mpv/DOCS/MPlayer-FAQ

Yes, this is the MPlayer FAQ.
=============================

About:
~~~~~~
Many people asked same questions so I decided to write this stuff.
I know that people will never read this but at least i try to
pull down number of these mails.
And from now i can say that "read the fuckin' FAQ!" :-)

Let's ask!
~~~~~~~~~~
Q: What about DVD playback?
A: Read files 'DVD' and 'DVD-FAQ'.

Q: SDL output doesn't work or compile. Problem is ....
A: It is tested with newest SDL (probably runs on 1.1.7+).
   It does NOT work with 1.1.6, 1.1.5 1.1.4 1.1.3 1.0.4 etc, don't ask.

Q: I am still having trouble compiling with SDL support. gcc says something
   about "undefined reference to `SDL_EnableKeyRepeat'"   What's now?
A: Where did you install the SDL library? If you installed in /usr/local
   (the default) then edit the top level config.mak and add
   "-L/usr/local/lib " after "X_LIBS=" Now type make. You're done!

Q: It doesn't compile, and it misses uint64_t inttypes.h and similar things...
A: copy DOCS/inttypes.h to MPlayer directory (cp DOCS/inttypes.h .)
   try again... if fail, contact us

Q: I have Pentium III but ./configure doesn't detect SSE
A: Only kernel versions 2.4.x supports SSE (or try latest 2.2.19 or newer, but
   be prepared for problems)

Q: -xy option doesn't work with x11 driver (-vo x11)
A: x11 driver doesn't support scaling, but XF86VidMode support is now
   used: you must specify the -vm and the -fs switch, and you're done.
   Make sure you have the right Modelines in your XF86Config file, and
   try if the DGA driver (and SDL's DGA driver, see VIDEOCARDS) works for you.
   It's much faster. If SDL's DGA works too, use that, it'll be EVEN
   faster!

Q: audio goes out of sync playing .avi file
A: try with -bps or -nobps option
   if still bad, send me (upload to ftp) that file, I'll check.

Q: what is the meaning of numbers in the status line?
A: see:
     A:   2.1  V:   2.2  A-V: -0.167  ct:  0.042   57  41%   0%  2.6% 0
   - A: audio position in seconds
   - V: video position in seconds
   - A-V: audio-video difference in seconds (delay)
   - ct: total A-V sync correction done
   - frames played (counting from last seek)
   - video codec cpu usage in percent (for mpeg it includes video_out too!)
   - video_out cpu usage for avi, 0 for mpg (see above)
   - audio codec cpu usage in percent
   - frames needed to drop to maintain A-V sync
   Most of them are for debug purposes, and will be removed soon.

Q: Why is video_out cpu usage zero (0%) for mpeg files?
A: It's not zero, but it's built in into codec, so can't be measured separated.
   You should try to play the file using -vo null and then -vo ... and check
   the difference to see video_out speed...

Q: OpenGL (-vo gl) output doesn't work (hangup/black window/X11 errors/...)
A: your opengl driver doesn't support dynamic texture changes (glTexSubImage)
   it's known not to work with nVidia's binary shit.
   it's known to work with Utah-GLX/DRI and Matrox G400 card. Also with
   DRI and Radeon card. It won't work with DRI others than these.
   it will not work with 3DFX cards because the 256x256 texture size limit.

Q: I have G200/G400, how to compile/use mga_vid driver?
A: read VIDEOCARDS, INSTALL, README

Q: What's XMMP? (is it XMMS or XMPS but mispelled?)
A: It's a new project, see http://frozenproductions.com for details

Q: There are error messages about file not found /usr/lib/win32/....
A: Download & install w32codec.zip from *our* FTP
   (avifile's codec package has different DLL set)

Q: ...... works with avifile/aviplay while doesn't with MPlayer
A: MPlayer != avifile
   The only common thing between these players is the Win32 DLL loader.
   The codecs (dll) sets, syncronization, demultiplexing etc is totaly
   different and shouldn't be compared.
   If something works with aviplay it doesn't mean that MPlayer should do
   it and vice versa.

Q: Indeo 3.x/4.x movies are viewed upside-down!!!?
A: It's a known bug (really it's a bug/limitation of the DLL codec)
   Try if your vo driver supports the -flip switch.

Q: Indeo 3.x,4.x video doesn't work at 32bpp resolutions (16,24 bpp are ok)
A: It's a known bug (really it's a bug/limitation of the DLL codec)

Q: I've got 'MPlayer interrupted by signal 11' in module audio_setup or
   decode_audio.
A: This is highly unlikely, since the mp3lib rewrite. Contact us, it may be
   a bug. Possibly it's a damaged file, try with -afm 4 .

Q: Are there rpm/deb/... packages of MPlayer?
A: You can make a .deb package for yourself, check DOCS/DEBIAN .
   It's _STRONGLY_ discouraged to use precompiled packages
   of MPlayer, since it (currently) _highly_ depends on compile-time
   options and optimizations!
   Precompiled packages are COMPLETELY unsupported by the MPlayer team!

Q: Are there any mailing lists on MPlayer?
A: Yes! See README on how to subscribe them!

Q: I've found a nasty bug when I tried to play my favourite video!!
   Who should I inform?
A: See DOCS/BUGREPORTS

Q: During 'make', MPlayer complains about X11 libraries. I don't understand,
   I DO have X installed!?
A: ...but you don't have the X development package installed. Or not
   correctly. It's called XFree86-devel* under RedHat, and xlib6g-dev* under
   Debian.  Also check if the /usr/X11 symlink exists (this can be a problem on
   Mandrake systems). It can be created with the
	$ ln -sf /usr/X11R6 /usr/X11
   command. Also check the /usr/include/X11 link :
	$ ln -sf /usr/X11R6/include/X11 /usr/include/X11
   Your distribution may differ from the Linux Filesystem Standard.

Q: I have problems playing files with ... codec. Can I use'em?
A: Check http://mplayer.sourceforge.net/DOCS/codecs.html,
   if it doesn't contain your codec, read
   http://mplayer.sourceforge.net/DOCS/CODECS, and contact us.

Q: What about DGA driver? I can't find it!!!
A: ./configure autodetects your DGA driver. If -vo help doesn't show
   DGA, then there's a problem with your X installation.
   Try ./configure --enable-dga (and read VIDEOCARDS)
   Alternatively, try SDL's DGA driver with '-vo sdl:dga' options.

Q: Ok, -vo help shows DGA driver, but it is babbling about permissions!
   Help me!
A: It works only if running as root! It's a DGA limitation.
   You should become to root (su -), and try again.

   Another solution is making mplayer SUID root, but its NOT RECOMMENDED!
       'chown root /usr/local/bin/mplayer'
       'chmod 750 /usr/local/bin/mplayer'
       'chmod +s /usr/local/bin/mplayer'
   !!!! BUT STAY TUNED !!!!
   This is a *BIG* security risk! *NEVER* do this on a server or on a computer
   can be accessed by more people than only you because they can gain root
   privilegies through suid root mplayer!!!
   !!!! SO YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ... !!!!

Q: The fsdga driver doesn't work with my xyz.avi file. Why is that?
A: Because it only works with MPEG. (yet)

Q: When using Xvideo, my Voodoo 3/Banshee says:
   X Error of failed request:  BadAccess (attempt to access private resource
   denied)
    Major opcode of failed request:  147 (MIT-SHM)
    Minor opcode of failed request:  1 (X_ShmAttach)
    Serial number of failed request:  26
    Current serial number in output stream:27 
A: Your driver is old, update it. Either download (at least) DRI version 0.6
   from http://dri.sourceforge.net , or use the DRI cvs.

Q: When using Xvideo, I can't play DivX avis with my Voodoo 3/Banshee !
   It says:
    ...
    Xvideo image format: 0x32315659 (YV12) planar
    Xvideo image format: 0x30323449 (I420) planar
    ...
A1: See the previous answer.
A2: Since 0.18pre4 we include libavcodec from the ffmpeg package. It contains
    a C language DivX and OpenDivX decoder. The DivX decoder uses YV12 format
    for output, thus it should work for you. Compile in libavcodec support.

Q: Umm, what is "IdegCounter" ?
A: A mixture of a hungarian and an english word. In english, "Ideg" means
   "nerve", and is pronounced as something like "ydaegh" . It was first used
   to measure the nervousness of A'rpi, after some (umm) "mystic" disappearance
   of CVS code ;)

Q: I can't compile SVGAlib.. I'm using 2.3/2.4 kernel.
A: You have to edit SVGAlib's Makefile.cfg and comment "BACKGROUND = y" out.

Q: LIRC doesn't work, because ...
A: Are you sure you use "mplayer_lirc" instead of "mplayer" ?

Q: MPlayer exits with something error when using l3codeca.acm
A: Check 'ldd /usr/local/bin/mplayer' output. If it contains
        libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x4???????)
   where "?" is any number then it's ok, the error is not here. If it is:
	libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00??????)
   then there is problem with your kernel/libc. Maybe you are using some
   security patches (for example Solar Designer's OpenWall patch) which
   forces loading libraries to very low addresses.
   Because l3codeca.acm is a non-relocatable DLL, it must be loaded to
   0x00400000, we can't change this. You should use non-patched kernel,
   or use MPlayer's -afm 1 option to disable using l3codeca.acm.

Q: My computer plays M$ DivX AVIs with resolutions ~ 640x300 and stereo mp3
   sound too slow. When I use -nosound switch, everything is ok (but quiet).
A: Those files probably have 48Khz audio, and your soundcard/driver can't play
   it correctly. Audio downsampling isn't implemented in MPlayer (yet).

Q: MPlayer dies with "MPlayer interrupted by signal 4 in module: decode_video".
A: Try running MPlayer on the machine you compiled on. Or recompile. Don't
   use MPlayer on different CPU than it was compiled on.

Q: I have problems with <your window manager> and fullscreen xv/xmga/sdl/x11
   modes..
A1: Use the -fsmode switch. See example.conf or manpage.

Q: But it works with avifile !
A: So what?

Q: Then avifile is better !
A: Then use avifile, it has nice GUI and nice C++ code :)

Q: I got this playing mpeg files: Can't find codec for video format 0x10000001 !
A: You have old version of codecs.conf at ~/.mplayer/. Upgrade it from DOCS/

Q: After starting mplayer under KDE(1/2) I just get a black screen and nothing 
   happens, after about one minute the video starts playing.
A: The KDE arts sound daemon is blocking the sound device, either wait the time
   until video starts or you disable the arts-daemon in kontrollcenter.

Q: Subtitles are very nice, the most beautiful I've ever seen, but they slow
   down the playing! I know it's unlikely...
A: After running ./configure , edit config.h and replace #undef FAST_OSD with
   #define FAST_OSD . Then recompile.

Q: The OSD is flickering!
A: You use a vo driver with single buffering (x11,xv). With xv you can change
   the number of buffers in libvo/vo_xv.c :
   Increase #define NUM_BUFFERS 1

Q: What's the problem with gcc 2.96 ?
A: gcc 2.96 is RedHat's UNOFFICIAL (it can be found only on RedHat sites, or
   RedHat distributions) and BUGGY gcc release. gcc 2.96 is TOTALLY
   unsupported by MPlayer, because it simply SKIPS MMX codes, it just does not
   compile it. Important: this is NOT an MPlayer-specific problem, numerous
   other projects (DRI, avifile, etc..) have problems with this shit too.
   ** DO NOT USE gcc 2.96 !!! **

Q: Is there a hint on how to watch QuickTime and RealMedia movies in mplayer?
A: There's no way to do it. Therefore these formats deserve to die in flames.
   Theoretically you can reverse engineer Real codecs built for Linux (they
   are available as .so files), but in practice that's really difficult, even
   if you know how the compiler used by Real is making assembler code.
   As for QuickTime, it's possible to play some old movies and this
   capability will be added to mplayer soon, but newer clips are all Sorenson
   encoded, and that codec is built-in deep in the QT executable, there's
   no way to use it.

Q: I have an nVidia TNT/TNT2 card, and I have a band with strange colours,
   right under the movie! Whose fault is this?
A: It's the nVidia X driver's. These bugs are ONLY with the TNT/TNT2 cards,
   and we can't do anything about it, it's not our bug.

Q: What exactly is this libavcodec?
A: It's from Gerard Lantau's ffmpeg package (http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net).
   It has C<>language DivX ;-) and OpenDivX codec.  Some benchmarks
   showed that its DivX seems to be even faster than DirectShow codec without
   preprocessing, and only a few percent slower than ProjectMayo's OpenDivX
   decoder.  It uses YV12 pixel format, so old Voodoo users can use it for YUV.
   Also, open the possibility to play DivX on virtually every computer that
   has a C compiler. Kinda great stuff, isn't it?