# Preview of default system recordings in the GUI
**URL:** https://forums.vitalpbx.org/t/preview-of-default-system-recordings-in-the-gui/6122
**Category:** VitalPBX
**Created:** [March 19, 2026, 1:43am UTC](https://forums.vitalpbx.org/t/preview-of-default-system-recordings-in-the-gui/6122 "2026-03-19T01:43:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@XPlanum](https://forums.vitalpbx.org/u/XPlanum)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2026, 1:43am UTC](https://forums.vitalpbx.org/t/preview-of-default-system-recordings-in-the-gui/6122/1 "2026-03-19T01:43:45Z")
Hi,
I’m unable to preview default system recordings in the GUI. I get “unable to transcode the recording” error. It was working before and started failing a few days ago. Note that my own custom recordings preview just fine — the issue is only with the default system recordings.
I’ve done a full investigation:
- ffmpeg 5.1.8 is installed and working
- Both root and www-data can transcode both custom and default WAV files manually with ffmpeg with no errors
- All directories exist with correct permissions (www-data:www-data)
- vitalpbx check-integrity was run and fixed some missing directories
- vitalpbx update was run, system is fully up to date (4.5.1-1)
- Both custom recordings (MD5 hash names in /recordings/) and default recordings (SHA1 hash names in /default\_recordings/) are identical WAV format: PCM 16bit mono 8000Hz
The error in nginx logs is: `PHP message: Unable to transcode requested file`
Everything works fine at the filesystem and ffmpeg level. The problem seems to be in how VitalPBX PHP code resolves the path or identifier for default system recordings vs custom ones.
Thanks
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### Author:  [@system](https://forums.vitalpbx.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://forums.vitalpbx.org/t/preview-of-default-system-recordings-in-the-gui/6122/2 "2026-04-18T01:44:00Z")
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