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Old 12-02-2005, 10:49 PM   #1
dudeman41465
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Playing Windows Media Files in Mandriva/Mandrake Linux


Could a moderator please make this a sticky? I think it would be very helpful to a lot of Mandrake/Mandriva users. I figured I would put it here since people tend to ask this question here quite a bit, but if it is more appropriate then could you move it to the Mandrake distribution board and make it a sticky there?

One problem that I have seen a "ton" of people have with Linux is getting their Windows media files to play, or getting DVDs to play past the first scene. Most of the time the answers posted involve compiling the source code for mplayer which can be a little confusing for people who are new to Linux. Thanks to the command line implementation of Mandriva Linux's package management system known as "urpmi" you can solve your problems in a few easy steps without having to compile anything. Just follow these steps and you will be playing your DVDs and Windows media movies in no time. Keep in mind that you do not have to use mplayer, all of these codecs also work for Kaffeine if you prefer to use it. For a few special instructions pertaining to Xine player please skip to the bottom of this article.

1) To perform these operations you need to open the command line (don't be scared it doesn't bite) and type "su". You will be prompted for the root password that you set when you installed Linux, assuming you set one. This gives you root permissions needed to perform the steps that follow.

2) Go to this website and select your version of Mandrake/Mandriva Linux and follow the instructions to install every package listed.
Here is the website

3) If you want to use mplayer finish this step, if not skip to step 4. Run
Code:
urpmi mplayer-gui
This is the graphical user interface for mplayer. It should ask your permission to install some additional needed packages. Just agree to them, by jumping ahead to installing the gui you skip having to run individual commands to install the key program files for mplayer because it does it automatically.

4) This plugin works regardless of whether you install the mplayer gui or not. If you want to use Kaffeine or another movie player instead of mplayer then I still recommend you install the Mozilla Firefox plugin for mplayer. It allows you to view/listen to embedded media files. To do this run
Code:
urpmi mplayerplugin
This also will ask your permission to install additional packages, agree. It will install the core mplayer program files and the firefox plugin, but will not install the gui so it will not be added to your applications menu.

5) Run
Code:
urpmi win32-codecs
This installs the win32 codecs needed to play Windows media files (.wma and .wmv files), .avi files, .mov files, etc.

6) Run
Code:
urpmi libdvdcss
A lot of the time people cannot get DVDs to play past the first scene. This command installs the DVD playback package that allows you to properly watch DVD movies, assuming you have a DVD drive.

7) Run
Code:
urpmi real-codecs
This installs the Real media codecs required to play, well, REAL media. Usually they are installed to /usr/lib/real.

I personally use Xine player, I like its interface better than that of mplayer. If you would like to use Xine then you need to follow these steps.

1) Run
Code:
urpmi xine-ui
This installs the graphical user interface for Xine along with the core program files. It will ask your permission to install the required packages, agree.

2) Run
Code:
urpmi xine-win32
This is the same thing as win32-codecs, but a special package that Xine player needs. All of the other packages previously mentioned are universally compatable with Kaffeine, MPlayer and Xine.

I hope this helps answer this question. I have seen it arise quite often and decided it was time for an "answer all questions" sticky on the topic.
 
Old 12-03-2005, 04:52 PM   #2
acid_kewpie
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we don't makes things like this sticky, as we have both a wiki and our LinuxAnswers subsite for guides like this. if you wish to submit this as an LA please feel free.
 
Old 01-24-2006, 11:14 AM   #3
dudeman41465
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I know this is a rather old post but I wanted to add something. It has come to my attention that sometimes users are met with a "URPMI Database Locked" error, and to remedy this I have written a small script to automate the removal of the folders necessary to unlock your database. This script can be found on the "Programs Download Page" of my website at http://www.marcusadams.4t.com
 
Old 06-28-2006, 02:11 AM   #4
oobermeyer
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great guide, man. you just solved a whole crap-load of problems for me.
 
Old 06-28-2006, 11:42 AM   #5
hand of fate
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I know it's a long time since it was posted, but I think it needs to be said that the statement
Quote:
Originally Posted by dudeman41465
1) To perform these operations you need to open the command line
is not true.

You can easily do everything you described, and more, from within a graphical environment. Just click on Menu>System>Configuration>Packaging>Install Software*, then follow the interactive setup.

*I think this is the dafault but I'm not sure, since I rearranged the menu on my machine pretty soon after I installed Mandriva.
 
Old 06-28-2006, 02:41 PM   #6
JBailey742
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I never quite understood why someone told me to go to easyurpmi.zarb.org and then get the lib files for DVD playback.
As for mandriva 2006, all I did was go to that site and then install those two dvd files, reboot, and there's DVD!
 
Old 09-28-2006, 07:39 PM   #7
Pup
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this is a great thread, a problem I have run into to get kaffeine to play wmv files is that when I, as root,
urmpi win32-codecs
I get "no package named win32-codecs"

I am a newbie,run mandriva 2006 powerpack x86_64 dualcore AMD
I can get kaffeine to play dvd's but that is it....any help is greatly appreciated and yes I hit the popular urpmi site,

-thanks,
Pup
 
Old 09-28-2006, 09:12 PM   #8
dudeman41465
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pup
this is a great thread, a problem I have run into to get kaffeine to play wmv files is that when I, as root,
urmpi win32-codecs
I get "no package named win32-codecs"

I am a newbie,run mandriva 2006 powerpack x86_64 dualcore AMD
I can get kaffeine to play dvd's but that is it....any help is greatly appreciated and yes I hit the popular urpmi site,

-thanks,
Pup
Did you go to http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ and install those packages to update your urpmi?
 
Old 09-28-2006, 09:32 PM   #9
Pup
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dudeman,
I did go to that site, since I am in the US I picked a mirror from here to use, than just clicked to the next step and placed those lines in as root on my computer and that was it...I need to reinforce the newbie status I hold here

-pup out!
 
Old 09-28-2006, 10:21 PM   #10
dudeman41465
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Ok, here's how I got them in Fedora Core 5. It should work the same way in Mandriva Linux. Now open a command prompt window and run these commands:
Code:
wget http://www4.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/all-20060611.tar.bz2
This will download the archived codecs, when it's done it will return you to a command prompt.
Code:
su
Enter your root password and hit Enter
Code:
mkdir /usr/local/lib/codecs/
Hit Enter
Code:
mkdir /usr/lib/win32
Hit Enter
Code:
tar xvfj all-20060611.tar.bz2
Hit Enter
Code:
rm all-20060611.tar.bz2
Type 'y' and hit Enter
Code:
cp ./all-20060611/* /usr/local/lib/codecs/
Hit Enter
Code:
chmod 755 /usr/local/lib/codecs/*
Hit Enter
Code:
cp /usr/local/lib/codecs/* /usr/lib/win32/
Hit Enter
Code:
rm -rf ./all-20060611
This should install the codecs for you. Please make sure to restart any running media players you have because the codecs may not pick up until you restart them.

Edit: If any players ask where your win32 codecs are, they are in /usr/lib/win32

Last edited by dudeman41465; 09-28-2006 at 10:24 PM.
 
Old 09-29-2006, 03:16 AM   #11
karelvdm
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Mine works. Here's what I did to get my DVD's to play and I guess it sorted the wmvs' too.

1.I uninstalled all the xine files that are installed by default.
2.Go to http://cambuca.ldhs.cetuc.puc-rio.br/xine/
3.Download:
libdvdcss-1.2.8-2.network.i386.rpm
libdvdcss-devel-1.2.8-2.network.i386.rpm
libxine1-1.1.3-060831.i586.rpm
libxine1-devel-1.1.3-060831.i586.rpm
w32codec-0.52-1.i386.rpm
xine-ui-0.99.4cvs-051003.i586.rpm
"w32codec-0.52-1.i386.rpm" is believe to sort your problem, but I recommend installing all of them.
 
Old 09-29-2006, 03:16 AM   #12
karelvdm
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Mine works. Here's what I did to get my DVD's to play and I guess it sorted the wmvs' too.

1.I uninstalled all the xine files that are installed by default.
2.Go to http://cambuca.ldhs.cetuc.puc-rio.br/xine/
3.Download:
libdvdcss-1.2.8-2.network.i386.rpm
libdvdcss-devel-1.2.8-2.network.i386.rpm
libxine1-1.1.3-060831.i586.rpm
libxine1-devel-1.1.3-060831.i586.rpm
w32codec-0.52-1.i386.rpm
xine-ui-0.99.4cvs-051003.i586.rpm
"w32codec-0.52-1.i386.rpm" is believe to sort your problem, but I recommend installing all of them.
 
Old 09-29-2006, 07:44 AM   #13
Pup
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alright,I did what you said dudeman and I can play some of the wmv files...but for some it says I need the flash player or windows media player 9 now, where before nothing came up. I get the mplayer for mozilla plugin showing on some but not others, I was hoping to use kaffeine player for all of this, and on another video it told me my javascript might be turned off(where is that)....

-pup

by the way, thanks for spelling it out for the console in your previous post
 
Old 09-29-2006, 08:39 AM   #14
dudeman41465
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A lot of movie websites now hide the actual videos with a flash applet that plays it so you can't just right click it and save it. That could be where the issue is coming from about flash. If Firefox didn't automatically come up with a little "Missing Plugins" warning and install Flash for you, you can get it and instructions for installing it here. If a website tells you that you need Windows Media Player 9, it's because they "assume" that anybody capable of watching windows media files is running Windows Media Player. You can use Kaffeine for this, I'm not sure how to do it after you've installed MPlayer, but try just un-installing MPlayer, and the options should be in Kaffeine to configure the mozilla plugin. You may also want to make sure you have java installed. There are easy to follow instructions on downloading and installing java at www.java.com . Doing that might solve some of your "javascript" errors. I know javascript doesn't require java, but some websites use java applets and I'm thinking that maybe they are talking about the fact that you have to install java to view those applets, and not necessarily javascript the page language.
 
Old 09-29-2006, 10:19 AM   #15
Pup
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went to those sites...downloaded verbatim the java, went to test the java as the site said to, but according to the site, it failed. the flash player was downloaded, unpacked, ran ./flashplayer-installer...and response was
"your architecture, \'86_64"\ is not supported by the macromedia flash player installer"

i'm at a loss
 
  


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