack version works... so it may very well be a packaging issue. It looks like a communication issue between SMPlayer and MPV.
One other person reported the same problem but only for MKV files. For me neither MKV nor MP4 files work, so I'm not sure whether it's the same issue or not.
I'll also note that while I was using stand-alone MPV for now, I saw some unstability with it at the end of some movies, it would sometimes freeze instead of closing. Otherwise works fine. SMPlayer doesn't.
I made this suggestion almost 2 weeks ago regarding your smplayer issue. When you do not provide feedback to forum assistants you tend to stop receiving further suggestions, or alternately your thread may be locked by a moderator.