Getting codecs for my openSUSE version

Hello people, I am an openSUSE 12.2 user. I, very recently, realized that my audio player could not play mp3 and other stuff, so I needed to get the codecs. Looking for a solution I found this page: 13. Multimedia Codecs - Install Support for restricted codecs including MP3, DVD, WMA, WMV, MOV etc., which is an official guide. Everything seems very easy except that I have two questions:

  1. In the first paragraph it says:

This chapter describes three different methods for installing the packages needed to playback most multimedia formats - including MP3, DVDs etc., with Kaffeine (video) and Amarok (audio) (…)

The thing is that I don’t use neither of those applications, so I wanna know if everything will work the same if I change to VLC and Rhythmbox, which are my preferred applications, or to any other.

  1. After I changed to openSUSE I noticed that VLC has some trouble playing the .asf format; the video plays fine, but as for the audio, all I hear is noise, not the real sound. Could this be 'cause I am missing some codec? If so, how could I fix this issue?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Unless you are trying to run openSUSE in a extremely small disk format, I recommend you load all applications as we suggest, thus allowing the most media formats to be supported. We are not attempting to support one format over another and try to support all of the most common ones if we can. If you know better, then you need to do what you think, without our support, else, follow our advice on the matter. The guide you mention, says unofficial in the top line, so take it for what it is worth, which does not mean its of no value, but its just not part of the openSUSE forum or its suggestions.

Here is the guide for openSUSE 12.2: https://forums.opensuse.org/content/127-multimedia-restricted-formats-installation-guide-12-2.html

AND

Here is the guide of openSUSE 12.3: https://forums.opensuse.org/blogs/caf4926/opensuse-12-3-multi-media-restricted-format-installation-guide-126/

I have a bash script useful in checking your multimedia setup here: MMCHECK - Version 2.35 - Check Your Multimedia in 16 Steps - Bash Script File - Blogs - openSUSE Forums

Do some reading, make the changes and check to see what you got is working and get back with us when you are complete.

Thank You,

Codecs will be universal mate (unless its mplayer, but even installing that helps big time), if VLC can tread a codec so can rhythmbox, if kaffiene can read a codec so can amarok.

Most of the codecs are across the applications, not just one or two though obviously video files in an audio player will have difficulties.

The easiest way to get codecs is to install the codecs one click installer, you can find that here:

Restricted formats - openSUSE Community Wiki

Just choose your version and its all smooth sailing from there :smiley:

Thanks for your answer Mr. jdmcdaniel3. I’m sorry I hadn’t read the “Unofficial Guide” line. The page you linked seems exactly what I need, except that I got a little doubt: In this official guide, https://en.opensuse.org/Additional_package_repositories, it says that:

or new Linux and openSUSE users it is recommended to use the 4 default repositories (OSS, Non-OSS, Update, Update-Non-OSS) and Packman. Later on when you familiarize yourself with package management you can add more.

I have the repositories suggested here in this paragraph, so I wanna make sure that adding ‘libdvdcss’ to my list of repos won’t cause any trouble or anything.

Sorry if this question sounds dumb but I am a newbie in all this, so I try to get help from everyone.

Thanks.

We indeed suggest you stick with just the repositories added by openSUSE when you first install it. I normally delete the CD entry added to install from the DVD if I have internet access and then add in Packman for the version of openSUSE I am using. To get libdvdcss, you can execute one of these commands from the terminal prompt:

sudo zypper ar -f http://opensuse-guide.org/repo/12.2/ libdvdcss

OR

sudo zypper ar -f http://opensuse-guide.org/repo/12.3/ libdvdcss

No other repositories should be added unless you know what you are doing. Always ask for help if there is any doubt.

Thank You,

Yes but not all additional repos are bad, and in fact some are needed like libdvdcss if you like playing dvds

On 2013-03-24 03:56, jdmcdaniel3 wrote:
> To get libdvdcss, you
> can execute one of these commands from the terminal prompt:
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> sudo zypper ar -f http://opensuse-guide.org/repo/12.2/ libdvdcss
> --------------------
>
>
> OR
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> sudo zypper ar -f http://opensuse-guide.org/repo/12.3/ libdvdcss
> --------------------

Neither of these two work currently. I emailed the admin, no response yet.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)

Thank for the info as I was unaware they stopped working. You can also get the file from the VideoLan Repository (Additional package repositories - openSUSE Wiki), but one must be careful to only pull libdvdcss from there when using the Packman repository. In such a case, you can add VideoLan, pull the one file and then delete or disable the VideoLan repository. Becuase VideoLan and Packman contain much of the same content, mixing files between the two can cause a package to not work properly when all of its components are not compiled together in the same version and same way.

Thank You,

On 2013-03-24 04:26, jdmcdaniel3 wrote:

> Thank for the info as I was unaware they stopped working.

The site is working, but the repos give a forbidden error. Yast fails
refreshing.

> You can also
> get the file from the VideoLan Repository
> (https://en.opensuse.org/Additional_package_repositories), but one must
> be careful to only pull libdvdcss from there when using the Packman
> repository. In such a case, you can add VideoLan, pull the one file and
> then delete or disable the VideoLan repository.

Or download and install with rpm in CLI. Fewer steps :slight_smile:

> Becuase VideoLan and
> Packman contain much of the same content, mixing files between the two
> can cause a package to not work properly when all of its components are
> not compiled together in the same version and same way.

Absolutely.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)

You don’t need to enable http://opensuse-guide.org/repo/12.2/ permanently for just one package (libdvdcss2). It is also possible to download the package and install it manually. Unfortunately there is no direct access to this repo. You can enable it temporary, download the package (zypper in libdvdcss2 -d), save the rpm and install it then. After that you can delete this repo.

Alternatively you can install this one package from videolan ( zypper in http://download.videolan.org/pub/vlc/SuSE/12.3/x86_64/libdvdcss2-1.2.12-1.1.x86_64.rpm ).

On 2013-03-24 10:46, zerum wrote:
> Unfortunately there is no
> direct access to this repo. You can enable it temporary, download the
> package (-zypper in libdvdcss2 -d-), save the rpm and install it then.
> After that you can delete this repo.

Refresh repo fails. It is down.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)

Am 24.03.2013 16:48, schrieb Carlos E. R.:
> Refresh repo fails. It is down.
>
It is not down here, worked for 12.3 just a few hours ago for a fresh
install and refresh works right now for 12.2 (location Germany).


PC: oS 12.2 x86_64 | i7-2600@3.40GHz | 16GB | KDE 4.10.1 | GTX 650 Ti
ThinkPad E320: oS 12.2 x86_64 | i3@2.30GHz | 8GB | KDE 4.10.1 | HD 3000
HannsBook: oS 12.3 x86_64 | SU4100@1.3GHz | 2GB | KDE 4.10.0 | GMA4500

Okay Mr. jdmcdaniel3, I did everything it says in the guide you first linked (I even enabled ‘libdvdcss’ repo; no problem with that). Everithing seems to go fine except that I can’t install the las package: gstreamer-0_10-plugins-bad-orig-addon. It requires another package which I looked for, but it seems it’s not on any of my repos. My question is, can I safely ignore that package (gstreamer-0_10-plugins-bad-orig-addon) and install the rest?

Thanks

On 2013-03-24 16:59, Martin Helm wrote:
> Am 24.03.2013 16:48, schrieb Carlos E. R.:
>> Refresh repo fails. It is down.
>>
> It is not down here, worked for 12.3 just a few hours ago for a fresh
> install and refresh works right now for 12.2 (location Germany).

You are right, “zypper refresh --force” works now. I has been failing
for a week or more here.

However, a direct browse still fails:

················
Forbidden

You don’t have permission to access /repo/12.1/ on this server.
················


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)

Yes, of course, install all else without it, but you should tell us the exact error message that you get when you try to install it. For any typical error messages you get, I suggest this:

To avoid package problems, the most important thing to do is to: NEVER ignore a dependency, even if YaST/zypper/updater gives you such an option! In general, never switch to an >inferior< architecture and the solution is most often to just switch Vendor to the >Packman< repository. So changing the vendor is OK, but >ignoring< dependencies is never a very good idea! The YaST Software Management Option to “Allow Vendor Change” often solves many problems before they start.

Thank You,

Mr. jdmcdaniel3 I took a picture of the error displayed: http://tinypic.com/r/20qjpte/6

Thanks.

Please post the output of “zypper lr -d”. ibmpeg2encpp-2.0.so.0 is provided by packman and if you have it in your repos it must be installed.

zypper wp libmpeg2encpp-2.0.so.0
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
S | Name                      | Type    | Version    | Arch   | Repository
--+---------------------------+---------+------------+--------+-----------
  | libmjpegutils-2_0-0       | package | 2.0.0-52.1 | i586   | packman   
  | libmjpegutils-2_0-0-32bit | package | 2.0.0-52.1 | x86_64 | packman  

Okay Mr. zerum here is what I get:


#  | Alias                     | Name                               | Enabled | Refresh | Priority | Type   | URI                                                             | Service
---+---------------------------+------------------------------------+---------+---------+----------+--------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+--------
 1 | opensuse-guide.org-repo   | libdvdcss repository               | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://opensuse-guide.org/repo/12.2/                            |        
 2 | packman.inode.at-suse     | Packman Repository                 | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://packman.inode.at/suse/12.2/                              |        
 3 | repo-debug                | openSUSE-12.2-Debug                | No      | Yes     |   99     | NONE   | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/distribution/12.2/repo/oss/  |        
 4 | repo-debug-update         | openSUSE-12.2-Update-Debug         | No      | Yes     |   99     | NONE   | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/update/12.2/                 |        
 5 | repo-debug-update-non-oss | openSUSE-12.2-Update-Debug-Non-Oss | No      | Yes     |   99     | NONE   | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/update/12.2-non-oss/         |        
 6 | repo-non-oss              | openSUSE-12.2-Non-Oss              | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/12.2/repo/non-oss/    |        
 7 | repo-oss                  | openSUSE-12.2-Oss                  | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/12.2/repo/oss/        |        
 8 | repo-source               | openSUSE-12.2-Source               | No      | Yes     |   99     | NONE   | http://download.opensuse.org/source/distribution/12.2/repo/oss/ |        
 9 | repo-update               | openSUSE-12.2-Update               | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/update/12.2/                       |        
10 | repo-update-non-oss       | openSUSE-12.2-Update-Non-Oss       | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/update/12.2-non-oss/               |        


I also checked, and the package ‘libmjpegutils-2_0-0’, shown in your post, is installed on my system but with a newer version; on the other hand, the package ‘libmjpegutils-2_0-0-32bit’ is not, and a search in the package manager returned no results.

Thanks.

I would take the first choice for replacement of the libmjp… listed file. Often such a choice comes about due to how one loaded the original files.

Thank You,

Okay Mr. jdmcdaniel3, I installed everything, including the problematic package with your suggestion. Everything went fine.

I just want to ask a last time for advice:

After the installation I can now play .asf videos on Totem and the sound is good, but in vlc I keep having that weird situation with the .asf videos (i.e. The video plays fine but for the audio all I get is noise). Any clue why this could be?

Thanks.