MonoGame/MonoGame · error · InvalidOperationException

ffprobe exited with non-zero exit code.

Error message

ffprobe exited with non-zero exit code.

What it means

Thrown by DefaultAudioProfile.ProbeFormat when the ffprobe process returns a non-zero exit code. ProbeFormat shells out to ffprobe to read container/stream metadata before any RIFF validation; if ffprobe cannot analyze the file (or is missing/broken), probing aborts. The exception does not include ffprobe's stderr, so the underlying reason must be reproduced manually.

Source

Thrown at MonoGame.Framework.Content.Pipeline/Audio/DefaultAudioProfile.cs:70

                targetFormat = ConversionFormat.Mp3;

            // Get the song output path with the target format extension.
            outputFileName = Path.ChangeExtension(outputFileName, AudioHelper.GetExtension(targetFormat));

            // Make sure the output folder for the file exists.
            Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(outputFileName)!);

            return ConvertToFormat(content, targetFormat, quality, outputFileName);
        }

        public static void ProbeFormat(string sourceFile, out AudioFileType audioFileType, out AudioFormat audioFormat, out TimeSpan duration, out int loopStart, out int loopLength)
        {
            var ffprobeExitCode = FFprobe.Run(
                $"-i \"{sourceFile}\" -show_format -show_entries streams -v quiet -of flat",
                out var ffprobeStdout,
                out _);
            if (ffprobeExitCode != 0)
                throw new InvalidOperationException("ffprobe exited with non-zero exit code.");

            // Set default values if information is not available.
            int averageBytesPerSecond = 0;
            int bitsPerSample = 0;
            int blockAlign = 0;
            int channelCount = 0;
            int sampleRate = 0;
            int format = 0;
            string? sampleFormat = null;
            double durationInSeconds = 0;
            var formatName = string.Empty;

            try
            {
                var numberFormat = CultureInfo.InvariantCulture.NumberFormat;
                foreach (var line in ffprobeStdout.Split(['\r', '\n', '\0'], StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries))
                {
                    var kv = line.Split(['='], 2);

View on GitHub (pinned to 1d71bbd0ff)

Solutions

1. Install ffmpeg (which bundles ffprobe) and ensure it is on PATH, or place the binary in the pipeline's expected subfolder.
2. Run `ffprobe -i "<file>" -show_format -show_entries streams -v quiet -of flat` manually to see the actual error.
3. Replace or re-download the source file if it is corrupt/truncated.
4. Verify the file is a valid audio container and not a mislabeled non-audio file.

Example fix

# install ffprobe (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt-get install ffmpeg
# verify
ffprobe -version

// Ensure ffprobe is available before building content
var ok = ExternalTool.Run("ffprobe", "-version", out _, out _);
if (ok != 0) throw new InvalidOperationException("ffprobe not available on PATH");

try { /* probe/import */ }
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("ffprobe exited"))
{ /* run ffprobe manually to diagnose; check install + file integrity */ }

When it happens

Trigger: ffprobe is not installed or not on PATH (though a missing binary throws earlier in ExternalTool.FindCommand). The input file is corrupt, zero-length, truncated, or in a format ffprobe cannot parse. ffprobe crashes or times out on a pathological file.

Common situations: Building content on a machine without ffmpeg/ffprobe installed (common on fresh CI or new dev machines). A corrupt or non-audio file passed to an audio importer. A truncated download or source-control-corrupted asset. ffprobe version incompatibility.

Related errors

• Failed to parse ffprobe output.
• ffmpeg exited with non-zero exit code: {ffmpegStdout} {ffmp
• Calculated block align does not match RIFF {_format.BlockAli
• Probed channel count does not match RIFF: {_format.ChannelCo
• Probed audio format does not match RIFF: {_format.Format}, {

AI-assisted analysis of MonoGame/MonoGame@1d71bbd0ff (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/688b4e27958db751. Report an issue: GitHub.