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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>FAQ - MPlayer - The Movie Player for Linux</TITLE>
<LINK REL="stylesheet" TYPE="text/css" HREF="default.css">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
dt {
font-weight : bold;
}
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<H1><A NAME="faq">5. FAQ</A></H1>
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="#compilation">5.1 Compilation</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="#general">5.2 General questions</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="#playback">5.3 Playback problems</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="#driver">5.4 Video/audio driver problems (vo/ao)</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="#dvd">5.5 DVD playback</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="#features">5.6 Feature requests</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="#encoding">5.7 Encoding</A></LI>
</UL>
<H2><A NAME="compilation">5.1 Compilation</A></H2>
<DL>
<DT>Q: Compilation stops with an error message similar to this one:
<PRE>
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.
</PRE>
</DT>
<DD>A: 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
<A HREF="users_against_developers.html#gcc">gcc 2.96</A> section.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Configure ends with this text, and MPlayer won't compile!<BR>
<CODE>"Your gcc does not support even i386 for '-march' and '-mcpu'."</CODE>
</DT>
<DD>A: Your gcc isn't installed correctly, check the <CODE>config.log</CODE>
file for details.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: What does "No such file or directory" mean?</DT>
<DD>A: Probably there is no such file or directory.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: What's the problem with gcc 2.96?</DT>
<DD>A: <B>We strongly discourage the use of gcc 2.96!</B><BR>
Read <A HREF="users_against_developers.html#gcc">this</A> 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 <CODE>--disable-gcc-checking</CODE> option to
configure. Remember that you are on your own from this point. Do <B>not</B>
report bugs, do <B>not</B> ask for help on the mailing lists. We will
<B>not</B> provide any support in case you run into problems.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Great, I have gcc 3.0.1 from Red Hat/Mandrake, then I'm fine!</DT>
<DD>A: No, since there have been/are issues with these compilers as well.
To check the status of current compilers' MPlayer support, see the
<A HREF="documentation.html#installation">Installation</A> section.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I tried to compile MPlayer, but I got this output:
<PRE>
In file included from /usr/include/g++-v3/bits/std_cwchar.h:42,
from /usr/include/g++-v3/bits/fpos.h:40,
from /usr/include/g++-v3/bits/char_traits.h:40,
from /usr/include/g++-v3/bits/std_string.h:41,
from /usr/include/g++-v3/string:31,
from libwin32.h:36,
from DS_AudioDecoder.h:4,
from DS_AudioDec.cpp:5:
/usr/include/wchar.h: In function Long long int wcstoq(const wchar_t*,
wchar_t**, int)':
/usr/include/wchar.h:514: cannot convert `const wchar_t* __restrict' to
`const
</PRE>
</DT>
<DD>A: Upgrade your glibc to the latest release. On Mandrake, use 2.2.4-8mdk.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: ... gcc 2.96 ... (Yes, some people are STILL flaming about gcc 2.96!)</DT>
<DD>A: Quoted from a
<A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/2001-October/005351.html">mail</A>
A'rpi sent to the
<A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</A>
list (the word 'ideg' is described below):
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>And we have idegs. And our idegcounter overflowed again and again.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>Conclusion: We can't be good. Half the people will always say we are bad.</P>
<P>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.</P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: SDL output doesn't work or compile. The problem is ...</DT>
<DD>A: It was tested to work with SDL 1.2.x and may run on SDL 1.1.7+.
It does <B>not</B> work with any previous version. So if you choose to use
such a version, you are on your own.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I am still having trouble compiling with SDL support. gcc says
something about "undefined reference to `SDL_EnableKeyRepeat'". What
now?</DT>
<DD>A: 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!</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: It doesn't compile, and it misses uint64_t inttypes.h and similar
things ...</DT>
<DD>A: Copy etc/inttypes.h to the MPlayer directory
(<CODE>cp etc/inttypes.h .</CODE>) and try again ...</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I have Linux running on a Pentium III but <CODE>./configure</CODE>
doesn't detect SSE ...</DT>
<DD>A: Only kernel versions 2.4.x support SSE (or try 2.2.19 or newer, but
be prepared for problems).</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I have a G200/G400, how do I compile/use the mga_vid driver?</DT>
<DD>A: Read the <A HREF="video.html#mga_vid">mga_vid documentation</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Are there rpm/deb/... packages of MPlayer?</DT>
<DD>A: You can make a .deb package for yourself, check the
<A HREF="documentation.html#debian">Debian packaging</A> section.
There are links to official Red Hat RPM packages available on our
<A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/dload.html">download page</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: During 'make', MPlayer complains about X11 libraries. I don't
understand, I DO have X installed!?</DT>
<DD>A: ... 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 <CODE>/usr/X11</CODE> and <CODE>/usr/include/X11</CODE>
symlinks exist (this can be a problem on Mandrake systems). They can be
created with these commands:<BR>
<CODE>$ ln -sf /usr/X11R6 /usr/X11</CODE><BR>
<CODE>$ ln -sf /usr/X11R6/include/X11 /usr/include/X11</CODE><BR>
Your distribution may differ from the
<A HREF="http://www.pathname.com/fhs/">Filesystem Hierarchy Standard</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I can't compile SVGAlib. I'm using kernel 2.3/2.4 ...</DT>
<DD>A: You have to edit SVGAlib's Makefile.cfg and comment
<CODE>BACKGROUND = y</CODE> out.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I compiled MPlayer with libdvdcss/libdivxdecore support, but when
I try to start it, it says:<BR>
<CODE>> error while loading shared libraries: lib*.so.0: cannot load
shared object file: No such file or directory</CODE><BR>
I checked up on the file and it IS there in <CODE>/usr/local/lib</CODE> ...</DT>
<DD>A: Add <CODE>/usr/local/lib</CODE> to <CODE>/etc/ld.so.conf</CODE> and run
<CODE>ldconfig</CODE>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Hmm, strange. When loading the mga_vid.o kernel module, I found this in
the logs:<BR>
<CODE>Warning: loading mga_vid.o will taint the kernel: no license</CODE></DT>
<DD>A: 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.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: When compiling MEncoder, it segfaults at linking!</DT>
<DD>A: 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 <B>not</B>
report!</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: MPlayer dies with segmentation fault upon pthread check!</DT>
<DD>A: chmod 644 /usr/lib/libc.so</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I'd like to compile MPlayer on Minix!</DT>
<DD>A: Me too. :)</DD>
</DL>
<H2><A NAME="general">5.2 General questions</A></H2>
<DL>
<DT>Q: How do I create a proper patch for MPlayer?</DT>
<DD>A: We made a <A HREF="tech/patches.txt">short document</A> describing
all the necessary details. Please follow the instructions.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: How can I support MPlayer development?</DT>
<DD>A: We are more than happy to accept your hardware and software
<A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/donations.html">donations</A>.
They help us in continuously improving MPlayer.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: How can I become an MPlayer developer?</DT>
<DD>A: We always welcome coders and documenters. Read the
<A HREF="tech/">technical documentation</A> to get a first grasp. Then you
should subscribe to the
<A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/mailman/listinfo/mplayer-dev-eng">mplayer-dev-eng</A>
mailing list and start coding.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Can I run multiple instances of MPlayer?</DT>
<DD>A: Yes. Some video out drivers like xv, dga or (x)mga are exclusive, some
are exclusive in combination with certain graphics boards and drivers. You
will not be able to run more than one instance of MPlayer with one of those
video out drivers. To a lesser degree this also applies to audio drivers.
Not all allow playback of multiple streams on the same device.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: There is a timer in the upper left corner. How can I get rid of it?</DT>
<DD>A: Press <CODE>o</CODE> and try the <CODE>-osdlevel</CODE> option.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: The <CODE>-xy</CODE> or <CODE>-fs</CODE> option doesn't work with the
x11 driver (<CODE>-vo x11</CODE>) ...</DT>
<DD>A: It does, but you have to explicitly specify software scaling (very
slow) with the <CODE>-zoom</CODE> option. You better use XF86VidMode
support: You must specify the <CODE>-vm</CODE> and the <CODE>-fs</CODE>
option, and you're done. Make sure you have the right modelines in your
XF86Config file, and try to make the <A HREF="video.html#dga">DGA driver</A>
and <A HREF="video.html#sdl">SDL's DGA driver</A> work for you.
It's much faster. If SDL's DGA works, use that, it'll be even faster.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: What is the meaning of the numbers on the status line?</DT>
<DD>A: Example:
<CODE>A: 2.1 V: 2.2 A-V: -0.167 ct: 0.042 57/57 41% 0% 2.6% 0 4 49%</CODE>
<UL>
<LI>A: audio position in seconds</LI>
<LI>V: video position in seconds</LI>
<LI>A-V: audio-video difference in seconds (delay)</LI>
<LI>ct: total A-V sync correction done</LI>
<LI>frames played (counting from last seek)</LI>
<LI>frames decoded (counting from last seek)</LI>
<LI>video codec cpu usage in percent (for slices and DR this includes
video_out)</LI>
<LI>video_out cpu usage</LI>
<LI>audio codec cpu usage in percent</LI>
<LI>frames needed to drop to maintain A-V sync</LI>
<LI>current level of image postprocessing (when using <CODE>-autoq</CODE>)</LI>
<LI>current cache size used (around 50% is normal)</LI>
</UL>
Most of them are for debug purposes and will be removed at some point.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: What if I don't want them to appear?</DT>
<DD>A: Use the <CODE>-quiet</CODE> option and read the man page.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Why is video_out cpu usage zero (0%) for some files?</DT>
<DD>A1: 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
<CODE>-vo null</CODE> and then <CODE>-vo ...</CODE> and check the
difference to see the video_out speed.</DD>
<DD>A2: 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.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: There are error messages about file not found
<CODE>/usr/lib/win32/</CODE> ...</DT>
<DD>A: Download the Win32 codecs from our
<A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/">codecs page</A>
(avifile's codec package has a different DLL set) and install it.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Are there any mailing lists on MPlayer?</DT>
<DD>A: Yes. See the bottom of the info page on
<A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/info.html">our homepage</A> to
subscribe.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I've found a nasty bug when I tried to play my favorite video!
Who should I inform?</DT>
<DD>A: Please read the <A HREF="bugreports.html">bug reporting guidelines</A>
and follow the instructions.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I have problems playing files with the ... codec. Can I use them?</DT>
<DD>A: Check the
<A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/codecs-status.html">codec status</A>,
if it doesn't contain your codec, read the
<A HREF="codecs.html">codec documentation</A>, especially the
<A HREF="codecs.html#importing">codec importing HOWTO</A> and contact us.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Umm, what is "IdegCounter"?</DT>
<DD>A: 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 ;)</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: And what is "Faszom(C)ounter"?</DT>
<DD>A: "Fasz" is a Hungarian word you don't want to know, the others are
connected to the perverted minds of the MPlayer developers.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: LIRC doesn't work, because ...</DT>
<DD>A: Are you sure you are using <CODE>mplayer</CODE> instead of
<CODE>mplayer_lirc</CODE>? Note that it was <CODE>mplayer_lirc</CODE> for a
long time, including the 0.60 release, but it was recently changed back to
<CODE>mplayer</CODE>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Subtitles are very nice, the most beautiful I've ever seen, but they
slow down playing! I know it's unlikely ...</DT>
<DD>A: After running <CODE>./configure</CODE>, edit <CODE>config.h</CODE> and
replace <CODE>#undef FAST_OSD</CODE> with <CODE>#define FAST_OSD</CODE>.
Then recompile.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: The onscreen display (OSD) is flickering!</DT>
<DD>A: You use a vo driver with single buffering (x11,xv). With xv,
use the <CODE>-double</CODE> option. Also try <CODE>-vop expand</CODE></DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: What exactly is this libavcodec thing?</DT>
<DD>A: See the <A HREF="codecs.html#libavcodec">libavcodec section</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: But configure tells me "Checking for libavcodec ... no"!</DT>
<DD>A: You need to get libavcodec from FFmpeg's CVS. Read the instructions in
the <A HREF="codecs.html#libavcodec">libavcodec section</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Icewm's taskbar keeps covering the movie in fullscreen mode!</DT>
<DD>A: This shouldn't happen anymore, if it still does use the
<CODE>-icelayer</CODE> option and report it to the
<A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</A>
mailing list.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I can't access the GUI menu. I press right click, but I can't access
any menu items!</DT>
<DD>A: Are you using FVWM? Try the following:<BR>
Start -> Settings -> Configuration -> Base Configuration<BR>
Set "Use Applications position hints" to "Yes".</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: How can I run MPlayer in the background?</DT>
<DD>A: Use: <CODE>mplayer <options> <filename> < /dev/null &</CODE></DD>
</DL>
<H2><A NAME="playback">5.3 Playback problems</A></H2>
<DL>
<DT>Q: I can play certain AVIs but I get no sound and this kind of error:
<PRE>
Detected audio codec: [divx] afm:4 (DivX audio (WMA))
Requested audio codec family [divx] (afm=4) not available (enable it at
compile time!)
</PRE>
</DT>
<DD>A: Probably the audio uses a codec not natively supported by
MPlayer. Install the Win32 codec package as described in the README
or in the <A HREF="documentation.html#installation">Installation</A> section.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: ... works with avifile/aviplay but doesn't with MPlayer.</DT>
<DD>A: MPlayer is not avifile.
The only common thing between these players is the Win32 DLL loader.
The codecs (DLL) set, synchronization, demultiplexing etc is totally
different and shouldn't be compared.
If something works with aviplay it doesn't mean that MPlayer will
work and vice versa.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Audio goes out of sync playing an AVI file.</DT>
<DD>A: Try the <CODE>-bps</CODE> or <CODE>-nobps</CODE> option. If it does not
improve, read <A HREF="bugreports.html">this</A> and upload the file to FTP.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: MPlayer exits with some error when using l3codeca.acm.</DT>
<DD>A: Check <CODE>ldd /usr/local/bin/mplayer</CODE> output. If it contains<BR>
<CODE>libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x4???????)</CODE><BR>
where "?" is any number then it's OK, the error is not here. If it is:<BR>
<CODE>libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00??????)</CODE><BR>
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 <CODE>-afm 1</CODE> option to disable using
l3codeca.acm.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: My computer plays M$ DivX AVIs with resolutions ~ 640x300 and stereo
mp3 sound too slow. When I use -nosound option, everything is OK (but
quiet).</DT>
<DD>A: Your machine is too slow or your soundcard driver is broken. Consult
the documentation to see if you can improve performance.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: MPlayer dies with "MPlayer interrupted by signal 4 in module:
decode_video".</DT>
<DD>A: Try running MPlayer on the machine you compiled on. Or recompile
with runtime CPU detection
(<CODE>./configure --enable-runtime-cpudetection</CODE>). Don't
use MPlayer on a CPU different from the one it was compiled on,
without using the feature mentioned just now.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I have problems with [your window manager] and fullscreen
xv/xmga/sdl/x11 modes ...</DT>
<DD>A: Read the <A HREF="bugreports.html">bug reporting guidelines</A> and
send us a proper bug report.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I got this playing MPEG files: Can't find codec for video format
0x10000001!</DT>
<DD>A: You have an old version of codecs.conf at <CODE>~/.mplayer/</CODE>.
Upgrade it from <CODE>/etc/</CODE>.<BR>
<B>OR</B> you have the <CODE>vc=</CODE> option or something similar in your
config file(s).</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: When starting MPlayer under KDE I just get a black screen and nothing
happens. After about one minute the video starts playing.</DT>
<DD>A: The KDE arts sound daemon is blocking the sound device. Either wait
until the video starts or disable the arts-daemon in kontrol center. If you
want to use arts sound, specify audio output via our native arts audio
driver (<CODE>-ao arts</CODE>). If it fails or isn't compiled in, try SDL
(<CODE>-ao sdl</CODE>) and make sure your SDL can handle arts sound. Yet
another option is to start MPlayer with artsdsp.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I have an AVI that produces a gray screen when played with
<CODE>-vc odivx</CODE> and a green one with <CODE>-vc divx4</CODE>.</DT>
<DD>A: It's not a DivX file, but an M$ MPEG4v3. Update your codecs.conf.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: When I play this movie I get video-audio desync and/or MPlayer crashes
with the following message:<BR>
<CODE>DEMUXER: Too many (945 in 8390980 bytes) video packets in the buffer!</CODE></DT>
<DD>A: This can have multiple reasons.
<UL>
<LI>Your CPU <B>and/or</B> video card <B>and/or</B> bus is too slow.
MPlayer displays a message if this is the case (and the dropped
frames counter goes up fast).</LI>
<LI>If it is an AVI, maybe it has bad interleaving. Try the
<CODE>-ni</CODE> option.</LI>
<LI>Your sound driver is buggy, or you use ALSA 0.5 with <CODE>-ao oss</CODE>.
See the <A HREF="sound.html">sound card section</A>.</LI>
<LI>The AVI has a bad header, try the <CODE>-nobps</CODE> option, and/or
<CODE>-mc 0</CODE>.</LI>
</UL></DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I have an MJPEG file which works with other players but displays only a
black image in MPlayer.</DT>
<DD>A: Disable the Windows DLL in <CODE>codecs.conf</CODE>, or use the
<CODE>-vc ffmjpeg</CODE> option (compile MPlayer with libavcodec for this
to work).</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: When I try to grab from my tuner, it works, but colors are strange.
It's OK with other applications.</DT>
<DD>A: Your card probably misreports its colorspace capacity. Try with YUY2
instead of default YV12 (see the <A HREF="documentation.html#tv">TV input
documentation</A>).</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: When I start playing, I get this message but everything seems fine:<BR>
<CODE>Linux RTC init: ioctl (rtc_pie_on): Permission denied</CODE></DT>
<DD>A: You need root privileges or a
specially set up kernel to use the new timing code. For details see the
<A HREF="documentation.html#rtc">RTC section</A> of the documentation.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I have A/V sync problems. Some of my AVIs play fine, but some play with
double speed!</DT>
<DD>A: 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.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: All the WMV (or other..) files I play create a green/gray window and
there is only sound! MPlayer prints:<BR>
<CODE>Detected video codec: [null] drv:0 (NULL codec (no decoding))</CODE></DT>
<DD>A: Update your <CODE>codecs.conf</CODE>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I get very strange percentage values (way too big) while playing files
on my notebook.</DT>
<DD>A: It's an effect of the power management / power saving system of your
notebook (BIOS, not kernel). Plug the external power connector in
<B>before</B> you power on your notebook. You can also try whether
<A HREF="http://www.brodo.de/cpufreq/">cpufreq</A> (a SpeedStep interface
for Linux) helps you.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: 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.</DT>
<DD>A: This is again a power management effect (see above). Plug the external
power connector in <B>before</B> you power on your notebook or use the
<CODE>-nortc</CODE> option.</DD>
</DL>
<H2><A NAME="driver">5.4 Video/audio driver problems (vo/ao)</A></H2>
<DL>
<DT>Q: I have no sound when playing a video and get error messages similar to
this one:
<PRE>
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...
</PRE>
</DT>
<DD>A: Are you running KDE or GNOME with the ARTS or ESD sound daemon? Try
disabling the sound daemon or use the <CODE>-ao arts</CODE> or
<CODE>-ao esd</CODE> option to make MPlayer use ARTS or ESD.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: What about the DGA driver? I can't find it!</DT>
<DD>A: <CODE>./configure</CODE> autodetects your DGA driver. If
<CODE>-vo help</CODE> doesn't show DGA, then there's a problem with your X
installation. Try <CODE>./configure --enable-dga</CODE> and read the
<A HREF="video.html#dga">documentation</A>. Alternatively, try SDL's DGA
driver with the <CODE>-vo sdl:dga</CODE> option.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: OK, <CODE>-vo help</CODE> shows DGA driver, but it complains about
permissions. Help me!</DT>
<DD>A: It works only if running as root! It's a DGA limitation.
You should become root (<CODE>su -</CODE>), and try again.
Another solution is making MPlayer SUID root, but it's
<B>not recommended!</B><BR>
<CODE>chown root /usr/local/bin/mplayer</CODE><BR>
<CODE>chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/mplayer</CODE><BR>
<CODE>chmod +s /usr/local/bin/mplayer</CODE><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Warning: security risk</B><BR>
This is a <B>big</B> security risk! <B>Never</B> 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. <B>You have been
warned.</B>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: When using Xvideo, my Voodoo 3/Banshee says:<BR>
<CODE>X Error of failed request: BadAccess (attempt to access private
resource denied)<BR>
Major opcode of failed request: 147 (MIT-SHM)<BR>
Minor opcode of failed request: 1 (X_ShmAttach)<BR>
Serial number of failed request: 26<BR>
Current serial number in output stream:27</CODE></DT>
<DD>A: The "tdfx" driver in XFree86 4.0.2/4.0.3 had this bug. This was solved
by <A HREF="http://www.xfree86.org/cvs/changes_4_1.html">bugfix #621 of the
XFree86 4.1.0 CVS log</A>. So upgrade to XFree86 4.1.0 or later.
Alternatively, either download (at least) DRI version 0.6 from the
<A HREF="http://dri.sourceforge.net">DRI homepage</A>, or use CVS DRI.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: OpenGL (<CODE>-vo gl</CODE>) output doesn't work (hang/black window/X11
errors/...).</DT>
<DD>A: 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.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I have an nVidia TNT/TNT2 card, and I have a band with strange colors,
right under the movie! Whose fault is this?</DT>
<DD>A: 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!</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: 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.</DT>
<DD>A: Yes, nVidia corrected a previous bug (above), and introduced a new one.
Let's congratulate them. UPDATE: According to
<A HREF="users_against_developers.html#nvidia">nVidia</A>, this has already
been fixed.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: When I use the GUI with SDL video output, a second video window is
created.</DT>
<DD>A: Known, don't use SDL for the GUI yet.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Oh the world is cruel ...! SDL has only <CODE>x11</CODE> target, but
not <CODE>xv</CODE>!</DT>
<DD>A: Try that <CODE>x11</CODE> target again. Now try
<CODE>-vo x11 -fs -zoom</CODE>. See the difference? No?! OK, here comes the
enlightenment: SDL's <CODE>x11</CODE> target uses xv when available, you
don't have to worry about it ... Note: you can force/disable Xv via SDL
using <CODE>-forcexv</CODE> and <CODE>-noxv</CODE></DD>
</DL>
<H2><A NAME="dvd">5.5 DVD playback</A></H2>
<DL>
<DT>Q: What about DVD navigation?</DT>
<DD>A: 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 <A HREF="http://xine.sourceforge.net">xine</A> or
<A HREF="http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/groups/dvd/">Ogle</A>. If you care
about DVD navigation, send a <A HREF="tech/patches.txt">patch</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: While playing a DVD, I encountered this error:<BR>
<CODE>mplayer: ifo_read.c:1143: ifoRead_C_ADT_internal: Assertion
nfo_length / sizeof(cell_adr_t) >= c_adt->nr_of_vobs' failed.</CODE></DT>
<DD>A: This is a known libdvdread 0.9.1/0.9.2 bug. Use <B>libmpdvdkit2</B>,
which is present in MPlayer source, and used by default.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Can I compile libdvdread and libdvdcss on my sweet SPARC under
Solaris?</DT>
<DD>A: 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 <B>libmpdvdkit2</B>, which is present in
MPlayer source, and used by default.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: What about subtitles? Can MPlayer display them?</DT>
<DD>A: Yes. See the <A HREF="cd-dvd.html#dvd">DVD chapter</A> of the
documentation.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: How can I set the region code of my DVD-drive? I don't have
Windows!</DT>
<DD>A: Use the
<A HREF="http://www.linuxtv.org/download/dvd/dvd_disc_20000215.tar.gz">regionset tool</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Do I need to be (setuid) root/setuid fibmap_mplayer to be able to play
a DVD?</DT>
<DD>A: No, only for old-style DVD support. However you must have
the proper rights on the DVD device entry (in <CODE>/dev/</CODE>).</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Where can I get libdvdread and libdvdcss packages?</DT>
<DD>A: You don't need to. Use <B>libmpdvdkit2</B>, which is present in the
MPlayer source, and used by default. You can get the mentioned packages
from the
<A HREF="http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/groups/dvd/">Ogle site</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Is it possible to play/encode only selected chapters?</DT>
<DD>A: Yes, try the <CODE>-chapter</CODE> option.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: My DVD playback is sluggish!</DT>
<DD>A: Use the <CODE>-cache</CODE> option (described in the man page)
and try enabling DMA for the DVD drive with the hdparm tool (described in
the <A HREF="cd-dvd.html#cd">CD chapter</A> of the documentation).</DD>
</DL>
<H2><A NAME="features">5.6 Feature requests</A></H2>
<DL>
<DT>Q: 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.</DT>
<DD>A: This is very tricky to implement without losing A/V synchronization.
All attempts have failed so far, but patches are welcome.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I'd like to seek +/- 1 frames instead of 10 seconds.</DT>
<DD>A: 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.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Where is the Windows version?</DT>
<DD>A: It's not released, and won't be. Look around the Windows scene (open
source ASF parsers, open source ASF encoders, etc) and you'll know why. We
don't want to go to jail. BTW you can compile it yourself, under
<A HREF="documentation.html#cygwin">Cygwin</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: How can I make MPlayer remember the options I use for this
particular file?</DT>
<DD>A: Create a file named <CODE>movie.avi.conf</CODE> with the
file-specific options in it and put it in <CODE>~/.mplayer</CODE> or in
the same directory as the file.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
</DL>
<H2><A NAME="encoding">5.7 Encoding</A></H2>
<DL>
<DT>Q: How can I encode?</DT>
<DD>A: Read the MEncoder <A HREF="encoding.html">documentation</A>.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: How can I create VCDs?</DT>
<DD>A: Try the <CODE>mencvcd</CODE> script from the <CODE>TOOLS</CODE>
subdirectory. With it you can encode DVDs or other movies to VCD or SVCD
format and even burn them directly to CD.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: How can I join two video files?</DT>
<DD>A: This has been discussed to no end on mplayer-users. Go search the
<A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/cgi-bin/htsearch?restrict=/mplayer-users/">archives</A>
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,
<A HREF="http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/">avidemux</A>
and avimerge (part of the
<A HREF="http://www.theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de/~ostreich/transcode/">transcode</A>
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<BR>
<CODE>cat file1 file2 > file3</CODE><BR>
<CODE>mencoder -ovc copy -oac copy -o out.avi -forceidx file3.avi</CODE></DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: My tuner works, I can hear the sound and watch the video with MPlayer,
but MEncoder doesn't encode audio!</DT>
<DD>A: TV audio encoding for Linux is currently unimplemented, we're working
on it. At the moment it works only on BSD.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I can't encode DVD subtitles into the AVI!</DT>
<DD>A: You have to specify the <CODE>-sid</CODE> option correctly!</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: MEncoder segfaults on startup!</DT>
<DD>A: Upgrade DivX4Linux.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: How can I encode only selected chapters from a DVD?</DT>
<DD>A: Use the <CODE>-chapter</CODE> option correctly, like:
<CODE>-chapter 5-7</CODE></DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: I'm trying to work with 2GB+ files on a VFAT file system. Does it work?</DT>
<DD>A: No, VFAT doesn't support 2GB+ files.</DD>
<DD> </DD>
<DT>Q: Why is the recommended bitrate printed by MEncoder negative?</DT>
<DD>A: 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.</DD>
</DL>
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