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["solved"] debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

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agrimstad
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["solved"] debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#1 Post by agrimstad »

I've just installed debian wheezy and things are pretty much working in the multimedia area. In particular, CDs and DVDs are playing. But I've run into troubles with mp4 files. VLC plays them, but the audio is terrible and the video is a bit worse than I remember in squeeze. Totem does nothing at all with these files. I presume there's some library out there that I need to load, but I don't know which one. I've added

deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org wheezy main non-free

to /etc/apt/sources.list

and the following packages are present:

gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg/wheezy uptodate 1:0.10.13-0.2
gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3/wheezy uptodate 0.10.15.debian-1
gstreamer0.10-gconf/wheezy uptodate 0.10.31-3
gstreamer0.10-nice/wheezy uptodate 0.1.2-1
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad/wheezy uptodate 0.10.23-6
gstreamer0.10-plugins-base/wheezy uptodate 0.10.36-1
gstreamer0.10-plugins-good/wheezy uptodate 0.10.31-3
gstreamer0.10-plugins-really-bad/wheezy uptodate 0.10.23-0.0
gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly/wheezy uptodate 0.10.19-2+b2
gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio/wheezy uptodate 0.10.31-3
gstreamer0.10-x/wheezy uptodate 0.10.36-1
libgstreamer0.10-0/wheezy uptodate 0.10.36-1

Something seems to have changed between squeeze and wheezy. Any clues what?

-- al
Last edited by agrimstad on 2012-07-01 10:52, edited 2 times in total.

agrimstad
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#2 Post by agrimstad »

As a postscript to this question, I probably should mention that my wheezy installation is amd64. My squeeze installation--where mp4 works--was i386. -- al

vbrummond
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#3 Post by vbrummond »

You do not need D-M to play mp4 so perhaps the problem is from there? Mp4 files play fine here stock wheezy. Make sure you have libav-tools/ffmpeg installed and gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg.
Always on Debian Testing

agrimstad
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#4 Post by agrimstad »

The gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg package is installed (see list). Regarding libav-tools/ffmpeg, I did install the lib-avtools package. No change. I'm not parsing "libav-tools/ffmpeg". apt-cache search didn't turn up something resembling that, so I'm not sure what you mean. Since I DO need, I think, D-M for codecs, I'm not sure what to do about it. -- al

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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#5 Post by vbrummond »

Edit: 3000th post.

I doubt it. I am sure DM can play something regular debian can't but not much. Either way it is simpler to solve this with DM enabled. Anyway ffmpeg/libav means either not this whole string combined. I just wanted to make sure you have the whole libav* stack installed. I would say if we can narrow this down it will be easier. Try installing mplayer2. If it still has the issue with mp4 files its either the file or the libavcodec etc packages from D-M have a bug. If so you should report it to the dev there.

Anyway to install mplayer2 just run as root:

Code: Select all

apt-get install mplayer2
As normal user play the mp4 file:

Code: Select all

mplayer /path/to/file.mp4
It should also print debugging information about the file.
Always on Debian Testing

agrimstad
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#6 Post by agrimstad »

OK, mplayer installed. It played my mp4 file perfectly. But the installation didn't bring in any libraries to help totem or vlc with their problems, which seem unchanged.

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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#7 Post by craigevil »

no issues with mp4 on sid.

Code: Select all

$ dpkg -l | grep gstreamer
ii  gstreamer0.10-alsa:i386               0.10.36-1                          GStreamer plugin for ALSA
ii  gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg                  1:0.10.13-0.2                      FFmpeg plugin for GStreamer
ii  gstreamer0.10-gconf:i386              0.10.31-3                          GStreamer plugin for getting the sink/source information from GConf
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad:i386        0.10.23-6                          GStreamer plugins from the "bad" set
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-base:i386       0.10.36-1                          GStreamer plugins from the "base" set
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-good:i386       0.10.31-3                          GStreamer plugins from the "good" set
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-really-bad:i386 0.10.23-dmo2                       GStreamer plugins from the "bad" set
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly:i386       0.10.19-2+b2                       GStreamer plugins from the "ugly" set
ii  gstreamer0.10-qapt                    1.3.0-2                            GStreamer plugin to install codecs using QApt
ii  gstreamer0.10-x:i386                  0.10.36-1                          GStreamer plugins for X11 and Pango
ii  libgstreamer-plugins-bad0.10-0:i386   0.10.23-6                          GStreamer development files for libraries from the "bad" set
ii  libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0:i386  0.10.36-1                          GStreamer libraries from the "base" set
ii  libgstreamer0.10-0:i386               0.10.36-1                          Core GStreamer libraries and elements
ii  libqtgstreamer-0.10-0:i386            0.10.2-2                           C++ bindings library for GStreamer with a Qt-style API
ii  phonon-backend-gstreamer:i386         4:4.6.0.0-2                        Phonon GStreamer 0.10.x backend

$ apt-cache policy vlc
vlc:
Installed: 1:2.0.1-dmo3
Candidate: 1:2.0.1-dmo3
Version table:
*** 1:2.0.1-dmo3 0
500 http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ sid/main i386 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
2.0.1-4+b3 0
500 http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/ unstable/main i386 Packages


$ apt-cache policy mplayer
mplayer:
Installed: 3:1.1-dmo3
Candidate: 3:1.1-dmo3
Version table:
*** 3:1.1-dmo3 0
500 http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ sid/main i386 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
2:1.0~rc4.dfsg1+svn34540-1+b2 0
500 http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/ unstable/main i386 Packages


$ apt-cache policy ffmpeg
ffmpeg:
Installed: 7:0.11.1-dmo2
Candidate: 7:0.11.1-dmo2
Version table:
*** 7:0.11.1-dmo2 0
500 http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ sid/main i386 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
6:0.8.3-4 0
500 http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/ unstable/main i386 Packages

For totem make sure you have:
totem-plugins - Plugins for the Totem media player
as well as the various gstreamer plugins

vlc uses its own plugins, mplayer uses ffmpeg
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agrimstad
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#8 Post by agrimstad »

OK, let's see what's different.

Code: Select all

# dpkg -l|grep gstreamer
ii  gir1.2-gstreamer-0.10                                0.10.36-1
ii  gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg                              1:0.10.13-0.2
ii  gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3                     0.10.15.debian-1
ii  gstreamer0.10-gconf:amd64                     0.10.31-3
ii  gstreamer0.10-nice:amd64                       0.1.2-1
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad:amd64           0.10.23-6
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-base:amd64        0.10.36-1
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-good:amd64        0.10.31-3
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-really-bad              0.10.23-0.0
ii  gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly:amd64            0.10.19-2+b2
ii  gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio:amd64             0.10.31-3
ii  gstreamer0.10-x:amd64                              0.10.36-1
ii  libgstreamer-plugins-bad0.10-0:amd64     0.10.23-6
ii  libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0:amd64    0.10.36-1
ii  libgstreamer0.10-0:amd64                            0.10.36-1
I don't seem to have gstreamer0.10-alsa.

Code: Select all

# apt-cache policy vlc
vlc:
  Installed: 2.0.1-4+b2
  Candidate: 1:2.0.1-dmo3
  Version table:
     1:2.0.1-dmo3 0
        500 http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages
     2.0.1-4+b3 0
        500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages
 *** 2.0.1-4+b2 0
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
Hmm.

Code: Select all

# apt-cache policy mplayer
mplayer:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 3:1.0~rc4+svn20120601-dmo1
  Version table:
     3:1.0~rc4+svn20120601-dmo1 0
        500 http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages
     2:1.0~rc4.dfsg1+svn34540-1+b2 0
        500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages

Code: Select all

# apt-cache policy ffmpeg 
ffmpeg:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 7:0.11.1-dmo2
  Version table:
     7:0.11.1-dmo2 0
        500 http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     6:0.8.3-1+b1 0
        500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages

Code: Select all

# dpkg -l|grep totem
ii  gir1.2-totem-1.0                        3.0.1-8
ii  gir1.2-totem-plparser-1.0         3.4.2-1
ii  libtotem-plparser17                  3.4.2-1
ii  libtotem0                                   3.0.1-8
ii  totem                                         3.0.1-8
ii  totem-common                         3.0.1-8
ii  totem-plugins                            3.0.1-8
Mostly I'm just seeing different versions of things, sid versus wheezy, I suppose. -- al

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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#9 Post by Bulkley »

Thank you for this thread. I've had the same problem for a few months. It came with an upgrade. I ran a thread about it at the time with no resolution. Miro and Totem will not play mp4 while smplayer will. I have assumed that another upgrade would solve this but, so far, none has. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that there is some out dated configuration somewhere that is incompatible with up-to-date Wheezy.

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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#10 Post by craigevil »

Other threads with the same issue or similar issue:
Debian User Forums • View topic - Wheezy totem/minitube no mp4 playback : http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=76983

Debian User Forums • View topic - Can't play .mp4 files using totem in squeeze : http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60939

Debian User Forums • View topic - Miro won't play mp4 : http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=78085

[SOLVED] Watching an MP4 video on Totem : http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions ... em-923674/

Linux Mint Forums • View topic - No mp4 with VLC in Mint 12 : http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=90750

VLC has a mp4 plugin:
/usr/lib/vlc/plugins/demux/libmp4_plugin.so

gstreamer pm4 plugin
/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/gstreamer-0.10/libgstisomp4.so

w32codecs
/usr/lib/codecs/ubvmp4d.dll

/home/craig/.local/share/mime/audio/x-mp4.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mime-type xmlns="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info" type="audio/x-mp4">
<!--Created automatically by update-mime-database. DO NOT EDIT!-->
<comment>MPEG 4 audio</comment>
<icon name="x-kde-nsplugin-generated"/>
</mime-type>

/usr/share/mime/video/mp4.xml

Code: Select all

<glob pattern="*.mp4"/>
  <glob pattern="*.m4v"/>
  <glob pattern="*.f4v"/>
  <alias type="video/x-m4v"/>
KDE System Settings>File Associations shows
Description MPEG-4 video
Dragonplayer
Gnome mplayer
VLC
Smplayer

Anyone that has the problem do you have gstreamer0.10-plugins-really-bad installed?
This package contains plugins from the "bad" set, a set of non-free
plug-ins that might pose distribution problems.
.
Bad plugins are faac, mpeg2enc, mplex, vdpau and xvid.
FAAC currently supports MPEG-4 LTP, MAIN and LOW COMPLEXITY object types
and MAIN and LOW MPEG-2 object types. It also supports multichannel and
gapless encoding.
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#11 Post by Bulkley »

Anyone that has the problem do you have gstreamer0.10-plugins-really-bad installed?
I have 'bad' but not 'really bad'. I can't find 'really bad' in Wheezy sources, free or non.

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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#12 Post by craigevil »

Bulkley wrote:
Anyone that has the problem do you have gstreamer0.10-plugins-really-bad installed?
I have 'bad' but not 'really bad'. I can't find 'really bad' in Wheezy sources, free or non.
You won't it is in the deb-multimedia.org repo.

$ apt-cache policy gstreamer0.10-plugins-really-bad
gstreamer0.10-plugins-really-bad:
Installed: 0.10.23-dmo2
Candidate: 0.10.23-dmo2
Version table:
*** 0.10.23-dmo2 0
500 http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ sid/main i386 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
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agrimstad
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#13 Post by agrimstad »

Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

Unread postby craigevil » 2012-06-28 18:50
Other threads with the same issue or similar issue:
Debian User Forums • View topic - Wheezy totem/minitube no mp4 playback : viewtopic.php?f=6&t=76983

Debian User Forums • View topic - Can't play .mp4 files using totem in squeeze : viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60939

Debian User Forums • View topic - Miro won't play mp4 : viewtopic.php?f=6&t=78085

[SOLVED] Watching an MP4 video on Totem : http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions ... em-923674/
Before posting I did some searching on this issue and didn't find anything that helped me. Have you read that "solved" thread? The "solution" was to boot into another distribution where playing mp4s worked! And the analysis was speculative and unconvincing.

agrimstad
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#14 Post by agrimstad »

I want to mention again something I said early on. My wheezy installation is amd64, not i386, e.g., I have this plugin:

/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gstreamer-0.10/libgstisomp4.so

not this one:

/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/gstreamer-0.10/libgstisomp4.so

There have been a couple of "works for me" posters to this thread. Anyone have mp4 working in 64-bit wheezy?

agrimstad
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#15 Post by agrimstad »

The mp4s I'm using as tests were produced by ffmpeg. It turns out that I didn't have it installed yet, so I installed it. This causes libav-tools to be removed, for what it's worth. This hasn't changed anything, but I do want to be a bit more precise. VLC shows the video pretty much OK; my memory that it used to be a bit better was wrong. It's the audio that's the problem. It has an annoying hiss. Totem remains completely helpless with my mp4 files.

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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#16 Post by agrimstad »

Some progress!

The audio hiss problem with VLC seems to be some kind of initial condition of the app bug. I went into Audio->Audio Channels. "Stereo" was selected. I changed it to "Left." No hiss. I changed it to "Right." No hiss. I changed it back to "Stereo." NO HISS. I quite the app and restarted it. No hiss.

The above is not really correct. The hiss eventually returned. I have found a solution to this problem however. In VLC's Tools->Preferences->Audio change the "Output module" from "Default" to "ALSA audio output." Then, in the new option that appears after this change select the appropriate option for your sound card. I selected "SB Live! 5.1 [SBO220], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback Default Audio Device."

Save the change. Restart VLC and check the audio preferences to verify the change just made. Henceforth the audio should be good.

Totem is still FUBAR for some mp4 files though.
Last edited by agrimstad on 2012-07-07 12:53, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems

#17 Post by agrimstad »

More progress. It seems that 64-bit wheezy totem will play SOME mp4 files.

The mp4 files that I can't play were created by ffmpeg (from youtube videos). mplayer2 and VLC can play these mp4 files. I recreated one such file with the wheezy version of ffmpeg and the problem persists. This is looking like some form of limitation (bug from my perspective) in the gstreamer mp4 decoder rather than a totem bug.

agrimstad
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems (now: totem only

#18 Post by agrimstad »

I used mplayer on two files that I thought were mp4, just to verify that they really are mp4. The first doesn't play with totem + gstreamer0.10-plugins-good, the second does:

Detected file format: QuickTime/MPEG-4/Motion JPEG 2000 format (libavformat)
Detected file format: QuickTime/MPEG-4/Motion JPEG 2000 format (libavformat)

And to reiterate, VLC and mplayer2 have no problem with either mp4 file.

I think this probably awaits work on gstreamer0.10-plugins-good and I should probably close this thread. I'll wait a day.

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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems (now: totem only

#19 Post by stevepusser »

MJPEG files are huge compared to modern codecs, anyway. See if you can get ffmpeg to use something like the libxvid4 library instead.
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agrimstad
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Re: debian wheezy new install: mp4 problems (now: totem only

#20 Post by agrimstad »

The thing is, it's the small mp4 file that gstreamer can't handle, i.e.

-rw-r--r-- 1 alg alg 6436178 May 31 07:58 Amarraditos.mp4

versus

-rw-r--r-- 1 alg alg 766256433 Jun 3 12:24 The Power Principle.mp4

which it can. -- al

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