How do I compile(install) Mplayer
 

I, as is obvious, am a n00b! I would like to install mplayer to play my DVD's! I have SuSe 8.0 installed. what do I need to do to install mplayer? I DL'd it and it is saved as a bz2 file. Please lemme know what to do! Thanx

uncompress it (bunzip2)

bzip2

Compress and decompress files
Syntax:

Compress and decompress files:

bzip2 [options] [files...]

Decompress files:

bunzip2 [options] [files...]

Decompress files to standard output:

bz2cat [options] [files...]

Options:

-1 ... -9
Set the blocksize to 100k ... 900k. -c
Send output to standard output. -d
Force decompression. -f
Force the utility to overwrite existing output files. -h
Display a help message. -k
Keep (i.e. don't delete) input files. --repetitive-best
Compress repetitive blocks better. --repetitive-fast
Compress repetitive blocks faster. -s
(Small) use less memory (at most 2500K). -t
Test the integrity of the compressed file. -v
Verbose output; a second v makes the utility more verbose. -z
Force compression.
Description:

This utility compresses and decompresses files:

* If invoked as bzip2, the default action is to compress.
* As bunzip2, the default action is to decompress.
* As bz2cat, the default action is to decompress to stdout.

If no file names are given, bzip2 compresses or decompresses from standard input to standard output.
See also:

also open a terminal and type: "man bunzip2" to read the man page

it should generate a readme that will explaine the rest of the installation.
Ive never installed it so im not sure if it includes one or not.

Also if you are useing RH or Drake you can probly get the RPM rather than useing a bzip file.

Heh~Hate to sound like a moron but I have no clue what that all means! Grr this is so much tougher to learn than I had thought it would be! When I click on the bz2 file it opens up ARK and shows me all the files zipped inside. I just dont know what to do with it! Sry and Thanx all!

the command for unzipping your file would be "bunzip2 (your bzip file)" you should not need any other modifiers.

unless of course it is a .tar.bzip2.
after you unzip it you then must untar it (tar tvf (your file))

please include the entire file name so folks can give you compleate help.

OK~So I unzipped it and it is a folder on my desktop! Now I have to build it right? how is that done?

ahh yes~it is a tar.bz2 file! heh Sorry didn't know that meant anything! :(

you ought to have a readme file to guide you thrugh the compile.
If you do not the info is here.



When you are downloading from an FTP server, you'll probably also come across "tar.gz" files. These files contain the source codes for the same programs RPM files contain. To unpack, compile and install tar.gz's (Tarballs) do the following:

# cp /home/user/downloads/newsoftware.tar.gz /usr/src/ [ENTER]
# cd /usr/src/ [ENTER]
# tar -zxvf newsoftware.tar.gz [ENTER]
# cd newsoftware [ENTER]
# less README [ENTER]
...
# less INSTALL [ENTER]

These readme and install files contain clues on how to install and compile,
but usually this does it:

# ./configure [ENTER]
# make [ENTER]
# make install [ENTER]

OK~I am starting to understand except one thing! I have a bz2 file not a gz file. when I try to tar like U said I get the error

gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors


I sorry I so dumb at this! Thanx man for all the help!

you ought to have a new file with a .tar extension.
that is the one you need to untar.

Sorry I forgot to say it earlyer.

at this time you ought to have " MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar"

so your command would be "tar tvf MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar"

OK man~I thank U for all the help but I still am lost I guess! So I have this file downloaded: /home/natesch/documents//MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar.bz2

SO what do I do with that file! If I click on it ARK opens and it shows all the files zipped in! I am so confused but thank U again for all the help!

step 1

"bunzip2 MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar.bz2"

this will give you: MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar

step 2

"tar tvf MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar"

this will untar the program

step 3
read the readme files.

step 4
if the readme doesnt include a install read me.

usually this does it:

# ./configure [ENTER]
# make [ENTER]
# make install [ENTER]

I just did all this on the same file you are useing and it worked out fine for me.

Im sorry I forgot to tell you to extract the freeking files

this is the command (i was typeing this in my terminal and installing the file without thinking about it and telling you the wrong thing to type here) sorry about that. You can credit it to old age ;)


"tar xvf MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar"

Then you CD to the new directory and compile the program

damn i feel stupid now. this is a good example of useing a command for to long and posting off the top of your head. If i had looked in my books we could have had this done an hour ago. Sorry again for waisting your time.

so to fix my error:

step 1

"bunzip2 MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar.bz2"

this will give you: MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar

step 2

"tar xvf MPlayer-0.90pre3.tar"

this will untar the program

step 3
cd to the new file/directory
read the readme files.

step 4
if the readme doesnt include a install read me.

usually this does it:

# ./configure [ENTER]
# make [ENTER]
# make install [ENTER]

I just did all this on the same file you are useing and it worked out fine for me.

mplayer is a cunky bit of software with lots of options, its a very very very very (add some more verys) good idea to:

(a) Read the manual before compiling
(b) Examing the output of ./configure very carefully

The manual can be found in the ./DOCS/ subdirectory.