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Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 9:03 am
by Crocodile Gunn D
Hi,
I installed Mint 17 last week and have been feeling my way around since. Today I've looked at videos and music. but nothing will play.
I've a number of video files in several formats, none of them are being recognised even before I try to play them.
Tried a couple of mp3 files and they won't play either.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Dave

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:25 am
by WinterTroubles
Silly question, because silly questions are the limit of my ability :lol:

Did you install the 'no codecs' version, aimed at countries with the law states that certain software can't be included without license in the ISO, but, can be freely installed by the user after installation. If this may be a possibility then you can open the 'welcome screen', found in the menus, and you should see a button to install the 'codecs' if not already installed, to allow decoding of multimedia files (audio, video etc).

Hope this helps, but, if not at least ruling it out will help more experienced users narrow down the cause.

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:27 am
by karlchen
Hello, Crocodile Gunn D.

Which Linux Mint 17 edition exactly have you downloaded from this webpage? http://www.linuxmint.com/release.php?id=22
In case it was one of the editions which hold the string "no-codecs" in their names, it is not amazing that Linux Mint will not be able to play most multimedia file formats.
In case you are living in one of the countries where you will be shot without trial for using the codecs collection that most Mint installations install by default, e.g. Japan, USA, you will have to find out which codecs are missing and locate free codecs alternatives for the proprietary codecs which you must not use.
In case you are living in one of the other countries, you should make sure that the software package mint-meta-codecs has been installed. The meta package will pull in a number of dependent software packages which should enable you to play the common multimedia formats.

In case all this should not help, you should explain an example where playing a multimedia file does not work and post the exact error message which you receive.

Kind regards,
Karl
--
Though this is summertime in the northern part of the earth, WinterTroubles was faster than me. 1:0 for WinterTroubles. :wink:

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:37 am
by WinterTroubles
karlchen wrote:Though this is summertime in the northern part of the earth, WinterTroubles was faster than me. 1:0 for WinterTroubles. :wink:
It seems there really is a first time for everything :shock: :D

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 1:43 pm
by Crocodile Gunn D
WinterTroubles wrote:Silly question, because silly questions are the limit of my ability :lol:

Did you install the 'no codecs' version, ...........
Ah. I hadn't realised there was a no codec version. I too am a bit new to this.
So, I've gone to "Welcome screen" > "software manager" and searched for "codecs".
Wow, there's a lot.
Now all I have to do is figure out which ones I need.
Thanks
Dave

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 2:32 pm
by WinterTroubles
You are looking for 'mint-meta-codecs', it's a package containing a full set of codecs made up from several of the other listings. If, when you locate it, it is saying installed then back out of the software manager and come back here for further advice.. I won't be able to advise directly, but, I know enough to know if it's saying installed then you may have a different issue.

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 2:05 pm
by Crocodile Gunn D
Right, I did a search for codecs within the software options page, (hence the list). It's saying these are installed
mint-meta-codecs
mint-meta-codecs KDE
libk3b6-extra codecs

I installed one of the first 2, can't remember which. On restart, my video files are now being recognised and loaded but still won't play.
On Youtube, if I select any video clip, it starts to play but freezes at 11 secs, thats any video.

I have an old laptop running Mint 15 and there's no problems with that.
Dave

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 2:44 pm
by WinterTroubles
I'm really no expert on sound and codecs, but one question springs to mind.. Which version of mint did you install? I ask because I wouldn't expect to see 'mint-meta-codecs KDE' unless you installed KDE. I have cinnamon and have a about 18 codecs installed as part of the 'mint-meta-codecs' package, you can view the list of codecs installed by entering codec into the software manager search box and then clicking on 'view' at the top and selecting to view only the installed items..

It may not be a codec problem, that was just the most obvious question to start with.


If there are any other forum members reading this with more experience or knowledge than me, please feel free to chime in :)

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:25 pm
by Crocodile Gunn D
Curiouser and curiouser - Just ran the iso disc on my newest laptop, about 4 years old, (came with Win 7). Sound and video play perfectly.
Just fired up the desktop, (where the trouble is), and tried a Youtube video again. There was an ad to run first. Everything fine up to 11 secs then freezes. Click on the "skip ad", and video starts, this too then freezes at 11 secs.

I will say, I never tried Audio / video from the disc before instlling so don't know what would happen. When doing the install it freezes just before being fully loaded. I check internet foe ideas and there seems to be a problem with some video cards, so I took mine out, (ATI) and ran from on board video. System boots up and runs, (apart from this problem).

I propose to:-
1 - Run desktop from iso disc.
2 - Try mint15 iso disc to see what heppens there.
3 - Run mint 17 iso on my older laptop to see what happens there.

Will get back when it's done, which won't be tonight as I'm going out shortly.
Thanks for your help.
Dave

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:59 pm
by WinterTroubles
This issue seems to be rapidly heading outside of my direct experience, so hopefully someone else will chime in with more relevant experience or knowledge.

If I may, I will just confirm that I understand the issues correctly..

1) Playing youtube videos in your browser, they freeze after 11 seconds every time.

2) You are unable to play video or audio files stored on your hard drive or on removable media, such as CDs or DVDs.

Assuming I understand correctly then the following information is probably necessary to narrow down the cause..

1) Which version of Mint are you running, for example I'm running Mint 17 Qiana Cinnamon 32bit.

2) Which browser are you using that fails to play youtube videos correctly and what format are the youtube videos, flash or HTML5, you can find this by right clicking on the video player in the youtube page (it will bring up a menu that should say either flash or HTML5 somewhere in it).

3) You hardware configuration.. you can run this command..

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz  
.. in the terminal and then copy and past the output here.


Comparing the video/audio playback with the Mint 15 live session and the Mint 17 live session seems like a good idea to me :) if everything works in either or both live sessions then there should be no reason why it can't be made to work in your installation. We will need to sort out the fac that you now have two sets of codecs installed I expect, but, until we know which flavour of mint you are running I've no idea which one you should't have.

Good luck and hope you are doing something fun tonight :D

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:04 am
by Crocodile Gunn D
There's little doubt that it's now a hardware problem.
Mint 15 does exactly the same thing on the desktop.
Qiana runs from iso disc on the small (older) laptop and seems to be ok.

Results from terminal are:-
System: Host: david-ISTART-1370 Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.2)
Desktop: Xfce 4.11.6 (Gtk 2.24.23) Distro: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Machine: System: PACKARD BELL BV product: ISTART 1370 version: PB49304201
Mobo: PACKARD BELL BV model: P4M800PRO-M version: 1.0 Bios: American Megatrends version: 080012 date: 09/06/2006
CPU: Single core Intel Pentium 4 CPU (-HT-) cache: 1024 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3) bmips: 5988.74
Clock Speeds: 1: 2994.370 MHz 2: 2994.370 MHz
Graphics: Card: VIA CN700/P4M800 Pro/P4M800 CE/VN800 Graphics [S3 UniChrome Pro] bus-ID: 01:00.0
X.Org: 1.15.1 driver: vesa Resolution: 1280x1024@0.0hz
GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.4, 128 bits) GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 10.1.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card-1: Aureal Semiconductor Vortex 1 driver: snd_au8820 ports: ec00 e880 bus-ID: 00:0a.0
Card-2: VIA VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller driver: snd_via82xx port: c800 bus-ID: 00:11.5
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-24-generic
Network: Card: Realtek RTL-8100/8101L/8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter driver: 8139too ver: 0.9.28 port: e400 bus-ID: 00:0b.0
IF: eth0 state: unknown speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 324.0GB (2.3% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: ST3120213A size: 120.0GB
2: id: /dev/sdb model: Maxtor_6Y200P0 size: 203.9GB
Partition: ID: / size: 109G used: 7.0G (7%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 1.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 30.0C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 147 Uptime: 10 min Memory: 458.4/938.2MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4

The 324 gb drive is an external mini HDD which has all my docs from previous Win 7 installation, makes no odds whether it's connected or not.

I'm going to do a rebuild with more uo to date parts, got a new but old motherboard that is SATA so will follow that, I don't need the last word in modernity, but eventually you run out of road with whatever you have.

Thank again
Dave

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:18 am
by WinterTroubles
Hi Dave

I noticed this
CPU: Single core Intel Pentium 4 CPU (-HT-) cache: 1024 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3) bmips: 5988.74
there is no PAE flag for your cpu. All versions of mint since 13 require PAE.


So this, taken from the release notes, may be relevant
Booting with non-PAE CPUs
To boot Linux Mint 17 on non-PAE CPUs, please append "forcepae" to your boot arguments. At the boot menu of the live DVD/USB, press Tab to edit the boot arguments and add "forcepae" at the end of the line.
This works for situations where the CPU is PEA capable, but, the motherboard isn't configured for it.. I'll be honest and say that I just don't know if that applies to your set up, but, worth a try I'd have thought.

If you are still missing the PAE flag with your alternative motherboard you should still be able to run MINT 13, which is supported untill 2017.

Hope this helps.

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:41 am
by PatH57
Hi,

there could be different reasons for all of this happening. WT pointed out the codecs and that should fix the local videos not working. (install VLC it has most codecs in it)
Concerning firefox and videos this is probably related to flahsplayer (firefox uses an old version) and hardware acceleration (graphic card)
You could try chromium (available in software manager) or install :

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:58 am
by WinterTroubles
Pat

The OP has Live disks for both Mint 15 and 17, both disks produce the same issues on the machine in question, yet they both function normally on another machine.. Suggesting, to me at least, that it's not a case of missing codecs or plugins.

Of course, as usual, I may be wrong in this assumption.

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:20 am
by PatH57
Hi WT,

not for sure.
If the graphic card was the issue, he would have problems in general not only playing videos...
Separate each item per unit

Machine 1
1) Online video yes/no
2) local video problems yes/no
3) graphic card issue (live session) yes/no
4) installing OS ok?
Machine 2
1) Online video yes/no
2) local video problems yes/no
3) graphic card issue (live session) yes/no
4) installing OS ok?
....

Re: Mint 17 won't play any multimedia

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:36 am
by WinterTroubles
You are right of course :)

To be honest my thinking had not gone as far as pointing the finger at one particular thing, such as graphics card, especially as the issue includes mp3 audio.

The only anomaly I noticed from his 'inxi' was the lack of a pae flag on his pentium 4 cpu, as I noted in a previous post.