I am using lf as file manager.
This is my preview.sh
#!/bin/sh image() { geometry="$(($2-2))x$3" chafa "$1" -f sixel -s "$geometry" --animate false } batorcat() { file="$1" shift if command -v bat > /dev/null 2>&1 then bat --color=always --style=plain --pager=never "$file" "$@" else cat "$file" fi } glowormdcat() { file="$1" shift if command -v glow > /dev/null 2>&1 then glow "$file" else mdcat "$file" fi } CACHE="$HOME/.cache/lf/thumbnail.$(stat --printf '%n\0%i\0%F\0%s\0%W\0%Y' -- "$(readlink -f "$1")" | sha256sum | awk '{print $1}'))" case "$(printf "%s\n" "$(readlink -f "$1")" | awk '{print tolower($0)}')" in *.tgz|*.tar.gz) tar tzf "$1" ;; *.tar.bz2|*.tbz2) tar tjf "$1" ;; *.tar.txz|*.txz) xz --list "$1" ;; *.tar) tar tf "$1" ;; *.zip|*.jar|*.war|*.ear|*.oxt) unzip -l "$1" ;; *.rar) unrar l "$1" ;; *.md) glowormdcat "$1";; *.7z) 7z l "$1" ;; *.[1-8]) man "$1" | col -b ;; *.o) nm "$1";; *.torrent) transmission-show "$1" ;; *.iso) iso-info --no-header -l "$1" ;; *.odt|*.ods|*.odp|*.sxw) odt2txt "$1" ;; *.doc) catdoc "$1" ;; *.docx) docx2txt "$1" ;; *.xml|*.html) w3m -dump "$1";; *.xls|*.xlsx) ssconvert --export-type=Gnumeric_stf:stf_csv "$1" "fd://1" | batorcat --language=csv ;; *.wav|*.mp3|*.flac|*.m4a|*.wma|*.ape|*.ac3|*.og[agx]|*.spx|*.opus|*.as[fx]|*.mka) exiftool "$1" ;; *.pdf) [ ! -f "${CACHE}.jpg" ] && \ pdftoppm -jpeg -f 1 -singlefile "$1" "$CACHE" image "${CACHE}.jpg" "$2" "$3" "$4" "$5" ;; *.epub) [ ! -f "$CACHE" ] && \ epub-thumbnailer "$1" "$CACHE" 1024 image "$CACHE" "$2" "$3" "$4" "$5" ;; *.cbz|*.cbr|*.cbt) [ ! -f "$CACHE" ] && \ comicthumb "$1" "$CACHE" 1024 image "$CACHE" "$2" "$3" "$4" "$5" ;; *.avi|*.mp4|*.wmv|*.dat|*.3gp|*.ogv|*.mkv|*.mpg|*.mpeg|*.vob|*.fl[icv]|*.m2v|*.mov|*.webm|*.ts|*.mts|*.m4v|*.r[am]|*.qt|*.divx) [ ! -f "${CACHE}.jpg" ] && \ ffmpegthumbnailer -i "$1" -o "${CACHE}.jpg" -s 0 -q 5 image "${CACHE}.jpg" "$2" "$3" "$4" "$5" ;; *.bmp|*.jpg|*.jpeg|*.png|*.xpm|*.webp|*.tiff|*.gif|*.jfif|*.ico) image "$1" "$2" "$3" "$4" "$5" ;; *.svg) [ ! -f "${CACHE}.jpg" ] && \ convert "$1" "${CACHE}.jpg" image "${CACHE}.jpg" "$2" "$3" "$4" "$5" ;; *.ino) batorcat --language=cpp "$1" ;; *) batorcat "$1" ;; esac exit 0 When I hover over image, I can see preview in right bar. But when I hover on video (ex: .mp4) there is no preview. I have no error logs.
How can I fix my lf setup so I can see video previews?
More information
I am testing it on videos taken on phone. This is exif tool info:
ExifTool Version Number : 13.30 File Name : a.mp4 Directory : . File Size : 321 MB File Modification Date/Time : 2025:08:20 17:03:05+02:00 File Access Date/Time : 2025:08:20 17:03:36+02:00 File Inode Change Date/Time : 2025:08:20 17:03:19+02:00 File Permissions : -rw-r--r-- File Type : MP4 File Type Extension : mp4 MIME Type : video/mp4 Major Brand : MP4 Base Media v1 [IS0 14496-12:2003] Minor Version : 2.0.0 Compatible Brands : isom, iso2, mp41 Media Data Size : 320626529 Media Data Offset : 44 Movie Header Version : 0 Create Date : 2025:08:07 11:25:16 Modify Date : 2025:08:07 11:25:16 Time Scale : 10000 Duration : 0:02:07 Preferred Rate : 1 Preferred Volume : 100.00% Preview Time : 0 s Preview Duration : 0 s Poster Time : 0 s Selection Time : 0 s Selection Duration : 0 s Current Time : 0 s Next Track ID : 5 Android Capture FPS : 30 Android Model : Pixel 6 Android Make : Google Track Header Version : 0 Track Create Date : 2025:08:07 11:25:16 Track Modify Date : 2025:08:07 11:25:16 Track ID : 1 Track Duration : 0:02:07 Track Layer : 0 Track Volume : 0.00% Warning : [minor] The ExtractEmbedded option may find more tags in the media data Balance : 0 Audio Format : mp4a Audio Channels : 2 Audio Bits Per Sample : 16 Audio Sample Rate : 48000 Image Width : 1920 Image Height : 1080 Graphics Mode : srcCopy Op Color : 0 0 0 Compressor ID : hvc1 Source Image Width : 1920 Source Image Height : 1080 X Resolution : 72 Y Resolution : 72 Bit Depth : 24 Pixel Aspect Ratio : 65536:65536 Color Profiles : nclx Color Primaries : BT.709 Transfer Characteristics : BT.709 Matrix Coefficients : BT.709 Video Full Range Flag : Full Video Frame Rate : 29.99 Matrix Structure : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Media Header Version : 0 Media Create Date : 2025:08:07 11:25:16 Media Modify Date : 2025:08:07 11:25:16 Media Time Scale : 90000 Media Duration : 0 s Handler Type : NRT Metadata Handler Description : MetaHandle Meta Format : mett Meta Type : application/microvideo-image-meta Image Size : 1920x1080 Megapixels : 2.1 Avg Bitrate : 20.2 Mbps Yes, ffmpegthumbnailer -i "a.mp4" -o "foo.jpg" -s 0 -q 5 produces foo.jpg and it can be previewed in lf.
config.sh? What happens if you run the relevant command manually? For exampleffmpegthumbnailer -i "YOUR_FILE.avi -o "foo.jpg" -s 0 -q 5``? Is thefoo.jpg` created?