MPlayer codecs

SaintsOfTheDiamond · 05-07-2006, 12:19 AM

I can't seem to get any codecs to work for MPlayer other than the ones that come with the default install. I've read the MPlayer website documentation and I think I've done it like I'm supposed to but I still can't get it to play *.wmv files.

I unpacked the "essential" codecs pack from the MPlayer site into my /usr/local/lib/codecs directory then reinstalled MPlayer after it didn't work initially. *.wmv files are the only ones I'm really worried about playing right now, and nothing I try seems to be working.

Bruce Hill · 05-07-2006, 12:53 AM

Did you try creating and installing them in /usr/lib/win32/ ???

newio · 05-07-2006, 01:19 AM

i had the same problems, i ended up using the below package, worked a treat! (use rpm2tgz to convert to slackware package, then use installpkg)

http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourcef...-2.noarch.html

edong23 · 05-07-2006, 03:27 AM

you have to put where it is in your config options. ./configure --help will help. then recompile (from source) Mplayers codecs are compiled into the program. they dont even have to exist on the system once the compile is done. xine will look where you tell it to for the codec... but mplayer just uses what is compiled into it. xine is better anyway. just point xines codec directory to the one where you put the essential codec pack... and viola. also, you guys check out www.slackages.com for some pretty good slackware packages.. including a well done mplayer package. i am just so mad at mplayer.. there is nothing it can do that xine cant.

edong23 · 05-07-2006, 03:29 AM

it is kinda a pain in the butt if you havent compiled it by hand yet. my mplayer ./configure command is about a paragraph long to give support for everything i want. but it works and you have to hold on to the source dir... so you can recompile.. i hate it.

SaintsOfTheDiamond · 05-07-2006, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edong23

you have to put where it is in your config options. ./configure --help will help. then recompile (from source) Mplayers codecs are compiled into the program. they dont even have to exist on the system once the compile is done. xine will look where you tell it to for the codec... but mplayer just uses what is compiled into it. xine is better anyway. just point xines codec directory to the one where you put the essential codec pack... and viola. also, you guys check out www.slackages.com for some pretty good slackware packages.. including a well done mplayer package. i am just so mad at mplayer.. there is nothing it can do that xine cant.

Ah ... OK. I think that was my problem. All the documentation I found made it seem like all I had to to was unpack the codecs into the specified directory and I would be good to go.

I'll take a look at the ./configure --help and see what I come up with.

SaintsOfTheDiamond · 05-07-2006, 09:59 AM

I just reinstalled MPlayer with:

Code:

./configure --with-codecsdir=/usr/local/lib/codecs     # Where I unpacked the codecs
make
make install                                           # As root

and it still won't open any of the *.wmv files I have.

Do I need to completely uninstall MPlayer first? (And if so ... how do I do that?

)

liquidtenmilion · 05-07-2006, 10:06 AM

You shouldn't have to pass where your codecs are in mplayer during configure.(Or at least i have never done that, but i use CVS)

According to my package, i have all my win32 codecs installed in /usr/lib/codecs. (Doing an ls /usr/lib/codecs/ should show many files, not just a folder) and then i have a symlink /usr/lib/win32 to /usr/lib/codecs.

From there once you do ./configure mplayer should just automatically detect them.

EDIT: My only options in configure were --prefix=/usr and i enabled support for large files.

Xian · 05-07-2006, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaintsOfTheDiamond

Do I need to completely uninstall MPlayer first? (And if so ... how do I do that?

)

From the source directory you can just issue:

# make uninstall
# make clean

You may want to look at some established examples of configuration methods that are used with mplayer. There is not a single way that will work for every environment, but it is often helpful to select what is right for your needs. I also agree with some of the previous comments, and would encourgage you to think about using a xine based player as they are just as functional and _much_ easier to install and configure.

Mplayer PKGBUILD
Mplayer PKGFILES

Xian · 05-07-2006, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by liquidtenmilion

You shouldn't have to pass where your codecs are in mplayer during configure.(Or at least i have never done that, but i use CVS)

I've not worked with the CVS version, but a recent CVS mplayer build I saw at that worked well included the options listed below. Naturally, there are a number that may not be required for a user's specific environment, but this will give a general idea of what someone who is using a typical KDE desktop (and Xorg7) might want to include. Really, the variations are endless.

Code:

./configure --prefix=/usr --enable-gui --disable-arts --disable-smb \
    --enable-sdl --enable-x11 --enable-theora --confdir=/etc/mplayer \
    --with-win32libdir=/usr/lib/win32 --enable-external-faad --enable-menu \
    --enable-tv-v4l --enable-tv-v4l2 --disable-liblzo --enable-largefiles \
    --disable-libdv --disable-aa --enable-xvid --disable-divx4linux

liquidtenmilion · 05-07-2006, 11:01 AM

All of those options are autodetected though, and setting them explicitly will sometimes cause build errors.

All i ever do is

./configure --prefix=/usr --enable-largefiles --enable-xmms
make
make install

And my mplayer has support for pretty much every single thing mplayer can support.

Franklin · 05-07-2006, 11:33 AM

Apps look for the codecs in one of 4 places depending on the compile options.

/usr/lib/codecs
/usr/lib/win32
/usr/local/lib/codes
/usr/local/lib/win32

Extract the zip file. Rename the resulting folder, "windows-all-20050412", to "codecs" and "win32" and paste this folder (as root) in the locations specified above. This will place the codecs where any application will be looking for them regardless of how that application was compiled. This has been my routine for a long time and my codecs are allways found by xine, gxine, mplayer etc. Symlinks would likely work as well, but old habits die hard.

HTH

Xian · 05-07-2006, 12:28 PM

Well, let's just refer to the facts before all heck breaks loose.

Codecs in Mplayer: Documentation for Installing Codecs
Installing Mplayer: Documentation for Build Options

Excerpt:

"MPlayer can be adapted to all kinds of needs and hardware environments. Run

./configure

to configure MPlayer with the default options. The codecs you installed above
should be autodetected. GUI support has to be enabled separately, run

./configure --enable-gui

if you want to use the GUI.

If something does not work as expected, try

./configure --help

to see the available options and select what you need.

The configure script prints a summary of enabled and disabled options. If you
have something installed that configure fails to detect, check the file
configure.log for errors and reasons for the failure. Repeat this step until
you are satisfied with the enabled feature set.

Unpack the codecs archives and put the contents in a directory where MPlayer
will find them. The default directory is /usr/local/lib/codecs/ (it used to be
/usr/local/lib/win32 in the past, this also works) but you can change that to
something else by using the '--with-codecsdir=DIR' option when you run
'./configure'."

SaintsOfTheDiamond · 05-10-2006, 05:11 PM

I decided to try xine out and I've now got it working to where I can play pretty much any file I want (*.wmv, *mpg, *.mov, etc). What I need help on now is getting it to work with Firefox so I can watch games on MLB.tv.

I downloaded and tried to install gxine, but when I run ./configure I get:

Code:

./configure
...
...
...
checking for JS... Package mozilla-js was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `mozilla-js.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'mozilla-js' found
no
configure: trying mozjs via pkgconfig firefox-js
checking for JS... Package firefox-js was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `firefox-js.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'firefox-js' found
no
configure: trying mozjs, includes in /usr/include/mozilla/js
checking for mozilla/js/jsapi.h... no
configure: trying mozjs, includes in /usr/include/firefox/js
checking for firefox/js/jsapi.h... no
configure: error: libjs not found

I also was reading the Mozilla site trying to get other plugins to work and I could never find the mozilla components directory they're talking about. I can copy all the files to my ~/.mozilla/plugins directory, but there are other files (for Flash and RealPlayer) it says I need to copy to the mozilla components directory.

edong23 · 05-10-2006, 11:01 PM

gxine will install a plugin for you no problem. like i said, mplayer is an awesome media player... but is a pain in the butt for normal use, it really comes in handy when you have it embedded in an small minimalistic xserver, cause the codecs and options are compiled into it. for typical desktop use, i never use it. i have built a couple of lcd tvs with linux and some old laptops, and i used mplayer on there.. works great, but too much trouble for me to change codecs then rebuild mplayer... i mess with codecs alot. mplayer will do anything xine will, just not near as easy. gxine is another front end for xine. needs some gnome components i believe. there is the mplayerplug-in, but i believe you have to get mplayer itself to play the files first.

http://mplayerplug-in.sourceforge.net/