[KLUG Members] Getting MPlayer, codecs, plug-in support -- WAS: More about DV

[Bryan J. Smith]

[ Linux related, so moving to LEAPLIST / KLUG-Members ]

On Sat, 2002-06-08 at 13:28, Bryan J. Smith wrote:
> I have NOT run into an AVI file that MPlayer ( http://www.MPlayerHQ.hu )
> could NOT play under Linux, either natively (which it _does_ do a
> number of AVI and DivX formats _natively_), or c/o its extensive
> WINE-DLL codec package (i.e. a collection of Win32 codecs that can be
> utilized under MPlayer c/o WINE) ...
> There are also more "lossy" Windows formats such as ASF, WMV, etc... 
> MPlayer plays those too.  There is a lot of overlap. ...
> Yes, ATI has its own AVI sub-format.  I believe MPlayer includes those
> WINE-DLLs too in its standard package.

I've commented on MPlayer before, but here's an updated "mini-intro."

I used to painfully install MPlayer, and all its dependencies,
manually.  That's no longer the case on my RedHat system thanx to
FreshRPMS ( http://freshrpms.net ).  I just install everything from
there, and update with their Apt-RPM.  It'll play back a number of
formats natively, MPEG/DVD/[S]VCD, AVI/DivX, etc...

It includes _everything_ but the other, non-natives Win32/DLL codecs
that run c/o WINE.  You'll need to grab that collection and untar it to
/usr/lib/win32 (I usually install them into /usr/local/w32codec and
symlink the individual files there).  Grab that package from here (see
the line "Win32 codecs"): http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/dload.html

It'll do everything _but_ the Apple Qt/Sorenson stuff.  Only the
Crossover Plug-in seems to handle that without extensive WINE hacking.

For browser support, investigate Plugger
(http://fredrik.hubbe.net/plugger.html ) .  I have an
"/etc/pluggerrc-4.0" file that connects into MPlayer if anyone wants a
copy.  It's not pretty, but it works "good enough."  I hope MPlayer
works on its browser compatibility in the future, it doesn't encapulate
into a browser window very well yet (especially the fact that many
formats don't resize correctly when encapsulated).

-- Bryan

-- 
The community has created the fastest, most standards-compliant
web browser with extensive popup, cookie and privacy management.
But all the IT media can talk about is how it renders MSIE-only
sites a bit rough even though MSIE on Mac cannot even view them!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bryan J. Smith, SmithConcepts, Inc.    mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org
Engineers and IT Professionals      http://www.SmithConcepts.com