I am having trouble playing wmv files on my XFCE Fedora 19 32-bit installation.
Why wmv, you ask? Well, there are these Ethical Hacking videos I downloaded and this is the format they came in.
I have installed all the requisite plugins, yet even VLC cannot open these files.
The alternative would be to convert them to avi or some such format but I would like to know if there is a workaround.
If VLC cannot handle them, then I'd worry whether the files are corrupted or do not contain what they purport to contain.
What 3rd party repository do you use for media libraries? If you have rpmfusion.org set up, then you can try installing all the GStreamer extensions, including the 'non-free', 'ugly' and 'bad' ones to see if you can get the files to open in totem.
Another thing that's worked for me in the past is to rename the files to .avi, and see if they can be recognised somehow in that way - it seems to make the player try different libraries to see if they can handle it, and it only works in extreme cases (but you might be lucky).
Also, you might find that the file have simply been corrupted during the download, and you only need to download them again, or find a host that will stream them for you.
"If VLC cannot handle them" <-- very correct point. "GStreamer extensions, including the 'non-free', 'ugly' and 'bad'... see if you can get the files to open in mplayer or xine" <-- mplayer and xine do NOT use the gstreamer libraries at all. They use their own. Only gstreamer based multimedia players, such as totem or parole, etc use gstreamer plugins. "corrupted during the download" <-- very possible, almost likely. "rename the files to .avi" <-- may work, but most gnu-linux systems ignore file-name extensions and examine first few bytes of data contents.
"mplayer and xine do NOT use the gstreamer libraries at all" - just goes to show that I do NOT use mplayer or xine at all... I exclusively use vlc these days ;). I stand corrected, I'll update my original comment. The renaming thing is something that I've done in the past - while Linux doesn't use the filename, I've seen it used to provide hints when a file couldn't be opened. This was a long while ago, of course.
Enable rpmfusion.org repositories, (simple command line instructions on their website), then type sudo yum install gstreamer* in a terminal. This will install all of the "ugly" gstreamer plugins for playing patent-encumbered codecs using any media player that uses the gstreamer backend, such as totem or parole, which works perfectly fine on all of my fedora 19 boxes. [Of course mplayer or xine also play them perfectly, installable from rpmfusion]. Anton.
Hello, Anton. gstreamer is already installed and updated.Still, nothing. This is a snippet of the error I'm getting trying to install it again:
VLC plays the files in Windows, so I can't figure out what the issue is. Totem still gives the same error, that no suitable codec has been found.
Hello, Anton. gstreamer is already installed and updated.Still, nothing. This is a snippet of the error I'm getting trying to install it again:
Error: Package: gstreamer1-plugins-ugly-devel-docs-1.0.6-2.fc19.noarch (rpmfusion-free)
Requires: gstreamer1-plugins-ugly = 1.0.6-2.fc19
Installed: gstreamer1-plugins-ugly-1.0.9-1.fc19.i686 (@rpmfusion-free-updates)
gstreamer1-plugins-ugly = 1.0.9-1.fc19
Available: gstreamer1-plugins-ugly-1.0.6-2.fc19.i686 (rpmfusion-free)
gstreamer1-plugins-ugly = 1.0.6-2.fc19
You could try using --skip-broken to work around the problem
You could try running: rpm -Va --nofiles --nodigest You should give mplayer a shot; install smplayer or gnome-mplayer (which are GUI frontend for mplayer) and try playing one of those files.
Wow, I'm sorry that I forgot to come back here and check again. The above error is the "type" of thing that has happened to me before. You have two different versions of libraries installed. You don't need the devel-docs [unless your going to write programs], and --skip-broken OR just install gstreamer1-plugins-ugly-1.0.9-1.fc19 and not use the wildcard, which is pulling in the docs. Also just occured to me, you already have the gstreamer1-plugins-ugly installed. Your media player is likely still using the gstreamer0.10 plugins and they may not be updated to include the "ugly" ones, needed for wmv's. Can remember how to tell totem which gstreamer to use. Both gstreamers are parellel installable. XFCE uses gstreamer0.10 and gnome uses newer gstreamer1.0 media framework. Try mplayer -framedrop -cache 8192 "filename.wmv" on the commandline. Try 'sudo yum install mpv' also, a GREAT ...
Asked: 2013-12-15 23:56:19 -0600
Seen: 3,256 times
Last updated: Dec 16 '13
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