Video players not working after OpenSUSE install and video driver download

I am a new Linux user. A friend helped me install OpenSUSE 13.1 on an old 32-bit computer with a GeForce 7300 LE video card.

Graphics were all screwed up until the following were installed per forum advice: nvidia-gfxG02-kmp-desktop, x11-video-nvidiaG02, nvidia-computeG02. Graphics now working.

Then I downloaded VLC player. It loads up, but won’t play anything. Kaffeine and M-player only partially work, and are unstable also. Had not tried either of these before downloading of VLC. (Kaffeine would not play anything at all until setting was changed from “auto” to “xshm”.)

Any suggestions, . . . please.

KDE interface - (in case it matters, and isn’t obvious from the files mentioned).

Have you followed this guide?

https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/452884-Multimedia-in-One-Click

And where did you install VLC from?
You should not have both the VLC and the Packman repo on your system.
Please post the output of:

zypper lr -d

(Kaffeine would not play anything at all until setting was changed from “auto” to “xshm”.)

Please make sure you have libxine2 from Packman (click on “Versions” in YaST). The standard openSUSE version does not include VDPAU support and uses VAAPI by default, which doesn’t work on nvidia cards (without manually installing “vdpau-video” from Packman).

But if MPlayer is unstable as well, the graphics driver might not work properly.
PLease install “Mesa-demo-x” and post the output of:

rpm -qa | egrep "(kernel|nvidia)"
glxinfo | grep render

And maybe also post the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log (upload to http://susepaste.org/ and post a link).

Yes. I followed the guide. Going to try to implement wolfi323’s directions next, when I can get back to this. To wolfi323: I am not certain where I downloaded it from. All I know is that I found one that said it was for OpenSUSE 13.1. I do not have anything I can identify as the VLC repo. Do have the Packman.

You can easily check what version in Yast.

search for vlc

at bottom right use the version tab it will show what is available and what you have installed at a glance

I searched for “vlc” in the Yast control center search field and it yielded nothing. (It is on the machine - shows up in Applications and loads when clicked.)

You need to search for it in YaST->Software Management, i.e. click on “Software Management” in the YaST Control Center and enter “vlc” into the search field in the new window that appears.

rpm -qi vlc

Sorry thought it was obvious that we were speaking of software thus Yast-Software management is whee you want to look

VLC was installed from Packman. The output you requested:

| Alias | Name | Enabled | Refresh | Priority | Type | URI | Service

—±-----------------------------±-----------------------------------±--------±--------±---------±-------±-----------------------------------------------------------------------±-------
1 | download.nvidia.com-opensuse | nVidia Graphics Drivers | No | Yes | 99 | rpm-md | http://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/13.1/ |
2 | ftp.gwdg.de-suse | Packman Repository | No | Yes | 99 | rpm-md | http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/packman/suse/openSUSE_13.1/ |
3 | google-earth | google-earth | Yes | Yes | 99 | rpm-md | http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/rpm/stable/i386 |
4 | openSUSE-13.1-1.10 | openSUSE-13.1-1.10 | Yes | No | 99 | yast2 | cd:///?devices=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-TSSTcorp_DVD+_-RW_TS-H553A,/dev/sr0 |
5 | opensuse-guide.org-repo | libdvdcss repository | No | Yes | 99 | rpm-md | http://opensuse-guide.org/repo/13.1/ |
6 | repo-debug | openSUSE-13.1-Debug | No | Yes | 99 | NONE | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/distribution/13.1/repo/oss/ |
7 | repo-debug-update | openSUSE-13.1-Update-Debug | No | Yes | 99 | NONE | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/update/13.1/ |
8 | repo-debug-update-non-oss | openSUSE-13.1-Update-Debug-Non-Oss | No | Yes | 99 | NONE | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/update/13.1-non-oss/ |
9 | repo-non-oss | openSUSE-13.1-Non-Oss | Yes | Yes | 99 | yast2 | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/13.1/repo/non-oss/ |
10 | repo-oss | openSUSE-13.1-Oss | Yes | No | 99 | yast2 | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/13.1/repo/oss/ |
11 | repo-source | openSUSE-13.1-Source | No | Yes | 99 | NONE | http://download.opensuse.org/source/distribution/13.1/repo/oss/ |
12 | repo-update | openSUSE-13.1-Update | Yes | Yes | 99 | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/update/13.1/ |
13 | repo-update-non-oss | openSUSE-13.1-Update-Non-Oss | Yes | Yes | 99 | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/update/13.1-non-oss/

I installed vdpau-video and now have libxine2 from Packman.

The second output you requested is:

jim@linux-2xtd:~> rpm -qa | egrep “(kernel|nvidia)”
kernel-desktop-devel-3.11.6-3.1.i686
kernel-desktop-3.11.10-7.1.i686
nvidia-computeG02-304.119-31.1.i586
kernel-devel-3.11.6-3.1.noarch
kernel-devel-3.11.10-7.1.noarch
x11-video-nvidiaG02-304.119-31.1.i586
kernel-firmware-20130714git-2.5.1.noarch
nvidia-gfxG02-kmp-desktop-304.119_k3.11.6_4-30.1.i586
kernel-desktop-devel-3.11.10-7.1.i686
kernel-desktop-3.11.6-3.1.i686
jim@linux-2xtd:~>
jim@linux-2xtd:~>
jim@linux-2xtd:~> glxinfo|grep render
direct rendering: Yes
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce 7300 LE/PCIe/SSE2/3DNOW!
GL_KTX_buffer_region, GL_NVX_conditional_render,
GL_OES_fbo_render_mipmap, GL_OES_get_program_binary, GL_OES_mapbuffer,

I have (with my limited understanding of commands) gotten to a listing of the files in /var/log and it shows one named "Xorg.O.log (I tried with both the letter and number “O”) but was unable to get to the contents, to do the susepaste upload you suggested.

My apologies for the grossly inadequate knowledge of Linux that I have at this point.

You might want to disable your optical drive repo (repo 4)

Please apply the switch on Packman
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10573557/Switcher%20Pics/13.1_Packman_Switch_KDE.png

Verify that you have “vlc-codecs” installed as well.

I installed vdpau-video and now have libxine2 from Packman.

You don’t need vdpau-video when using VDPAU (which the libxine2 package should be using by default). vdpau-video is just a bridge that makes libva1 (VA-API) use VDPAU instead.
So, is it working now? (with the output set to “auto”)?

I have (with my limited understanding of commands) gotten to a listing of the files in /var/log and it shows one named "Xorg.O.log (I tried with both the letter and number “O”) but was unable to get to the contents, to do the susepaste upload you suggested.

It should be the digit ‘0’, not the letter ‘O’.
What do you mean with “but was unable to get to the contents”? It should be a standard text file, readable by all users.
Your other output would suggest that the video driver is installed correctly and working, though.

Try to do that vendor switch to Packman as caf4926 suggested.
If you have a mix of multimedia packages from different repos problems can arise. And that vendor switch is the easiest way to rectify this.

The fourth one down on the repo list is OpenSUSE-13.1-Update-Debug-Non-OSS, and it does not appear to be enabled. Is this repo 4?

Setting up the same view on my computer as shown in the link given, the Packman repo does not appear in the “view” window on the left.

Assuming I get that corrected, do I make the change to the Amarok item as shown in the example in the link, or is that an example only?

This is number 4 in the list you posted:

4 | openSUSE-13.1-1.10 | openSUSE-13.1-1.10 | Yes | No | 99 | yast2 | cd:///?devices=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-TSSTcorp_DVD+_-RW_TS-H553A,/dev/sr0 | 

YaST->Software Repositories might show the repos in a different order. Just disable/remove the one labelled “openSUSE-13.1-1.10” with the URL “cd:///…”.

Setting up the same view on my computer as shown in the link given, the Packman repo does not appear in the “view” window on the left.

Well, I overlooked that before, but it is disabled in your repo list.
You have to enable it first in YaST->Software Repositories that it shows up.

Assuming I get that corrected, do I make the change to the Amarok item as shown in the example in the link, or is that an example only?

You don’t make a change to any item in the list.
You have to click on “Switch system packages to the versions in this Repository” above the package list.

wolfi323:
I’ve done everything you’ve suggested except reset Kaffeine to ‘auto’ (see below), and VLC is now working.
I have tried it, Kaffeine and MPlayer on various flv, mov and wmv files. A few of the mov and wmv files will not work in either VLC or Kaffeine, while the rest will. The wmv’s that won’t play at all in VLC or Kaffeine produce only vivid splashes of color and no sound when opened in MPlayer.
A number of the videos, when played in VLC, break up in certain portions of the playback into a partial ‘quicksilver’-looking screen that clears up except for the specific portions.
If you have any suggestions re the above, great, but I feel that my problem is pretty much solved, and I appreciate your help.
The Kaffeine setting from ‘auto’ to ‘xshm’ was done by my friend, who’s not available at present to dig back in and reset it. I’ve been unsuccessful in figuring how to do it with the general instructions he gave me by phone, but it can wait until he has time to do it, or walk me through it step-by-step.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue to hit the Linus tutorials, subjecting you and others to simplistic questions only when I bog down.

Well, maybe those files are just broken?
Or they use so exotic codecs that they are not supported?

Could of course also be a bug in ffmpeg or somewhere else.

The Kaffeine setting from ‘auto’ to ‘xshm’ was done by my friend, who’s not available at present to dig back in and reset it. I’ve been unsuccessful in figuring how to do it with the general instructions he gave me by phone, but it can wait until he has time to do it, or walk me through it step-by-step.

Just remove the file ~/.kde4/share/apps/kaffeine/xine-config, and it should be recreated with “auto”. I don’t think you have changed other settings in there.
Or open it in a text editor of your choice (kwrite f.e.) and put a ‘#’ in front of the line:

video.driver:xshm

You can also just change it to this of course:

video.driver:auto

wolfi323:
I don’t consider this to be a problem worth pursuing an answer to, but just in case you’re curious: Playing just a certain set of ‘mov’ videos in Kaffeine causes it to crash until closed and reopened - regardless of whether it’s set to ‘auto’ or ‘xshm’. These videos now play in VLC and Mplayer.

Well, in that case it’s most likely a bug in libxine2 I’d say…