Immediately after installing Fedora 7 on desktop computers you would want to play MP3, MPEG, AVI, FLV and other multimedia files. By default the codecs necessary to play these files are not installed. After installing Fedora 7 you will need to perform these steps to be able to play video and music in popular file formats like MP3 and MPEG.
A codec is a device or program capable of performing encoding and decoding on a digital data stream or signal. MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, an audio encoding format, is more commonly referred to as MP3. MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 are used for Video CDs and also for online video.
If you are able to hear sounds from the computer after installing Fedora 7 you are just a few steps away to be able to play MP3 and MPEG files.
1. Testing whether the soundcard is detected and configured properly:
The /usr/share/sounds/ directory contains several sound files. We can make use of them to test if sound is already working.
Open the terminal and type this command:
$ play /usr/share/sounds/startup3.wav
If you hear sounds it is confirmed that your soundcard is detected and configured properly. You may want to check if volume control is set to high. When you enter the above command you will see the output in the terminal like below:
Input File : '/usr/share/sounds/startup3.wav'
Sample Size : 16-bit (2 bytes)
Sample Encoding: signed (2's complement)
Channels : 2
Sample Rate : 44100
Time: 00:02.50 [00:00.00] of 00:02.50 ( 100.0%) Output Buffer: 120.08K
Done.
2. Enabling Livna repository:
rpm.livna.org provides many useful packages that can not be distributed in Fedora, probably for licensing issues.
Switch to root using su - command in the terminal. Type the below in the terminal as root to enable to Livna repository
#rpm -ivh
http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-7.rpm
Alternatively you you download the RPM file from
http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-7.rpm and then install it.
3. Next step is to install the codecs needed to play various multimedia file formats. In the terminal type:
# yum install gstreamer-plugins-ugly
This will resolve the dependencies and list the packages that needs to be installed, removed or updated. It will ask for your confirmation to proceed further. Read and message on the screen and choose yes. Once the files are downloaded it will ask for your confirmation before importing GPG key from Livna. Choose yes. You will receive a message like below:
Installed: gstreamer-plugins-ugly.i386 0:0.10.5-2.lvn7
Dependency Installed: a52dec.i386 0:0.7.4-10.lvn6 lame-libs.i386 0:3.97-4.lvn7 libdvdread.i386 0:0.9.7-2.fc7 libid3tag.i386 0:0.15.1b-3.fc6 libmad.i386 0:0.15.1b-4.lvn6 libsidplay.i386 0:1.36.57-12.fc7 mpeg2dec.i386 0:0.4.1-2.lvn6
Complete!
Now you should be able to play MP3s using a player like Rhythmbox.
Note: If you receive a message that yum cannot be run, you will need to end the yum-updatesd process. Use the command
#killall yum-updatesd
to kill the already running Yum process. By default Package Manager will be running in the system which uses yum-updatesd. Two instances of
yum-updatesd are not allowed to run at the same time.
4. To remove totem, totem-mozplugin totem-plparser which are already installed in the system by default. These packages are unable to play MP3 or MPEG files. Here's the command you need to type in the terminal
# yum remove totem totem-mozplugin totem-plparser
This will resolve the dependencies and list the packages that needs to be installed, removed or updated. It will ask for your confirmation to proceed further. Read and message on the screen and choose yes. Pretty much the same what you did with yum install gstreamer-plugins-ugly command.
5. The last step is to install the correct audio and video players and codecs that play MP3 and MPEG files. Just one command is remaining:
# yum install totem-xine totem-xine-mozplugin totem-xine-plparser libdvdcss libdvdnav libdvdplay xine-lib-extras-nonfree rhythmbox.i386 0:0.10.0-8.fc7
Those are the steps you need to perform and you should be all set. Use Rhythmbox to play audio files. Use Totem(Movie Player) to play video files.
Feel free to ask questions/post comments if you run into any problems with the above steps. I will be glad to assist you.
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