How tp play video & what formats

Discussion in 'Acer Aspire One' started by bobengland, Nov 7, 2008.

  1. bobengland

    bobengland

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    I am new to the Acer and think it is a great piece of kit but..... Linux is an absolute nightmare to deal with. I want to play downloaded videos which use the .AVI format. I have tried following a similar thread on how to install a Linux equivalent file but have got absolutely nowhere. In very very simple terms can anybody give me instructions on what I need to do to enable me to view the avi format. All I get is the sound but no picture. Also, are there any video formats already embedded in Linux as it might be easier to find compatible videos rather than using avi. Many thanks.
     
    bobengland, Nov 7, 2008
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  2. bobengland

    Blingin2Mingin

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    AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is a container format and may contain a number of video formats. Some of which will play on the Linpus bundled media player.
    I think what you require is support for the XviD/DivX video formats in an AVI container. This will require the installation of either the VLC player or codecs to play XviD from within the bundled player.
    The easiest option for me was to install VLC.
    There are multiple ways to do this, either install from the Acer support site. (Warning this method will not play XviD unless you take the measures shown in this post).
    http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6130#p40562

    Or install Vlc using yum.

    http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=167#p1073

    Any dependancy error is cured by following the instructions here.

    http://macles.blogspot.com/2008/09/updated-repositories.html

    Your question has been asked countless times, whilst all this information is already available on this forum you just have to search.
     
    Blingin2Mingin, Nov 7, 2008
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  3. bobengland

    Duncan_Rowland

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    I agree, vlc is great... (especially installed via yum in this case).
    I use vlc in both linux and windows as it seems to play just about everything.
     
    Duncan_Rowland, Nov 7, 2008
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  4. bobengland

    bobengland

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    Many thanks for replies. I had searched the forum for answers and had tried to follow previous links. I will have another try using your links. Will report back on success (or lack of).
     
    bobengland, Nov 8, 2008
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  5. bobengland

    bobengland

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    OK - I have followed instructions and installed vlc and the update as per the link. The avi file I am using as a test bed still will not run. Is there another part of the install process I should be doing or do these updates automatically take affect? If it helps the error message that comes up when trying to play the .avi file is: cannot find codec matching selected - vo and video format 0x44495658
    Thanks for your patience - hopefully the learning curve will not seem quite so steep after a few successful installations.
     
    bobengland, Nov 8, 2008
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  6. bobengland

    Blingin2Mingin

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    Try installing through yum again,

    I really should have posted the update link first.

    When you install you should not get these errors

    Error: Missing Dependency: libpulse.so.0(PULSE_0) is needed by package vlc
    Error: Missing Dependency: libopendaap.so.0 is needed by package vlc-core
    Error: Missing Dependency: libdvdnav.so.4 is needed by package vlc-core
     
    Blingin2Mingin, Nov 8, 2008
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  7. bobengland

    bobengland

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    I have tried to reinstall vlc but this time it seems to not want to work. I am obviously doing something wrong and will retry. Can anyone answer the other part of my question, what formats is media player happy to work with without having to install (or not) additional software. Many thanks
     
    bobengland, Nov 8, 2008
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  8. bobengland

    Blingin2Mingin

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    I would expect it to at least work with Ogg theora and Motion Jpeg AVI.
    It will not play XviD/DivX AVI, H264 MOV,MP4,M4V.
    I don't thing it will play Flash Video FLV either.


    You can deduce that most people think it's worth the effort in installing VLC or extra codecs for Mplayer.
     
    Blingin2Mingin, Nov 8, 2008
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  9. bobengland

    bobengland

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    Re: How to play video & what formats

    I seem to have finally cracked it. Downloaded vlc, managed to get it installed, managed to find the icon to start it running, and managed to run an .avi video. As a newcomer to Linux the whole process seems quite complex/convoluted. Is there a book/manual that is the Linux "bible" that is understandable to a non programmer type person? Its been years since I entered Basic code into programmes and I'm afraid Microsoft products have diluted what little skill I did have. I assume that all Linux variations have the same command structures and I would like a better understanding. Anyway, for the moment, I shall bask in the delight of being able to watch video on my Acer. Thanks for the helpful suggestions.
     
    bobengland, Nov 9, 2008
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  10. bobengland

    Blingin2Mingin

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    Blingin2Mingin, Nov 9, 2008
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  11. bobengland

    bobengland

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    Many thanks for that info - yes I do live in England - will get along to Waterstones today and have a browse through their computing section. I knew you could get dummy books for other subjects but had not seen one for Linux. If my trip to the bookshop fails then I will try Amazon.
     
    bobengland, Nov 10, 2008
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  12. bobengland

    rbil

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    Re: How to play video & what formats

    Here's a good primer for using Linux ...

    http://rute.2038bug.com/rute.html.gz

    It needs to be pointed out that Acer's Linpus doesn't follow the Linux standards to a T. So you'll be confronted with things in that online book that just won't work or won't work as expected on the AAO. In fact, some things might actually screw up your system if implemented just because of the way Acer put this OS together on these netbooks. So be careful if you're following some of his examples. Use that book to get a basic understanding of Linux and come back here to the forums if you have specific questions.

    Cheers.
     
    rbil, Nov 10, 2008
    #12
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