4. fejezet - Frequently Asked Questions

4.1. Development
Kérdés How do I create a proper patch for MPlayer?
Kérdés How do I translate MPlayer to a new language?
Kérdés How can I support MPlayer development?
Kérdés How can I become an MPlayer developer?
Kérdés Why don't you use autoconf/automake?
4.2. Compilation
Kérdés Are there binary (RPM/deb) packages of MPlayer?
Kérdés Compilation stops with an error message similar to this one: cfft.c: In function`passf2': cfft.c:556: unable to find a register to spill in class `FLOAT_REGS' cfft.c:556: this is the insn: (insn 235 233 246 (set (subreg:SF (reg/v:DI 29 rmm0 [110]) 0) (minus:SF (mem:SF (plus:SI (mult:SI (reg:SI 1 edx [112]) (const_int 8 [0x8])) (reg/v/f:SI 3 ebx [62])) [4 S4 A32]) (reg:SF 8 st(0) [132]))) 533 {*fop_sf_1_nosse} (insn_list 232 (nil)) (expr_list:REG_DEAD (reg:SF 8 st(0) [132]) (nil))) cfft.c:556: confused by earlier errors, bailing out
Kérdés Compilation stops with an error message similar to this one: In file included from mplayer.c:34: mw.h: In function `mplMainDraw': mw.h:209: Internal compiler error in print_rtl_and_abort, at flow.c:6458 Please submit a full bug report, with preprocessed source if appropriate.
Kérdés Configure ends with this text, and MPlayer won't compile! Your gcc does not support even i386 for '-march' and '-mcpu'
Kérdés What's the problem with gcc 2.96?
Kérdés Great, I have gcc 3.0.1 from Red Hat/Mandrake, then I'm fine!
Kérdés .. gcc 2.96 ... (Yes, some people are STILL flaming about gcc 2.96!)
Kérdés SDL output doesn't work or compile. The problem is ...
Kérdés I am still having trouble compiling with SDL support. gcc says something about undefined reference to SDL_EnableKeyRepeat. What now?
Kérdés It doesn't compile, and it misses uint64_t, inttypes.h and similar things ...
Kérdés I have Linux running on a Pentium III but ./configure doesn't detect SSE ...
Kérdés I have a Matrox G200/G400/G450/G550, how do I compile/use the mga_vid driver?
Kérdés Hmm, strange. When loading the mga_vid.o kernel module, I found this in the logs: Warning: loading mga_vid.o will taint the kernel: no license
Kérdés During 'make', MPlayer complains about X11 libraries. I don't understand, I DO have X installed!?
Kérdés I can't compile SVGAlib. I'm using kernel 2.3/2.4 ...
Kérdés I compiled MPlayer with libdvdcss/libdivxdecore support, but when I try to start it, it says: error while loading shared libraries: lib*.so.0: cannot load shared object file: No such file or directory I checked up on the file and it IS there in /usr/local/lib ...
Kérdés When compiling MEncoder, it segfaults at linking!
Kérdés MPlayer dies with segmentation fault upon pthread check!
Kérdés I'd like to compile MPlayer on Minix!
4.3. General questions
Kérdés Are there any mailing lists on MPlayer?
Kérdés I've found a nasty bug when I tried to play my favorite video! Who should I inform?
Kérdés I have problems playing files with the ... codec. Can I use them?
Kérdés When I start playing, I get this message but everything seems fine: Linux RTC init: ioctl (rtc_pie_on): Permission denied
Kérdés There is a timer in the upper left corner. How can I get rid of it?
Kérdés The -xy or -fs option doesn't work with the x11 driver (-vo x11) ...
Kérdés What is the meaning of the numbers on the status line?
Kérdés What if I don't want them to appear?
Kérdés Why is video_out CPU usage zero (0%) for some files?
Kérdés There are error messages about file not found /usr/local/lib/codecs/ ...
Kérdés Umm, what is "IdegCounter"?
Kérdés And what is "Faszom(C)ounter"?
Kérdés LIRC doesn't work, because ...
Kérdés Subtitles are very nice, the most beautiful I've ever seen, but they slow down playing! I know it's unlikely ...
Kérdés The onscreen display (OSD) is flickering!
Kérdés What exactly is this libavcodec thing?
Kérdés But configure tells me Checking for libavcodec ... no
Kérdés Icewm's taskbar keeps covering the movie in fullscreen mode!
Kérdés I can't access the GUI menu. I press right click, but I can't access any menu items!
Kérdés How can I run MPlayer in the background?
4.4. Playback problems
Kérdés I'm trying to play a random stream off the internet but it fails.
Kérdés I downloaded a movie off a P2P network and it doesn't work!
Kérdés I've just installed MPlayer. When I want to open a video file it causes a fatal error: Error opening/initializing the selected video_out (-vo) device. How can I solve my problem?
Kérdés I'm having trouble getting my subtitles to display, help!!
Kérdés I cannot pinpoint the cause of some strange playback problem.
Kérdés Why doesn't MPlayer work on Fedora Core?
Kérdés ... works with xine/avifile/... but doesn't with MPlayer.
Kérdés Audio goes out of sync playing an AVI file.
Kérdés MPlayer exits with some error when using l3codeca.acm.
Kérdés My computer plays MS DivX AVIs with resolutions ~ 640x300 and stereo MP3 sound too slow. When I use -nosound option, everything is OK (but quiet).
Kérdés MPlayer dies with MPlayer interrupted by signal 4 in module: decode_video
Kérdés I have problems with [your window manager] and fullscreen xv/xmga/sdl/x11 modes ...
Kérdés I got this playing MPEG files: Can't find codec for video format 0x10000001!
Kérdés When starting MPlayer under KDE I just get a black screen and nothing happens. After about one minute the video starts playing.
Kérdés I have an AVI that produces a gray screen when played with -vc odivx and a green one with -vc divx4.
Kérdés When I play this movie I get video-audio desync and/or MPlayer crashes with the following message: DEMUXER: Too many (945 in 8390980 bytes) video packets in the buffer!
Kérdés I have an MJPEG file which works with other players but displays only a black image in MPlayer
Kérdés When I try to grab from my tuner, it works, but colors are strange. It's OK with other applications.
Kérdés I have A/V sync problems. Some of my AVIs play fine, but some play with double speed!
Kérdés All the WMV (or other..) files I play create a green/gray window and there is only sound! MPlayer prints: Detected video codec: [null] drv:0 (NULL codec (no decoding))
Kérdés I get very strange percentage values (way too big) while playing files on my notebook.
Kérdés The audio/video gets totally out of sync when I run MPlayer as root on my notebook. It works normal when i run it as a user.
Kérdés While playing a movie it suddenly gets jerky and I get the following message: Badly interleaved AVI file detected - switching to -ni mode...
Kérdés How can I play MPEG Layer 2 (MP2) audio files?
4.5. Video/audio driver problems (vo/ao)
Kérdés I have no sound when playing a video and get error messages similar to this one: AO: [oss] 44100Hz 2ch Signed 16-bit (Little-Endian) audio_setup: Can't open audio device /dev/dsp: Device or resource busy couldn't open/init audio device -> NOSOUND Audio: no sound!!! Start playing...
Kérdés What about the DGA driver? I can't find it!
Kérdés OK, -vo help shows DGA driver, but it complains about permissions. Help me!
Kérdés When using XVideo, my Voodoo 3/Banshee says: X Error of failed request: BadAccess (attempt to access private resource denied) Major opcode of failed request: 147 (MIT-SHM) Minor opcode of failed request: 1 (X_ShmAttach) Serial number of failed request: 26 Current serial number in output stream:27
Kérdés OpenGL (-vo gl) output doesn't work (hang/black window/X11 errors/...).
Kérdés I have an nVidia TNT/TNT2 card, and I have a band with strange colors, right under the movie! Whose fault is this?
Kérdés I have an nVidia XYZ card, and when I click on the GUI's display window to toggle displaying the GUI panel, a black square appears where I clicked. I have the newest driver.
Kérdés Oh the world is cruel ...! SDL has only x11 target, but not xv!
4.6. DVD playback
Kérdés What about DVD navigation?
Kérdés While playing a DVD, I encountered this error: mplayer: ifo_read.c:1143: ifoRead_C_ADT_internal: Assertion nfo_length / sizeof(cell_adr_t) >= c_adt->nr_of_vobs' failed.
Kérdés Can I compile libdvdread and libdvdcss on my sweet SPARC under Solaris?
Kérdés What about subtitles? Can MPlayer display them?
Kérdés How can I set the region code of my DVD-drive? I don't have Windows!
Kérdés Do I need to be (setuid) root/setuid fibmap_mplayer to be able to play a DVD?
Kérdés Where can I get libdvdread and libdvdcss packages?
Kérdés Is it possible to play/encode only selected chapters?
Kérdés My DVD playback is sluggish!
4.7. Feature requests
Kérdés If MPlayer is paused and I try to seek or press any key at all, MPlayer ceases to be paused. I would like to be able to seek in the paused movie.
Kérdés I'd like to seek +/- 1 frames instead of 10 seconds.
Kérdés How can I make MPlayer remember the options I use for this particular file?
4.8. Encoding
Kérdés How can I encode?
Kérdés How can I create VCDs?
Kérdés How can I join two video files?
Kérdés My tuner works, I can hear the sound and watch the video with MPlayer, but MEncoder doesn't encode audio!
Kérdés I can't encode DVD subtitles into the AVI!
Kérdés MEncoder segfaults on startup!
Kérdés How can I encode only selected chapters from a DVD?
Kérdés I'm trying to work with 2GB+ files on a VFAT file system. Does it work?
Kérdés Why is the recommended bitrate printed by MEncoder negative?
Kérdés I can't encode ASF files to AVI/DivX because it uses 1000 fps?
Kérdés How can I put subtitles in the output file?

4.1. Development

Kérdés

How do I create a proper patch for MPlayer?

Válasz

We made a short document describing all the necessary details. Please follow the instructions.

Kérdés

How do I translate MPlayer to a new language?

Válasz

Read the translation HOWTO, it should explain everything. You can get further help on the mplayer-docs mailing list.

Kérdés

How can I support MPlayer development?

Válasz

We are more than happy to accept your hardware and software donations. They help us in continuously improving MPlayer.

Kérdés

How can I become an MPlayer developer?

Válasz

We always welcome coders and documenters. Read the technical documentation to get a first grasp. Then you should subscribe to the mplayer-dev-eng mailing list and start coding. If you want to help out with the documentation, join the mplayer-docs mailing list.

Kérdés

Why don't you use autoconf/automake?

Válasz

We have a modular, handwritten build system. It does a reasonably good job, so why change? Besides, we dislike the auto* tools, just like other people.

4.2. Compilation

Kérdés

Are there binary (RPM/deb) packages of MPlayer?

Válasz

See the Debian and RPM section for details.

Kérdés

Compilation stops with an error message similar to this one:

    cfft.c: In function`passf2':
    cfft.c:556: unable to find a register to spill in class `FLOAT_REGS'
    cfft.c:556: this is the insn:
    (insn 235 233 246 (set (subreg:SF (reg/v:DI 29 rmm0 [110]) 0)
            (minus:SF (mem:SF (plus:SI (mult:SI (reg:SI 1 edx [112])
                            (const_int 8 [0x8]))
                        (reg/v/f:SI 3 ebx [62])) [4 S4 A32])
                (reg:SF 8 st(0) [132]))) 533 {*fop_sf_1_nosse} (insn_list
    232 (nil))    (expr_list:REG_DEAD (reg:SF 8 st(0) [132])
            (nil)))
    cfft.c:556: confused by earlier errors, bailing out

Válasz

This is a known problem of gcc 3.2, upgrade to 3.3 to solve the problem. How to install gcc is described in the gcc 2.96 section. Alternatively you can use an external FAAD library as described in the AAC section.

Kérdés

Compilation stops with an error message similar to this one:

    In file included from mplayer.c:34:
    mw.h: In function `mplMainDraw':
    mw.h:209: Internal compiler error in print_rtl_and_abort, at flow.c:6458
    Please submit a full bug report,
    with preprocessed source if appropriate.

Válasz

This is a known problem of gcc 3.0.4, upgrade to 3.1 to solve the problem. How to install gcc is described in the gcc 2.96 section.

Kérdés

Configure ends with this text, and MPlayer won't compile!

Your gcc does not support even i386 for '-march' and '-mcpu'

Válasz

Your gcc isn't installed correctly, check the config.log file for details.

Kérdés

What's the problem with gcc 2.96?

Válasz

We strongly discourage the use of gcc 2.96! Read this document for details about why Red Hat released gcc 2.96 and what the problems are all about. If you still really really want to use it, be sure to get the latest release and give the --disable-gcc-checking option to configure. Remember that you are on your own from this point. Do not report bugs, do not ask for help on the mailing lists. We will not provide any support in case you run into problems.

Kérdés

Great, I have gcc 3.0.1 from Red Hat/Mandrake, then I'm fine!

Válasz

No, since there have been/are issues with these compilers as well. To check the status of current compilers' MPlayer support, see the Installation section.

Kérdés

.. gcc 2.96 ... (Yes, some people are STILL flaming about gcc 2.96!)

Válasz

Quoted from a mail A'rpi sent to the mplayer-users list (the word 'ideg' is described below):

And we have idegs. And our idegcounter overflowed again and again.

Unfortunately MPlayer is out of our control. It's used by lamers, Linux users who can't even use Windows, and never tried to compile a kernel. They installed (with default options) Mandrake or Red Hat or SuSE, and without RTFM'ing they send messages saying 'it doesn't work! help me! please! i'm new to Linux! help! oh! help me!'. We can't stop them, but at least we try to force them to RTFM and to read the messages of ./configure and MPlayer.

And you clever guys come and flame us with gcc 2.96 and binary packages. Instead of helping users or making patches to help solve problems.

Half of our spare/free time is spent by answering silly mails here and making newer tricks and checks to configure to avoid such mails.

And there is a balance. On the one side are you, clever guys, saying we are very bad because we don't like buggy gcc 2.96, and on the other side there are the 'new to Linux' guys who are showing us gcc 2.96 is buggy.

Conclusion: We can't be good. Half the people will always say we are bad.

Maybe we should close the project, make it closed source, commercial, and provide install support for it. then we could leave current work, so development could go faster, and we could earn lots of money with it and buy a big house, etc etc. Do you really want it? It seems.

Kérdés

SDL output doesn't work or compile. The problem is ...

Válasz

It was tested to work with SDL 1.2.x and may run on SDL 1.1.7+. It does not work with any previous version. So if you choose to use such a version, you are on your own.

Kérdés

I am still having trouble compiling with SDL support. gcc says something about

undefined reference to SDL_EnableKeyRepeat
. What now?

Válasz

Where did you install the SDL library? If you installed in /usr/local (the default) then edit the top level config.mak and add -L/usr/local/lib after X_LIBS=. Now type make. You're done!

Kérdés

It doesn't compile, and it misses uint64_t, inttypes.h and similar things ...

Válasz

Copy this inttypes.h to /usr/local/include/ or an equivalent place and try again ...

Kérdés

I have Linux running on a Pentium III but ./configure doesn't detect SSE ...

Válasz

Only kernel versions 2.4.x support SSE (or try 2.2.19 or newer, but be prepared for problems).

Kérdés

I have a Matrox G200/G400/G450/G550, how do I compile/use the mga_vid driver?

Válasz

Read the mga_vid section.

Kérdés

Hmm, strange. When loading the mga_vid.o kernel module, I found this in the logs:

Warning: loading mga_vid.o will taint the kernel: no license

Válasz

The latest kernel modutils require a flag indicating the license (mainly to avoid kernel hackers debugging closed source drivers). Upgrade your kernel, modutils and MPlayer.

Kérdés

During 'make', MPlayer complains about X11 libraries. I don't understand, I DO have X installed!?

Válasz

... but you don't have the X development package installed. Or not correctly. It's called XFree86-devel* under Red Hat, and xlibs-dev under Debian. Also check if the /usr/X11 and /usr/include/X11 symlinks exist (this can be a problem on Mandrake systems). They can be created with these commands:

     # ln -sf /usr/X11R6 /usr/X11
     # ln -sf /usr/X11R6/include/X11 /usr/include/X11
Your distribution may differ from the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard.

Kérdés

I can't compile SVGAlib. I'm using kernel 2.3/2.4 ...

Válasz

You have to edit SVGAlib's Makefile.cfg and comment BACKGROUND = y out.

Kérdés

I compiled MPlayer with libdvdcss/libdivxdecore support, but when I try to start it, it says:

error while loading shared libraries: lib*.so.0: cannot load shared object file: No such file or directory
I checked up on the file and it IS there in /usr/local/lib ...

Válasz

Add /usr/local/lib to /etc/ld.so.conf and run ldconfig.

Kérdés

When compiling MEncoder, it segfaults at linking!

Válasz

This is a linker problem. Upgrading binutils should help (2.11.92.* or newer should be good). Since it is not our fault, please do not report!

Kérdés

MPlayer dies with segmentation fault upon pthread check!

Válasz

chmod 644 /usr/lib/libc.so

Kérdés

I'd like to compile MPlayer on Minix!

Válasz

Me too. :)

4.3. General questions

Kérdés

Are there any mailing lists on MPlayer?

Válasz

Yes. See the mailing lists section.

Kérdés

I've found a nasty bug when I tried to play my favorite video! Who should I inform?

Válasz

Please read the bug reporting guidelines and follow the instructions.

Kérdés

I have problems playing files with the ... codec. Can I use them?

Válasz

Check the codec status, if it doesn't contain your codec, read the codec documentation, especially the codec importing HOWTO and contact us.

Kérdés

When I start playing, I get this message but everything seems fine:

Linux RTC init: ioctl (rtc_pie_on): Permission denied

Válasz

You need root privileges or a specially set up kernel to use the new timing code. For details see the RTC section of the documentation.

Kérdés

There is a timer in the upper left corner. How can I get rid of it?

Válasz

Press o and try the -osdlevel option.

Kérdés

The -xy or -fs option doesn't work with the x11 driver (-vo x11) ...

Válasz

It does, but you have to explicitly specify software scaling (very slow) with the -zoom option. You better use XF86VidMode support: You must specify the -vm and the -fs option, and you're done. Make sure you have the right modelines in your XF86Config file, and try to make the DGA driver and SDL's DGA driver work for you. It's much faster. If SDL's DGA works, use that, it'll be even faster.

Kérdés

What is the meaning of the numbers on the status line?

Válasz

Example:

A: 2.1 V: 2.2 A-V: -0.167 ct: 0.042 57/57 41% 0% 2.6% 0 4 49%

  • A: audio position in seconds

  • V: video position in seconds

  • A-V: audio-video difference in seconds (delay)

  • ct: total A-V sync correction done

  • frames played (counting from last seek)

  • frames decoded (counting from last seek)

  • video codec CPU usage in percent (for slices and DR this includes video_out)

  • video_out CPU usage

  • audio codec CPU usage in percent

  • frames needed to drop to maintain A-V sync

  • current level of image postprocessing (when using -autoq)

  • current cache size used (around 50% is normal)

Most of them are for debug purposes and will be removed at some point.

Kérdés

What if I don't want them to appear?

Válasz

Use the -quiet option and read the man page.

Kérdés

Why is video_out CPU usage zero (0%) for some files?

Válasz

It's not zero, but it's called from the codec and thus cannot be measured separately. You should try to play the file using -vo null and then -vo ... and check the difference to see the video_out speed.

Válasz

You are using Direct Rendering, where the codec renders to the video memory itself. In this case, the decoding percentage contains the display percentage, too.

Kérdés

There are error messages about file not found /usr/local/lib/codecs/ ...

Válasz

Download the Win32 codecs from our codecs page (avifile's codec package has a different DLL set) and install it.

Kérdés

Umm, what is "IdegCounter"?

Válasz

A combination of a Hungarian and an English word. "Ideg" in Hungarian means the same as "nerve" in English, and is pronounced as something like "ydaegh". It was first used to measure the nervousness of A'rpi, after some (umm) "mysterious" disappearance of CVS code ;)

Kérdés

And what is "Faszom(C)ounter"?

Válasz

"Fasz" is a Hungarian word you don't want to know, the others are connected to the perverted minds of the MPlayer developers.

Kérdés

LIRC doesn't work, because ...

Válasz

Are you sure you are using mplayer instead of mplayer_lirc? Note that it was mplayer_lirc for a long time, including the 0.60 release, but it was recently changed back to mplayer.

Kérdés

Subtitles are very nice, the most beautiful I've ever seen, but they slow down playing! I know it's unlikely ...

Válasz

After running ./configure, edit config.h and replace #undef FAST_OSD with #define FAST_OSD. Then recompile.

Kérdés

The onscreen display (OSD) is flickering!

Válasz

You use a vo driver with single buffering (x11,xv). With xv, use the -double option. Also try -vf expand.

Kérdés

What exactly is this libavcodec thing?

Válasz

See the libavcodec section.

Kérdés

But configure tells me

Checking for libavcodec ... no

Válasz

You need to get libavcodec from FFmpeg's CVS. Read the instructions in the libavcodec section.

Kérdés

Icewm's taskbar keeps covering the movie in fullscreen mode!

Válasz

This shouldn't happen anymore, if it still does use the -fstype layer option and report it to the mplayer-users mailing list.

Kérdés

I can't access the GUI menu. I press right click, but I can't access any menu items!

Válasz

Are you using FVWM? Try the following:

  1. Start -> Settings -> Configuration -> Base Configuration

  2. Set Use Applications position hints to Yes

Kérdés

How can I run MPlayer in the background?

Válasz

Use:

mplayer options filename < /dev/null &

4.4. Playback problems

Kérdés

I'm trying to play a random stream off the internet but it fails.

Válasz

Try playing the stream with the -playlist option.

Kérdés

I downloaded a movie off a P2P network and it doesn't work!

Válasz

Your file is most probably broken or a fake file. If you got it from a friend, and he says it works, try comparing md5sum hashes.

Kérdés

I've just installed MPlayer. When I want to open a video file it causes a fatal error:

Error opening/initializing the selected video_out (-vo) device.
How can I solve my problem?

Válasz

Just change your video output device. Issue the following command to get a list of available video output drivers:

mplayer -vo help
After you've chosen the correct video output driver, add it to your configuration file. Add
 vo = selected_vo
to ~/.mplayer/config and/or
vo_driver = selected_vo
to ~/.mplayer/gui.conf.

Kérdés

I'm having trouble getting my subtitles to display, help!!

Válasz

Make sure you have installed fonts properly. Run through the steps in the OSD and subtitle part of the installation section again. If you are using TrueType fonts, verify that you have the freetype library installed. Other things include checking your subtitles in a text editor or with other players. Also try converting them to another format.

Kérdés

I cannot pinpoint the cause of some strange playback problem.

Válasz

Do you have a stray codecs.conf file in ~/.mplayer/, /etc/, /usr/local/etc/ or a similar location? Remove it, outdated codecs.conf files can cause obscure problems. MPlayer will use its built-in one instead.

Kérdés

Why doesn't MPlayer work on Fedora Core?

Válasz

There is a bad interaction on Fedora between exec-shield, prelink, and any applications which use Windows DLLs (such as MPlayer).

The problem is that exec-shield randomizes the load addresses of all the system libraries. This randomization happens at prelink time (once every two weeks).

When MPlayer tries to load a Windows DLL it wants to put it at a specific address (0x400000). If an important system library happens to be there already, MPlayer will crash. (A typical symptom would be a segmentation fault when trying to play Windows Media 9 files.)

If you run into this problem you have two options:

  • Wait two weeks. It might start working again.

  • Relink all the binaries on the system with different prelink options. Here are step by step instructions:

    1. Edit /etc/syconfig/prelink and change

      PRELINK_OPTS=-mR
      

      to

      PRELINK_OPTS="-mR --no-exec-shield"
      

    2. touch /var/lib/misc/prelink.force

    3. /etc/cron.daily/prelink (This relinks all the applications, and it takes quite a while.)

    4. execstack -s /path/to/mplayer (This turns off exec-shield for the MPlayer binary.)

Kérdés

... works with xine/avifile/... but doesn't with MPlayer.

Válasz

MPlayer is not xine/avifile/.... Although these players have some code in common, the codecs (DLL) set, synchronization, demultiplexing etc is different and should not be compared. If you have a file MPlayer fails to play correctly but works in another player, please read the bug reporting guidelines and upload the file to our FTP server.

Kérdés

Audio goes out of sync playing an AVI file.

Válasz

Try the -bps or -nobps option. If it does not improve, read this and upload the file to FTP.

Kérdés

MPlayer exits with some error when using l3codeca.acm.

Válasz

Check ldd /usr/local/bin/mplayer output. If it contains

libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x4???????)
where "?" is any number then it's OK, the error is not here. If it is:
libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00??????)
then there is a problem with your kernel/libc. Maybe you are using some security patches (for example Solar Designer's OpenWall patch) which forces loading libraries to very low addresses. Because l3codeca.acm is a non-relocatable DLL, it must be loaded to 0x00400000, we can't change this. You should use a non-patched kernel, or use MPlayer's -afm 1 option to disable using l3codeca.acm.

Kérdés

My computer plays MS DivX AVIs with resolutions ~ 640x300 and stereo MP3 sound too slow. When I use -nosound option, everything is OK (but quiet).

Válasz

Your machine is too slow or your sound card driver is broken. Consult the documentation to see if you can improve performance.

Kérdés

MPlayer dies with

MPlayer interrupted by signal 4 in module: decode_video

Válasz

Try running MPlayer on the machine you compiled on. Or recompile with runtime CPU detection (./configure --enable-runtime-cpudetection). Don't use MPlayer on a CPU different from the one it was compiled on, without using the feature mentioned just now.

Kérdés

I have problems with [your window manager] and fullscreen xv/xmga/sdl/x11 modes ...

Válasz

Read the bug reporting guidelines and send us a proper bug report.

Kérdés

I got this playing MPEG files: Can't find codec for video format 0x10000001!

Válasz

You have an old version of codecs.conf in ~/.mplayer/, /etc/, /usr/local/etc/ or similar. Remove it, it's not needed anymore. OR you have the vc= option or something similar in your config file(s).

Kérdés

When starting MPlayer under KDE I just get a black screen and nothing happens. After about one minute the video starts playing.

Válasz

The KDE arts sound daemon is blocking the sound device. Either wait until the video starts or disable the arts-daemon in control center. If you want to use arts sound, specify audio output via our native arts audio driver (-ao arts). If it fails or isn't compiled in, try SDL (-ao sdl) and make sure your SDL can handle arts sound. Yet another option is to start MPlayer with artsdsp.

Kérdés

I have an AVI that produces a gray screen when played with -vc odivx and a green one with -vc divx4.

Válasz

It's not a DivX file, but an MS MPEG4v3. If you have an old version of codecs.conf in ~/.mplayer/, /etc/, /usr/local/etc/ or similar, remove it.

Kérdés

When I play this movie I get video-audio desync and/or MPlayer crashes with the following message:

DEMUXER: Too many (945 in 8390980 bytes) video packets in the buffer!

Válasz

This can have multiple reasons.

  • Your CPU and/or video card and/or bus is too slow. MPlayer displays a message if this is the case (and the dropped frames counter goes up fast).

  • If it is an AVI, maybe it has bad interleaving. Try the -ni option.

  • Your sound driver is buggy, or you use ALSA 0.5 with -ao oss. See the sound card section.

  • The AVI has a bad header, try the -nobps option, and/or -mc 0.

Kérdés

I have an MJPEG file which works with other players but displays only a black image in MPlayer

Válasz

Use another codec to play the file, try -vc ffmjpeg.

Kérdés

When I try to grab from my tuner, it works, but colors are strange. It's OK with other applications.

Válasz

Your card probably reports some colorspaces as supported when in fact it does not support them. Try with YUY2 instead of the default YV12 (see the TV section).

Kérdés

I have A/V sync problems. Some of my AVIs play fine, but some play with double speed!

Válasz

You have a buggy sound card/driver. Most likely it's fixed at 44100Hz, and you try to play a file which has 22050Hz audio. Try the resample audio plugin.

Kérdés

All the WMV (or other..) files I play create a green/gray window and there is only sound! MPlayer prints:

Detected video codec: [null] drv:0 (NULL codec (no decoding))

Válasz

If you have an old version of codecs.conf in ~/.mplayer/, /etc/, /usr/local/etc/ or similar, remove it.

Kérdés

I get very strange percentage values (way too big) while playing files on my notebook.

Válasz

It's an effect of the power management / power saving system of your notebook (BIOS, not kernel). Plug the external power connector in before you power on your notebook. You can also try whether cpufreq (a SpeedStep interface for Linux) helps you.

Kérdés

The audio/video gets totally out of sync when I run MPlayer as root on my notebook. It works normal when i run it as a user.

Válasz

This is again a power management effect (see above). Plug the external power connector in before you power on your notebook or use the -nortc option.

Kérdés

While playing a movie it suddenly gets jerky and I get the following message:

Badly interleaved AVI file detected - switching to -ni mode...

Válasz

Badly interleaved files and -cache don't work well together. Try -nocache.

Kérdés

How can I play MPEG Layer 2 (MP2) audio files?

Válasz

You have to use -rawaudio on:format=0x50.

4.5. Video/audio driver problems (vo/ao)

Kérdés

I have no sound when playing a video and get error messages similar to this one:

    AO: [oss] 44100Hz 2ch Signed 16-bit (Little-Endian)
    audio_setup: Can't open audio device /dev/dsp: Device or resource busy
    couldn't open/init audio device -> NOSOUND
    Audio: no sound!!!
    Start playing...

Válasz

Are you running KDE or GNOME with the ARTS or ESD sound daemon? Try disabling the sound daemon or use the -ao arts or -ao esd option to make MPlayer use ARTS or ESD.

Kérdés

What about the DGA driver? I can't find it!

Válasz

./configure autodetects your DGA driver. If -vo help doesn't show DGA, then there's a problem with your X installation. Try ./configure --enable-dga and read the DGA section. Alternatively, try SDL's DGA driver with the -vo sdl:dga option.

Kérdés

OK, -vo help shows DGA driver, but it complains about permissions. Help me!

Válasz

It works only if running as root! It's a DGA limitation. You should become root (su -), and try again. Another solution is making MPlayer SUID root, but it's not recommended!

     chown root /usr/local/bin/mplayer
     chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/mplayer
     chmod +s /usr/local/bin/mplayer
 

Figyelem

This is a big security risk! Never do this on a server or on a computer that you do not control completely because other users can gain root privileges through SUID root MPlayer. You have been warned.

Kérdés

When using XVideo, my Voodoo 3/Banshee says:

X Error of failed request: BadAccess (attempt to access private resource denied)
   Major opcode of failed request: 147 (MIT-SHM)
   Minor opcode of failed request: 1 (X_ShmAttach)
   Serial number of failed request: 26
   Current serial number in output stream:27

Válasz

The tdfx driver in XFree86 4.0.2/4.0.3 had this bug. This was solved by bug fix #621 of the XFree86 4.1.0 CVS log. So upgrade to XFree86 4.1.0 or later. Alternatively, either download (at least) DRI version 0.6 from the DRI homepage, or use CVS DRI.

Kérdés

OpenGL (-vo gl) output doesn't work (hang/black window/X11 errors/...).

Válasz

Your OpenGL driver doesn't support dynamic texture changes (glTexSubImage). It's known not to work with nVidia's binary mess. It's known to work with Utah-GLX/DRI and Matrox G400 cards. Also with DRI and Radeon cards. It won't work with DRI and other cards. it will not work with 3DFX cards because of the 256x256 texture size limit.

Kérdés

I have an nVidia TNT/TNT2 card, and I have a band with strange colors, right under the movie! Whose fault is this?

Válasz

This is a bug of nVidia's binary X driver. These bugs appear ONLY with the TNT/TNT2 cards, and we can't do anything about it. To fix the problem, upgrade to the latest nVidia binary driver version. If still bad, complain to nVidia!

Kérdés

I have an nVidia XYZ card, and when I click on the GUI's display window to toggle displaying the GUI panel, a black square appears where I clicked. I have the newest driver.

Válasz

Yes, nVidia corrected a previous bug (above), and introduced a new one. Let's congratulate them. UPDATE: According to nVidia, this has already been fixed.

Kérdés

Oh the world is cruel ...! SDL has only x11 target, but not xv!

Válasz

Try that x11 target again. Now try -vo x11 -fs -zoom. See the difference? No?! OK, here comes the enlightenment: SDL's x11 target uses xv when available, you don't have to worry about it ... Note: With SDL you can force/disable Xv using -forcexv and -noxv.

4.6. DVD playback

Kérdés

What about DVD navigation?

Válasz

Support for dvdnav in MPlayer is currently broken, normal playback does work, though. If you want to have fancy menus, you will have to use another player like Xine or Ogle. If you care about DVD navigation, send a patch.

Kérdés

While playing a DVD, I encountered this error:

mplayer: ifo_read.c:1143: ifoRead_C_ADT_internal: Assertion nfo_length / sizeof(cell_adr_t) >= c_adt->nr_of_vobs' failed.

Válasz

This is a known libdvdread 0.9.1/0.9.2 bug. Use libmpdvdkit2, which is present in MPlayer source, and used by default.

Kérdés

Can I compile libdvdread and libdvdcss on my sweet SPARC under Solaris?

Válasz

Who knows ... It's said to work, so please test it and send feedback. Refer to the documentation of libdvdread and its homepage as well. We're not the authors of libdvdread. Use libmpdvdkit2, which is present in MPlayer source, and used by default.

Kérdés

What about subtitles? Can MPlayer display them?

Válasz

Yes. See the DVD chapter.

Kérdés

How can I set the region code of my DVD-drive? I don't have Windows!

Válasz

Use the regionset tool.

Kérdés

Do I need to be (setuid) root/setuid fibmap_mplayer to be able to play a DVD?

Válasz

No. However you must have the proper rights on the DVD device entry (in /dev/).

Kérdés

Where can I get libdvdread and libdvdcss packages?

Válasz

You don't need to. Use libmpdvdkit2, which is present in the MPlayer source, and used by default. You can get the mentioned packages from the Ogle site.

Kérdés

Is it possible to play/encode only selected chapters?

Válasz

Yes, try the -chapter option.

Kérdés

My DVD playback is sluggish!

Válasz

Use the -cache option (described in the man page) and try enabling DMA for the DVD drive with the hdparm tool (described in the CD chapter).

4.7. Feature requests

Kérdés

If MPlayer is paused and I try to seek or press any key at all, MPlayer ceases to be paused. I would like to be able to seek in the paused movie.

Válasz

This is very tricky to implement without losing A/V synchronization. All attempts have failed so far, but patches are welcome.

Kérdés

I'd like to seek +/- 1 frames instead of 10 seconds.

Válasz

This won't be done. It was, but then it messed up A/V sync. Feel free to implement it, and send a patch. Don't ask for it.

Kérdés

How can I make MPlayer remember the options I use for this particular file?

Válasz

Create a file named movie.avi.conf with the file-specific options in it and put it in ~/.mplayer or in the same directory as the file.

4.8. Encoding

Kérdés

How can I encode?

Válasz

Read the MEncoder section.

Kérdés

How can I create VCDs?

Válasz

Try the mencvcd script from the TOOLS subdirectory. With it you can encode DVDs or other movies to VCD or SVCD format and even burn them directly to CD.

Kérdés

How can I join two video files?

Válasz

This has been discussed to no end on mplayer-users. Go search the archives for a complete answer. This is a complicated topic and your mileage may vary a lot depending on the kind of files you want to merge. MPEGs can be concatenated into a single file with luck. For AVIs there are two tools, avidemux and avimerge (part of the transcode tool set), available that might do the job. You can also try MEncoder if you have two files sharing the same dimensions and codec. Try

     cat file1 file2 > file3
     mencoder -ovc copy -oac copy -o out.avi -forceidx file3.avi

Kérdés

My tuner works, I can hear the sound and watch the video with MPlayer, but MEncoder doesn't encode audio!

Válasz

TV audio encoding for Linux is currently unimplemented, we're working on it. At the moment it works only on BSD.

Kérdés

I can't encode DVD subtitles into the AVI!

Válasz

You have to specify the -sid option correctly!

Kérdés

MEncoder segfaults on startup!

Válasz

Upgrade DivX4Linux.

Kérdés

How can I encode only selected chapters from a DVD?

Válasz

Use the -chapter option correctly, like: -chapter 5-7

Kérdés

I'm trying to work with 2GB+ files on a VFAT file system. Does it work?

Válasz

No, VFAT doesn't support 2GB+ files.

Kérdés

Why is the recommended bitrate printed by MEncoder negative?

Válasz

Because the bitrate you encoded the audio with is too large to fit the movie on any CD. Check if you have libmp3lame installed properly.

Kérdés

I can't encode ASF files to AVI/DivX because it uses 1000 fps?

Válasz

Because ASF uses variable frame rate but AVI uses a fixed one, you have to set it by hand using -ofps.

Kérdés

How can I put subtitles in the output file?

Válasz

Just pass the -sub <filename> (or -sid, respectively) option to MEncoder.