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ubuntu-freak
April 25th, 2008, 03:01 PM
THIS TUTORIAL IS OUTDATED/ABANDONED AND INCLUDES REFERENCES TO REPOSITORIES THAT NO LONGER EXIST

EDITED ON 10TH DECEMBER, 2011



--NEW VERSION--


This howto was previously laid out in sections, but now I'm gonna keep it short and sweet. I've left the old howto below as it may still be useful.

First of all, if you haven't already added the Medibuntu repo to your list of sources and enabled the Partner repo, copy and paste the following command into a terminal and execute it:


sudo -E wget --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list && sudo sed -i "/^# deb .*partner/ s/^# //" /etc/apt/sources.list && sudo apt-get --quiet update && sudo apt-get -y --force-yes --quiet --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring app-install-data-medibuntu apport-hooks-medibuntu && sudo apt-get update

Note: Repeat the above command after upgrading from one Ubuntu version to another, or use a package manager to view and re-enable any software sources that were deactivated during the system upgrade. This includes any PPAs or other repos you added for specific third-party software. Edit and update the Ubuntu version in the repo's address if required as well.

Next, add the Getdeb repo by installing the package from this page (http://www.getdeb.net/updates#how_to_install). You might also want to add the Playdeb repo (http://www.playdeb.net/updates#how_to_install) if you're into gaming.

Once you've got the Medibuntu, Partner and Getdeb repos all set up and ready to use, copy and paste one of the following commands into a terminal, then review (edit if you wish) and execute it:

Ubuntu Users


sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras non-free-codecs p7zip-rar acroread gimp inkscape blender smplayer vlc libdvdcss2 libdvdread4 faac faad audacious rubyripper cd-discid aacplusenc gtkpod lame cdrdao aacgain flac mp3gain normalize-audio vorbisgain arista soundconverter gnome-sushi exfalso winff devede openshot audacity cheese synaptic gconf-editor lsb-core

Xubuntu Users


sudo apt-get install xubuntu-restricted-extras non-free-codecs p7zip-rar acroread gimp inkscape blender smplayer vlc libdvdcss2 libdvdread4 faac faad audacious rubyripper cd-discid aacplusenc gtkpod lame cdrdao aacgain normalize-audio vorbisgain arista soundconverter exfalso winff devede openshot audacity cheese synaptic gconf-editor lsb-core

Kubuntu Users


sudo apt-get install kubuntu-restricted-extras non-free-codecs p7zip-rar acroread gimp inkscape blender smplayer vlc libdvdcss2 libdvdread4 faac faad audacious rubyripper cd-discid aacplusenc gtkpod lame cdrdao aacgain normalize-audio vorbisgain arista soundkonverter exfalso winff devede openshot audacity lsb-core

Lubuntu Users


sudo apt-get install lubuntu-restricted-extras non-free-codecs p7zip-rar acroread gimp inkscape blender smplayer vlc libdvdcss2 libdvdread4 faac faad rubyripper cd-discid aacplusenc gtkpod lame cdrdao aacgain normalize-audio vorbisgain arista soundconverter exfalso winff devede openshot audacity chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra gconf-editor lsb-core

Accept or reject any EULAs using the tab and enter keys. Once everything is installed, launch WinFF and then close it. Execute the following command to unrestrict WinFF and keep the presets updated/valid:


mv ~/.winff/presets.xml ~/.winff/presets-old.xml && sudo ln -s /usr/share/winff/presets-orig.xml ~/.winff/presets.xml

You now have pretty much everything you need for encoding, decoding, converting, creating, drawing, etc. The old howto below may have information still helpful, but don't feel obliged to change something like the default browser plugin, or default DVD player unless you really have a need to.

Reboot your system.

Note: Preview files and folders in Nautilus with gnome-sushi by selecting them and pressing the space bar. If you'd like to know more about any other of the packages you've just installed, either search for them in the Software Centre (which contains reviews and often tips) or perform an internet search instead.



--OLD VERSION--



SECTIONS


--PART 1/5, ESSENTIAL PACKAGES--
--PART 2/5, AUDIO & VIDEO STREAMING--
--PART 3/5, AUDIO & VIDEO CONVERSION--
--PART 4/5, DVD PLAYBACK/RIPPING/BURNING--
--PART 5/5, MISCELLANEOUS & TROUBLESHOOTING--



INTRODUCTION


Reason for Howto: This howto was written to help those who struggle to get streaming media, java, DVD playback (and so on) to work properly and those who are having general multimedia issues. Please keep in mind, however, that Ubuntu has a helpful feature, where if you click on a certain file, or try to view Flash videos, a dialog should pop-up and ask if you want to install proprietary packages that are neccessary to play those formats. This howto is for users who are still having issues, or simply want as many different formats working as possible with just a few commands.

Please Note: Part 1 of this howto will be sufficient for some of you, so have a check after completing that section to see if you need more of my non-default recommenations. Also, you may notice a reaccurance of certain packages in different parts of this howto (Audio & Video Conversion for example), but don't worry, this is just to make certain that you have the necessary packages installed to enable whichever feature you're looking to have available to you on your system. Anything you already have installed will be skipped, it will not cause any problems.



--PART 1/5, ESSENTIAL PACKAGES--


PREPARATION


IMPORTANT: If you haven't already, you need to enable the Medibuntu (http://www.medibuntu.org/) repository. The first command below is compatible with any version of Ubuntu, but the manual instructions are aimed at Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala users, so if you are using a different version of Ubuntu, you will have to edit the sources accordingly. If you do have to edit the sources, you can do so by changing the word "karmic" to whatever version of Ubuntu you are running.

Quick Method: Open the terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal or KMenu > System > Terminal Program (Konsole) in Kubuntu and Applications > System > Terminal in Xubuntu) and paste the following command into it:


sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/`lsb_release -cs`.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list; sudo apt-get -q update; sudo apt-get --yes -q --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring; sudo apt-get -q update

Manual Method: If the above method didn't work, and you received an error, you will have to add the repository manually, which is actually quite easy. First of all, open the sources file with your default or favourite text editor (replace "gedit" with "kwrite" in Kubuntu and "mousepad" in Xubuntu):


gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following two lines to the bottom of the list, remembering to change the Ubuntu version accordingly:


deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ karmic free non-free
deb-src http://packages.medibuntu.org/ karmic free non-free

Finally, close and save the sources file and install the Medibuntu key by copying and pasting the following command into the terminal:


wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

Ubuntu Users: It's also a good idea to make sure the Multiverse and Universe repositories are enabled, although they should be enabled by default in the latest versions of Ubuntu. To make sure they are, or to choose a local server for downloads, navigate to "System > Administration > Software Sources" and tick whichever sources you wish to use, perhaps including unofficial updates (backports) in the "Updates" tab, as that will enable you to receive newer versions of some applications. While you're there, you can also untick the CD/DVD-ROM source and choose a local server (both now default in current releases) instead of using the main server. There are two good reasons for this - first of all, you will be giving the main server a break because you're using a local mirror, and secondly, it will improve download speeds when updating the system, or when installing software and packages.

Kubuntu Users: To enable Multiverse and Universe in Kubuntu, navigate to "KMenu > System > Adept" and launch it. On the menu of that application, navigate to "Adept > Manage Repositories" and enable the Multiverse and Universe repositories in the first tab. You might also want to enable unsupported (backports of newer software) updates in the "Updates" tab, disable the CD/DVD-ROM source, and choose a local server for all system-related downloads.

Xubuntu Users: Navigate to "Applications > System > Software Properties" and make sure the Multiverse and Universe repositories are enabled by ticking the relevant boxes. As with Ubuntu and Kubuntu, you may want to enable unsupported (backports of newer software) updates for your system, disable the CD/DVD-ROM source, and choose a local server for all your system-related downloads.



UBUNTU FAMILY 8.04 HARDY HERON USERS ONLY


A quick and easy way to install most of the packages you need (Flash, Java, codecs for playing/ripping/converting music and video etc) is to use the command line. If you would rather use a graphical application with descriptions of packages, you can either use Add/Remove, Synaptic in Ubuntu and Xubuntu ("System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager" in Ubuntu and "Applications > System > Synaptic Package Manager" in Xubuntu), and Adept in Kubuntu ("KMenu > System > Adept"). For the sake of speed, I suggest using the terminal for most of this howto. Open up the terminal, then copy and paste the relevant command for your particular Ubuntu variant and architecture into it:

Note: Those of you installing Sun Java will be asked to accept an end-user license agreement (EULA) before the installation of the Sun Java packages begins. Press the tab key on your keyboard (above the caps lock key), followed by the enter key to accept the EULA and complete the installation.

32-Bit Ubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common icedtea-gcjwebplugin libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash openjdk-6-jre openjdk-6-jre-headless openjdk-6-jre-lib swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-pitfdll liblame0 non-free-codecs sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar

32-Bit Kubunu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common icedtea-gcjwebplugin libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash openjdk-6-jre openjdk-6-jre-headless openjdk-6-jre-lib swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree libk3b2-extracodecs liblame0 libtunepimp5-mp3 libxine1-ffmpeg non-free-codecs sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar

32-Bit Xubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common icedtea-gcjwebplugin libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash openjdk-6-jre openjdk-6-jre-headless openjdk-6-jre-lib swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree liblame0 libxine1-ffmpeg non-free-codecs sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar

64-Bit Ubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse ia32-libs ia32-sun-java6-bin icedtea-gcjwebplugin liblame0 non-free-codecs openjdk-6-jre unrar

64-Bit Kubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree ia32-libs ia32-sun-java6-bin icedtea-gcjwebplugin libk3b2-extracodecs liblame0 libtunepimp5-mp3 libxine1-ffmpeg non-free-codecs openjdk-6-jre unrar

64-Bit Xubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree ia32-libs ia32-sun-java6-bin icedtea-gcjwebplugin liblame0 libxine1-ffmpeg non-free-codecs openjdk-6-jre unrar

Note: Please refer to the errors section below if you're having installation problems with the packages above, or the troubleshooting section at the end of this howto if it's a performance-related problem that you're experiencing.



DID YOU HAVE ERRORS?


Note: You may have to perform "sudo apt-get update" twice after recovering from any of the errors below.

COMMON ERRORS

If you had errors while trying to do the above, one of these following commands may help. Did the terminal tell you to run "dpkg --configure -a"? All you have to do is add "sudo" to the front of that command, like so:


sudo dpkg --configure -a

or if it was the install -f command:


sudo apt-get install -f

Then make sure your system is up to date:


sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

NON-EXISTANT PACKAGES

Do you keep getting messages that certain packages don't exist and can't be installed? First of all, make sure you have enabled the Medibuntu, Universe and Multiverse repositories. If you're certain that you have the necessary repositories enabled, then you may have a currupt apt list due to an interrupted "apt-get update", which would then make the package manager think certain packages don't exist on the server. Execute both of these commands in the terminal:


sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/*


sudo apt-get update

NEWLINE ERROR/PACKAGE ERROR

An error which can prevent ANY system update/upgrade or package installation is the troublesome "final newline error", but there are also other errors and curruptions which can prevent upgrades and installations. If you notice the same package or application being mentioned when you're trying to upgrade or install something completely unrelated to it, take a note of which package the error is referring to, copy and paste the command below into the terminal, replace the "filename*" example with the name of the package that's giving you grief, then execute the edited command to remove the currupt file(s):


sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/filename*


sudo apt-get update

This doesn't mean the package has been removed, just the pre/post-install scripts, md5sums, and file lists related to it. You should reinstall the package - even if you plan to remove it, as those deleted and currupted files related to it will be replaced with non-currupted ones.

FORBIDDEN 403 ERROR

Those of you receiving the "Forbidden 403" error should change your sources from "http" to "ftp". You can change it by opening the sources file with your default or favourite text editor (substitute "gedit" for "kwrite" in Kubuntu and "mousepad" in Xubuntu) from within the terminal:


gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Change all instances of "http" to "ftp", then close and save the changes made. You should now be able to update the list of available packages:


sudo apt-get update

Once your errors are fixed, try repeating the command to install the restricted packages for your particular Ubuntu variant.



...INSTALLATION CONTINUED


PRE-UBUNTU FAMILY 8.04 HARDY HERON USERS ONLY


A quick and easy way to install most of the packages you need (Flash, Java, codecs for playing/ripping/converting music and video etc) is to use the command line. If you would rather use a graphical application with descriptions of packages, you can either use Add/Remove, Synaptic in Ubuntu and Xubuntu ("System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager" in Ubuntu and "Applications > System > Synaptic Package Manager" in Xubuntu), and Adept in Kubuntu ("KMenu > System > Adept"). For the sake of speed, I suggest using the terminal for most of this howto. Open up the terminal, then copy and paste the relevant command for your particular Ubuntu variant and architecture into it:

Note: Those of you installing Sun Java will be asked to accept an end-user license agreement (EULA) before the installation of the Sun Java packages begins. Press the tab key on your keyboard (above the caps lock key), followed by the enter key to accept the EULA and complete the installation.

32-Bit Ubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-pitfdll liblame0 non-free-codecs sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar

32-Bit Kubunu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree libk3b2-mp3 liblame0 libtunepimp5-mp3 libxine1-ffmpeg non-free-codecs sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar

32-Bit Xubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree liblame0 libxine1-ffmpeg non-free-codecs sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar

64-Bit Ubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree faad gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse ia32-libs ia32-sun-java6-bin icedtea-java7-jre icedtea-java7-plugin liblame0 non-free-codecs unrar

64-Bit Kubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree ia32-libs ia32-sun-java6-bin icedtea-java7-jre icedtea-java7-plugin libk3b2-mp3 liblame0 libtunepimp5-mp3 libxine1-ffmpeg non-free-codecs unrar

64-Bit Xubuntu Users


sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree ia32-libs ia32-sun-java6-bin icedtea-java7-jre icedtea-java7-plugin liblame0 libxine1-ffmpeg non-free-codecs unrar

Note: Please refer to the errors section below if you're having installation problems with the packages above, or the troubleshooting section at the end of this howto if it's a performance-related problem that you're experiencing.



DID YOU HAVE ERRORS?


Note: You may have to perform "sudo apt-get update" twice after recovering from any of the errors below.

COMMON ERRORS

If you had errors while trying to do the above, one of these following commands may help. Did the terminal tell you to run "dpkg --configure -a"? All you have to do is add "sudo" to the front of that command, like so:


sudo dpkg --configure -a

or if it was the install -f command:


sudo apt-get install -f

Then make sure your system is up to date:


sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

NON-EXISTANT PACKAGES

Do you keep getting messages that certain packages don't exist and can't be installed? First of all, make sure you have enabled the Medibuntu, Universe and Multiverse repositories. If you're certain that you have the necessary repositories enabled, then you may have a currupt apt list due to an interrupted "apt-get update", which would then make the package manager think certain packages don't exist on the server. Execute both of these commands in the terminal:


sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/*


sudo apt-get update

NEWLINE ERROR/PACKAGE ERROR

An error which can prevent ANY system update/upgrade or package installation is the troublesome "final newline error", but there are also other errors and curruptions which can prevent upgrades and installations. If you notice the same package or application being mentioned when you're trying to upgrade or install something completely unrelated to it, take a note of which package the error is referring to, copy and paste the command below into the terminal, replace the "filename*" example with the name of the package that's giving you grief, then execute the edited command to remove the currupt file(s):


sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/filename*


sudo apt-get update

This doesn't mean the package has been removed, just the pre/post-install scripts, md5sums, and file lists related to it. You should reinstall the package - even if you plan to remove it, as those deleted and currupted files related to it will be replaced with non-currupted ones.

FORBIDDEN 403 ERROR

Those of you receiving the "Forbidden 403" error should change your sources from "http" to "ftp". You can change it by opening the sources file with the default text editor (substitute "gedit" for "kwrite" in Kubuntu and "mousepad" in Xubuntu) from within the terminal:


gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Change all instances of "http" to "ftp", then close and save the changes made. You should now be able to update the list of available packages:


sudo apt-get update

Once your errors are fixed, try repeating the command to install the restricted packages for your particular Ubuntu variant.



--PART 2/5, AUDIO & VIDEO STREAMING--


OPTION 1, GECKO MEDIA PLAYER


Gecko Media Player is similar to mplayerplug-in, as it uses GNOME MPlayer to play virtually all formats, but works well without the need for adding any configuration options. Installation and setup is simple, just copy and paste the following commands into the terminal:


sudo apt-get remove kaffeine-mozilla mozilla-helix-player mozilla-mplayer mozilla-plugin-vlc totem-mozilla xine-plugin


sudo apt-get install gnome-mplayer gecko-mediaplayer

or if you're running Kubuntu, you might want the KDE front-end for MPlayer/Xine:


sudo apt-get install kmplayer gecko-mediaplayer

Restart your web browser and test the plug-in here (http://www.apple.com/trailers/). If you have problems viewing the trailers, please refer to the troubleshooting section.

Note: Please REBOOT if you are not carrying on with the rest of the howto, as you have made lot's of changes to your system and could have some strange problems until you start a fresh session. If you still have problems after rebooting, please read the troubleshooting section at the bottom.



OPTION 2, MPLAYERPLUG-IN


This plug-in will stream virtually all media formats, both audio and video, and is the best solution for older versions of Ubuntu. First of all, copy and paste the following commands into the terminal:


sudo apt-get remove kaffeine-mozilla mozilla-helix-player mozilla-plugin-vlc totem-mozilla xine-plugin


sudo apt-get install mplayer mozilla-mplayer

or if you're running Kubuntu, you might want the KDE front-end for MPlayer/Xine:


sudo apt-get install kmplayer mozilla-mplayer

Please Note: New users of Ubuntu or MPlayer should open the main MPlayer application after installing it for the first time, this will then cause it to create it's default folder in your home directory. Also, please navigate to "Preferences > Audio" in MPlayer, and make sure the "Enable Software Mixer" option is ticked.

Next, copy and paste either of these commands into the terminal:


gedit $HOME/.mplayer/mplayerplug-in.conf

or if you have multiple users and want them all to use this method for streaming:


gksudo gedit /etc/mplayerplug-in.conf

If you chose to edit the "/etc/" file, please remove the settings already present, and make sure that the "$HOME" version is blank or deleted in all user accounts. Now you need to paste the following settings into the configuraton file:


download=1
cachesize=1024
cache-percent=25
keep-download=0
dload-dir=$HOME
noembed=0
autoplay=1
enable-wmp=1
enable-qt=1
enable-rm=1
enable-gmp=1
enable-dvx=1
enable-mpeg=1
enable-mp3=1
enable-midi=0
enable-pls=1
enable-ogg=1
enable-smil=1
enable-helix=1
nomediacache=0
nopauseonhide=1
black-background=1
rtsp-use-http=0
rtsp-use-tcp=0

Close and save the file, then restart your web browser.

Note: Firefox 2x users may need to execute the following command in the terminal:


rm $HOME/.mozilla/firefox/pluginreg.dat

Restart Firefox. The above file has been deleted and recreated with the updated plug-in information. If the command didn't work for you, navigate to "Places > Home > View" and tick the "Show Hidden Files" option. Finally, navigate to "/.mozilla/firefox" in your home directory, then look for and delete the file named "pluginreg.dat". Restart Firefox.

Please REBOOT if you are not carrying on with the rest of the howto, as you have made lot's of changes to your system and could have some strange problems until you start a fresh session. If you still have problems after rebooting, please read the troubleshooting section at the bottom.



--PART 3/5, AUDIO & VIDEO CONVERSION--



AUDIO CONVERSION


It is not recommended to convert one group of compressed music files of a certain format to another type of compressed format. However, if you wish to do so, you can accomplish most tasks with Sound Converter, OggConvert or Sound Konverter. Some GNOME users prefer Sound Konverter, despite the fact it is a KDE application, due to it historically having better support for AAC audio, such as iTunes music files. Lastly, I've added the audio editing application Audacity to both install commands, as you may need it for some tasks.

Ubuntu/Xubuntu users who wish to install Sound Converter to see if it suits their needs should execute the following command:


sudo apt-get install soundconverter audacity oggconvert

Those of you running Kubuntu, or Ubuntu/Xubuntu users who simply prefer Sound Konverter should execute this command instead:


sudo apt-get install soundkonverter aacplusenc audacity alac-decoder cdparanoia ffmpeg flac lame vorbis-tools

If you want to try and convert a large number of iTunes m4a files, and keep as much tag information as possible, please refer to this page (http://pragmattica.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/convert-itunes-m4a-files-to-mp3-on-linux/).

Tag editing can be done in various music applications, but if you want to try a dedicated tag editor, install Ex Falso:


sudo apt-get install exfalso

You may also want to try EasyTag:


sudo apt-get install easytag easytag-aac

Kubuntu users might want to install KID3 instead:


sudo apt-get install kid3



CD RIPPING


For secure audio CD ripping, I recommend Rubyripper, as it's the best alternative to using EAC with WINE and it will ensure the rip is accurate. Install the application by going to Getdeb.net and firstly adding the Getdeb repository to your list of software sources. After that, search for Rubyripper on the site and click on the relevant link to install it. Also, please install the following packages for Rubyripper to use:


sudo apt-get install cd-discid cdrdao

Tips: If your rips take longer than you think they should, try running the CLI version of Rubyripper by entering the command "rrip-cli" into the terminal. It may sound like a pain, but using Rubyripper from the terminal is actually very easy. Also, if any disc refuses to be read properly and causes errors, eject it briefly, then go into the GUI version and disable metadata fetching in "Preferences > Freedb", just for that problem disc. After ripping it without all the useful tag info, use a tag editor to fetch the track and album information for you.

Finally, if Rubyripper reports quite a few "chunk" mismatches for a certain disc, remove the CD and give it a good clean, not forgetting the edges, then temporarily slow your optical drive down with the following command:


sudo setcd -x 2 /dev/scd0

Rebooting will return the drive to it's default speed, but repeating the command again with the default speed, if you know it, would be more ideal. It's not necessary to keep the drive slow for all CD rips, despite what you might have read elsewhere.



VIDEO CONVERSION


UBUNTU FAMILY 9.04+ USERS ONLY


To make converting, editing and extracting audio from videos easy, install the following packages:


sudo apt-get install avidemux ffmpeg winff

WinFF is probably the most user-friendly tool for converting videos and extracting audio from videos in Ubuntu. Avidemux is a popular and useful video editing application, which makes it quite simple to cut and crop videos to your liking - and much more.

Tip: When creating a video for a mobile phone in WinFF, you may need to change the file extension from ".3g2" to ".3gp" when the video is complete. To increase the audio quality of the video, click on "Options" within WinFF, and in the option labelled "Audio Bitrate", type "96000" (default is 64000, which is 64kbps). However, your phone may not play it properly with the audio at 96kbps, depends really. Test it yourself.



PRE-UBUNTU FAMILY 9.04 USERS ONLY


For video conversion and editing capabilities, you will first need to add a new repository to your software sources, as it will enable you to install the very useful WinFF, which is a GUI front-end for the command-line video conversion tool, FFmpeg. The command I want you to copy and paste for adding the actual repository is intended for Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex, so if you're using a different version of Ubuntu, you will need to edit the "intrepid" part accordingly, then move the cursor back to where it was before executing the edited command.

Copy and paste the following command into the terminal to add the new WinFF repository:


echo "deb http://winff.org/ubuntu intrepid universe" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winff.list

This second command will merely install something called a GPG Key, so will not need editing by anyone:


wget --quiet --output-document=- "http://winff.org/ubuntu/AAFE086A.gpg" | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update[/noparse]

Finally, execute the command below to install the applications needed for video conversion and editing:


sudo apt-get install avidemux ffmpeg winff

WinFF is probably the most user-friendly tool for converting videos and extracting audio from videos in Ubuntu. Avidemux is a popular and useful video editing application, which makes it quite simple to cut and crop videos to your liking, and much more.

Tip: When creating a video for a mobile phone in WinFF, you may need to change the file extension from ".3g2" to ".3gp" when the video is complete. To increase the audio quality of the video, click on "Options" within WinFF, and in the option labelled "Audio Bitrate", type "96000" (default is 64000, which is 64kbps). However, your phone may not play it properly with the audio at 96kbps, depends really. Test it yourself.



--PART 4/5, DVD PLAYBACK/RIPPING/BURNING--



DVD PLAYBACK



UBUNTU FAMILY 9.04+ USERS ONLY


Note: I recommend disabling the CD/DVD-ROM source before completing this section, as you will receive numerous prompts if you need to run the "install-css.sh" command. If you're not sure whether it's disabled or not, take a look at the preparation instructions in Part 1.

For the best DVD playback in Ubuntu, including menu support, install the following packages:


sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread4 libdvdnav4 vlc

You can also use the Xine engine in Ubuntu (the default engine in Kubuntu) for video/DVD playback. This can be done without having to change the back-end of Totem - just install an alternative GNOME front-end for Xine called Gxine (this is optional, VLC will do just fine):


sudo apt-get install gxine libxine1-ffmpeg

Now you can test a DVD with VLC, Kaffeine, Gxine or whatever your favourite media player is. Enable deinterlacing ("VLC > Video > Deinterlacing > Blend") if playback is choppy or if you notice artifacts.

Note: Those of you still having DVD playback issues after installing the above packages should try the solutions in the troubleshooting section, which you can find at the end of this howto.



PRE-UBUNTU FAMILY 9.04 USERS ONLY


Note: I recommend disabling the CD/DVD-ROM source before completing this section, as you will receive numerous prompts if you need to run the "install-css.sh" command. If you're not sure whether it's disabled or not, take a look at the preparation instructions in Part 1.

For the best DVD playback in Ubuntu, including menu support, install the following packages:


sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread3 libdvdnav4 vlc

You can also use the Xine engine in Ubuntu (the default engine in Kubuntu) for video/DVD playback. This can be done without having to change the back-end of Totem - just install an alternative GNOME front-end for Xine called Gxine (this is optional, VLC will do just fine):


sudo apt-get install gxine libxine1-ffmpeg

Now you can test a DVD with VLC, Kaffeine, Gxine or whatever your favourite media player is. Enable deinterlacing ("VLC > Video > Deinterlacing > Blend") if playback is choppy or if you notice artifacts.

Note: Those of you still having DVD playback issues after installing the above packages should try the solutions in the troubleshooting section, which you can find at the end of this howto.



DEFAULT DVD PLAYER


UBUNTU FAMILY 8.04+ USERS ONLY


To change the default DVD player to VLC (not Kubuntu, possible issues with Xubuntu), copy and paste this command into the terminal:


gksudo gedit /etc/gnome/defaults.list

Press Ctrl+f and search for "x-content/video", then change the "totem.desktop" entries to "vlc.desktop". Close and save. Next, navigate to "Places > Computer > Edit > Preferences > Media > DVD Video", and make sure VLC is selected, then test whether automatic launch and playback with VLC works for you by inserting a DVD. If playback doesn't work properly, navigate to "Video > Deinterlace" within VLC and select mode "Blend". If that still doesn't solve your issue, or you just want more features enabled upon launch (such as fullscreen upon launch), follow the intructions in the next paragraph.

Right-click on "Applications" in the top panel and select "Edit Menus" to open the default menu editor. Navigate down to "Sound & Video" in the left pane and click on it to show all those applications in the pane to the right. Scroll down the list of applications displayed until you see "VLC media player", right-click on it, then click on "Properties" in the context menu to open "Launcher Properties", and change the launch command from "wxvlc %F" to:


vlc --volume 512 %m

or to have DVD playback automatically launch in fullscreen:


vlc --volume 512 --fullscreen %m

Close the VLC properties dialog and exit the menu editor.

Note: Remember to enable deinterlacing in "VLC > Video > Deinterlace" if you see any artifacts during playback, or if playback doesn't work correctly (the same is true with some AVI files also). To exit and enter fullscreen in VLC, just press the "f" key.



PRE-UBUNTU FAMILY 8.04 USERS ONLY


To set VLC as your default DVD player in a pre-Hardy Heron (not Kubuntu) system, navigate to "System > Preferences > Removable Drives and Media > Multimedia" ("Applications > Settings > Settings Manager > Removable Drives and Media" in Xubuntu) and replace the existing “Video DVD Discs” command ("totem %m" by default in Ubuntu) with:


vlc --volume 512 %m

or to have DVD playback automatically launch in fullscreen:


vlc --volume 512 --fullscreen %m

You can now close the window as the process is now complete.

Note: Remember to enable deinterlacing in "VLC > Video > Deinterlace" if you see any artifacts during playback, or if playback doesn't work correctly (the same is true with some AVI files also). To exit and enter fullscreen in VLC, just press the "f" key.



DVD RIPPING


You can rip a standard disc image by right-clicking on the disc icon and then selecting the "Write to Disk" option in the context menu. Alternatively, you can open it with your file browser and drag the ISO image to your desktop. For more advanced options, give dvd::rip a try:


sudo apt-get install dvdrip

Kubuntu users might be interested in this application instead:


sudo apt-get install k9copy

Note: Please refer to the troubleshooting section if you are having trouble ripping and backing up foreign and/or commercial DVDs.



DVD BURNING


Basic burning of DVDs can be accomplished by right-clicking on an ISO image and then selecting the "Write to Disc" option in the context menu. If you want to author and burn DVDs for use in standard DVD players, then your best bet is to install Tovid, DeVeDe, and Avidemux. Tovid is an all-in-one video authoring suite with a GUI in early devolopement, DeVeDe is another popular DVD authoring application, and Avidemux is a very useful video editing application. Experiment with both video authoring applications to see which suits your needs the most:


sudo apt-get install avidemux devede todiscgui tovidgui

Those of you still using Gutsy should go to the Tovid Wiki (http://tovid.wikia.com/wiki/Installing_tovid/Ubuntu), download the deb file, then just double or single-click to install, or use the right-click context menu. Type your password when prompted. Also, read this guide (http://tovid.wikia.com/wiki/Using_the_tovid_GUI#Usage) on using the Tovid GUI and another guide (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=183936) on the basics of using Tovid.



--PART 5/5, MISCELLANEOUS & TROUBLESHOOTING--


VARIOUS TIPS & TRICKS


UBUNTU FAMILY 8.10+ USERS ONLY


LAPTOP TOUCHPAD

Using a laptop? If your cursor shoots off all over the place when you type and seemingly clicks on things without your consent, have no fear, you can disable it's click function while typing in a few simple steps. First of all, execute the following command in the terminal:


gksudo gedit /etc/hal/fdi/policy/shmconfig.fdi

Next, copy and paste the following text into the empty document:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
<match key="input.x11_driver" string="synaptics">
<merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">True</merge>
</match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>

Ubuntu/Xubuntu Users: Navigate to "System > Preferences > Sessions" ("Applications > Settings > Autostart Applications" in Xubuntu) and click on "Add". Name it something like "Touchpad Syndaemon", the description can be "Disables touchpad while typing", and the all important command you need is "syndaemon -i 1 -d -t -K". For it to take effect, either logout or reboot.

Kubuntu Users: Create a text document in your home directory called "syndaemon", then open it with a text editor and add the following lines to it:


#!/bin/sh

syndaemon -i 1 -d -t -K

Close and save the file, then move it to the autostart folder with:


mv syndaemon ~/.kde/Autostart

Finally, make the file an executable script with the following command:


chmod u+x ~/.kde/Autostart/syndaemon

Why isn't it enabled by default for laptop users? Well, it's insecure and accesses root areas of the system.

SCREEN RESOLUTION

To enable the correct display resolution in Ubuntu, you have several options. First of all, there is the fairly useless tool in "System > Preferences", the soon-to-be-dead (unavailable for 8.10+) displayconfig-gtk tool, and finally, RandR - the newest method. There will be a graphical front-end (GUI) for RandR soon (keep an eye out for it in "System > Administration"), but for now you will need to use the command line. Let's say you wanted to change your resolution to 1280x800, you would need to execute the following command:


sudo xrandr -s 1280x800

If that fails, bring up a list of "supported" resolutions with this command:


sudo xrandr -q

Use the first command again and set the highest resolution that RandR claims is supported. Once that is set, try setting the resolution you know is correct, as it may now accept that resolution.

If you're still having issues, and you're not running an 8.10+ version of Ubuntu, press Alt+F2 and type "gksudo displayconfig-gtk" (without "gtk" in Kubuntu), type your password and execute, then select the resolution you want from the list. Some of you may have to select a different screen/monitor in the list before you can successfully change the resolution. Reboot or logout if necessary.

Go to Launchpad (http://launchpad.com) and report a bug if you've struggled to set your screen resolution, as it should be automatically detected.



--TROUBLESHOOTING--



ADOBE FLASH PLAYER


On occasion, installing Adobe Flash Player and/or watching online Flash streams successfully isn't as simple as it might ordinarily be. If you have tried installing it already, and are having issues, read on. First of all, please disable any ad-blocking Firefox extensions you have installed, such as Adblock Plus, as they can sometimes interfere with the Flash content you actually want to see. If you are still having issues after disabling the extension(s), you should now completely purge Adobe Flash Player from your system, along with any other packages which may be interfering with it, reinstall only Adobe Flash Player, restart your web browser, and then test Flash performance again. Will both 32-bit and 64-bit users copy and paste this command into the terminal:


sudo apt-get purge adobe-flashplugin flashplugin-nonfree gnash gnash-common libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash nspluginwrapper swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

Still no joy? I would suggest following the instructions below for your particular Ubuntu version and architecture.



UBUNTU FAMILY 8.04+ USERS ONLY


Note: You can safely install the Ubuntu package (flashplugin-nonfree), or a Deb archive over the top of the Tar installation method at a later date - I've tested it several times. There's absolutely no need to remove any of the manually installed files, as they will simply be overwritten.

First of all, copy and paste the following command into the terminal and remove the package installed by Ubuntu:


sudo apt-get purge flashplugin-nonfree

32-Bit Users Only: Those of you running the 32-bit version of Ubuntu can install the Flash Player plug-in by selecting and downloading the Deb archive in the drop-down menu on this page (http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/) of Adobe's site, then executing it and entering your root password when prompted.

32/64-bit Users: Alternatively, 32-bit users can download the Tar archive from the same link (http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/) provided above and follow my instructions below. If you're a 64-bit Ubuntu user, download the Tar archive of the 64-bit Flash Player plug-in from the bottom of this page (http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10_64bit.html) to your desktop.

Once downloaded, simply open the Tar archive, look for a file named "libflashplayer.so", copy that file to your desktop, then both 32-bit and 64-bit users execute the following command in the terminal:


sudo mkdir /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree && sudo cp -f ~/Desktop/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/ && sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/libflashplayer.so /etc/alternatives/firefox-flashplugin && sudo ln -sf /etc/alternatives/firefox-flashplugin /usr/lib/firefox-addons/plugins/flashplayer-alternative.so

You may now restart your web browser and use the plugin.



PRE-UBUNTU FAMILY 8.04 USERS ONLY


Note: You can safely install the Ubuntu package (flashplugin-nonfree), or a Deb archive over the top of the Tar installation method at a later date - I've tested it several times. There's absolutely no need to remove any of the manually installed files, as they will simply be overwritten.

First of all, copy and paste the following command into the terminal and remove the package installed by Ubuntu:


sudo apt-get purge flashplugin-nonfree

Install the Flash Player plug-in manually by selecting and downloading the Tar archive in the drop-down menu on this page (http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/) of Adobe's site if you're a 32-bit Ubuntu user, and from the bottom of this page (http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html) if you're a 64-bit Ubuntu user.

Once downloaded, simply open the Tar archive, look for a file named "libflashplayer.so", copy that file to your desktop, then execute the following command in the terminal:


sudo mkdir /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree && sudo cp -f ~/Desktop/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/ && sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/libflashplayer.so

You may now restart your web browser and use the plugin.

NO SOUND

If you're running an earlier version of Ubuntu and Firefox (pre-Hardy and Firefox 2x), and you don't have any sound in Flash videos, or you notice strange random behaviour by Firefox, you should try this next solution. Make sure you have the package "alsa-oss" from Part 1 and then paste this command into the terminal:


gksudo gedit /etc/firefox/firefoxrc

Edit the line "FIREFOX_DSP=”none”" and change "none" to "aoss". Then close and save the file. Restart Firefox.



DVD PLAYBACK


ZERO DVD PLAYBACK

Installed the necessary applications and packages but still cannot play/rip commercial DVDs? Perhaps you should make sure the DVD drive has been set to the correct region. If you have never successfully played DVDs in Ubuntu or Windows, install the following command line based application:


sudo apt-get install regionset

Please be aware that most drives limit you to about 5 changes (regionset should tell you how many you have left), so if you plan to watch foreign DVDs, it would be best to have a secondary external DVD drive, and have it set to a different region to the one in your machine. To set or change your DVD drives region, put any disc into your drive, and type "sudo regionset" into the terminal, then simply select the relevant region code. Here is the list of region codes and which countries they cover:

RC1 = North America (USA and Canada)
RC2 = Europe, Middle East, South Africa and Japan
RC3 = Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Korea
RC4 = Latin America, Australia, New Zealand
RC5 = Former Soviet Union (Russia, Ukraine, etc.), rest of Africa, India
RC6 = China

For those of you who previously played DVDs in GNU/Linux or Windows, but for some reason are unable to now, it could be related to faulty leads/connectors, but give this one last software-related method a try:


sudo apt-get install build-essential debhelper fakeroot

then:


sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh

or if you get an error with that command:


sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/examples/install-css.sh

SOME DVD PLAYBACK

If unlike above you have followed Part 4 of my howto and most DVDs play fine, but you're having trouble with some newer DVDs, please refer to this link (http://tobias.rautenkranz.ch/libdvdread_ifo.html), and concentrate on the solution for VLC (this bug was apparently fixed (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libdvdread/+bug/192383) in February 2008).



GECKO MEDIA PLAYER/MPLAYERPLUG-IN


Note: If you're experiencing audio or video problems with ALL streams, please refer to the GNOME Mplayer/MPlayer section.

APPLE TRAILERS

For those of you recieving the message "Get the latest Quicktime", when you try to view some trailers (or other non-apple.com Quicktime videos), navigate to "Places > Home", then in the file browser menu, navigate to "View > Show Hidden Files", and tick that option. Within your home directory, navigate to ".mozilla > firefox > ??????.default" and find the file named "pluginreg.dat". Right-click on that file and then choose to open it with a text editor. Alternatively, you could open the terminal and enter a command like the following:


gedit ~/.mozilla/firefox/??????.default/plugingreg.dat

Note: Make sure you replace "??????.default" with the exact name of that folder.

Once you have opened that file with a text editor, search for "QuickTime Plug-in 6.0 / 7:$", then copy and paste "QuickTime Plug-in 7.0 / 7:$" directly above it, but without the quotation marks of course. Close and save, then restart your web browser.

BUFFERING...

Sometimes it looks like the stream is about to start playing, but it does not. Try pressing the play, pause, and stop buttons, perhaps reload the page also, but don't just give up and navigate away too soon. The BBC's Windows Media radio streams take longer to start playing, the Real Media streams start quicker and sound better. Also, make absolutely sure you don't have other plug-ins interfering with Gecko Media Player or MPlayerplug-in, and that you don't have these two plug-ins installed together either. Finally, ask other users of Gecko Media Player or MPlayerplug-in if the stream works for them.

DEFAULT ACTIONS

Now and then you will click on a audio or video link and Firefox will ask if you want to download it or open it with a certain application. Many times though, you will want to play or open it with a different application to the one offered, or you may have expected it to open with the browser plugin. Click to choose your own application, then navigate to "/usr/bin", and you will find your audio and video apps there, or navigate to "Firefox > Edit > Preferences > Applications", and select the application or browser plug-in you want Firefox to use for whatever file extension it was.

PLUG-IN REQUIRED

If Firefox 2x doesn't recognise that you have changed your plug-ins and says "Plug-in Required", or something like that, then you need to:


rm $HOME/.mozilla/firefox/pluginreg.dat

Restart Firefox. The above file has been deleted and recreated with the updated plug-in information. If the command didn't work for you, navigate to "Places > Home > View", and tick the "Show Hidden Files" option. Finally, navigate to "/.mozilla/firefox" in your home directory, then look for and delete the file named "pluginreg.dat". Restart Firefox.

Note: Are you using a non-default web browser? You may need to link your plug-ins folder to that browser. To create a symbolic link, you need to do something like this "sudo ln -s /usr/lib/firefox-addons/plugins /full/path/to/browser". Rename or delete the plug-ins folder it already has, or use the "ln -sf" symlink command as it forces the link to replace whatever plug-ins folder is already present.



GNOME MPLAYER/MPLAYER

VIDEO

Those of you who are having general issues with video playback being blank with just sound, either don't have the right codecs installed (see Part 1), or have graphics driver issues. Some of you may be able to solve it by disabling desktop effects in "System > Preferences > Appearance > Effects". If you're one of those who wants to keep desktop effects active at the expense of video quality, you may want to do the following:

Open GNOME MPlayer and navigate to "Edit > Preferences > Player > Video Output", then select "x11" from the list and close. MPlayer users should launch the application, then right-click on the video window, navigate to "Preferences > Video", and select the "x11" driver there. You may now close MPlayer.

Have you not enabled desktop effects, but still can't use the "xv" (Xvideo) driver despite your best efforts? See if the "gl" (OpenGL) video driver works well for you in GNOME MPlayer/MPlayer, at least it's accelerated.

Please Note: If you are having trouble using the "xv" video driver, you should search the forums and Google, as it's highly unlikely that your card doesn't support it. Some users have to make a few changes to get it working.

SOUND

Common sound issues with GNOME MPlayer/MPlayer can be solved by enabling the software mixer in both their preferences. In GNOME MPlayer, navigate to "Edit > Preferences > Advanced", and tick the "Software Volume Control" box. As for MPlayer users, right-click on the video window and navigate to "Preferences > Audio", then tick the "Enable Software Mixer" box. If you launched a video before carrying out these steps, open the video again with the new sound setting in place, or restart GNOME MPlayer/MPlayer.



JAVA & JAVA PLUGIN


Java not working correctly? Execute the command below, and make sure you select Sun Java if you're a 32-bit user, then restart your web browser:


sudo update-alternatives --config java

Still no? If you are using the 32-bit build of Ubuntu, and are trying to use Sun Java, you may want to make sure that you don't have IcedTea/OpenJDK Java and it's plug-in installed, as it will conflict with the Sun Java plugin:


sudo apt-get remove icedtea6-plugin icedtea-java7-bin icedtea-java7-jre icedtea-java7-plugin icedtea-gcjwebplugin openjdk-6-jre-headless openjdk-6-jre openjdk-6-jre-lib

Those of you running the 64-bit version of Ubuntu with OpenJDK Java installed may struggle with compatibility at times. Sun Java is opening up Java to the free and open source community, but it will take a while before it's performance is on-par with Sun Java. Until then, some desktop applications (such as FrostWire) will work better with the Sun JRE installed:


sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre

Then select it as the Java you want applications to use:


sudo update-alternatives --config java

Note: The following instructions are for Gutsy users only.

If you have followed the above steps and still can't get IcedTea Java applets working properly, it may be worth adding the unofficial repository for Gutsy, which can be done in "System > Administration > Software Sources" in Ubuntu, or the command line way:


gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Then copy and paste these two lines into it:


deb http://people.ubuntu.com/~doko/ubuntu/ gutsy/
deb-src http://people.ubuntu.com/~doko/ubuntu/ gutsy/

Make sure you save your changes, then perform a "sudo apt-get update", or alternatively, just reload Synaptic/Adept. After you have updated your list of packages, you can perform a "sudo apt-get upgrade", or just wait for the update manager to realise there are updates available. IcedTea Java will be updated and hopefully work much better than previously.



REALPLAYER



PRE-UBUNTU FAMILY 8.04 USERS ONLY



PERFORMANCE

If your RealPlayer's playback is terrible (mine was), you have to do some manual editing. First of all, you need to copy and paste the following command into the terminal:


gksudo gedit /usr/bin/realplay

Next, find the line "echo "Warning: LD_PRELOAD=\"$LD_PRELOAD\"", and underneath "fi", paste these two lines:


LD_PRELOAD="$LDPRELOAD:/usr/lib/libaoss.so"
export LD_PRELOAD

Save and close. Also, open RealPlayer's preferences and go to "Transport", once you're there, select "Use specified transport". Then go into the two configuration options beneath that and untick everything except "http". You can also select your connection speed in preferences, and tell RealPlayer not to send connection info back to real.com.

LANGUAGE PACKS

Those of you who are having problems with SCIM (the popular input method for multiple languages), and are receiving the "segmentation fault" error, should carry out instructions similar to those above, and execute the following command in the terminal:


gksudo gedit /usr/bin/realplay

Finally, add the following instruction to the top of the RealPlayer script:


export GTK_IM_MODULE=xim

Close and save the changes, then restart RealPlayer.

ubuntu-freak
April 25th, 2008, 03:02 PM
Created new post as suggested by LaRoza and matthew.

Nathan

matthew
April 25th, 2008, 03:16 PM
This thread supersedes the original (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=661833), which is still in the archives.

Thanks again.

aldeby
April 25th, 2008, 04:04 PM
Thank you reassuringlyoffensive,
your tutorial is really perfectly done!

gfahey
April 25th, 2008, 04:13 PM
Excellent. Well done. I might add that this solved my "choppy video" problem with Hardy and now all video looks great (even full screen).

Thank you.

Update:I had forgotten that I disabled the ATI driver under "Hardware Drivers" prior to this. I have desktop effects "off" as well. So, it looks like this:

Disable the driver and get smooth video playback. But, you can't play games, and Google Earth will cause a crash upon opening (at least for me). Compiz? Forget it.

Enable the driver and you get choppy, horrible video playback. You can play games and Google Earth works fine. Of course, I still have desktop effects "off".

Enable desktop settings (visual effects) under "normal" and you can't play games and of course, video playback is still horrible. Google Earth won't function with them enabled either.

ubuntu-freak
April 25th, 2008, 04:55 PM
Excellent. Well done. I might add that this solved my "choppy video" problem with Hardy and now all video looks great (even full screen).

Thank you.


No problem.

Do you know which package or advice solved your issue?

Nathan

aldeby
April 25th, 2008, 05:00 PM
please note that your tip concerning DVD playback

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh

actually downgrades libdvdcss2 from 1.2.9-2medibuntu4 to 1.2.5-1

1.2.9-2medibuntu4 is from official medibuntu repositories

ubuntu-freak
April 25th, 2008, 09:33 PM
please note that your tip concerning DVD playback

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh

actually downgrades libdvdcss2 from 1.2.9-2medibuntu4 to 1.2.5-1

1.2.9-2medibuntu4 is from official medibuntu repositories


That's normal, it upgrades again after the downgrade.

Nathan

starryeyedboy
April 25th, 2008, 09:37 PM
thank you for such a comprehensive guide... really really helped a lot - answered a billion questions n issues =) thanks!!!

.

Islington
April 26th, 2008, 12:39 AM
Actually I would like to suggest purging swfdec-mozilla when installing flash. This being the third option offerred up by firefox. Installing this package gives a big play symbol over the flash vid, but its impossible to maximise, volume control etc.. I accidentaly installed it, and was raging at myself until I found it in synaptic and got rid of it.

copyleft
April 26th, 2008, 01:23 AM
GREAT GREAT GREAT work!

Thank you very much.

Just a note: on my system, new install of Hardy 64 bit, my "pluginreg.dat" file was not directly inside the "firefox" folder, but inside another folder named "xzd1ghs3.default"

Here's what my successful code looked like:


rm $HOME/.mozilla/firefox/xzd1ghs3.default/pluginreg.dat

Being the near-noob that I am, it was probably something I did before...

yg5565
April 26th, 2008, 04:12 AM
You are the MAN! or WOMAN! I tried an upgrade and you got me rolling! When I got into the old gutzy vmware, it pretty much smoked the virtualization, backed up the vm's and all data and did a clean install.

Will let you know how the vm stuff goes. Superb tutorial for a desktop user.

gotee12
April 26th, 2008, 06:04 AM
Big thanx to reassuringlyoffensive for this how-to!

purplenite
April 26th, 2008, 06:29 AM
Following the instructions for Hardy users, I'm getting "E: Couldn't find package gstreamer0.10-pitfdll"

It's finding everything else except that package. Any suggestions?

talsemgeest
April 26th, 2008, 01:04 PM
Following the instructions for Hardy users, I'm getting "E: Couldn't find package gstreamer0.10-pitfdll"

It's finding everything else except that package. Any suggestions?
Where abouts in the how to are you getting this error?

keithrennie
April 26th, 2008, 02:30 PM
:) hey, reassuringly offensive, you are great. Didnt try all this stuff yet, just a quick scan for now but it looks as though you deal fully several of the problems I have e.g. how to get bbc real audio and video streaming to work on hardy ubuntu using opera, after I had finally got it to work well on kubuntu gutsy and then decided to migrate to lts. Thanks for all your care and systematic instruction. So glad I found this thread which I saved. I'll add more feedback as we go. Keith

geovino
April 26th, 2008, 03:03 PM
What would command be to set Kaffeine as default dvd player?

ubuntu-freak
April 26th, 2008, 03:58 PM
What would command be to set Kaffeine as default dvd player?

In Ubuntu you mean? Use my instructions in Part 4 regarding VLC, but change it to "kaffeine.desktop" instead.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 26th, 2008, 04:00 PM
Following the instructions for Hardy users, I'm getting "E: Couldn't find package gstreamer0.10-pitfdll"

It's finding everything else except that package. Any suggestions?

Are you a 64-Bit user? They haven't packaged those codecs for you yet, sorry.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 26th, 2008, 04:03 PM
Actually I would like to suggest purging swfdec-mozilla when installing flash. This being the third option offerred up by firefox. Installing this package gives a big play symbol over the flash vid, but its impossible to maximise, volume control etc.. I accidentaly installed it, and was raging at myself until I found it in synaptic and got rid of it.

I should have done that before, it's been edited now. :)

I also included the package "libflashsupport", it's in the so-called "Essential" section, but just wanted to make sure it's installed when users are troubleshooting Flash.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 26th, 2008, 04:05 PM
GREAT GREAT GREAT work!

Thank you very much.

Just a note: on my system, new install of Hardy 64 bit, my "pluginreg.dat" file was not directly inside the "firefox" folder, but inside another folder named "xzd1ghs3.default"

Here's what my successful code looked like:


rm $HOME/.mozilla/firefox/xzd1ghs3.default/pluginreg.dat

Being the near-noob that I am, it was probably something I did before...


Thanks for the heads-up, I've now added manual instructions.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 26th, 2008, 04:09 PM
Just wanted to thank you for the positive feedback and thank those who helped with the latest revision.

Nathan

geovino
April 26th, 2008, 04:14 PM
In Ubuntu you mean? Use my instructions in Part 4 regarding VLC, but change it to "kaffeine.desktop" instead.

Nathan

I did that, but it still comes up in totem. I'm trying to get kaffeine to open. Does this only work with VLC?

ubuntu-freak
April 26th, 2008, 04:40 PM
I did that, but it still comes up in totem. I'm trying to get kaffeine to open. Does this only work with VLC?


Did you go to Places>Home>Edit>Preferences>Media and select Kaffiene? It should work with any of them. Just so you know, you can have both Totem Gstreamer and Totem Xine installed in Ubuntu Hardy, so you're better off using Totem Xine rather than Kaffiene.

Nathan

geovino
April 26th, 2008, 05:01 PM
there is an Open Folder option. How would I select kaffeine?

ubuntu-freak
April 26th, 2008, 05:40 PM
there is an Open Folder option. How would I select kaffeine?


So there are still just the default options, such as Totem, Open Folder, Do Nothing? Could be due to the fact that Kaffiene is a KDE app. There is no option to launch by command string in Hardy just yet, so not much you can do for now. I guess if you're desperate, you could change the Totem launch command to Kaffiene's, using the VLC instructions as a guide, then select Totem in the DVD Video list.

Nathan

Islington
April 26th, 2008, 10:19 PM
So there are still just the default options, such as Totem, Open Folder, Do Nothing? Could be due to the fact that Kaffiene is a KDE app. There is no option to launch by command string in Hardy just yet, so not much you can do for now. I guess if you're desperate, you could change the Totem launch command to Kaffiene's, using the VLC instructions as a guide, then select Totem in the DVD Video list.

Nathan

Wait.. wouldnt it show up under /usr/X11R6/bin/X11 ?
awesome guide btw..

psark
April 26th, 2008, 11:49 PM
Thank you for this amazing guide....it has allowed me to switch back to Ubuntu from a clunky, ugly and unwieldy version of Freespire.

I can now play encrypted DVD's, as well as watch more than one YouTube video without Firefox crashing.

Initially, I did have problems with Flash. Every time I started a second consecutive YouTube video, Firefox would crash and close immediately. (The first video would play with no problems!) This was fixed by completely deleting Flash and the plugin file, as per your instructions, then installing the most recent Flash package downloaded directly from the Flash website.

Ubuntu's appeal over other Linux dists I've tried is the clean gnome desktop and the very high quality fonts and font rendering.

Thanks again.

qsr.nrwn
April 27th, 2008, 12:52 AM
I was doing a clean install with Hardy Heron, stumbled upon with this marvelous how-to guide. But...

There is always a but...

When I have finished installing all the sound codecs and restarted (install one part - restart & test - install next part - restart & test), my sound card stopped working, it seems to be some issue related to PulseAudio/ALSA (concrete: alsa-utils), do you know if you need to install alsa software in order to make all the codecs work:confused:

Thanks in advance

ubuntu-freak
April 27th, 2008, 01:27 AM
I was doing a clean install with Hardy Heron, stumbled upon with this marvelous how-to guide. But...

There is always a but...

When I have finished installing all the sound codecs and restarted (install one part - restart & test - install next part - restart & test), my sound card stopped working, it seems to be some issue related to PulseAudio/ALSA (concrete: alsa-utils), do you know if you need to install alsa software in order to make all the codecs work:confused:

Thanks in advance


PulseAudio supports Alsa, so not sure what's going on there. Have you tinkered with System>Preferences>Sound?

Nathan

qsr.nrwn
April 27th, 2008, 02:05 AM
No, in fact I was just installing it, following at the first time ad pedem literam. This is my second run, and I removed the reference to alsa-oss under your script line.

But as far as I can tell you when you access sound properties under System>Preferences>Sound Preferences>Devices>Sound Capture [Test] it complaints about something like "cannot construct sound pipeline"... and renders Sound Preferences unresponsive... It is needed to restart XOR reboot to use sound againg.

ubuntu-freak
April 27th, 2008, 03:10 AM
No, in fact I was just installing it, following at the first time ad pedem literam. This is my second run, and I removed the reference to alsa-oss under your script line.

But as far as I can tell you when you access sound properties under System>Preferences>Sound Preferences>Devices>Sound Capture [Test] it complaints about something like "cannot construct sound pipeline"... and renders Sound Preferences unresponsive... It is needed to restart XOR reboot to use sound againg.


Do you think the package "alsa-oss" was causing the problem? I might remove it from the install command, it was only really included due to problems with RealPlayer and pre-Hardy problems between Firefox and Adobe Flash.

Nathan

qsr.nrwn
April 27th, 2008, 03:27 AM
That's exactly what I removed (emphasised in red)
...

REVISED ON THE 26TH OF APRIL 2008

UBUNTU FAMILY 8.04 HARDY HERON USERS ONLY


32-Bit Ubuntu Users:

sudo apt-get remove icedtea-gcjwebplugin openjdk-6-jre && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss compizconfig-settings-manager faad gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-pitfdll libflashsupport liblame0 sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar w32codecs

...

SOME TESTING

...

The audio is working OK... and I'm about to finish your guide. Let me do more testing

ubuntu-freak
April 27th, 2008, 05:27 AM
Strange. This thread has moved from the top, to 2nd from the top, then down to the bottom of the "Sticky Thread" section and now it's 2nd from the top again. :confused: Weird huh?

Nathan

Edit: What a dummy, sticky threads do actually move up when posts are made. Not sure why it was at the bottom for a few minutes though.

qsr.nrwn
April 27th, 2008, 06:45 AM
So far. so good...

The sound is working flawlessly...

Perhaps alsa-oss, somehow, is messing up PulseAudio...

unshareef
April 27th, 2008, 09:34 AM
Dear reassuringlyoffensive,

Thank you so much for this how-to, you have made things incredibly easy indeed.

I noticed a user on the first page of this thread called gfahey mention something about choppy 3D graphics with ATI. I was wondering if you know of a solution to this.

Google Earth, and 3D games are choppy on my machine. I have a Dell Inspiron 6400, intel core duo, ati mobility x1300, 1GB ram. Straight after installing hardy, i went to ati.com and installed the latest driver for my card. I had this exact same problem with gutsy causing me to eventually stop using ubuntu for a while until a solution was found.

I have a feeling it could have something to do with my processor. On my pallet I have put cpu freq meters for both cores and many a time they appear maxed out which is when my laptop gets a bit slow and juddery - just by doing simple things like scrolling down a webpage. Surely somethings wrong? When I play videos or google earth, both cores are constantly maxed out.

Got any idea to what it could be?

Hope you can help, many thanks in advance!

The Pinny Parlour
April 27th, 2008, 11:51 AM
Thank you

Very informative, however VLC doesn't work. It will show the first menu and freeze. I have to force quit. How do I roll back the changes as it doesn't work?
I installed VLC only using your guide.

The Pinny Parlour
April 27th, 2008, 12:03 PM
Manage to revert it back.

VLC has lots of artifacts when playing back DVDs. How can I fix this?

ubuntu-freak
April 27th, 2008, 01:34 PM
Manage to revert it back.

VLC has lots of artifacts when playing back DVDs. How can I fix this?


Not sure what's going on there, deinterlace should help with that. Does Totem play them well? If not, it could be your video driver. If the problem is just with VLC, give Totem Xine a try, if it works well and with menus, make it default with:


sudo update-alternatives --config totem

Then navigate to Places>Computer>Edit>Preferences>Media>DVD Video and select Totem again.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 27th, 2008, 01:45 PM
Dear reassuringlyoffensive,

Thank you so much for this how-to, you have made things incredibly easy indeed.

I noticed a user on the first page of this thread called gfahey mention something about choppy 3D graphics with ATI. I was wondering if you know of a solution to this.

Google Earth, and 3D games are choppy on my machine. I have a Dell Inspiron 6400, intel core duo, ati mobility x1300, 1GB ram. Straight after installing hardy, i went to ati.com and installed the latest driver for my card. I had this exact same problem with gutsy causing me to eventually stop using ubuntu for a while until a solution was found.

I have a feeling it could have something to do with my processor. On my pallet I have put cpu freq meters for both cores and many a time they appear maxed out which is when my laptop gets a bit slow and juddery - just by doing simple things like scrolling down a webpage. Surely somethings wrong? When I play videos or google earth, both cores are constantly maxed out.

Got any idea to what it could be?

Hope you can help, many thanks in advance!


What drivers are you using? Installing them with ENVY should cure your problems:

http://www.albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

Nathan

GranpaDan
April 27th, 2008, 02:44 PM
Sorry, a real beginner here, but I just upgraded from Gutsy to Hardy, and so far the only thing giving me grief is the streaming video playback from Firefox. Its pretty choppy compared to the VLC I ran as default in Gutsy.

I followed your directions in the sticky (Big Thanks for that!!!!) and the only trouble I had was in following your instructions below:

"New users of Ubuntu or MPlayer should open the main MPlayer application after installing it for the first time, this will then cause it to create it's default folder in your home directory. Also, please navigate to Preferences>Audio in MPlayer, and then tick the "Enable Software Mixer" option."

When I go to Applications->Sound&Video->MPlayer Movie Player, all I get are the following two windows from MPayer, which do not give me the option to go to Preferences. Do I need to reinstall MPlayer? I have had good luck with VLC in the past. The DVD play with VLC is wonderful.
67506
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

unshareef
April 27th, 2008, 03:58 PM
What drivers are you using? Installing them with ENVY should cure your problems:

http://www.albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

Nathan

Many thanks for your reply. I didn't know about ENVY, so I just tried that and it installed an ATI driver version 8.3

The problem still persists exactly as it was - that is both processor cores appear maxed out even just by typing causing the performance to be jerky.

Before I tried ENVY, I had installed the lates ATI driver, which I believe is 8.4, but same problem.

I hope that there's hope

ubuntu-freak
April 27th, 2008, 07:21 PM
Sorry, a real beginner here, but I just upgraded from Gutsy to Hardy, and so far the only thing giving me grief is the streaming video playback from Firefox. Its pretty choppy compared to the VLC I ran as default in Gutsy.

I followed your directions in the sticky (Big Thanks for that!!!!) and the only trouble I had was in following your instructions below:

"New users of Ubuntu or MPlayer should open the main MPlayer application after installing it for the first time, this will then cause it to create it's default folder in your home directory. Also, please navigate to Preferences>Audio in MPlayer, and then tick the "Enable Software Mixer" option."

When I go to Applications->Sound&Video->MPlayer Movie Player, all I get are the following two windows from MPayer, which do not give me the option to go to Preferences. Do I need to reinstall MPlayer? I have had good luck with VLC in the past. The DVD play with VLC is wonderful.
67506
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.


Thanks. If you just right-click on the video window, you can get to the preferences that way.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 27th, 2008, 07:35 PM
Many thanks for your reply. I didn't know about ENVY, so I just tried that and it installed an ATI driver version 8.3

The problem still persists exactly as it was - that is both processor cores appear maxed out even just by typing causing the performance to be jerky.

Before I tried ENVY, I had installed the lates ATI driver, which I believe is 8.4, but same problem.

I hope that there's hope


No idea what's going on there, ENVY has solved it for others. Did you fully remove the previous driver? Has it ever worked? How does it perform in Windows?

Nathan

Mr_Odwin
April 28th, 2008, 12:45 AM
Hi there. First off, thanks for the great guide.
Everything is working great with one exception. On the apple trailers site when I try to watch an HD trailer (eg. any of the HD ones from here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/indianajonesandthekingdomofthecrystalskull/hd/ ) the mplayer plugin opens up an external window from firefox, I click 'play' in the box that has appeared and is buffering, then the window disappears and the video starts playing but I can only hear it, not see it. I can see the video only if I click the same link again in firefox.
Plus, in system monitor there are tons of mplayer processes that are either sleeping or zombies (no idea what either means!). I guess this is because I've tried it on so many links.

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 01:00 AM
Hi there. First off, thanks for the great guide.
Everything is working great with one exception. On the apple trailers site when I try to watch an HD trailer (eg. any of the HD ones from here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/indianajonesandthekingdomofthecrystalskull/hd/ ) the mplayer plugin opens up an external window from firefox, I click 'play' in the box that has appeared and is buffering, then the window disappears and the video starts playing but I can only hear it, not see it. I can see the video only if I click the same link again in firefox.
Plus, in system monitor there are tons of mplayer processes that are either sleeping or zombies (no idea what either means!). I guess this is because I've tried it on so many links.


I'm gonna experiment tomorrow with HD apple.com clips, used to be fine and now there are random issues. Have you tried "noembed=1" in the MPlayer plugin config? Make sure you delete the pluginreg.dat file if you change the plugin settings. Could be a Firefox problem though, we'll see.

Nathan

Mr_Odwin
April 28th, 2008, 01:12 AM
I'm gonna experiment tomorrow with HD apple.com clips, used to be fine and now there are random issues. Have you tried "noembed=1" in the MPlayer plugin config? Make sure you delete the pluginreg.dat file if you change the plugin settings. Could be a Firefox problem though, we'll see.

Nathan

Just tried "noembed=1" and it made a vast improvement. The window no longer disappears! Slight issues are that it won't go full screen and I'm still getting zombie processes and sleeping processes, but overall I'm very, very pleased. Thank you so much.

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 01:34 AM
Just tried "noembed=1" and it made a vast improvement. The window no longer disappears! Slight issues are that it won't go full screen and I'm still getting zombie processes and sleeping processes, but overall I'm very, very pleased. Thank you so much.


Ah good. I do wonder if it's Firefox. Might be worth reporting a bug to them and what you had to do as a workaround.

Nathan

dooma
April 28th, 2008, 08:41 AM
Can someone help me? I've gone through the steps of this tutorial and spent several hours trying different things to no avail.

Here is the problem:

1) I just upgraded from Gutsy to Hardy Heron.
2) Now when I go to a site like www.apple.com/trailers, mplayer plugin plays the audio, but NO VIDEO.
3) changing preferences does not affect it. Flash works fine.
4) Prior to the upgrade to Heron, everything worked great

I am using a Thinkpad T60P with Hardy Heron installed (as of April 26)
It has the Fire GL graphics card, so I'm using FGLRX.

Please - any help would mean the world to me.

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 10:20 AM
Can someone help me? I've gone through the steps of this tutorial and spent several hours trying different things to no avail.

Here is the problem:

1) I just upgraded from Gutsy to Hardy Heron.
2) Now when I go to a site like www.apple.com/trailers, mplayer plugin plays the audio, but NO VIDEO.
3) changing preferences does not affect it. Flash works fine.
4) Prior to the upgrade to Heron, everything worked great

I am using a Thinkpad T60P with Hardy Heron installed (as of April 26)
It has the Fire GL graphics card, so I'm using FGLRX.

Please - any help would mean the world to me.


Can you tell me if disabling effects helps? Navigate to System>Preferences>Appearance>Effects and tick the first box.

Nathan

mkolars
April 28th, 2008, 11:22 AM
Hi there,

i have tried several times to install vlc media player in ubuntu 7.10 but always get following error messages.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

administrator@Mark:~$ sudo apt-get install vlc
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.

Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
vlc: Depends: vlc-nox (= 0.8.6.release.c-0ubuntu5) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libsdl-image1.2 (>= 1.2.5) but it is not installable
Depends: ttf-dejavu but it is not installable
E: Broken packages

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any ideas ??

Thanks,
Mark

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 11:57 AM
Hi there,

i have tried several times to install vlc media player in ubuntu 7.10 but always get following error messages.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

administrator@Mark:~$ sudo apt-get install vlc
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.

Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
vlc: Depends: vlc-nox (= 0.8.6.release.c-0ubuntu5) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libsdl-image1.2 (>= 1.2.5) but it is not installable
Depends: ttf-dejavu but it is not installable
E: Broken packages

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any ideas ??

Thanks,
Mark

Did you try the commands in Part 1 "Did You Have Errors" section? Try this:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Nathan

Xris Benedict
April 28th, 2008, 12:19 PM
Hi,

I have followed your instructions but can still not stream my favorite radio: www.106fm.co.il .

Do you have an idea what I should do?

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 12:24 PM
Hi,

I have followed your instructions but can still not stream my favorite radio: www.106fm.co.il .

Do you have an idea what I should do?


That's strange, worked first time for me. I'm listening to it right now using the MPlayer plugin. Give it time to load and try again.

Nathan

Xris Benedict
April 28th, 2008, 01:07 PM
That's strange, worked first time for me. I'm listening to it right now using the MPlayer plugin. Give it time to load and try again.

Nathan
You have to forgive me. I'm a newbie in linux.
I wait for the stream (it write that it triesto connect) but after a few second it comes back with a "stopped" response.

How do I specify which plugin should open this specific stream? I am not sure the firefox uses mplayer for it.

Thanks for the swift reply :-),
Xris

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 02:22 PM
Just tried "noembed=1" and it made a vast improvement. The window no longer disappears! Slight issues are that it won't go full screen and I'm still getting zombie processes and sleeping processes, but overall I'm very, very pleased. Thank you so much.

Made some big changes to Part 2, so check that out. I've switched to using Gecko Media Player instead of Mozilla MPlayer and it works wonderfully at the moment.

Nathan

Xris Benedict
April 28th, 2008, 02:33 PM
You have to forgive me. I'm a newbie in linux.
I wait for the stream (it write that it triesto connect) but after a few second it comes back with a "stopped" response.

How do I specify which plugin should open this specific stream? I am not sure the firefox uses mplayer for it.

Thanks for the swift reply :-),
Xris



I have tried the change to the Gecko media player and here too, the streams starts connecting and stops after a few seconds.

Thanks,
Xris

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 02:39 PM
You have to forgive me. I'm a newbie in linux.
I wait for the stream (it write that it triesto connect) but after a few second it comes back with a "stopped" response.

How do I specify which plugin should open this specific stream? I am not sure the firefox uses mplayer for it.

Thanks for the swift reply :-),
Xris

Firefox can't use other plugins if they aren't installed. Did you remove them as the how-to instructs? Like this:

sudo apt-get remove kaffeine-mozilla mozilla-mplayer mozilla-helix-player mozilla-plugin-vlc totem-mozilla xine-plugin

Nathan

GranpaDan
April 28th, 2008, 02:57 PM
Ah good. I do wonder if it's Firefox. Might be worth reporting a bug to them and what you had to do as a workaround.

Nathan

I too am wondering if it is an issue with this latest beta version of Firefox, and not necessarily with Hardy. In another thread, where I was trying to get vlc as an option for playing embedded videos (like Youtube), (refer to thread:http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4815519#post4815519)
frodon suggested to add the "media player connectivity" extension, though as I tried to, I got a message that it is not compatible with the Firefox version 3.0b5.

Nathan.Flow
April 28th, 2008, 03:00 PM
Great guide,
I have one problem.
When I try to play a dvd, with Xine UI. It gives me a funny error.
The source can't be read. Maby you don't have enough rights for this, or source doesn't contain data(e.g: not disk in drive). (Error reading NAV packet.):confused:

But it sure plays the begging intro of the disk.:lolflag:

Please help..
Thanks
by the way I use KDE, "kubuntu" 64 bit I know that their is a difference in the structure between ubuntu and kubuntu.

Xris Benedict
April 28th, 2008, 03:09 PM
Firefox can't use other plugins if they aren't installed. Did you remove them as the how-to instructs? Like this:

sudo apt-get remove kaffeine-mozilla mozilla-mplayer mozilla-helix-player mozilla-plugin-vlc totem-mozilla xine-plugin

Nathan
Yes I have.

I can also access youtube and other streams except this site.
Quite a mystery.

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 03:12 PM
Great guide,
I have one problem.
When I try to play a dvd, with Xine UI. It gives me a funny error.
The source can't be read. Maby you don't have enough rights for this, or source doesn't contain data(e.g: not disk in drive). (Error reading NAV packet.):confused:

But it sure plays the begging intro of the disk.:lolflag:

Please help..
Thanks
by the way I use KDE, "kubuntu" 64 bit I know that their is a difference in the structure between ubuntu and kubuntu.

Have you tried VLC instead? Could you watched the DVD before? Some new discs have a higher encryption, no.9 in my troubleshooting section might help.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 03:14 PM
Yes I have.

I can also access youtube and other streams except this site.
Quite a mystery.

Do these trailers work?

http://www.apple.com/trailers/

Do for me. Try rebooting if you still have problems.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 03:17 PM
I too am wondering if it is an issue with this latest beta version of Firefox, and not necessarily with Hardy. In another thread, where I was trying to get vlc as an option for playing embedded videos (like Youtube), (refer to thread:http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4815519#post4815519)
frodon suggested to add the "media player connectivity" extension, though as I tried to, I got a message that it is not compatible with the Firefox version 3.0b5.

I'd never use VLC for regular streaming, there's just no point. Have you tried Gecko Media Player? Updated my streaming section today (Part 2) and added instructions for using it, well worth checking out. :)

Nathan

Nathan.Flow
April 28th, 2008, 03:52 PM
VLC closes out with no indication that it's doing any thing when I try to play a dvd..
is their another way I can go about this... I realy don't want to reformat and start over just to try another method.
I've tryed it first using the kaffine codec installer, then I tred it with the kubuntu restricted extras package and now your guide...
Maby it is a 64bit problem.?

GranpaDan
April 28th, 2008, 04:05 PM
I followed the new section 2 of the guide, and the gecko media player worked great for the apple movie trailers. The videos from Youtube are still choppy though.

dooma
April 28th, 2008, 04:21 PM
Can you tell me if disabling effects helps? Navigate to System>Preferences>Appearance>Effects and tick the first box.

Nathan


Hi Nathan -

Thank you so much for trying to help. After a bit more websearching for clues, I found that you need to enable "x11" not "xv" in the mplayerplugin in order to make .movs, .wmvs and other restricted formats work if you are running Hardy and fglrx. I don't have ANY idea why this is, but it worked for me. There seem to be a other people who have had this problem. You may want to make a note in your guide.

Dooma

Thanks again for the guide and for your help.

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 05:17 PM
Hi Nathan -

Thank you so much for trying to help. After a bit more websearching for clues, I found that you need to enable "x11" not "xv" in the mplayerplugin in order to make .movs, .wmvs and other restricted formats work if you are running Hardy and fglrx. I don't have ANY idea why this is, but it worked for me. There seem to be a other people who have had this problem. You may want to make a note in your guide.

Dooma

Thanks again for the guide and for your help.

It's noted in the troubleshooting section I think. You should be able to watch videos using xv (xvideo). You could in Gutsy yes? Must be a problem with your graphics driver or Xserver in Hardy. You will have problems with fullscreen video and DVD playback if you are using x11.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 05:20 PM
VLC closes out with no indication that it's doing any thing when I try to play a dvd..
is their another way I can go about this... I realy don't want to reformat and start over just to try another method.
I've tryed it first using the kaffine codec installer, then I tred it with the kubuntu restricted extras package and now your guide...
Maby it is a 64bit problem.?

With all DVDs? Try removing the deinterlace command as mentioned in part 4.

Nathan

Nathan.Flow
April 28th, 2008, 05:37 PM
I'm using 64bit kde, but when I put the command in.
vlc --vout-filter deinterlace --deinterlace-mode blend --volume 512 --fullscreen %m

well VLC doesn't load with that command. I looked in the options of VLC and deinterlace is not checked...

thanks for your help and a great guide.

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 06:00 PM
I'm using 64bit kde, but when I put the command in.
vlc --vout-filter deinterlace --deinterlace-mode blend --volume 512 --fullscreen %m

well VLC doesn't load with that command. I looked in the options of VLC and deinterlace is not checked...

thanks for your help and a great guide.

Did you install the DVD packages and run the "install-css.sh" command? Did you try this command to launch VLC?:

vlc --volume 512 --fullscreen %m

Nathan.Flow
April 28th, 2008, 07:23 PM
Did you install the DVD packages and run the "install-css.sh" command? Did you try this command to launch VLC?:

vlc --volume 512 --fullscreen %m

DVD packages you suggested are installed, I also ran the command you state...

VLC give's this error
Unable to open '%m'

and terminal gives this
vlc --volume 512 --fullscreen %m
VLC media player 0.8.6e Janus
libdvdnav: Using dvdnav version 0.1.10 from http://dvd.sf.net
libdvdread: Using libdvdcss version 1.2.5 for DVD access
libdvdread: Can't stat %m
No such file or directory
libdvdnav: vm: faild to open/read the DVD
ioctl(): Input/output error
[00000310] vcdx access error: error reading Info sector (150)
[00000298] main input error: no suitable access module for `%m'
[00000289] main playlist: nothing to play
[00000289] main playlist: stopping playback


I do have an intersting problem tho..
just tried this > http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=765428 <
and I have some pay back through Mplayer, but it's distorted and the audio is distorted if I get any at all..

I'm going to try to figure out the mplayer thing. seeing that their is some progress their.. can you help with that??

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 09:05 PM
DVD packages you suggested are installed, I also ran the command you state...

VLC give's this error
Unable to open '%m'

and terminal gives this
vlc --volume 512 --fullscreen %m
VLC media player 0.8.6e Janus
libdvdnav: Using dvdnav version 0.1.10 from http://dvd.sf.net
libdvdread: Using libdvdcss version 1.2.5 for DVD access
libdvdread: Can't stat %m
No such file or directory
libdvdnav: vm: faild to open/read the DVD
ioctl(): Input/output error
[00000310] vcdx access error: error reading Info sector (150)
[00000298] main input error: no suitable access module for `%m'
[00000289] main playlist: nothing to play
[00000289] main playlist: stopping playback


I do have an intersting problem tho..
just tried this > http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=765428 <
and I have some pay back through Mplayer, but it's distorted and the audio is distorted if I get any at all..

I'm going to try to figure out the mplayer thing. seeing that their is some progress their.. can you help with that??


Never ever heard of that problem. Use this method until VLC is working properly:

sudo apt-get install gxine libxine1-ffmpeg

Then navigate to Places>Computer>Edit>Preferences>Media>DVD Video and select Gxine.

Nathan

Vlatko
April 28th, 2008, 09:13 PM
Hi,

first of all thank you for this wonderful guide.

My only trouble is that flash or youtube videos don't work in my prefered browser, Opera. Any ideas?

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 09:16 PM
Hi,

first of all thank you for this wonderful guide.

My only trouble is that flash or youtube videos don't work in my prefered browser, Opera. Any ideas?

Thanks, nae bother. ;)

Are you a 32-Bit or 64-Bit user? Also, I remember reading that people have had better results using the beta (9.50+) version of Opera.

Nathan

Peter_72
April 28th, 2008, 09:21 PM
Great guide!

I found when manually installing the adobe flash plugin, you have to use /usr/lib/firefox-3.0b5 instead of just /usr/lib/firefox in the text installer.

Vlatko
April 28th, 2008, 09:26 PM
Thanks, nae bother. ;)

Are you a 32-Bit or 64-Bit user? Also, I remember reading that people have had better results using the beta (9.50+) version of Opera.

Nathan
I am a 32bit user.

I have no experience with using the latest Opera beta. I'll try installing it now but I don't think it will work, I think it has something to do with linking to FF's plug-in directory.

Vlatko
April 28th, 2008, 09:31 PM
I am a 32bit user.

I have no experience with using the latest Opera beta. I'll try installing it now but I don't think it will work, I think it has something to do with linking to FF's plug-in directory.
Just to follow up, installing the beta worked like a charm. Smooth sailing now.

Thanks again.

mc4man
April 28th, 2008, 10:20 PM
libdvdread: Can't stat %m
that comes when using comm. in terminal vlc %<whatever >
don't use % in command line

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 11:15 PM
Does my signature look odd? To me, the top line is pure black and other lines are lighter.

Nathan

thornado
April 28th, 2008, 11:24 PM
Hello Nathan, I have followed the instructions to gfet mplayer, VLC , JAVA etc. working, but I am getting noner stop error messages, either dependencies or broken packages message and I didnt manage to configure a single package yet. I have also installed some software using the synaptic manager, but I cannot find any of the installed software.Please advise what to do. I have gutsy, but how do i find out if i have 32 or 64 but version?? thanx thor

mc4man
April 28th, 2008, 11:26 PM
Does my signature look odd?
links are now displayed in a lighter shade

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 11:43 PM
links are now displayed in a lighter shade


Well that just sucks.

ubuntu-freak
April 28th, 2008, 11:56 PM
Hello Nathan, I have followed the instructions to gfet mplayer, VLC , JAVA etc. working, but I am getting noner stop error messages, either dependencies or broken packages message and I didnt manage to configure a single package yet. I have also installed some software using the synaptic manager, but I cannot find any of the installed software.Please advise what to do. I have gutsy, but how do i find out if i have 32 or 64 but version?? thanx thor


Try the commands in the "Did You Have Errors?" section in part 1. The "dist-upgrade" one should fix any broken packages.

Did you install Ubuntu yourself? It's more than likely you have the 32-Bit version. Have a look at System>About Ubuntu.

Nathan

P.S. Make sure you enabled the Medibuntu repo also, remembering to change the word "hardy" to "gutsy" in the first wget command.

Nathan

Zars
April 29th, 2008, 12:03 AM
I wish i found this guide before trying all the others on the internet!!

Thank you very much, keep up the good work :D

Zars

goggins
April 29th, 2008, 04:31 AM
Not usre if this really belongs inthis thread or not - please move it if it doesn't. While trying the googleearth install in this tutorial i wound up eventually generating the following error messages:

E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

I'm a newbie running Hardy and I was following the instructions when something wanted me to check off that I agreed, but didn't show the check box. After it sat a while, I went on to the Firefox streaming section and got several iterations of the "dpkg interrupted" error and others relating to the inablility to lock something.performed the requested commands, and eventually rebooted at which point the program ran all the way through and I could sign off.

Next I tried the googleearth installation and ran into a lot of problems. After closing the terminal, I received notification of googleearth-4.2 ready to install, and tried to install it. I got some more error mesages relating to locking and tried another reboot. After the reboot, I tried the googleearth-4.2 install and got the above error messages.

It says "please report" and I'm not sure where and to whom, so this is an attempt at initiating that.

Also, I'd like to find out how tofind out what is hung and causing these "locking" problems and how to get it unstuck.

Xris Benedict
April 29th, 2008, 07:22 AM
Do these trailers work?

http://www.apple.com/trailers/

Do for me. Try rebooting if you still have problems.

Nathan



New day. Same problem :-|
The trailers work fine. I tried rebooting but I still get the streamer on this radio site to startup (writes "connecting to switch3.castup.net") and after a few seconds it stops (and prompts "stopped" at the lower bar).

I don't think that it's a proxy/connectivity issue as I work with two operating systems on my PC and it works fine with windows-firefox combination.

I'll be glad if I could fix it (I prefer working with linux but it's a bummer to sit in the office all day w/o music).

Thanks,
Xris

piercleo
April 29th, 2008, 12:58 PM
Hello, and thank you a lot for this how to. Everything was working fine on my computer (Dell laptop with hardy heron), the one thing I didn't manage to get working is the nbatv website. It used to work on a clean feisty install and ever since upgrading to gutsy and now hardy, hasn't been able to watch a video. For example, I give you the link underneath :

http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.php?content=video&url=http://nba-boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom/nbatv_top10/top10_080428.asx&nbasite=nba&contentpath=http://nba-boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom/nbatv_top10/top10_080428.asx&secondClick=1

The advertisement launches and then not the video. It is quite slow but still better than before when it used to launch the video and freeze on the first image.

Any ideas ?

ubuntu-freak
April 29th, 2008, 01:45 PM
If most sites stream fine with Gecko Media Player, but not a certain site you're interested in, post in the GMP group:

http://groups.google.com/group/gecko-mediaplayer

Not sure how lively it is, just found it. Here is the homepage for GMP also:

http://dekorte.homeip.net/download/gecko-mediaplayer/

Nathan

P.S. Make sure you don't have RealPlayer's plugin installed and anything other than Adobe Flash.

ubuntu-freak
April 29th, 2008, 03:53 PM
Took a while, but I've sent private messages to those who followed my how-to before the big update to the streaming section.

It's really worth using Gecko Media Player in Hardy. Gecko is the engine of browsers such as Firefox and Epiphany, incase you wondered.

Nathan

timzak
April 29th, 2008, 06:35 PM
reassuringlyoffensive,

My only concern is you're having us uninstall a bunch of things. Is it a certainty that we won't want/need any of these things you're proposing to uninstall? I guess my first concern is Totem in Hardy. I personally like the new YouTube plugin and don't want to lose that function in the process of following your Howto.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Comhra
April 29th, 2008, 06:38 PM
Thanks for the guide, RO, sound is now working in VLC for Flash related media.

ubuntu-freak
April 29th, 2008, 06:50 PM
reassuringlyoffensive,

My only concern is you're having us uninstall a bunch of things. Is it a certainty that we won't want/need any of these things you're proposing to uninstall? I guess my first concern is Totem in Hardy. I personally like the new YouTube plugin and don't want to lose that function in the process of following your Howto.

Thanks for any help you can offer.


Not sure what you mean, Totem doesn't stream Flash and never has. Any package being removed is removed cos it's going to conflict with my recommended applications and plugins. Nothing to worry about. :-)

Nathan

timzak
April 29th, 2008, 07:37 PM
Thanks for the quick reply, Nathan. So sudo apt-get remove totem-mozilla won't touch Totem? That's my main concern.

Thanks.


Not sure what you mean, Totem doesn't stream Flash and never has. Any package being removed is removed cos it's going to conflict with my recommended applications and plugins. Nothing to worry about. :-)

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
April 29th, 2008, 08:35 PM
Thanks for the quick reply, Nathan. So sudo apt-get remove totem-mozilla won't touch Totem? That's my main concern.

Thanks.


No, not at all. I never encourage people to remove that and it can cause numerous problems if you do. The package totem-mozilla is a plugin and the package totem-gstreamer is the player itself.

Nathan

tajreed
April 29th, 2008, 11:42 PM
Hey, great work. Finally got Flash working in FF3 Hardy.

Thanks

kcallis
April 30th, 2008, 01:16 AM
I have installed all the recommended packages and things some to be work, except for one re-occuring problem. No matter what video view application that I use, when I try to either look at an .avi file or even use the link to look at the trailers, as soon as I start the app, the screen goes completely back and there is nothing that I can do except hard power down the machine.
I am running 8.04 on an Toshiba Satellite M35X-S311.

ubuntu-freak
April 30th, 2008, 03:19 AM
I have installed all the recommended packages and things some to be work, except for one re-occuring problem. No matter what video view application that I use, when I try to either look at an .avi file or even use the link to look at the trailers, as soon as I start the app, the screen goes completely back and there is nothing that I can do except hard power down the machine.
I am running 8.04 on an Toshiba Satellite M35X-S311.


Ouch. That's what we call a "hard-lock" crash and usually a graphics driver problem. It's not just with avi files is it? What graphics device do you have? Might be worth filing a bug report. Try disabling effects in System>Preferences>Appearance>Effects for now.

Nathan

kcallis
April 30th, 2008, 03:49 AM
Ouch. That's what we call a "hard-lock" crash and usually a graphics driver problem. It's not just with avi files is it? What graphics device do you have? Might be worth filing a bug report. Try disabling effects in System>Preferences>Appearance>Effects for now.


The graphic interface is an Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device. I guess I need too search and see what the deal is with that card.

chehalem
April 30th, 2008, 04:39 AM
first off, thanks for the how to! everything running like a dream except for one little thing...when trying to stream radiotations supported by akamai it completely shuts down firefox. running 8.04. still a newbie so this may be obvious to many.

regards

ubuntu-freak
April 30th, 2008, 04:41 AM
The graphic interface is an Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device. I guess I need too search and see what the deal is with that card.


That's even more odd, as that chipset should be absolutely fine. Does it happen only in Firefox? Did disabling effects help at all?

Nathan

Dubbayoo
April 30th, 2008, 05:26 AM
I just followed the instructions for Hardy and now apple.com/trailers and CNET video STOPPEED working. They were fine before. I copy & pasted the instructions. Youtube, CNN video work fine. In the browser I see "cache fill" at the bottom and "File: /tmp/geckoeMXS76" where video would be. I do get sound.

I fixed this by right-clicking the video play window and setting XV in the properties.

Also java stopped working, which worked before. I sorta kinda fixed this by uninstalling openjdk-6-jre-headless and openjdk-6-jre-lib. Your guide did not say to remove these two. I say sorta kinda because some java applets work and some don't. http://javatester.org doesn't work but http://www.bodo.com/javame.htm does.

FrancesL
April 30th, 2008, 05:40 AM
Hi , I have installed Hardy Heron thru Update Manager, no problems doing that. But Java etc wasnt running as well as it was with Gutsy so I was intending to use this How-to with the hope of improving the situation.
Started at the beginning, a very good place to start!:)with
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list
then
wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

and got the following..I did something wrong didnt I..?:(



W: Duplicate sources.list entry http://archive.canonical.com hardy/partner Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/archive.canonical.com_ubuntu_dists_hardy_partner_b inary-i386_Packages)
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems
frances@ACER:~$ apt-get update
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/apt/lists/lock - open (13 Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock the list directory
what do you suggest now?

kcallis
April 30th, 2008, 05:41 AM
That's even more odd, as that chipset should be absolutely fine. Does it happen only in Firefox? Did disabling effects help at all?

Nathan

All is well in the universe now... I just made sure that the intel 85x driver was in play and rebooted. Now all is well and I am able to fire up my avi and everything else that comes around.

Might I suggest that you forward a copy of the solution to over the the guys at ubuntuguides.org... Your solutions are good to go and very apropos for Hardy 8.04

:guitar: You ROCK!

kcallis
April 30th, 2008, 05:46 AM
Hi , I have installed Hardy Heron thru Update Manager, no problems doing that. But Java etc wasnt running as well as it was with Gutsy so I was intending to use this How-to with the hope of improving the situation.
Started at the beginning, a very good place to start!:)with
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list
then
wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

and got the following..I did something wrong didnt I..?:(



W: Duplicate sources.list entry http://archive.canonical.com hardy/partner Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/archive.canonical.com_ubuntu_dists_hardy_partner_b inary-i386_Packages)
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems
frances@ACER:~$ apt-get update
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/apt/lists/lock - open (13 Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock the list directory
what do you suggest now?

First off, it would seem that you did not use sudo to do your apt-get update

K.

FrancesL
April 30th, 2008, 07:29 AM
First off, it would seem that you did not use sudo to do your apt-get update

K.
well actually I used the cut and paste methods using the How-to

iaswni
April 30th, 2008, 12:53 PM
Hey Nathan, thanks for the great guide it really rocks.

ubuntu-freak
April 30th, 2008, 01:04 PM
well actually I used the cut and paste methods using the How-to


I've been having a "duplicate" error lately, don't worry too much about it.

Nathan

timzak
April 30th, 2008, 01:39 PM
Nathan,

Is there a way to play the Real movies on this page without installing RealPlayer?

http://pbskids.org/rogers/R_house/picpic.htm

I'm getting a "Choose Application" dialog box from FF and I don't know where to point it. I don't have RealPlayer installed, and would prefer not to if possible.

Thanks.

harpazo
April 30th, 2008, 02:02 PM
Thank you very much for this post. Everything works great. Especially like VLC much better than MoviePlayer. I have used it in the past with Windows, but didn't know all the tweaks to get it right in Ubuntu.

Great Job.:popcorn:

Harpazo

ubuntu-freak
April 30th, 2008, 05:41 PM
Nathan,

Is there a way to play the Real movies on this page without installing RealPlayer?

http://pbskids.org/rogers/R_house/picpic.htm

I'm getting a "Choose Application" dialog box from FF and I don't know where to point it. I don't have RealPlayer installed, and would prefer not to if possible.

Thanks.


It shouldn't do that really. Do you have Gecko Media Player installed? Have you tinkered with Firefox's preferences and told it what to do with certain filetypes (open within browser etc)? If that doesn't work, tell it to open the video with gnome-mplayer, gmplayer or vlc in /usr/bin. It's mentioned in the troubleshooting section.

Nathan

timzak
April 30th, 2008, 06:15 PM
It shouldn't do that really. Do you have Gecko Media Player installed? Have you tinkered with Firefox's preferences and told it what to do with certain filetypes (open within browser etc)? If that doesn't work, tell it to open the video with gnome-mplayer, gmplayer or vlc in /usr/bin. It's mentioned in the troubleshooting section.

Nathan

Yes I followed your first post here to a T except for installing Real Player. Gecko Media Player is installed and FF tells me that Gecko is set up to play Real Media files, but when I click on the .rm files on the page I linked in my previous post, Firefox just asks me to choose an application.

Edit: Using Hardy 32-bit and only followed the parts of your howto directed at Hardy.

Dubbayoo
April 30th, 2008, 06:29 PM
well actually I used the cut and paste methods using the How-to

Did you do that while having Synaptic running?

elustran
April 30th, 2008, 11:34 PM
Thanks for the guide - it's helped with some of my problems with flash playback in firefox, though I still have some tweaking to do.

Unfortunately, I'm still having trouble playing video with VLC, when it used to work in 7.10. I'm only having trouble playing video when I'm using openGL decoding, not when using X11, etc. OpenGL seems to work fine with other media players. I'm not concerned with playing DVDs, so I didn't run those commands, and I didn't run any of the commands for sound and video conversion, since they didn't seem pertinent to my situation.

Any ideas on how to get VLC working again?

ubuntu-freak
May 1st, 2008, 12:22 AM
Thanks for the guide - it's helped with some of my problems with flash playback in firefox, though I still have some tweaking to do.

Unfortunately, I'm still having trouble playing video with VLC, when it used to work in 7.10. I'm only having trouble playing video when I'm using openGL decoding, not when using X11, etc. OpenGL seems to work fine with other media players. I'm not concerned with playing DVDs, so I didn't run those commands, and I didn't run any of the commands for sound and video conversion, since they didn't seem pertinent to my situation.

Any ideas on how to get VLC working again?


Are you having trouble Xvideo playback? It's superior to OpenGL playback. Not sure what's wrong with GL, have you tested it with effects disabled?

Nathan

elustran
May 1st, 2008, 12:34 AM
I'm not running desktop effects, and I've been using openGL because nothing else seems to get anti-aliasing right; zoomed and full-screen video is pixelated unless I render with openGL. Granted, if I can get Xvideo antialiasing properly, I'll take that. For additional info, I'm using fglrx drivers on a radeon9800pro.

Just goes to figure that upgrading to Hardy would mess up the two things that were so hard to get tweaked properly in Gutsy: video playback and samba.

elustran
May 1st, 2008, 12:54 AM
Also, here's the dump from running vlc from the command line:

VLC media player 0.8.6e Janus
[00000364] main private error: option glx-shm does not exist
libGL error: drmGetMagic failed
libGL error: reverting to (slow) indirect rendering
X Error of failed request: BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)
Major opcode of failed request: 161 (GLX)
Minor opcode of failed request: 5 (X_GLXMakeCurrent)
Serial number of failed request: 58
Current serial number in output stream: 58

FrancesL
May 1st, 2008, 03:27 AM
I've been having a "duplicate" error lately, don't worry too much about it.

Nathan
Thank you for the reassurance Nathan, and all your hard work and time given to help/assist folk such as myself to get the best from Ubuntu.
I didnt continue with the How to after receiving that duplication error. I will do so no and hope for the best. Thanks again

ubuntu-freak
May 1st, 2008, 05:04 AM
Also, here's the dump from running vlc from the command line:

VLC media player 0.8.6e Janus
[00000364] main private error: option glx-shm does not exist
libGL error: drmGetMagic failed
libGL error: reverting to (slow) indirect rendering
X Error of failed request: BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)
Major opcode of failed request: 161 (GLX)
Minor opcode of failed request: 5 (X_GLXMakeCurrent)
Serial number of failed request: 58
Current serial number in output stream: 58

Just did some Googling. The Ubuntu bug report concerning this problem is here:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vlc/+bug/223762

The Debian bug report may have a possible solution:

http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=462715

Hope that helps.

Nathan

starryeyedboy
May 1st, 2008, 07:12 AM
whoops. i installed the kmplayer packages n dependencies by accident instead of the gnome mplayer one.

anyhow, i have removed kmplayer and everything that came with it - and now am using gecko n gnome mplayer. all good.

thanks nathan!

cheers

elustran
May 1st, 2008, 09:19 AM
Just did some Googling. The Ubuntu bug report concerning this problem is here:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vlc/+bug/223762

The Debian bug report may have a possible solution:

http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=462715

Hope that helps.

Nathan
I haven't been able to figure out what to do with the 'pseudocode' given in the possible solution, so I think I'm just going to try using a different player for the time being, and hope that vlc gets updated. I like the features of vlc, but mplayer seems like it's working fine. For now, I think the simplest solution will be the best.

Thanks for helping out.
Next task: samba

FrancesL
May 1st, 2008, 09:33 AM
No I was using FF with the how-to open and copy and paste into a terminal. Syanptic was closed.

Edit:I have a bigger problem now..I followed the How to using copy and paste method into terminal window. Then ran update manager, all seemed fine untill I restarted after having shutdown. I now have no panels, I have desktop without panels, I cannot get a terminal to open with <Alt-F2> nor with right click Launcher. nothing nada zip..I am using a windows (hmm) machine to send this message..before all this I had taken the time to download Hardy ISO and burn to CD...Is there any sense in doing a clean reinstall? I have no idea what has gone wrong, but plainly something has. I was running fine on Gutsy.
Edit: I can use backspace-alt-ctrl to get to welcome which has option select session can I do anything there?

Peter_72
May 1st, 2008, 04:11 PM
Hi Nathan,

I followed your guide and as far as I can see everything works except for two things:
at www.apple.com/trailers I get a grey box with sound but no graphics,
flash games don't seem to work properly, e.g. at www.lumosity.com where I have a subscription graphics and sound are out of sync which is really annoying.

But great guide anyway!

ubuntu-freak
May 1st, 2008, 04:59 PM
Hi Nathan,

I followed your guide and as far as I can see everything works except for two things:
at www.apple.com/trailers I get a grey box with sound but no graphics,
flash games don't seem to work properly, e.g. at www.lumosity.com where I have a subscription graphics and sound are out of sync which is really annoying.

But great guide anyway!

Did streaming apple.com trailers ever work in Hardy or Gutsy? Try disabling effects in System -> Preferences -> Appearance -> Effects and see how it goes then. Not sure how to help with the Adobe Flash problem, it's not secret that there are some issues. The libflashsupport package should help though, but I presume you installed that while following my how-to. Doesn't help that Flash in Linux is't GPU accelarated. Add your vote to the bug reports (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=769906) and make them take note.

Nathan

ChevyDude
May 1st, 2008, 05:51 PM
I don't know if this is posted before, but when I update the latest version of libdvdcss, firefox crash when a flash video is launched.
Any way to revert it?
Read YouTube.

Never mind!

timzak
May 1st, 2008, 06:14 PM
Nathan,

I managed to get those Real videos running through Mplayer, but the screen size takes up the whole browser window so the video is extremely pixelated. I can't seem to find a way to shrink the video size. It doesn't open in a separate Mplayer window, it opens inside the browser, but takes up the entire browser window, with no visible option to reduce video size. I noticed you only mention installing RealPlayer in the PRE-Hardy section. Does this mean that it's not compatible with Hardy yet?

Thanks.

Peter_72
May 1st, 2008, 07:28 PM
Thanks for the reply.

I get apple trailers to work if I choose X11 video output.

And I voted to get the bugs fixed.

Peter_72
May 1st, 2008, 07:29 PM
Thanks for the reply.

I get apple trailers to work if I choose X11 video output.

And I voted to get the bugs fixed.

edit: sorry for the double post!

ubuntu-freak
May 1st, 2008, 07:49 PM
Nathan,

I managed to get those Real videos running through Mplayer, but the screen size takes up the whole browser window so the video is extremely pixelated. I can't seem to find a way to shrink the video size. It doesn't open in a separate Mplayer window, it opens inside the browser, but takes up the entire browser window, with no visible option to reduce video size. I noticed you only mention installing RealPlayer in the PRE-Hardy section. Does this mean that it's not compatible with Hardy yet?

Thanks.


That was with Gecko Media Player yeah? How did you finally get it to open within the browser?

Well, mplayerplug-in could be told to ignore Real Media streams, Gecko Media Player can't, but it performs even better than mplayerplug-in did. I won't add the new Realplayer to my guide until there is a quality deb and I've tested it's performance.

Nathan

la3875
May 1st, 2008, 10:20 PM
Great job! Regardless I'm still having trouble with DVD playback. I've installed the Ubuntu restricted packages and Medibuntu but still no love. see the output from terminal when I try to install VLC directly -

jeff@gutsy-laptop:~$ sudo apt-get install vlc
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.

Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
vlc: Depends: vlc-nox (= 0.8.6.release.c-0ubuntu5.1) but it is not going to be installed
E: Broken packages


Any advice is appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to put this guide together!

ubuntu-freak
May 2nd, 2008, 01:33 AM
Great job! Regardless I'm still having trouble with DVD playback. I've installed the Ubuntu restricted packages and Medibuntu but still no love. see the output from terminal when I try to install VLC directly -

jeff@gutsy-laptop:~$ sudo apt-get install vlc
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.

Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
vlc: Depends: vlc-nox (= 0.8.6.release.c-0ubuntu5.1) but it is not going to be installed
E: Broken packages


Any advice is appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to put this guide together!


Are you running Hardy or Gutsy? You need the "dist-upgrade" command in part 1, the errors section.

Nathan

jonlowe
May 2nd, 2008, 02:47 AM
Thanks for the reply.

I get apple trailers to work if I choose X11 video output.

And I voted to get the bugs fixed.

I did the X11 thing to get mine to work also with Gecko. This needs to be added to the guide for a fix if people have problems.

webbie180
May 2nd, 2008, 05:53 AM
Encountered this prob while trying to install the essentials,

E: icedtea-gcjwebplugin: files list file for package `mozilla-mplayer' is missing final newline

How to overcome? Thanks.

UnderRAPS
May 2nd, 2008, 10:30 AM
I followed the instructions in the first post and got things working except the streaming part. Firefox 2 and 3 both crash when trying to stream RealPlayer and Quicktime files. Anybody have a clue on what is going on? I've tried both versions one at a time and am at my wits end.

aiqbal
May 2nd, 2008, 12:08 PM
Can I just say thank you for an ecellent "how to".
Regards
Ather

ubuntu-freak
May 2nd, 2008, 12:29 PM
I did the X11 thing to get mine to work also with Gecko. This needs to be added to the guide for a fix if people have problems.


It's mentioned in the troubleshooting section. Use x11 (unaccelarated) as a complete last resort, try and get xv (accelarated) working if you can. If you have a good processor, non-fullscreen x11 will appear okay, but it's not ideal.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
May 2nd, 2008, 12:43 PM
Encountered this prob while trying to install the essentials,

E: icedtea-gcjwebplugin: files list file for package `mozilla-mplayer' is missing final newline

How to overcome? Thanks.


Are you going to use mozilla-mplayer or geck-mediaplayer? Try:

sudo apt-get purge mozilla-mplayer

It's not a major error, just a minor curruption.

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
May 2nd, 2008, 12:49 PM
I followed the instructions in the first post and got things working except the streaming part. Firefox 2 and 3 both crash when trying to stream RealPlayer and Quicktime files. Anybody have a clue on what is going on? I've tried both versions one at a time and am at my wits end.


Which Ubuntu version are you running? There are issues with RealPlayer 10 and Firefox 3. Not sure about your Quicktime problem. Have you tried all the usual steps? Such as disabling effects, trying x11, gl or xv video drivers. Does sound like your graphics driver and Xserver aren't playing nice though.

Nathan

tipiglen
May 2nd, 2008, 02:33 PM
In Hardy, fresh install. Cannot get videos to stream in firefox. Just get big grey 'play' and when clicked, sometimes a dim 'loading player' thingy, sometimes 'loading....' and then nothing. tried the apple trailers and got only sound. Have done most of the stuff in the how-to, for which thanks for your efforts, but I'm still unable to view the videos from places like this
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/01/colbert-brazille-talk-dir_n_99656.html
or this
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/01/barack-obama-on-late-show_n_99718.html

Youtube stuff plays, but very choppy. Everything worked fine and easy with gutsy.

Here's hoping for a solution sometime soon.

xx
ed

ubuntu-freak
May 2nd, 2008, 04:49 PM
In Hardy, fresh install. Cannot get videos to stream in firefox. Just get big grey 'play' and when clicked, sometimes a dim 'loading player' thingy, sometimes 'loading....' and then nothing. tried the apple trailers and got only sound. Have done most of the stuff in the how-to, for which thanks for your efforts, but I'm still unable to view the videos from places like this
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/01/colbert-brazille-talk-dir_n_99656.html
or this
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/01/barack-obama-on-late-show_n_99718.html

Youtube stuff plays, but very choppy. Everything worked fine and easy with gutsy.

Here's hoping for a solution sometime soon.

xx
ed

Did you use the purge/install command for Adobe Flash? As libsupport should greatly improve playback.

Open GNOME MPlayer or MPlayer and in the preferences, select the "x11" video driver. Did the xvideo (xv) driver work in Gutsy? If so, then it's a graphics driver issue in Hardy.

Nathan

UnderRAPS
May 2nd, 2008, 04:57 PM
Which Ubuntu version are you running? There are issues with RealPlayer 10 and Firefox 3. Not sure about your Quicktime problem. Have you tried all the usual steps? Such as disabling effects, trying x11, gl or xv video drivers. Does sound like your graphics driver and Xserver aren't playing nice though.

Nathan

Thanks for your reply Nathan. I am using Kubuntu and first tried FF2. Effects are disabled and I am using an older nvidia card with the proprietary legacy drivers installed. I haven't tried x11, gl or xv (don't know what those are) but will look them up.

*edit* I found FF2 crashes when I click on a ogg link as well. Man, guess I have to just DL stuff to view or hear some files.

tipiglen
May 2nd, 2008, 05:09 PM
Did you use the purge/install command for Adobe Flash? As libsupport should greatly improve playback.

Open GNOME MPlayer or MPlayer and in the preferences, select the "x11" video driver. Did the xvideo (xv) driver work in Gutsy? If so, then it's a graphics driver issue in Hardy.

Nathan

Did the second first, and it didn't help. Did the first (purge - I thought I had done all the stuff in the how-to :( )
AND THAT SOLVED IT!

Thanks thanks thanks for your help! Everything's back to normal. Should I change back to xv or just leave it with x11?




言。



知。

("those who talk don't know. Those who know don't talk") -- Lao Tzu

Thanks again
ed

ubuntu-freak
May 2nd, 2008, 06:05 PM
Did the second first, and it didn't help. Did the first (purge - I thought I had done all the stuff in the how-to :( )
AND THAT SOLVED IT!

Thanks thanks thanks for your help! Everything's back to normal. Should I change back to xv or just leave it with x11?




言。



知。

("those who talk don't know. Those who know don't talk") -- Lao Tzu

Thanks again
ed


I don't get. Usually, if you get sound and no video it's either an accelarated video driver problem (xv),or you're missing the w32/64codecs package.

To answer your question, stick with x11 until playback works, then switch to xv as it's superior.

Nathan

P.S. Do desktop videos work?

ubuntu-freak
May 2nd, 2008, 06:14 PM
I've revised the DVD playback section after recieving feedback from Ubuntu user mc4man and others, reading articles and posts all over the net, plus after reading official advice from VLC. The fact that deinterlacing can actually hinder playback was also a major factor.

There are three commands to choose from now, but deinterlacing will only be available by selecting it in VLC's options.

Nathan

tipiglen
May 2nd, 2008, 11:20 PM
I don't get. Usually, if you get sound and no video it's either an accelarated video driver problem (xv),or you're missing the w32/64codecs package.

To answer your question, stick with x11 until playback works, then switch to xv as it's superior.

Nathan

P.S. Do desktop videos work?

What are 'desktop videos'? youtube works, as do embedded videos on web pages. I tried a dvd and it seems to work ok.

Thanks
ed

ubuntu-freak
May 2nd, 2008, 11:34 PM
What are 'desktop videos'? youtube works, as do embedded videos on web pages. I tried a dvd and it seems to work ok.

Thanks
ed


Desktop videos are non-streaming videos. I thought you said embeded videos didn't work? I have no idea why apple.com video are blank if you have w32/64codecs installed.

Nathan

la3875
May 3rd, 2008, 06:19 AM
I'm using Gutsy. When I saw Distribution upgrade I took a pause - don't want this to try upgrading to Hardy since had a bad experience with Hardy and why I'm still using Gutsy.

Nathan.Flow
May 3rd, 2008, 07:34 AM
Good news. After some investigation, I believe I figured out my problem... The region on my dvd player was set to 0. this is a problem. after I set it to 1 ex: "any thing other than 0" my dvd player and Linux now plays dvd.. :-) If you set your dvd player to a region, you should be able to play dvd's as well normally dvd players are set to 0 and that is not a recognized region so the dvd player will error out or show cropped media:lolflag:

webbie180
May 3rd, 2008, 08:38 AM
Are you going to use mozilla-mplayer or geck-mediaplayer? Try:

sudo apt-get purge mozilla-mplayer

It's not a major error, just a minor curruption.

Nathan

@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get purge mozilla-mplayer
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package mozilla-mplayer is not installed, so not removed
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.


Thanks......I'm going to use gecko-mediaplayer..will I have a problem with all the multimedia and video?

This is wat happens after I type this in terminal,
@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get remove icedtea-gcjwebplugin openjdk-6-jre && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss compizconfig-settings-manager faad gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-pitfdll libflashsupport liblame0 sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar w32codecs
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
icedtea-gcjwebplugin openjdk-6-jre
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 2 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 811kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
(Reading database ... dpkg: error processing icedtea-gcjwebplugin (--remove):
files list file for package `mozilla-mplayer' is missing final newline
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg exited unexpectedly

duchovny
May 3rd, 2008, 10:16 AM
You saved me days of hunting down codec and the like to get dvds running. And you solved that stuttering I would get looking at a quicktime file on a website.Thanks!

ubuntu-freak
May 3rd, 2008, 02:52 PM
Just wanna say "You're welcome" to those saying thanks.:-)

Webbie,

Don't worry about that error unless you think it's a big problem - you're gonna be using gecko-mediaplayer anyway.

Nathan

UnderRAPS
May 3rd, 2008, 08:15 PM
Thinking I messed up the kubuntu install, I reinstalled then followed the instructions in the first post. I still get FF2 crashes for Realmedia, QT, and OGG streams. In FF, QT files are supposed to be handled by Quicktime plugin, Real files by Realplayer 9, and OGG by gecko-mediaplayer. I am still stumped. I never had this problem in the previous kubuntu release. Just letting you know I am still working on this...thanks for the tips BTW.

ubuntu-freak
May 3rd, 2008, 08:52 PM
Thinking I messed up the kubuntu install, I reinstalled then followed the instructions in the first post. I still get FF2 crashes for Realmedia, QT, and OGG streams. In FF, QT files are supposed to be handled by Quicktime plugin, Real files by Realplayer 9, and OGG by gecko-mediaplayer. I am still stumped. I never had this problem in the previous kubuntu release. Just letting you know I am still working on this...thanks for the tips BTW.


Huh? Gecko Media Player needs to handle ALL formats. Remove RealPlayer, or at least delete it's nphelix plugins. Remove whatever Quicktime plugin you have installed, not sure what that would be though.

Nathan

UnderRAPS
May 3rd, 2008, 11:04 PM
Huh? Gecko Media Player needs to handle ALL formats. Remove RealPlayer, or at least delete it's nphelix plugins. Remove whatever Quicktime plugin you have installed, not sure what that would be though.

Nathan

I am just reporting what saw in FF2 file types. I didn't do anything outside of what the instructions said. Anyway, I am happy to report that I got all file types working. I just got rid of gecko and am just using mplayer. FF2 doesn't crash anymore :)

wallywally
May 4th, 2008, 01:49 AM
--PART 1/5, ESSENTIAL PACKAGES--


IMPORTANT: If you haven't already, you need to enable the Medibuntu repository. These commands are aimed at Gutsy users, so if you are using a different version of Ubuntu, please edit the first command in your Terminal and change it from "gutsy" to whatever version you are running.

As far as I can see the commands that follow are aimed at Hardy users - perhaps you should edit the How To for the benefit of ignorant noobs such as myself.

ubuntu-freak
May 4th, 2008, 02:28 AM
I am just reporting what saw in FF2 file types. I didn't do anything outside of what the instructions said. Anyway, I am happy to report that I got all file types working. I just got rid of gecko and am just using mplayer. FF2 doesn't crash anymore :)


Really? That's really odd, but maybe Gecko Media Player works better with FF3. Sorry about the confusion, thought you had RealPlayer installed.

Nathan

webbie180
May 4th, 2008, 10:29 AM
Just wanna say "You're welcome" to those saying thanks.:-)

Webbie,

Don't worry about that error unless you think it's a big problem - you're gonna be using gecko-mediaplayer anyway.

Nathan

But the error is preventing me from installing, removing and updating packages..

After I did this, error keeps appearing,

sudo apt-get remove mozilla-mplayer && sudo apt-get install gecko-mediaplayer

shr2004
May 4th, 2008, 04:38 PM
Thanks a lot for this tutorial. I am a complete newb in this world. Although I am connected to internet whenever I try to update I get 403 Forbidden (sudo..update), and hence can't update anything. Actually simply trying to install codec to play Mp3. Mine is 8.04 64bit edition on my Core 2 dual machine.

Thanks

ubuntu-freak
May 4th, 2008, 06:48 PM
But the error is preventing me from installing, removing and updating packages..

After I did this, error keeps appearing,

sudo apt-get remove mozilla-mplayer && sudo apt-get install gecko-mediaplayer


The commands from the "DID YOU HAVE ERRORS?" section didn't help? The -f install and dist-upgrade ones should help. Did you Google the error?

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
May 4th, 2008, 07:25 PM
Thanks a lot for this tutorial. I am a complete newb in this world. Although I am connected to internet whenever I try to update I get 403 Forbidden (sudo..update), and hence can't update anything. Actually simply trying to install codec to play Mp3. Mine is 8.04 64bit edition on my Core 2 dual machine.

Thanks


How long has it done that? You could try selecting a different mirror as mentioned in part 1 (beneath the Medibuntu instructions).

Are you behind a proxy? Changing the repos from http to ftp may help if using a different mirror doesn't.

Nathan

blazoner
May 5th, 2008, 01:37 AM
So there are still just the default options, such as Totem, Open Folder, Do Nothing? Could be due to the fact that Kaffiene is a KDE app. There is no option to launch by command string in Hardy just yet, so not much you can do for now. I guess if you're desperate, you could change the Totem launch command to Kaffiene's, using the VLC instructions as a guide, then select Totem in the DVD Video list.

Nathan
It's apparently not a KDE application problem, as I have the same issue, and am running a new hardy/gnome install. I do have my home folder from my previous installs, so it could possibly be related to some old settings, but I'd have no clue where to start looking.
VLC is working great, however, both the audio and video sections of the menu are "empty."
I'm inclined to believe something I've done is the problem. I've even uninstalled/reinstalled, and the problem persists.... no clue where to look next....

ubuntu-freak
May 5th, 2008, 02:02 AM
It's apparently not a KDE application problem, as I have the same issue, and am running a new hardy/gnome install. I do have my home folder from my previous installs, so it could possibly be related to some old settings, but I'd have no clue where to start looking.
VLC is working great, however, both the audio and video sections of the menu are "empty."
I'm inclined to believe something I've done is the problem. I've even uninstalled/reinstalled, and the problem persists.... no clue where to look next....


In Nautilus>Edit>Preferences>Media? That's completely different to the other users problem. Code has been rewritten, try purging and reinstalling Nautilus and/or delete it's hidden folder in your home directory:

rm ~/.nautilus

sudo apt-get purge nautilus && sudo apt-get install nautilus

Nathan

P.S. Make sure you logout also.

wallywally
May 5th, 2008, 02:35 AM
Thanks for the excellent guide reassuringlyoffensive, I've now got everything working as I want it to in with FF3.5 in Hardy. However, I can only watch (sound is fine) the trailers on the Apple site when I disable the advanced desktop settings.

Is there any way I can have both?

blazoner
May 5th, 2008, 02:36 AM
OK, did that.
Now it gives me a choice between gxine or Movie Player. Still no VLC....

blazoner
May 5th, 2008, 02:49 AM
OK, That whole experience was one big brain-fart!

In /etc/gnome/defaults.list I put in VLC.desktop instead of vlc.desktop.... One quick find/replace did the trick....

Thx 4 your help! :oops:

ubuntu-freak
May 5th, 2008, 03:46 AM
Thanks for the excellent guide reassuringlyoffensive, I've now got everything working as I want it to in with FF3.5 in Hardy. However, I can only watch (sound is fine) the trailers on the Apple site when I disable the advanced desktop settings.

Is there any way I can have both?


You mean desktop effects? Depends if you can install a different graphics driver. You can also use the x11 video driver in GNOME MPlayer instead of the default xv driver, but it's not GPU accelerated.

Nathan

talsemgeest
May 5th, 2008, 05:20 AM
Theres a cool little program called compiz switch, its an icon that when clicked toggles compiz on and off.

Might help with you problem.

wallywally
May 5th, 2008, 06:22 AM
Theres a cool little program called compiz switch, its an icon that when clicked toggles compiz on and off.

I hadn't thought of that - brilliant idea and now everything works.

The program I am using to switch compiz on and off now is Fusion-icon. See http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2008/03/25/toggle-compiz-with-fusion-icon-in-ubuntu-804/

webbie180
May 5th, 2008, 09:43 AM
The commands from the "DID YOU HAVE ERRORS?" section didn't help? The -f install and dist-upgrade ones should help. Did you Google the error?

Nathan

Thanks, tried and did all u mentioned including googling the error but no solution.pse help. Stuck now, cant update, install or remove anything because of the error.

ubuntu-freak
May 5th, 2008, 04:34 PM
Thanks, tried and did all u mentioned including googling the error but no solution.pse help. Stuck now, cant update, install or remove anything because of the error.

What about:

sudo apt-get clean && sudo apt-get install mozilla-mplayer

then:

sudo apt-get purge mozilla-mplayer

If none of that works, my only other idea is for you to:

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/mozilla-mplayer.list

Then try and install/purge it again.

Nathan

johnmc
May 5th, 2008, 04:58 PM
First of all thanks for the great how-to, exactly what i needed!
I got everything installed and it's working nicely the only thing that bothers me is that mplayer isn't reconnecting to the stream once it lost it.
Pressing play again won't help - it says "getting playlist, playing, connected, connecting to server xyz and then stopped".
The only thing that helps is completely refreshing the page so that it'll reload mplayerplugin. The stream I'm having problems with is:
http://www.los40.com/multimedia/radios.html?oas=1&medio=maxima

Any idea?

avidfan
May 5th, 2008, 05:09 PM
superb work! im a linux newbie and i found your how to so easy to follow!
thanks!
av

ubuntu-freak
May 5th, 2008, 05:13 PM
First of all thanks for the great how-to, exactly what i needed!
I got everything installed and it's working nicely the only thing that bothers me is that mplayer isn't reconnecting to the stream once it lost it.
Pressing play again won't help - it says "getting playlist, playing, connected, connecting to server xyz and then stopped".
The only thing that helps is completely refreshing the page so that it'll reload mplayerplugin. The stream I'm having problems with is:
http://www.los40.com/multimedia/radios.html?oas=1&medio=maxima

Any idea?

That's strange, works fine for me! Weird huh? It let me pause/play also. You are using Gecko Media Player yeah?

Nathan

P.S. Thanks to those who thanked me:)

ubuntu-freak
May 5th, 2008, 09:01 PM
Okay, I made some big changes to the troubleshooting section. May not look like much, but it still took a fair while. This things becoming a beast.

Nathan

GlennW
May 5th, 2008, 10:43 PM
I've just managed to upgrade to hardy. I think that it's a tremendous improvement. I've been having flash and streaming issues since upgrading to gutsy from feisty. I was hoping that hardy would eliminate my issues once and for all but I am disappointed once again. I did, however, run through your how-to twice since upgrading to hardy. Flash is still being as stubborn as it was with gutsy. In order to play a youtube clip, I must pause it as soon as the clip window appears, allowing it to completely load and then I can play it. If not, all I get is the first 34-37 seconds and then no joy. Streaming now is better in that it was with full screen and not the postage stamp it was with gutsy. However, it still plays maybe five seconds before buffering. It buffers 4-5 times and then crashes. It's quite pixelated too. With feisty, there were none of these issues. Youtube clips were smooth and hassle free. Streaming was fullscreen, sharp, and uninterrupted.

I need some serious help. I'm not afraid of the terminal but I'm still quite the linux newb. Please let me know what kind of specific info you might need.

Thanks.

ubuntu-freak
May 5th, 2008, 11:24 PM
I've just managed to upgrade to hardy. I think that it's a tremendous improvement. I've been having flash and streaming issues since upgrading to gutsy from feisty. I was hoping that hardy would eliminate my issues once and for all but I am disappointed once again. I did, however, run through your how-to twice since upgrading to hardy. Flash is still being as stubborn as it was with gutsy. In order to play a youtube clip, I must pause it as soon as the clip window appears, allowing it to completely load and then I can play it. If not, all I get is the first 34-37 seconds and then no joy. Streaming now is better in that it was with full screen and not the postage stamp it was with gutsy. However, it still plays maybe five seconds before buffering. It buffers 4-5 times and then crashes. It's quite pixelated too. With feisty, there were none of these issues. Youtube clips were smooth and hassle free. Streaming was fullscreen, sharp, and uninterrupted.

I need some serious help. I'm not afraid of the terminal but I'm still quite the linux newb. Please let me know what kind of specific info you might need.

Thanks.


Not sure what to tell you. Flash was okay once I installed libflashsupport and Gecko Media Player is a big improvement over MPlayerplug-in. Your main issues seem to be buffering related, but that's not major, I experience that sometimes as well. The Flash problem is odd though.

Do you always upgrade to new versions? Perhaps a fresh install would help.

Nathan

GlennW
May 6th, 2008, 03:53 AM
Not sure what to tell you. Flash was okay once I installed libflashsupport and Gecko Media Player is a big improvement over MPlayerplug-in. Your main issues seem to be buffering related, but that's not major, I experience that sometimes as well. The Flash problem is odd though.

Do you always upgrade to new versions? Perhaps a fresh install would help.

Nathan

Thanks for the response Nathan. I would agree regarding the buffering yet I have no idea how to solve this issue.

What do you mean - upgrade to a new version? A fresh install? You mean of Hardy? If that's the case, how does one go about doing that? Is there a way to keep current settings or is it just a case of starting from scratch, hoping that the payoff is better in the end?

I'm not trying to be obtuse but i this case it comes naturally...

ubuntu-freak
May 6th, 2008, 11:33 AM
Thanks for the response Nathan. I would agree regarding the buffering yet I have no idea how to solve this issue.

What do you mean - upgrade to a new version? A fresh install? You mean of Hardy? If that's the case, how does one go about doing that? Is there a way to keep current settings or is it just a case of starting from scratch, hoping that the payoff is better in the end?

I'm not trying to be obtuse but i this case it comes naturally...


Well, you have some odd issues, so a completely fresh install may help. What settings do you wish to keep? My how-to should get you up and running again quickly.

Did a manual Flash installation not perform any better? Are you a 32-Bit or 64-Bit user? Everything that can help should already be in my how-to, so not sure what else I can suggest.

Nathan

Th3Professor
May 6th, 2008, 03:43 PM
Nice how-to... good to know it's available for when the specific need arises.

Salleman
May 6th, 2008, 06:47 PM
-Deleted

johnraff
May 7th, 2008, 04:53 AM
Hi Nathan - another thankyou for putting all this advice in one place, and all the backup you're giving us!

*)There's a problem with Realplayer and SCIM (a popular input method for multibyte languages like Japanese), and realplay fails with a "segmentation fault". If you're using scim you can fix it by adding
export GTK_IM_MODULE=xim at the top of your /usr/bin/realplay file when you're adding that LD_PRELOAD stuff in the "troubleshooting" section. I found the fix here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RealPlayerInstallationMethods?action=show&redirect=RealplayerInstallationMethods#head-bb5c102b40f9fb3094bc947e47dc66d5db95b325

*)A quick, er, plug for the Firefox "unplug" extension.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2254
I've found it quite useful for getting to the content of streams that have been a bit hidden away.

pch0mey
May 7th, 2008, 05:38 AM
Thank you so much! My Java is working in ff3 again! <3

ubuntu-freak
May 7th, 2008, 05:50 AM
Thank you so much! My Java is working in ff3 again! <3


No problem. You must have had the OpenJDK one installed.

John,

Thanks for the RealPlayer tip and FF extension info.

Nathan

Gotit
May 8th, 2008, 12:04 AM
Hi, I'm trying to make Amarok my default CD/audio player in Ubuntu 8.04.
I read your steps for how to make VLC the default DVD player and tried them on the audio section of /etc/gnome/defaults.list and I have

x-content/audio-cdda=amarok.desktop
x-content/audio-dvd=amarok.desktop
x-content/audio-player=amarok.desktop
but when I go to Places > Home Folder > Edit > Preferences > media > CD Audio dropdown I don't have an Amarok selection. All I have to select from is Rhythembox and Audio CD Extractor.

How do I get Amarok to show as a selection?

Thanks

ubuntu-freak
May 8th, 2008, 12:31 AM
Hi, I'm trying to make Amarok my default CD/audio player in Ubuntu 8.04.
I read your steps for how to make VLC the default DVD player and tried them on the audio section of /etc/gnome/defaults.list and I have

x-content/audio-cdda=amarok.desktop
x-content/audio-dvd=amarok.desktop
x-content/audio-player=amarok.desktop
but when I go to Places > Home Folder > Edit > Preferences > media > CD Audio dropdown I don't have an Amarok selection. All I have to select from is Rhythembox and Audio CD Extractor.

How do I get Amarok to show as a selection?

Thanks


Someone else had this problem with Kaffiene. I think it's happening cos they're KDE apps. Have you tried right-clicking on sound files, going to properties and selecting to open them with Amarok from then on?

I recommend you try Exaile and Songbird also.

Nathan

Gotit
May 8th, 2008, 12:56 AM
Have you tried right-clicking on sound files, going to properties and selecting to open them with Amarok from then on?

Ya, it seems to work for MP3 files and I have changed
System > Preferences > Preferred Applications > Multimedia > Multimedia Player to Custom
Command: amarok

and MP3's open with Amarok when I click them.

However, when I put a CD in and right click it I don't get an "Open with" option. The only options I get are Open with Rhythembox or Audio CD Extractor.

I tried to find some place to set Amarok by right click > preferences but I don't see any where to select a player.

I'll take a look at the other two players you suggest. Thank!!

ubuntu-freak
May 8th, 2008, 02:29 AM
I'll take a look at the other two players you suggest. Thank!!


Exaile is almost the same as Amarok, just a GTK fork and prettier for it.

There is a link to Songbird in the miscellaneous section. It's very early in developement, but may someday be the default music app in Ubuntu (my opinion and prediction). Try it! :-)

Nathan

RapMasterC
May 9th, 2008, 04:19 AM
I've tried to install gecko on kubuntu x64/FireFox 3 Beta 5 using the guide, however, now whenever I try to play anything thats not flash firefox just crashes. About:plugins tells me that gecko is setup for everything but java and flash (youtube still works fine). I still fairly new to linux. I wanted to be able to watch quicktime and windows media (CBC website).

Thanks

ubuntu-freak
May 9th, 2008, 04:46 AM
I've tried to install gecko on kubuntu x64/FireFox 3 Beta 5 using the guide, however, now whenever I try to play anything thats not flash firefox just crashes. About:plugins tells me that gecko is setup for everything but java and flash (youtube still works fine). I still fairly new to linux. I wanted to be able to watch quicktime and windows media (CBC website).

Thanks


You have w64codecs installed, yeah? Did you try different video output methods and disable any effects? Troubleshooting section may help.

Nathan

RapMasterC
May 9th, 2008, 05:47 AM
You have w64codecs installed, yeah? Did you try different video output methods and disable any effects? Troubleshooting section may help.

Nathan

w64codecs are installed. I tried disabling any affects as well as different video outputs (selected using the KMplayer). Perhaps thats my problem.

ubuntu-freak
May 9th, 2008, 12:51 PM
w64codecs are installed. I tried disabling any affects as well as different video outputs (selected using the KMplayer). Perhaps thats my problem.


Hmm. Did MPlayer get installed along with KMPlayer? Make sure it is. It only "suggests" MPlayer, but Gecko Media Player depends on it, so it should be installed.

Nathan

RapMasterC
May 9th, 2008, 01:06 PM
Hmm. Did MPlayer get installed along with KMPlayer? Make sure it is. It only "suggests" MPlayer, but Gecko Media Player depends on it, so it should be installed.

Nathan


Mplayer is installed.

ubuntu-freak
May 9th, 2008, 03:10 PM
Mplayer is installed.


Try deleting pluginreg.dat from home/.mozilla/firefox/some.profile. Restart FF.

Also, launch Firefox from Konsole and see if it works then.

Nathan

P.S. Install GNOME MPlayer also.

RapMasterC
May 9th, 2008, 07:25 PM
Try deleting pluginreg.dat from home/.mozilla/firefox/some.profile. Restart FF.

Also, launch Firefox from Konsole and see if it works then.

Nathan

P.S. Install GNOME MPlayer also.

I've deleted pluginreg.dat several times. Gnome Mplayer is also installed. I just ran firefox from konsole and I got this output when it crashed at apple trailers:

ERROR: ld.so: object '/usr/lib/libartsdsp.so.0' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
ERROR: ld.so: object '/usr/lib/libartsc.so.0' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622870: NP_GetMIMEDescription
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622870: NP_GetMIMEDescription return
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622870: NP_GetValue
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622870: NP_GetValue: returning plugin name.
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622870: NP_GetValue return
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622870: NP_GetValue
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622870: NP_GetValue: returning plugin description.
GCJ PLUGIN: thread 0x622870: NP_GetValue return
process 6660: arguments to dbus_connection_get_data() were incorrect, assertion "connection != NULL" failed in file dbus-connection.c line 5697.
This is normally a bug in some application using the D-Bus library.
process 6660: arguments to dbus_connection_set_data() were incorrect, assertion "connection != NULL" failed in file dbus-connection.c line 5661.
This is normally a bug in some application using the D-Bus library.

** ERROR **: Not enough memory to set up DBusConnection for use with GLib
aborting...

ubuntu-freak
May 9th, 2008, 09:00 PM
How did you install Hardy? You're experiencing a bug that should now be fixed. If you ran Hardy since beta, I'd suggest you backup, format and then install fresh. Actually, create a new user account and see if the error is reproduced there first.

Nathan

RapMasterC
May 9th, 2008, 10:56 PM
How did you install Hardy? You're experiencing a bug that should now be fixed. If you ran Hardy since beta, I'd suggest you backup, format and then install fresh. Actually, create a new user account and see if the error is reproduced there first.

Nathan

It was a fresh install but I think firefox 3b5 might have been installed afterwards. Maybe I'll purge it and reinstall it.

RapMasterC
May 10th, 2008, 06:26 PM
How did you install Hardy? You're experiencing a bug that should now be fixed. If you ran Hardy since beta, I'd suggest you backup, format and then install fresh. Actually, create a new user account and see if the error is reproduced there first.

Nathan

I tried to make a new user account and it still comes up with the same error.

Ghuloomo
May 10th, 2008, 08:45 PM
VLC AS DEFAULT DVD PLAYER IN UBUNTU 8.04 HARDY HERON SYSTEMS


To change the default DVD player in Hardy Heron to VLC (I strongly advise you do), open the Terminal and copy and paste this command into it:

gksudo gedit /etc/gnome/defaults.list

Press Ctrl+f and search for "x-content/video", then change the "totem.desktop" entries to "vlc.desktop". Close and save. Next, navigate to Places > Computer > Edit > Preferences > Media > DVD Video, select VLC and then test whether automatic launch and playback with VLC works for you by inserting a DVD. If playback doesn't work properly, navigate to Video > Deinterlace within VLC and select mode "Blend". If that still doesn't solve your issue, or you just want more features enabled upon launch (such as fullscreen upon launch), follow the intructions in the next paragraph.

Right-click on "Applications" in the top panel and select "Edit Menus" to open the default menu editor. Navigate down to "Sound & Video" in the left pane and click on it to show all those applications in the pane to the right. Scroll down the list of applications displayed until you see "VLC media player", right-click on it, then click on "Properties" in the context menu to open "Launcher Properties" and change the launch command from "wxvlc %F" to:

vlc --volume 512 %m

or to have DVD playback automatically launch in fullscreen:

vlc --volume 512 --fullscreen %m

Close the VLC properties dialog and exit the menu editor.

This one helped me a lot ;)

Thank you

ubuntu-freak
May 10th, 2008, 09:56 PM
I tried to make a new user account and it still comes up with the same error.


There may be problems with Gecko Media Player in KDE. Perhaps other Kubuntu users can shed some light on this.

(Yes, that's a request people)

Nathan

Edit: Remove it and tell me how mozilla-mplayer performs, with my settings of course.

ubuntu-freak
May 10th, 2008, 10:12 PM
This one helped me a lot ;)

Thank you


You're welcome. :-)

Nathan

RapMasterC
May 11th, 2008, 03:41 PM
There may be problems with Gecko Media Player in KDE. Perhaps other Kubuntu users can shed some light on this.

(Yes, that's a request people)

Nathan

Edit: Remove it and tell me how mozilla-mplayer performs, with my settings of course.

I removed Gecko and everything. Reinstalled using mozilla-player plugins and its works (sorta). Apple trailers work and most of the stuff from the CBC website.
Thanks, its a huge start.

wfriesen
May 11th, 2008, 04:28 PM
Thank you for this. I was having problems with jerky playback of flash videos, but now it works fine and I can watch all the youtube I want.
Look! The otters are holding hands!

ubuntu-freak
May 11th, 2008, 04:37 PM
You're both welcome.

Nathan

russlar
May 11th, 2008, 06:45 PM
reassuringlyoffensive: you, sir, are the man.:guitar:

ubuntu-freak
May 11th, 2008, 06:50 PM
reassuringlyoffensive: you, sir, are the man.:guitar:


Thanks, but....don't people hate "The Man"? ;-)

Nathan

Justgeoo
May 11th, 2008, 11:24 PM
Hey! I am trying to follow your instructions on the multimedia, but I am getting errors. I am working on PART 1/5, ESSENTIAL PACKAGES. When I try to use the terminal add these 2 lines:

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

I get an error, so I follow the next step and open gedit and add the two lines to my sources.list document.

Now I go back to the terminal and paste in this line: wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

I get these following errors:

W: Failed to fetch http://ftp.gui.uva.es/sites/ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-security/multiverse/source/Sources.gz 403 Forbidden (20 lines of this error)

E: Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

Can you please tell me what is it that I did wrong? Thank you.

ubuntu-freak
May 12th, 2008, 12:34 AM
Hey! I am trying to follow your instructions on the multimedia, but I am getting errors. I am working on PART 1/5, ESSENTIAL PACKAGES. When I try to use the terminal add these 2 lines:

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

I get an error, so I follow the next step and open gedit and add the two lines to my sources.list document.

Now I go back to the terminal and paste in this line: wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

I get these following errors:

W: Failed to fetch http://ftp.gui.uva.es/sites/ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-security/multiverse/source/Sources.gz 403 Forbidden (20 lines of this error)

E: Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

Can you please tell me what is it that I did wrong? Thank you.


Go to System > Administration > Software Sources and choose a local mirror, or change the sources from http to ftp. Then apt-get update again.

Nathan

Bobrm2
May 12th, 2008, 07:44 PM
This is absolutely fantastic. Thanks for all your efforts, now I'll go back and read the comments.

Bob

Lalapalooza
May 13th, 2008, 05:41 AM
When I run this: sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

I get this: W: GPG error: http://ftp.debian.org etch Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY A70DAF536070D3A1 NO_PUBKEY B5D0C804ADB11277

What does this mean and how do I fix it?

Thanks!

ubuntu-freak
May 13th, 2008, 01:59 PM
When I run this: sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

I get this: W: GPG error: http://ftp.debian.org etch Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY A70DAF536070D3A1 NO_PUBKEY B5D0C804ADB11277

What does this mean and how do I fix it?

Thanks!


Are you running Debian? Medibuntu is for Ubuntu Family distros, you want debian-multimedia.org and its key. Also, Debian uses "su" and not "sudo".

http://www.debian-multimedia.org/

Nathan

Lalapalooza
May 13th, 2008, 04:08 PM
Are you running Debian? Medibuntu is for Ubuntu Family distros, you want debian-multimedia.org and its key. Also, Debian uses "su" and not "sudo".

http://www.debian-multimedia.org/

Nathan

Sorry, I'm really new at this. I thought Debian was part of Ubuntu 8.04 (this isn't a Ubuntu Family distro??). Do I need to unintall what might have been installed or just leave as is?

I'm trying to find out how to get sound from 4 speakers (instead of just two) but nothing is working! Thought this might help. :confused:

Thanks!

ubuntu-freak
May 13th, 2008, 05:15 PM
Sorry, I'm really new at this. I thought Debian was part of Ubuntu 8.04 (this isn't a Ubuntu Family distro??). Do I need to unintall what might have been installed or just leave as is?

I'm trying to find out how to get sound from 4 speakers (instead of just two) but nothing is working! Thought this might help. :confused:

Thanks!


Ubuntu is based on Debian, similar to how XP was based on NT. There are differences between Debian and Ubuntu and Ubuntu is easier for those new to Linux. Debian has it's own sources for downloading software also, that's why you received the error.

Have you enabled multimedia? Can you play all video and audio formats? Try the following section of Ubuntu forums:

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=161

Or you can try the Debian forums themselves, just explain that you're very new to Linux.

Nathan

Lalapalooza
May 13th, 2008, 05:30 PM
Ubuntu is based on Debian, similar to how XP was based on NT. There are differences between Debian and Ubuntu and Ubuntu is easier for those new to Linux. Debian has it's own sources for downloading software also, that's why you received the error.

Have you enabled multimedia? Can you play all video and audio formats? Try the following section of Ubuntu forums:

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=161

Or you can try the Debian forums themselves, just explain that you're very new to Linux.

Nathan

OK, I think I've confused both of us - I do not use Debian, only Ubuntu. That brings me back to where that error about the missing key (with "debian" in the line) came from. :(

Thanks for your patience!

ubuntu-freak
May 13th, 2008, 06:20 PM
Sorry, I'm really new at this. I thought Debian was part of Ubuntu 8.04 (this isn't a Ubuntu Family distro??). Do I need to unintall what might have been installed or just leave as is?

I'm trying to find out how to get sound from 4 speakers (instead of just two) but nothing is working! Thought this might help. :confused:

Thanks!


OK, I think I've confused both of us - I do not use Debian, only Ubuntu. That brings me back to where that error about the missing key (with "debian" in the line) came from. :(

Thanks for your patience!


Well, did you add a Debian Etch repository? Have a look in:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Delete any Debian repos and then apt-get update again.

Nathan

Lalapalooza
May 13th, 2008, 06:29 PM
Well, did you add a Debian Etch repository? Have a look in:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Delete any Debian repos and then apt-get update again.

Nathan

Well now, that is very very possible! :roll: I'll have to check when I get home from work.

Lalapalooza
May 14th, 2008, 02:21 AM
Well, did you add a Debian Etch repository? Have a look in:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Delete any Debian repos and then apt-get update again.

Nathan

This opens up a source list with most of it beginning with "deb." I just delete everything listed???

ubuntu-freak
May 14th, 2008, 02:26 AM
This opens up a source list with most of it beginning with "deb." I just delete everything listed???


No, that's normal. Does any line mention Debian or Etch?

Nathan

Lalapalooza
May 14th, 2008, 02:32 AM
No, that's normal. Does any line mention Debian or Etch?

Nathan

The very last line:
deb http://ftp.debian.org etch main

ubuntu-freak
May 14th, 2008, 04:00 AM
The very last line:
deb http://ftp.debian.org etch main


Haha that's the one. You should be okay now.

Regarding your speakers, Hardy uses the PulseAudio sound server by default, which I've read can be a pain (for now) with multiple speakers. You may have more luck with ALSA, which you can select in System > Preferences > Sound, instead of Auto Detect. You may have to tell non-GNOME applications (VLC, MPlayer for example) that you're now using ALSA. You can do that in their preferences.

You may need to reboot.

Nathan

roc320
May 14th, 2008, 04:59 AM
Hello everyone, I'm a newbie to the Ubuntu world, I have version 8.04 installed and it's a great OS as of far.

My question is regarding the post I tried to install the java but it keeps going to an sun agreement page inside the console. I tried to view videos at youtube, but I'm having no success. Is there any commands I can run to check if the flash and the java components have been installed properly. Thanks alot

ubuntu-freak
May 14th, 2008, 01:01 PM
Hello everyone, I'm a newbie to the Ubuntu world, I have version 8.04 installed and it's a great OS as of far.

My question is regarding the post I tried to install the java but it keeps going to an sun agreement page inside the console. I tried to view videos at youtube, but I'm having no success. Is there any commands I can run to check if the flash and the java components have been installed properly. Thanks alot


All you have to do is agree with their crappy agreement and it will install fine. Didn't you do that?

What's wrong with YouTube? There is a Flash installation section in Part 1, just copy and paste the command into the Terminal.

Let me know how it goes.

Nathan

badboyz107
May 14th, 2008, 02:53 PM
I dont seem to be able to install a lot of these items I keep getting dependency errors, and none of the work arounds help matters...here is the one from trying to install dvdrip


sudo apt-get install dvdrip
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.

Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
dvdrip: Depends: transcode (>= 2:1.0.2-0.8 ) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: ffmpeg but it is not going to be installed
E: Broken packages

Lalapalooza
May 14th, 2008, 03:12 PM
Haha that's the one. You should be okay now.

Regarding your speakers, Hardy uses the PulseAudio sound server by default, which I've read can be a pain (for now) with multiple speakers. You may have more luck with ALSA, which you can select in System > Preferences > Sound, instead of Auto Detect. You may have to tell non-GNOME applications (VLC, MPlayer for example) that you're now using ALSA. You can do that in their preferences.

You may need to reboot.

Nathan

Well, that sounds good - I'll give it a try tonight! Do I delete that line with Debian in it or leave it alone?

Thanks so much Nathan!!

Zer0Nin3r
May 14th, 2008, 03:25 PM
Is this post and other posts similar in this nature published on Ubuntu's wiki? If not do we have permission to publish (this) onto the wiki?

ubuntu-freak
May 14th, 2008, 05:34 PM
Is this post and other posts similar in this nature published on Ubuntu's wiki? If not do we have permission to publish (this) onto the wiki?


I would have published it on there already, but I decided it was enough to just publish it here. I don't know what I will do. There is advice in the Wiki already, with categories etc. My how-to is more of a mash-up of advice and tips, for the average desktop user.

Nathan

Mistron
May 14th, 2008, 08:03 PM
With this:

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread3 libdvdnav4 build-essential debhelper fakeroot

I get this error:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package libdvdcss2 is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package libdvdcss2 has no installation candidate


It's from part 4/5.

ubuntu-freak
May 14th, 2008, 08:41 PM
With this:

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread3 libdvdnav4 build-essential debhelper fakeroot

I get this error:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package libdvdcss2 is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package libdvdcss2 has no installation candidate


It's from part 4/5.


Did you wget the Medibuntu repo from Part 1? It's in the section marked "IMPORTANT".

Nathan

Mistron
May 14th, 2008, 09:50 PM
I did get it, I will try again in case I have done something wrong. That is safe to do right?

ubuntu-freak
May 14th, 2008, 09:57 PM
I did get it, I will try again in case I have done something wrong. That is safe to do right?


That's weird. You are running Hardy yeah? Did you install the packages from Part 1 okay? Including w32codecs?

Nathan

Mistron
May 14th, 2008, 10:40 PM
I must have done something wrong with installing the packages from part 1. It does work now. =) Thank you anyway. ^^

tyk
May 14th, 2008, 11:55 PM
much much thanks :)

Lalapalooza
May 15th, 2008, 12:56 AM
Haha that's the one. You should be okay now.

Regarding your speakers, Hardy uses the PulseAudio sound server by default, which I've read can be a pain (for now) with multiple speakers. You may have more luck with ALSA, which you can select in System > Preferences > Sound, instead of Auto Detect. You may have to tell non-GNOME applications (VLC, MPlayer for example) that you're now using ALSA. You can do that in their preferences.

You may need to reboot.

Nathan

Do I need to delete that line or leave it alone?

Thanks again!

ubuntu-freak
May 15th, 2008, 12:57 AM
No problem (both of you). :-)

Nathan

ubuntu-freak
May 15th, 2008, 01:02 AM
Do I need to delete that line or leave it alone?

Thanks again!


Yeah, of course. I did actually say before that post to remove any Debian lines. I doubt it's done any harm though, Etch packages are old and would be ignored by Ubuntu. But yeah, Debian repos are for Debian, so remove it.

Nathan

owl
May 15th, 2008, 03:47 PM
Thanks a lot! really comprehensive tutorial! Helped me a lot, very good piece of work! :guitar:

Th3Professor
May 15th, 2008, 07:47 PM
Any help available on the microphone?

I've been through various threads, how-to pages, etc. on microphones and nothing has resulted with a working mic.

ubuntu-freak
May 15th, 2008, 08:40 PM
Any help available on the microphone?

I've been through various threads, how-to pages, etc. on microphones and nothing has resulted with a working mic.


It may only work if you explicitly select PulseAudio in System > Preferences > Sound, instead of Auto Detect. Failing that, select ALSA, but you will have to tell VLC and MPlayer (and other non-GNOME apps) that you're now using ALSA. You can do that in their preferences.

Nathan

Th3Professor
May 15th, 2008, 10:00 PM
It may only work if you explicitly select PulseAudio in System > Preferences > Sound, instead of Auto Detect. Failing that, select ALSA, but you will have to tell VLC and MPlayer (and other non-GNOME apps) that you're now using ALSA. You can do that in their preferences.

Nathan

Thank you for the info.

I tried it, though no luck so far. Here's what I did and what happened...

System -> Preferences -> Sound
"Sound Preferences" window -> "Devices" tab -> "Audio Conferencing" ("Sound capture")

I selected "PulseAudio Sound Server" in the "Sound Capture" section.

I clicked on the "Test" button and heard a brief, though quiet, static signal. It didn't seem to respond to the microphone (tapping on it for example).

I opened the generic recording program "Sound Recorder" and hit record... nothing. There were no options for selecting AlsaMixer or anything else (other than lossy or lossless).

Maybe... should I try another way of testing it?

steve allen
May 15th, 2008, 10:01 PM
Used this guide in 32 bit no probs.

However in 64 bit now and experiencing some probs with the following

s@lounge:~$ sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh
No prebuilt binary available. Will try to build and install it.
You need to have debhelper and fakeroot installed.
If not, interrupt now, install them and rerun this script.

This is higly experimental, look out for what happens below.
If you want to stop, interrupt now (control-c), else press
return to proceed

s@lounge:~$ sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/examples/install-css.sh
sudo: /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/examples/install-css.sh: command not found
s@lounge:~$

I'm a bit lost and I don't feel like being highly experimental

regards

steve

ubuntu-freak
May 15th, 2008, 10:58 PM
Used this guide in 32 bit no probs.

However in 64 bit now and experiencing some probs with the following

s@lounge:~$ sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh
No prebuilt binary available. Will try to build and install it.
You need to have debhelper and fakeroot installed.
If not, interrupt now, install them and rerun this script.

This is higly experimental, look out for what happens below.
If you want to stop, interrupt now (control-c), else press
return to proceed

s@lounge:~$ sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/examples/install-css.sh
sudo: /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/examples/install-css.sh: command not found
s@lounge:~$

I'm a bit lost and I don't feel like being highly experimental

regards

steve


Don't worry about the warning.

Nathan

steve allen
May 15th, 2008, 11:19 PM
thanks Nathan highly experimental it is then!!!!

steve allen
May 15th, 2008, 11:39 PM
Still cannot get anything to play. The only way I can even open vlc is through the terminal using "sudo vlc".

Is this anything to do with the fact that I loaded edubuntu.

regards

steve

ubuntu-freak
May 16th, 2008, 12:06 AM
Still cannot get anything to play. The only way I can even open vlc is through the terminal using "sudo vlc".

Is this anything to do with the fact that I loaded edubuntu.

regards

steve


You should only use gksudo with GUI apps, not sudo. It can cause problems on rare occasions.

So VLC doesn't open if you click on it in the menu?

Nathan

orengolan
May 16th, 2008, 05:06 AM
I followed the tutorial on my xubuntu hardy.
now the vlc starts when I insert a DVD but the it's not playing the movie.
instead it's vibrating between play and pause without showing anything.

any clue?

steve allen
May 16th, 2008, 09:30 AM
When I click on vlc in menu nothing happens al all

imbaczek
May 16th, 2008, 09:31 AM
just wanted to share that no matter what I did, no sound would play in flash. turns out I had a broken .asoundrc - renaming it helped, everything plays fine now.

ubuntu-freak
May 16th, 2008, 11:56 AM
I followed the tutorial on my xubuntu hardy.
now the vlc starts when I insert a DVD but the it's not playing the movie.
instead it's vibrating between play and pause without showing anything.

any clue?

Did you try enabling deinterlacing? It's mentioned in the how-to. Also, you are using "vlc %m" and not U%, yeah?



When I click on vlc in menu nothing happens al all


Are other media players launching fine? Try launching VLC from another user account, create one if need be. If still no, purge and reinstall VLC:

sudo apt-get purge vlc && sudo apt-get install vlc

Nathan

steve allen
May 16th, 2008, 12:22 PM
Nathan went the whole hog and reinstalled ubuntu 64 bit and then went back through the how to all went well but when I navigate to video in vlc it is empty so haven't been able to enable deinterlacing

ubuntu-freak
May 16th, 2008, 01:06 PM
Nathan went the whole hog and reinstalled ubuntu 64 bit and then went back through the how to all went well but when I navigate to video in vlc it is empty so haven't been able to enable deinterlacing


That doesn't always need enabling, I was telling the other guy to enable it. Some AVIs, TV series DVDs need deinterlacing (removes scanlines, aids playback etc) and a minority of films.

Nathan

steve allen
May 16th, 2008, 03:05 PM
Still nothing doing. Vlc does not start automaically. I can now open vlc from menu but when I press play another window opens called "open..."